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http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/crime/yogurt-shop-murders%3A-20-years-later
Yogurt shop murders: 20 years later
Case still unsolved as anniversary hits
December 6, 2011

(http://media2.kxan.com//photo/2011/12/02/Yogurt_shop_victim_20111202162713_320_240.JPG)


AUSTIN (KXAN) - Tuesday will mark a somber anniversary in Austin’s recent history. On Dec. 6, 1991, four teenage girls were murdered inside a North Austin yogurt shop. The crime remains unsolved.

It all unfolded on a balmy Friday night in a strip mall at the corner of Anderson Lane and Rockwood Lane. At the time it was home to an I Can't Believe It's Yogurt! store.

It was closing time, around 11 p.m. Four girls were inside:

    Amy Ayres, 13
    Jennifer Harbison, 17
    Sarah Harbison, 15, Jennifer's sister
    Eliza Thomas, 17

Jennifer and Eliza worked at the store.

The four girls were looking forward to a sleepover after they closed the shop for the night. They never made it out.
More...

http://www.kxan.com/generic/news/texas/yogurt-shop-killings
Yogurt shop killings – a 20-year mystery
The murder of four teenage girls shocks Austin

(Drag slider to scroll through timeline at link)

http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/crime/yogurt-shop-murder-argument-still-rages
Yogurt shop murder argument still rages
After 20 years, state and defense remain at odds
December 6, 2011

AUSTIN (KXAN) - On the 20th anniversary of the infamous Yogurt Shop murders, careful analysis points to the likelihood of one of two possibilities.

One: Capable and dedicated investigators and prosecutors live with the heartbreaking reality that despite their best efforts, they are, so far, unable to prove beyond a reasonable doubt, the guilt of the men they know did the deed.

The other: A botched crime scene led to a tainted investigation and prosecution that violated the defendants’ constitutional rights, resulting in a case blinded by bias that never even got close to the sociopaths who actually committed the crime.

This much we know: Stung by a Supreme Court decision to throw out separate murder convictions against suspects Robert Springsteen and Michael Scott, the prosecution took another hit when new DNA evidence showed no link to either of those men.

The DNA in question is known as Y-STR. It zeroes in on the Y-chromosome carried by males. In this case, the results found nothing that would put Scott or Springsteen at the site of the crime. Not only that, the testing suggested that someone else, someone completely unknown to investigators, not only was there, but was involved in the rape and murder of the victims.

Now the argument begins: The state says it is doing everything possible to follow the evidentiary trail and arrive at the truth.

A prominent Austin defense attorney who represented Springsteen at trial begs to differ, suggesting that investigators and prosecutors are unable to move forward, because they are blinded by the ‘bias of belief.’

Settle in: It’s a turbulent but fascinating ride.
More... (3 Pgs.)

http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/crime/unit-works-to-solve-yogurt-shop-murders
Unit works to solve yogurt shop murders
1991 case city's only unsolved quadruple homicide
December 6, 2011

http://weareaustin.com/fulltext/?nxd_id=200447
Yogurt Shop murders: Investigators still searching for answers 20 years later
December 6, 2011

(http://weareaustin.com/images/Multi_Media/weareaustin/nxd_media/img/jpg/2009_08/48eaef60-b0a2-90f4-fd30-4ee25a3c42cc/220x165.jpg)

It's been two decades since four young girls were murdered at an I Can't Believe It's Yogurt shop in North Austin.

On Dec. 6, 1991, authorities found the bodies of four teenage girls - Amy Ayers, 13; Sarah Harbison, 15; Jennifer Harbison, 17; and Eliza Thomas, 17 in the I Can't Believe It's Yogurt shop on Anderson Lane in North Austin.  They had been raped and murdered.
More...

http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/local/remembering-their-teen-angels
Remembering their teen angels
Yogurt shop murders 20 years later
December 6, 2011

Video at Link

 ::MonkeyAngel:: ::MonkeyAngel:: ::MonkeyAngel:: ::MonkeyAngel::

http://www.statesman.com/news/local/public-safety-panel-may-vote-to-review-unsolved-2389539.html
Public safety panel may vote to review unsolved crime cases
June 3, 2012

The Austin Public Safety Commission is expected to vote on a resolution that would provide funding for the external review of certain unsolved major crime cases, beginning with the infamous 1991 yogurt shop slayings.

