DNA ties dead Texas suspect to 1991 Yogurt Shop murders
Austin police say DNA evidence links deceased suspect Robert Eugene Brashers to the killings of four teen girls; the case remains open.
DNA evidence has linked a deceased suspect to the 1991 quadruple murder at an Austin yogurt shop, authorities said Friday. Robert Eugene Brashers, who died by suicide in 1999 after a police standoff, is now identified through DNA as connected to the killings at the I Can’t Believe It’s Yogurt store. The Yogurt Shop Murders case remains open and has drawn decades of scrutiny from investigators and the public.
Investigators said Brashers’ DNA matches material recovered from the crime scene and also links him to three rapes and murders in Missouri and South Carolina — including a mother and daughter — and to a rape in Tennessee. The disclosure broadens the suspect profile and could alter the historical narrative of the case.
Two teenagers, Robert Springsteen and Michael Scott, were charged and convicted in 2001 and 2002 for the killings, but their convictions were overturned on appeal, in part because there was no DNA evidence tying them to the crimes. The Yogurt Shop Murders drew national attention and helped spur interest in a 2024 HBO docuseries, The Yogurt Shop Murders, that renewed public interest in the case.
Brashers’ link to the yogurt shop killings comes as investigators review the possibility that other assaults and murders attributed to him were carried out in multiple states, though authorities caution that additional evidence is needed to confirm a broader pattern.
The Austin Police Department said the investigation remains active and that a news conference is planned for Monday to discuss the new findings. In a statement, the department underscored that it had never given up on solving the case and that advances in DNA technology can reshape long-dormant leads.
Families of the victims and longtime researchers have followed the case closely as new details emerge. A memorial at the strip mall where the yogurt shop stood remains a site of remembrance, and the case has continued to resonate in Austin.
The victims were Amy Ayers, 13; Eliza Thomas, 17; and sisters Jennifer and Sarah Harbison, 17 and 15, respectively. The four girls were bound, gagged and shot in the head at the store, which was then set on fire.
