TX TX - Yogurt Shop Murders, Austin, 6 Dec 1991 - Robert Eugene Brashers (died by suicide in 1999)

[theonewithallthequestions]

Thank you. That's what I thought they were saying, but that sounded incredible to me, so I thought I may have misunderstood. I wonder if that's been known to happen before.

It does seem like a rare occurrence

 

[layer]

If Brasher was the only perp, how did he manage to subdue all four victims?
Maybe if he used a weapon, though !
Poor girls must have been so terrified.

These were innocent young girls. Even four strong men are no match against one skinny evil man with a good firearm. I always expected it would be a Tommy Lynn Sells type guy. It kind of reminds me of the Lane Bryant horror.
All JMO

 

[deadinthewater]

Thanks very much, @theonewithallthequestions. Absolutely sickening to think that he did all this in the span of 30 or whatever minutes.

 

[Friday Fan]

I decided to watch the HBO Documentary now.

OMG!

Those false confessions

Springsteen: "I was at Rocky Horror because I always go on Friday nights"

Detective: "What if I tell you that Rocky Horror wasn't shown that night?"

Fact: Rocky Horror was shown that night!

On and on it went. I haven't finished watching it yet, but I think that the detective is still absolutely convinced he had the right guys even though they were eventually released from prison. He sure seemed sure of himself in 2021, although Springsteen and Scott had been released in 2009.

Scott's defense attorney seemed to be good about understanding interrogation and false confessions.

I hope someone in law enforcement learned something from this....

 

[Brotherfudz]

Did anyone else's ears perk up when the detective said Brasher was stopped in Las Cruces, probably on the way to see his father in Arizona? Similar MO at the bowling alley in 1990. There was an eyewitness who gave a description of two Hispanic men, the younger one around 30 with a mustache. Brashers is fair-skinned, but maybe? IDK it tickled my brain when I heard that.

Immediately thought this when I heard he had a connection to Las Cruces. He also committed crimes with his brother, possibly other accomplices early on.

 

[Friday Fan]

@velez_tx


The big question: why was Brashers in Austin? What was his connection? Det. Jackson says he doesn’t know. He says law enforcement is still looking for that answer.

Det. Jackson says it’s likely there’s other victims of sexual assaults, possibly murders, connected to Brashers that still haven’t been identified. He says law enforcement is actively working to link Brashers to any outstanding cold cases in the state and beyond.

Det. Jackson says it’s likely a gun Brashers used in the Yogurt Shop Murders, was also the gun he used in his own suicide in 1999.

That's a good question!

I can understand why they focused on the "teens hanging out in the ditch". (Locals who know the comings and goings at the yogurt shop)

Obviously this guy picked the yogurt shop for a reason.

Was he in Austin for any length of time? Was staying near the yogurt shop?


Or was he just trolling Austin looking for victims and happened upon the yogurt shop?

I highly doubt that he had any personal knowledge of the victims prior to that night.

If it hadn't been Dec 6th, it would have been another night and possibly another shift of teens.


Small niche chains like that were popping up all over in the late 80's (Yogurt, pretzels, cookies) And those places provided jobs for teens. Almost all of them were female.


I don't know how many people these stores usually employee, but I know my MIL worked at one of those places and she often got her daughter and husband to help her close. I think they often left her to close alone.

And unlike convenient stores, the yogurt store did not have security cameras.

 

[deadinthewater]

Anyone theorize how he enteted? Did he come in earlier, scope the scene and then unlock the backdoor under the guise of using the bathroom (ie. the unknown man who asked to use the restroom and seemed to be in there for a prolonged period of time). Were the girls too busy to notice? Did he then wait in his car, in the dark of the parking lot, waiting for the girls to close shop?

So chilling to think about.

 

[bajaflash]

Anyone theorize how he enteted? Did he come in earlier, scope the scene and then unlock the backdoor under the guise of using the bathroom (ie. the unknown man who asked to use the restroom and seemed to be in there for a prolonged period of time). Were the girls too busy to notice? Did he then wait in his car, in the dark of the parking lot, waiting for the girls to close shop?

