AUSTIN (KXAN) — An Austin Police Department cold case detective and its forensic science director showed how law enforcement agencies were able to break through on one of the city’s most infamous cold cases: The 1991 Yogurt Shop Murders.
Background of the case
On Dec. 6, 1991, Austin firefighters responded to a fire at the “I Can’t Believe It’s Yogurt!” shop off Anderson Lane in north Austin. What started as a structure fire call evolved to a quadruple homicide case after first responders found bodies in the building.
The victims were identified as Amy Ayers, 13, Eliza Thomas, 17, Jennifer Harbison, 17, and Harbison’s younger sister, Sarah, 15.
Over the years, four men were accused of the murders. Some were convicted and sentenced to life in prison. By the late 2000s, all four were exonerated and released from custody.
Police announced Sept. 26 that they linked a suspect, Robert Eugene Brashers, to the 1991 quadruple murder after analyzing DNA and ballistic evidence. Brashers died by suicide in 1999.
Who attended Monday’s press conference
Along with Watson and Davis, the girls’ relatives attended the press conference.
“We are incredibly grateful for the Austin Police Department and the outpouring of support from the community,” the Harbison family told KXAN on Sunday.
APD Cold Case Detective Daniel Jackson, APD Forensic Science Director Dr. Dana Kadavy, Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza, and Mindy Montford from the Texas Attorney General’s Office also attended the news conference.
Mayor Watson: ‘This day has been a long time coming’
Watson began the press conference with a moment of silence for the victims.
“This day has been a long time coming,” he said. “Nearly a quarter of a century ago, I said this city lost its innocence. Now, we have some closure.”
Watson said that it was advances in technology and forensic science, as well as the dedication of APD, that led to the breakthrough.
Davis spoke next, and called it one of the most devastating cases in the city’s history.
“The only physical evidence at the scene has been connected to him,” she said, referring to Brashers. “While this is a major step, there are still many questions remaining.”
DA Garza said that the initial arrests and convictions were the result of coerced confessions obtained by detectives after lengthy interviews. All four of the wrongfully accused were teenagers when the murders occurred.
“The Travis County DA’s Office only learned about the results a week ago, and the families more recently than that,” Garza said.
Garza said that once the final APD report is sent to his office, it will work to finalize the case. He also promised to apologize on behalf of the Travis County DA’s office for its part in the wrongful convictions, one of which sent a man to death row.
“The overwhelming evidence points to the guilt of one man and the innocence of four,” Garza said. “If the conclusions of that investigation are confirmed, the Travis County DA’s office will take responsibility … so much time has passed, but it is never late for justice and the families deserve justice.”
Montford, who had been on the case for several years, asked the public to come forward with any information about Brashers or cases possibly linked to him.
“I promised I would never give up on this case,” she said.
APD Investigator: ‘A perfect match to our DNA profile’
Jackson, the case’s lead investigator, laid out a timeline of case. He had been on the case since 2022, he said at the press conference. He took a moment to thank all of the law enforcement agencies that assisted in the multi-state investigation.
Jackson explained that the killer entered the yogurt shop around closing time.
All four victims were shot in the head with a .22 caliber handgun, but Amy was also shot by a .380 round. Investigators found a spent .380 casing in a floor drain, and gathered DNA from the victims, Jackson said. The building was then set on fire.
“Less than 48 hours after the murders, he was stopped by Border Patrol agents near El Paso,” Jackson said. “We don’t know why he was in Austin.”
The agents ran his plates and found that the car driven by Brashers was reported stolen from Marietta, Georgia. They also seized a .380 pistol from him during the stop. However, Brashers fled from the agents. The gun was later released to Brashers’ father.
On Jan. 13, 1999, Brashers killed himself in Missouri with the same handgun. The gun went missing over the years and has not been recovered by law enforcement, Jackson said later. However, he explained that it was confirmed as the same gun by the serial number in police reports.
After Brashers died, he was linked to several other murders across the U.S. during the 1990s, Jackson explained.
Jackson also spoke about the initial arrests in the case, the court cases, and how DNA evidence cleared those initial suspects. He added later in the conference that he never read or listened to the coerced confessions as part of his investigation.
When he took over the case, Jackson said he reviewed all of the available evidence. He learned that the .380 casing wasn’t entered into a certain national database. Some time after it was added, it was matched to a similar casing found by investigators in a 1998 Kentucky cold case.
Jackson declined to name the Kentucky city where that cold case occurred, as it hasn’t yet issued a press release for its case.
The DNA evidence was linked to samples held by the South Carolina State Lab, which was gathered from Greenville, South Carolina.
“He is a perfect match to our DNA profile,” Jackson said. “He had a Y [chromosome] profile that only 1% of the population has.”
In response to a question later in the conference, he said that Brashers did not have an accomplice.
“This is something that could not have happened until 2025 … I’m sorry that it took so long,” Jackson concluded.
Families thank APD, speak about their girls
Barbara Wilson, the mother of Jennifer and Sarah, was the first family member to speak. She said that vengeance was never her desire.
Sonora Thomas, sister of Eliza, spoke next. She was accompanied by her father, James Thomas.
“Our reality doesn’t change after today. Our families are still too small … we have been robbed of a life with nieces and grandchildren and sisters,” Sonora Thomas said.
Shawn Ayers, Amy’s older brother spoke next. He was accompanied at the press conference by his wife Angie Ayers.
“At one point, I gave up on God. But he never gave up on me,” Shawn Ayers said.
He spoke with displeasure about whoever leaked information about the breakthrough to media on Friday, which he said happened moments after they received the news in-person. He added that the leak caused the families to be “bombarded” with calls from reporters, and that some of those families had not yet been told by APD.
That led to the city moving up its timeline for the press conference, which forced families to rush to attend Monday’s press conference, Shawn Ayers said.
Angie Ayers said later on that this moment is one that the families have been at before; where they feel that justice has been served, only to be taken away from them. She said she’s still waiting for everything to be fully concluded.
During his closing remarks, Watson said he appreciated the families’ grace over the years. He also thanked the investigative team and asked them to stand for recognition.
“I hope we can turn a page, a final page, on a dark chapter in Austin’s history,” Watson said. “The Yogurt Shop Murders will always be a part of Austin’s history.”