September 30, 2025 • 7 mins
After 34 years, Austin Police have finally identified a suspect in the Yogurt Shop Murders. On December 6, 1991, sisters Jennifer and Sarah Harbison, Eliza Thomas, and Amy Ayers were found murdered inside “I Can’t Believe It’s Yogurt” on Anderson Lane, a case that shocked the city and haunted investigators for decades.
This week, APD announced that Robert Eugene Brashers, a violent offender linked to other crimes across the country, has been connected to the murders through DNA and ballistics. Brashers died by suicide in 1999, but it was his daughter’s decision to provide a DNA sample years later that ultimately led to the breakthrough.
We’ll share the quick rundown of this major update now, with a full deep dive coming in November. Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss it.📢 Follow & Subscribe:
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Edited by - djaudio22@gmail.com
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This week, APD announced that Robert Eugene Brashers, a violent offender linked to other crimes across the country, has been connected to the murders through DNA and ballistics. Brashers died by suicide in 1999, but it was his daughter’s decision to provide a DNA sample years later that ultimately led to the breakthrough.
We’ll share the quick rundown of this major update now, with a full deep dive coming in November. Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss it.📢 Follow & Subscribe:
Subscribe on Patreon: www.patreon.com/weirdtruecrime
Website: www.weirdtruecrime.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/weirdtruecrime
TikTok: www.tiktok.com/weirdtruecrime
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@weirdtruecrime
Email: weirdtruecrime@gmail.com
Edited by - djaudio22@gmail.com
Leave us a review and share your thoughts — it helps so much!
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/weird-true-crime--5679751/support.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
This day has been a long time coming. More than
a quarter century ago, in a circumstance much like this today,
I said that Austin lost its innocence the night those
young souls became victims. Today we have some closure.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
We're breaking from our regular schedule because something huge just
happened here in Austin.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
After thirty four years, the Austin Police Department has finally
linked a suspect to the yogurt shot murders.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
On December sixth, nineteen ninety one, the bodies of four
teenage girls, sisters Jennifer and Sarah Harbison, Eliza Thomas, and
Amy Ayres, were found when firefighters responded to a fire
at I can't believe it's yogurt on Anderson Lane.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
KXA and News reports that the suspect, Robert Eugene Brashers,
was identified through DNA and ballistics testing. Brashers is also
connected to several other violent crimes and murders in South Carolina, Memphis, Missouri,
and Florida. He died by suicide in nineteen ninety nine.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Here's an extremely quick rundown of the history of this case.
The teenage victims were found tied up and shot in
the head, with evidence indicating that some had been sexually assaulted. Unfortunately,
due to the fire and water damage, most of the
evidence was destroyed, leaving investigators little to work with.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
Over the years, there were multiple suspects, with witnesses pointing
to devil worshipers and people in black the nineties right well.
In nineteen ninety nine, four men, Michael Scott, Robert Springsteen,
Maurice Pierce, and Forrest Welburn were arrested for the murders.