Vice Chairman Kim Rossmo said he will introduce the proposal today to the seven-member commission and give a short presentation on the weak evidence that took two men to trial in the notorious murder investigation, which he described in a written statement in advance of the meeting as having "suffered from ‘tunnel vision' and ‘group think.' "

"It appears detectives are trying to twist the evidence to fit pre-existing theories, rather than adjusting their beliefs to accommodate the new DNA evidence," wrote Rossmo, a Texas State University criminology professor and former police detective. "A proper investigation requires an open mind and a constant exploration of alternative suspects. It appears this has not occurred in any meaningful way in the tragic Yogurt Shop Murders case."

The resolution comes after several comments were made by a retired Austin police detective at the public safety panel's May meeting, disputing Rossmo's interpretation of the evidence and calling him a liar. The former detective said an evaluation had determined the evidence was not weak and took issue with the chairman's comment that it was "basically individuals (suspects) pointing fingers at each other."

But Rossmo said his presentation would make it clear that there were flaws in the investigation, which remains unsolved more than 20 years later.

Amy Ayers, 13, sisters Sarah and Jennifer Harbison, 15 and 17, and Eliza Thomas, 17, were found bound with their own clothing and shot in the head on Dec. 6, 1991, after authorities quelled a fire at the I Can't Believe It's Yogurt shop in North Austin.

The investigation into one of the most brutal crimes in Austin history has drawn criticism from the community, as officials relied heavily on confessions of the two men whose convictions were later overturned, and as authorities have been unable to identify the origin of DNA found on one of the victims,
 ::snipping2::

http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/local/austin/rossmo-takes-final-case-to-commission
Rossmo takes final case to commission
Commissioner pushes for outside review of cases
June 4, 2012

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Kim Rossmo will have 15 minutes on Monday afternoon to make his case for an outside review of the Yogurt Shop murders investigation, and he expects to make the most of it.
On Sunday night, Rossmo drafted a resolution to present to his colleagues on the Public Safety Commission on Monday, outlining his best case for another look at cold cases. The resolution will call for a policy, to be approved by Council, that would provide external reviews for unsolved major crime cases.

The quadruple homicide known as the Yogurt Shop murders happened in 1991 but will be at the top of his list.

Rossmo said it was a KXAN story in December that raised doubts in his mind, doubts that have only grown with the statements of retired Det. Paul Johnson, who has accused Rossmo of lying about his evidence.

Rossmo, as vice chair of the Public Safety Commission, is not just an interested citizen. He's also considered a rising star in criminology circles with his methods of solving serial cases. In the case of the 20-year-old Yogurt Shop case, Rossmo has questions about why police did not pursue resolving the case with new DNA evidence, rather than simply allowing the evidence to drop cases against existing suspects.
More...

http://www.kvue.com/news/Austin-Commission-wants-new-detectives-in-Yogurt-Shop-murders-156953715.html
Commissioners want new detectives on Yogurt Shop homicides
June 4, 2012

Video at Link

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991_Austin_yogurt_shop_murders

1991 Austin yogurt shop murders

http://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2010-12-31/pierce-shooting-still-about-four-murders/
Pierce Shooting: 'Still About Four Murders'
Edit to add publication date of article.  MB  December 31, 2012


hmmm...does an innocent person try to cut the throat of a cop?

http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-18559_162-6076933.html

Innocence Lost: The Yogurt Shop Murders
Edit to add publication date of article.  MB  November 11, 2010

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/courts/entries/2010/12/15/former_yogurt_shop_murder_defe.html

Former yogurt shop murder defendant charged in West Virginia
Edit to add publication date of article.  MB December 15, 2012

KittyMom - You're so good about posting the link with the article, but would you please include the date of publication along with it?      ::MonkeyKiss::  ::bee::

This was a terrible, terrible crime.   ::MonkeyNoNo:: 

I'm sorry.  I didn't realize I was supposed to do that.  I'll do it from now on.  Thanks.

