Austin police ID “Yogurt Store Murders ”suspect after HBO airs docuseries

• The Austin Police Division introduced a brand new suspect within the high-profile 1991 killings of 4 ladies at a frozen yogurt store generally known as the "Yogurt Store Murders."
• New genealogical proof led to the identification of Robert Eugene Brashers, who dedicated suicide in 1999, as the first suspect.
• The brand new breakthrough within the case follows only a month after HBO launched a docuseries overlaying the case referred to as The Yogurt Store Murders.

One of many grisliest chilly circumstances in Austin's historical past could also be getting ready to being solved.

The Austin Police Division introduced Friday that they’ve recognized a brand new suspect within the 1991 killings of 4 native ladies — Jennifer Harbison, Sarah Harbison, Eliza Thomas, and Amy Ayers — also referred to as the "Yogurt Store Murders." Robert Eugene Brashers, who dedicated suicide in 1999 and was not beforehand linked to the case, has been posthumously recognized as a suspect within the chilly case that has haunted town for over three a long time.

The breakthrough within the case comes only a month after the discharge of HBO docuseries The Yogurt Shop Murders, which explores the grim particulars of the case and contains new interviews with members of the family and associates of the victims, in addition to investigators, attorneys, and journalists who labored on the unique case.

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"Austin Police have made a big breakthrough within the 1991 I Can’t Imagine It's Yogurt homicide case and we’ve new data. Our crew by no means gave up working this case. For nearly 34 years they’ve labored tirelessly and remained dedicated to fixing this case," the division's assertion learn.

The division cited "a variety of DNA testing" in facilitating this new growth within the case many believed would by no means be solved.

"APD investigators have been in contact with the households. We ask on your persistence as we proceed this course of and stay aware of the many individuals whose lives have been deeply affected by this case," in line with the assertion.

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The Austin-American Statesman was the primary to report the identification of a brand new suspect. The paper's Friday story added that authorities utilized genealogical DNA to safe the current breakthrough — the identical type of proof that led to an arrest within the infamous Golden State Killer case in 2018.

Although Brashers was beforehand linked to not less than three murders throughout the nation, he had by no means been recognized as a suspect within the Yogurt Store Murders case or had any recognized affiliation with Austin. The Statesman famous that investigators say they've solved all three homicides linked to Brashers utilizing DNA proof obtained by digging up Brashers' corpse. Whereas the assertion from Austin Police famous the case is energetic and ongoing, the Statesman reviews that the division is predicted to shut the case within the coming weeks.

The Yogurt Store Murders, directed by The Nice Invisible helmer Margaret Brown and co-produced by A24, focuses on the lasting legacy of trauma the unsolved murders left of their wake and interrogation ways used within the unique investigation which have since been referred to as into query.

The murders occurred on Dec. 6, 1991, when Ayers, 13, Thomas, 17, Jennifer Harbison, 17, and her sister Sarah, 15 — staff of the I Can't Imagine It's Yogurt! store in North Austin — had been certain, gagged, and shot, with the shop subsequently being set on hearth.

Authorities amassed over 300 suspects within the years-long investigation that adopted. 4 youngsters had been arrested and launched inside weeks of the crime, and re-arrested years later. After confessing to the crime, Robert Springsteen was sentenced to loss of life 2001, and Michael Scott was sentenced to life in jail the yr after, although they each later alleged their confessions had been coerced, and no proof was ever produced linking them to the crimes. Their convictions had been later overturned on attraction. In 2009, new DNA proof exonerated them, and all costs had been dismissed.

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