Defense attorneys accused APD of coercing confessions from the young men.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
In the end, charges against Pierce and Wellborn were dropped,
but Springsteen and Scott were convicted. Springsteen was sentenced to
death while Scott got life in prison. Because Springsteen was
a minor at the time, his sentence was later reduced
to life.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
Fast forward to two thousand and six and two thousand
and seven, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturned both
Springsteen and Scott's convictions, ruling that constitutional violations were found
in their confessions.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Obviously, there's way more to the story, and we'll get
into all of it in our full coverage of the
case in November, so be sure to subscribe wherever you
listen so you don't miss it.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
Just this week, on Monday, September twenty ninth, Austin Police
held the press conference to lay out their timeline of
events and explain what led to this pivotal moment. Here's
a quick rundown of what they shared.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
First off, APD has never stopped working this case, and
while the timing feels interesting given the recent documentary about
the murders, detectives had already been making major progress long
before the documentary ever hit screens.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
Back in twenty eighteen, Austin ped retested the small DNA
sample they had, since the technology had advanced so much
since the last round of testing. Unfortunately, there was still
know why sdr DNA matches. At that time, most labs
weren't even using this kind of technology yet. Investigators also
(03:46):
started retesting other pieces of evidence from the scene to
see if updated samples could be pulled.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Fast forward to June twenty twenty five, Detective Daniel Jackson,
who took over the case in twenty twenty two, decided
to resubmit a three to eighty shellcasing into NIBON. That's
the National Integrated Ballistics Information Network think of it like COTIS,
but for ballistics.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
By early July, that casing came back as a match
to evidence from an unsolved murder in Kentucky. When Austin
and Kentucky investigators compare notes, they realized the crime shared
disturbing similarities, and NIBEN confirmed both had been committed with
the same weapon, a three eighty caliber AMT backup model
(04:32):
number A seven five two one three.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
Then in August, detective Jackson reached out to forensic labs
across the country, asking them to manually compare the unknown
DNA profile against their databases. Out of the entire country,
there was just one hit, a perfect match to Robert
Eugene Brashers.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
This DNA profile was found on the Harveston sisters and
Amy Ayres. Finally, in September, detectives sent additional pieces of
evidence from the crime scene, including Amy's fingernail clippings, to
DNA Labs International. The samples were badly degraded and too
fragmented for CODIS, so this was essentially APD's last shot
(05:17):
at closing the case.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
They weren't running it against everyone in the system. They
just needed to know did it match Brasher's and when
the results came back, the DNA under Amy's fingernails sealed
the deal.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
And really it's Brasher's daughter, Brenda who deserves the credit.
In twenty eighteen, she agreed to provide a DNA sample
to help solve the nineteen ninety murder of Jenny's a
Tricky in South Carolina. That decision tied her father to
the Tricky's murder, several others, and now to the yogurt
shot murders.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
It's I I We've lived in Austin our entire lives,
and to finally be able to say something that has
been so infamous and our city has finally been solved,
it's very surreal. Didn't really feel like this day was
going to come.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
I agree. I think I'm still in shock even writing
this and watching the news conference this morning and seeing
the family members there. It was just it's surreal. It
doesn't feel like it actually happened yet. And I think unfortunately,
because he has been dead for a very long time,
(06:31):
I feel like justice just feels different, and hopefully that's
not true for the families. I'm just saying for us
that have lived here and known this case for so
long to know. It's finally been solved, but the guy
who did it is no longer here to face any
sort of justice for it.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
That's just it. It just I mean, hopefully now the families,
since they have answers that they've been wondering for so
many years, hopefully that'll bring a little bit of closure.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
And yeah, yeah, but I'm interested to see what else
we find out because they said they're not done. They
still have work to do on their end, and I
have a feeling that the work that they've been doing
behind the scenes is going to end up linking him
to more murders that have not been solved, is kind
(07:19):
of what they were hinting at. So no, So hopefully
more information will come forward this month and we can
include that in our deep dive in November as well.
So yeah, this is super exciting and I can't wait
to dive even more into this. And until next time,
stay safe and.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
Make good choices.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Bye.
This day has been a long time coming. More than
a quarter century ago, in a circumstance much like this today,
I said that Austin lost its innocence the night those
young souls became victims. Today we have some closure.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
We're breaking from our regular schedule because something huge just
happened here in Austin.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
After thirty four years, the Austin Police Department has finally
linked a suspect to the yogurt shot murders.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
On December sixth, nineteen ninety one, the bodies of four
teenage girls, sisters Jennifer and Sarah Harbison, Eliza Thomas, and
Amy Ayres, were found when firefighters responded to a fire
at I can't believe it's yogurt on Anderson Lane.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
KXA and News reports that the suspect, Robert Eugene Brashers,
was identified through DNA and ballistics testing. Brashers is also
connected to several other violent crimes and murders in South Carolina, Memphis, Missouri,
and Florida. He died by suicide in nineteen ninety nine.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Here's an extremely quick rundown of the history of this case.
The teenage victims were found tied up and shot in
the head, with evidence indicating that some had been sexually assaulted. Unfortunately,
due to the fire and water damage, most of the
evidence was destroyed, leaving investigators little to work with.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
Over the years, there were multiple suspects, with witnesses pointing
to devil worshipers and people in black the nineties right well.
In nineteen ninety nine, four men, Michael Scott, Robert Springsteen,
Maurice Pierce, and Forrest Welburn were arrested for the murders.