Thank you KittyMom.  It's really helpful for those reading to know the date of the article and for updating threads and for research purposes.  ::bee::

https://twitter.com/#!/JudgeJeanine (https://twitter.com/#!/JudgeJeanine)
Jeanine Pirro ‏@JudgeJeanine
&we'll cover the yogurt shop murders of 4 young girls in Austin Texas in 1991.These families needs justice. Please tune in to #FoxNews 9pmET

12:54 PM - 6 Jul 12 via web · Details

http://www.statesman.com/news/news/crime-law/former-yogurt-shop-defendant-seeking-700000-for-ti/nX27N/
Former yogurt shop defendant seeking $700,000 for time in prison
May 24, 2013
A man whose conviction was overturned in the brutal killings of one of four teenage girls at an Austin yogurt shop in 1991 has asked a federal court to clear his name.
If the court finds him innocent, Robert Springsteen IV could collect more than $700,000 from the state for wrongful imprisonment, according to a petition filed in U.S. federal court in Austin. Springsteen spent nine years behind bars after a trial that included a confession he made to police. That confession was coerced, his defense attorneys have said.
The girls were bound, raped and shot in a crime that was made more difficult to investigate because the attackers set a fire in the shop that damaged the evidence.
After Springsteen’s conviction was overturned on appeal in 2006, prosecutors ordered DNA testing on evidence recovered from the girls’ bodies to build a stronger case, but the samples did not match him or Michael Scott, another suspect convicted of the killings. All charges against Springsteen were dismissed in 2009, although the district attorney’s office said that officials remained confident that Springsteen and Scott were guilty.
In the petition filed Thursday, Springsteen faults the district attorney’s office, saying it has “failed and refused to declare him actually innocent.” That refusal is a violation of his constitutional rights, the document said.
Springsteen applied to the Texas Comptroller’s Office on Oct. 23 for compensation from the state but his request was denied two months later because “there has been no finding of actual innocence by a court of law,” according to the petition.
 ::snipping3::

http://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2014-03-07/springsteen-sues-for-innocence-in-bexar-county/
Springsteen Sues for Innocence – in Bexar County
Freed inmate takes his case to a friendlier venue
March 7, 2014

More than four years after the dismissal of the capital murder charges filed against him in connection with the notorious 1991 yogurt shop murders, Robert Springsteen has filed a civil case in Bexar County district court, asking that a judge make a finding that he is actually innocent of that crime. "Without a judicial declaration of innocence, there is no recourse for the innocent who are wrongly accused or convicted," reads the suit, filed in December 2013.
Springsteen was one of four men charged with committing, as teenagers, the horrifying murders of four teen girls – Eliza Thomas, 17, sisters Jennifer and Sarah Harbison, 17 and 15, and Amy Ayers, 13 – on Dec. 6, 1991, inside a North Austin yogurt shop. Eight years later, Springsteen, 16 at the time of the murders, and his high school acquaintances Michael Scott and Maurice Pierce, also then 16, were charged with capital murder. (A grand jury twice declined to indict a fourth teenager, Forrest Welborn, as an accomplice.)
The state sought, and received, a death sentence for Springsteen in 2001; a year later, a jury returned a verdict of life for Scott. Pierce spent more than three years in jail before the charges against him were dismissed for a lack of evidence. (Pierce was shot and killed in 2010 by an Austin Police Department officer during a struggle after fleeing a traffic stop; the officer was cleared of wrongdoing.)
The convictions of Springsteen and Scott were ultimately overturned. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled that the prosecutors had violated the suspects' constitutional rights; after marathon police interrogation sessions, both Scott and Springsteen had confessed, including the admission by Springsteen that he had raped Ayers. The subsequent discovery in 2008 of two unknown male DNA profiles taken from vaginal swabs of the slain girls cast considerable doubt on the confessions. Although the state has tested hundreds of men connected to the case, including the original four suspects, boyfriends of the girls, and other acquaintances, no match has ever been found for either profile.
District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg reluctantly dismissed the charges against Springsteen and Scott in 2009, while maintaining that they remain prime suspects. The state's new theory, apparently, is that the four boys were aided by two additional, unidentified accomplices. Although the APD told the Chronicle in 2011 that its investigation was ongoing, it appears that the case has again gone cold (see "Scene of the Crime," Dec. 16, 2011).
More...

http://crimefeed.com/2016/05/crime-history-the-austin-yogurt-shop-murders/

THE MYSTERY OF THE AUSTIN YOGURT SHOP MURDERS
May 16, 2016 by Leigh Egan

(http://crimefeed.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/yogurt-shop-murders.png)

On December 6, 1991, four teenage girls were scrubbing down counters and sweeping the floors at a yogurt shop in Austin, Texas, when they were brutally attacked and shot to death. The incident would ultimately lead to court decisions that shocked the community, leaving questions unanswered and a murder mystery that still lingers more than 20 years later.

