AUSTIN (KXAN)— A breakthrough in DNA evidence pointed to a single suspect in the infamous 1991 Yogurt Shop Murders, but in the early 2000s, police believed four men were linked to the crime.
17-year old Jennifer Harbison, 15-year-old Sarah Harbison, 17-year-old Eliza Thomas, and 13-year-old Amy Ayers were shot and killed at a north Austin frozen yogurt shop, which was then set on fire. After 34 years of investigation, police said they’ve identified Robert Brashers, who died by suicide in 1999, as a suspect in the case.
“The pain again of not getting it right really knows no limits,” said Jessi Freud, senior staff attorney with the Innocence Project of Texas. “There are so many circumstances here that could have led to this day never coming, had legal miracles not occurred.”
Before the Austin Police Department handed the case to its Cold Case Homicide Unit, its “Yogurt Shop Task Force” arrested four men in connection with the murders.
Maurice Pierce, Forrest Welborn, Robert Springsteen and Michael Scott were teenagers in 1991. Pierce, a 16-year-old, was arrested at the mall for carrying a gun. Police at the time believed that gun was used in the killings.
“They tried to make the evidence fit on these four boys, instead of looking for what the evidence actually proved,” said Lad Slavik, who represented Pierce in court. “Making Cinderella’s glass slipper fit on an elephant.”
Police said Pierce confessed — after 18 hours of interrogation— to lending the gun to Welborn. During the interrogation, Pierce said Welborn had admitted to being involved in the crime, which wasn’t true.
After another round of interrogation, police said Pierce’s description did not match the crime-scene, and ballistic evidence disproved that his gun was the murder weapon.
But in 1999, the four men were arrested on Capital Murder charges.
During questioning, Springsteen and Scott implicated, or accused each other, but Welborn and Pierce didn’t confess to the murders.
“It is more likely that police will get a false confession the more high profile the case,” Freud said.
A jury refused to indict Welborn. Pierce’s charges were eventually dropped, but Slavik said he spent 4 years in jail awaiting his court date. Pierce died in an altercation with an Austin Police officer in 2010.
“He was continually hounded by law enforcement, wrongfully,” Slavik said. “In one way or another, I’m sure that led to his death.”
Springsteen and Scott went to trial, and juries found them both guilty. Springsteen was given the death penalty, and Scott was sentenced to life without parole.
After a 2004 U.S. Supreme Court decision, a judge granted Scott and Springsteen new trials.
“This case really is an anomaly in the fact that the direct appeal process caught the constitutional mistake that essentially saved their lives,” Freud said.
In preparation for that trial, DNA evidence was reviewed. None of the men were physically linked to the murders.
Springsteen and Scott’s convictions were overturned, and they walked free in 2009.
“I would hope that this juncture now is an opportunity for them to have a legal remedy to their circumstance,” Freud said.
Springsteen later sued the state, asking for up to $700,000 in restitution for the wrongful conviction and to be declared innocent. The case was dismissed.
District Attorney Jose Garza said detectives coerced the initial confessions. According to the Texas Innocence Project, 12% of exonerations involved people who gave false confessions.
“The overwhelming evidence points to the guilt of one man and the innocence of four,” Garza said at Monday’s press conference. “If the conclusions of that investigation are confirmed, the Travis County DA’s office will take responsibility.”