Defense attorneys accused APD of coercing confessions from the young men.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
In the end, charges against Pierce and Wellborn were dropped,
but Springsteen and Scott were convicted. Springsteen was sentenced to
death while Scott got life in prison. Because Springsteen was
a minor at the time, his sentence was later reduced
to life.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
Fast forward to two thousand and six and two thousand
and seven, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturned both
Springsteen and Scott's convictions, ruling that constitutional violations were found
in their confessions.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Obviously, there's way more to the story, and we'll get
into all of it in our full coverage of the
case in November, so be sure to subscribe wherever you
listen so you don't miss it.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
Just this week, on Monday, September twenty ninth, Austin Police
held the press conference to lay out their timeline of
events and explain what led to this pivotal moment. Here's
a quick rundown of what they shared.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
First off, APD has never stopped working this case, and
while the timing feels interesting given the recent documentary about
the murders, detectives had already been making major progress long
before the documentary ever hit screens.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
Back in twenty eighteen, Austin ped retested the small DNA
sample they had, since the technology had advanced so much
since the last round of testing. Unfortunately, there was still
know why sdr DNA matches. At that time, most labs
weren't even using this kind of technology yet. Investigators also
(03:46):
started retesting other pieces of evidence from the scene to
see if updated samples could be pulled.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Fast forward to June twenty twenty five, Detective Daniel Jackson,
who took over the case in twenty twenty two, decided
to resubmit a three to eighty shellcasing into NIBON. That's
the National Integrated Ballistics Information Network think of it like COTIS,
but for ballistics.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
By early July, that casing came back as a match
to evidence from an unsolved murder in Kentucky. When Austin
and Kentucky investigators compare notes, they realized the crime shared
disturbing similarities, and NIBEN confirmed both had been committed with
the same weapon, a three eighty caliber AMT backup model
(04:32):
number A seven five two one three.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
Then in August, detective Jackson reached out to forensic labs
across the country, asking them to manually compare the unknown
DNA profile against their databases. Out of the entire country,
there was just one hit, a perfect match to Robert
Eugene Brashers.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
This DNA profile was found on the Harveston sisters and
Amy Ayres. Finally, in September, detectives sent additional pieces of
evidence from the crime scene, including Amy's fingernail clippings, to
DNA Labs International. The samples were badly degraded and too
fragmented for CODIS, so this was essentially APD's last shot
(05:17):
at closing the case.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
They weren't running it against everyone in the system. They
just needed to know did it match Brasher's and when
the results came back, the DNA under Amy's fingernails sealed
the deal.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
And really it's Brasher's daughter, Brenda who deserves the credit.
In twenty eighteen, she agreed to provide a DNA sample
to help solve the nineteen ninety murder of Jenny's a
Tricky in South Carolina. That decision tied her father to
the Tricky's murder, several others, and now to the yogurt
shot murders.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
It's I I We've lived in Austin our entire lives,
and to finally be able to say something that has
been so infamous and our city has finally been solved,
it's very surreal. Didn't really feel like this day was
going to come.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
I agree. I think I'm still in shock even writing
this and watching the news conference this morning and seeing
the family members there. It was just it's surreal. It
doesn't feel like it actually happened yet. And I think unfortunately,
because he has been dead for a very long time,
(06:31):
I feel like justice just feels different, and hopefully that's
not true for the families. I'm just saying for us
that have lived here and known this case for so
long to know. It's finally been solved, but the guy
who did it is no longer here to face any
sort of justice for it.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
That's just it. It just I mean, hopefully now the families,
since they have answers that they've been wondering for so
many years, hopefully that'll bring a little bit of closure.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
And yeah, yeah, but I'm interested to see what else
we find out because they said they're not done. They
still have work to do on their end, and I
have a feeling that the work that they've been doing
behind the scenes is going to end up linking him
to more murders that have not been solved, is kind
(07:19):
of what they were hinting at. So no, So hopefully
more information will come forward this month and we can
include that in our deep dive in November as well.
So yeah, this is super exciting and I can't wait
to dive even more into this. And until next time,
stay safe and.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
Make good choices.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Bye.
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