Jennifer Harbison and Eliza Thomas, both 17, were working part-time at “I Can’t Believe It’s Yogurt!” a small shop situated snugly in a strip mall off of W. Anderson Lane. On the night of the murders, they were busy cleaning up the store after hours, anticipating a sleepover after their shifts ended. Jennifer’s 15-year-old sister, Sarah Harbison, was sitting at one of the tables in the shop, waiting for the girls to finish work. Sarah’s friend, 13-year-old Amy Ayers, sat beside her.

At around midnight, firefighters responded to a fire at the yogurt shop. As they worked to distinguish the flames, one of the firefighters spotted what looked like a human foot. He rushed through the smoke and rubble to take a better look.

As he drew closer, he discovered three girls near the back door, naked and stacked on top of each other, covered with Styrofoam cups that were drenched in lighter fluid and set afire. As the firefighter looked closer, he realized the young girls were dead, lying in a mixture of blood, smoke, debris, and chocolate syrup. All three had been shot in the head, execution-style.

The youngest teen, Amy, was found a few minutes later, lying alone, barely alive, near the yogurt shop bathrooms. She died shortly after, having sustained two gunshot wounds to the head. Some of the girls had been raped, but it would be years before DNA testing would become available.

Shanon Quaranta, a former student at Austin’s Crockett High School, was a teen when the killings happened. She remembered how it shattered the illusion in the community that teens were safe while working after-school jobs.

“When I found out I was shocked!” she explained. “Here are teens that were out working instead of being at the mall hanging out, partying or sitting around home watching TV.  They were working, they were being responsible and such a horrible tragedy took place…. I think the biggest impact was that could have been me. That could have been my friends.”

Since the firefighters arrived first, the crime scene was contaminated. While they worked to put out the flames, a lot of the evidence was obliterated and washed away. This innocent mistake would prove to be costly in the years to come. 

Austin investigators worked with what they had, trying to piece together exactly what happened that night, but for over a week, they had no leads. Their first break came when a local teen, Maurice Pierce, 16 at the time, was caught at nearby Northcross Mall, carrying a .22 caliber gun.

When questioned, Pierce bragged that the gun was used to kill the “yogurt shop girls.” He said a friend, Forrest Welborn, 15, gave him the pistol, but after police wired Pierce and listened in on a conversation between him and Welborn, it was obvious Wellborn had no idea what Pierce was getting at.

“It was obvious to everyone that Pierce was trying to force the issue on Welborn, who had no idea what Pierce was talking about,” said one of the homicide detectives on the case,

Welborn was brought in for questioning afterwards, and although he passed a polygraph test, he mentioned two other teens, Michael Scott and Rob Springsteen, both 17 at the time. Wellborn said he traveled with the teens in a stolen Nissan Pathfinder just days after the murder, but with no evidence to link any them to the crime, the case stalled. Authorities let Pierce off the hook after the ballistics with the gun he had didn’t match up. Detectives noted that Pierce seemed to have a mental illness.

Five years later, despite thousands of tips pouring in, the case remained unsolved. In 1996, a new detective, Paul Johnson, took over, and while searching through numerous tips, Pierce’s name stood out to him. Working off of an FBI profile for the murders, he brought in Pierce, Scott, Springsteen, and Welborn for questioning. All of them denied any involvement in the murders at first, but after a series of intense interrogations, Scott was the first to break, and admitted that he helped carry out the murders.

