The Austin Yogurt Shop Murders: Solved After 34 Years

About this episode

This episode explores the Austin Yogurt Shop Murders, detailing the investigation, wrongful convictions, and the eventual identification of the real killer through DNA evidence.

In December 1991, 4 teenage girls - Jennifer Harbison, Sarah Harbison, Amy Ayers, and Eliza Thomas - were brutally murdered inside an Austin yogurt shop after closing time, in one of the most horrifying crimes in Texas history. Bound, shot execution-style, sexually assaulted, and left inside a store deliberately set on fire, the case shocked the nation and launched a decades-long investigation filled with controversy, mistakes, and unanswered questions. Police eventually arrested 4 young men, with 2, Michael Scott and Robert Springsteen, convicted after giving confessions they later claimed were coerced. As forensic insight, conflicting evidence, and allegations of aggressive interrogation tactics came to light, the case began to unravel. Over 30 years after the murders, advances in DNA technology identified an entirely different suspect: a violent serial offender who was connected to sexual assaults, murders, home invasions, and a trail of violence across multiple states. In this episode of REDRUM, we break down the full timeline of the Austin Yogurt Shop Murders, the catastrophic investigation, the wrongful convictions, the detective later accused of coercing confessions, and…

People in this episode

Host: redrumpodcast

Topics covered

• true crime
• murder investigation
• wrongful convictions
• DNA evidence
• cold cases
• forensic science

Keywords

• Austin Yogurt Shop Murders
• true crime
• wrongful convictions
• DNA technology
• forensic evidence
• cold case
• Texas murders

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Austin yogurt shop

Places: Texas

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