According to Scott, both Pierce and Springsteen brought a gun into the yogurt shop, planning to rob it, while Welborn acted as a lookout and stayed in the car. Scott said he took a gun from Pierce at some point after Pierce began yelling at the girls for money. Scott also indicated that Springsteen hit one of the girls and sexually assaulted her. As another girl began screaming for her life, Scott said he shot her in the head at Pierce’s insistence. He then remembered running out the door to the getaway car, while the yogurt shop began to catch on fire. He stated Wellborn had apparently fled the scene while they were inside.
 ::snipping3:: ::snipping3:: ::snipping3::
Detectives are still working on finding more evidence in the murders, but for now, it remains an unsolved mystery. In the meantime, the senseless killings of four girls persistently hangs in the air in Austin, while many locals await a conclusion that may never come.

http://kxan.com/2016/12/05/25-years-later-looking-for-a-match-in-the-yogurt-shop-murders/
25 years later: Murder of 4 Austin teens still unsolved
Published Dec. 5, 2016, Updated Dec. 6, 2016

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Tuesday marks 25 years since four teenage girls were murdered in a North Austin yogurt shop.

The “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Yogurt” Shop on Anderson Lane went up in flames on Dec. 6, 1991. When the fire was put out, the bodies of 13-year-old Amy Ayers, 17-year-old Jennifer Harbison, her 15-year-old sister Sarah, and 17-year-old Eliza Thomas were found in the torched building — tied up, stacked on top of each other and all shot in the head. There was also evidence they had been sexually assaulted.

“You can’t help but relive those images and I still see the images,” said former Austin firefighter Rene Garza.

After a quarter of a century, he recalls the exact moment the scene went from a fire investigation to a quadruple homicide.

“The firefighter with me tapped me on the shoulder and pointed down and he asked me, ‘Is that a body?’ And I had to step back,”‘ said Garza. “It was and I saw another body. I knew that it wasn’t right. Something was not right,”
 ::snipping3::

Eight years later, four men were arrested, but only two — Robert Springsteen and Michael Scott — went to trial. Both men confessed and were convicted, but were both set free when new testing revealed DNA from a mystery suspect was found on the youngest victim, Amy.

“We have some unanswered DNA questions that we are continuing to address,” said Detective Jay Swann with the Austin Police Cold Case Unit.

Det. Swann said the DNA is a very specific type, and finding a match is extremely labor intensive.

“We have to just take a DNA sample from the next person that we think it could be,” said Det. Swann. “And so if we ever get to the point where we have a national database for some of the different sub-types of DNA that we have, that could be one of the keys to bringing this investigation back into the courtroom.”

KXAN asked if any yogurt shop evidence was impacted with the recent problems and closure of the Austin Police crime lab.

The detective said “no,” it’s all been tested by other labs, including the Department of Public Safety.

https://www.kvue.com/article/news/investigations/pure-unadulterated-evil-exploring-the-1991-austin-yogurt-shop-murders/269-94135695-d8c6-421b-8061-2c9ca6014e41
'Pure, unadulterated evil' | Exploring the 1991 Austin yogurt shop murders
Police believe that someone entered the yogurt shop in Northwest Austin with the intention of committing a robbery. Then, the unthinkable happened.
May 3, 2109


AUSTIN, Texas — It’s been said that Austin lost its innocence on the night of December 6, 1991 when four teenage girls were murdered at a yogurt shop in the northwest part of town.

Two of the girls, Jennifer Harbison and Eliza Thomas, both 17, worked at the I Can’t Believe It’s Yogurt shop located in a strip mall in the 3000 block of West Anderson Lane. The two other girls – Jennifer’s 15-year-old sister, Sarah, and 13-year-old Amy Ayers – were visiting the shop that night around closing time.

All had planned to go to a slumber party when the shop closed at 11 p.m.

But something terrible happened as the girls began closing for the evening.

“It was pure, unadulterated evil,” said Dick Ellis, a former KVUE reporter who covered the story.
 ::snipping3::
More
Photos & Video

 ::MonkeyTears:: ::MonkeyTears::

This was soooooo horrific! I've read a lot about it over the years and have seen documentary's and even a movie about it. Just horrific!

https://www.kvue.com/article/news/investigations/we-will-never-give-up-on-this-case-investigators-continue-to-seek-answers-in-the-1991-austin-yogurt-shop-murders/269-554e90a4-0a03-45ef-9c7f-3f81eccecc9d
'We will never give up on this case' | Investigators continue to seek answers in the 1991 Austin yogurt shop murders
Investigators have renewed their focus on the tragic events that occurred on December 6, 1991.
May 24, 2019

YAY MUFFY!!!