So chilling to think about.

I wonder if during closing duties he came knocking or just flat out opened the door.

 

[Friday Fan]

Anyone theorize how he enteted? Did he come in earlier, scope the scene and then unlock the backdoor under the guise of using the bathroom (ie. the unknown man who asked to use the restroom and seemed to be in there for a prolonged period of time). Were the girls too busy to notice? Did he then wait in his car, in the dark of the parking lot, waiting for the girls to close shop?

So chilling to think about.

Wasn't' there another couple in there around closing time?

My hunch: He's a predator. He came in like a regular customer. Likely opened the back door at one point and propped it with a rock.

Waited until rest of the customers were gone.

Likely told the young women that it was a robbery, since they are taught to comply.

They started to comply and that's how he was able to subdue them.

Totally just MOO

 

[faithx]

Anyone theorize how he enteted? Did he come in earlier, scope the scene and then unlock the backdoor under the guise of using the bathroom (ie. the unknown man who asked to use the restroom and seemed to be in there for a prolonged period of time). Were the girls too busy to notice? Did he then wait in his car, in the dark of the parking lot, waiting for the girls to close shop?

So chilling to think about.

I believe he might have used a ruse similar to what he did in the Memphis (1997) and Dyersburg, Tennessee (1998) cases, where the victims survived.

In both cases, he approached the victims and asked for help. In Memphis, he knocked on the door and claimed his wife lost her purse. In Dyersburg, he asked for directions. Then he pulled a gun on them.

He tied up four female victims in Memphis.

Fulton resident reminisces on homicide investigation | Fulton Sun

Rotary Club attendees Wednesday got firsthand insights into the solving of a series of murders that baffled authorities in the late 1990s.

www.fultonsun.com

Heartland Unsolved: The Hunt for a Serial Killer

We all feel safe in our homes, in our communities. However, in 1998, a brutal crime ripped apart that sense of security.

www.kfvs12.com

 

[Dotta]

I believe he might have used a ruse similar to what he did in the Memphis (1997) and Dyersburg, Tennessee (1998) cases, where the victims survived.

In both cases, he approached the victims and asked for help. In Memphis, he knocked on the door and claimed his wife lost her purse. In Dyersburg, he asked for directions. Then he pulled a gun on them.

He tied up four female victims in Memphis.

Fulton resident reminisces on homicide investigation | Fulton Sun

Rotary Club attendees Wednesday got firsthand insights into the solving of a series of murders that baffled authorities in the late 1990s.

www.fultonsun.com

Heartland Unsolved: The Hunt for a Serial Killer

We all feel safe in our homes, in our communities. However, in 1998, a brutal crime ripped apart that sense of security.

www.kfvs12.com

Hmmm...
Asking for help...
Ted B. style.

 

[deadinthewater]

I believe he might have used a ruse similar to what he did in the Memphis (1997) and Dyersburg, Tennessee (1998) cases, where the victims survived.

In both cases, he approached the victims and asked for help. In Memphis, he knocked on the door and claimed his wife lost her purse. In Dyersburg, he asked for directions. Then he pulled a gun on them.

He tied up four female victims in Memphis.

Fulton resident reminisces on homicide investigation | Fulton Sun

Rotary Club attendees Wednesday got firsthand insights into the solving of a series of murders that baffled authorities in the late 1990s.

www.fultonsun.com

Heartland Unsolved: The Hunt for a Serial Killer

We all feel safe in our homes, in our communities. However, in 1998, a brutal crime ripped apart that sense of security.

www.kfvs12.com

That poor boy, finding his mother and little sister's dead bodies.

The amount of families this demon has destroyed..

 

[Friday Fan]

Looking further back in the thread, someone thought maybe he followed the girls from the mall.

I wonder what time the business next door heard gun shots?

 

[Friday Fan]

I forgot, a third big thing: Brashers was stopped at the TX/Mexico border 2 days after the ICBY crime, and was arrested and convicted for a stolen car (out of Georgia) and I think for possession of a gun. That gun was matched in 2025 to the ICBY crime, and apparently it was also the gun that Brashers used to kill himself in 1998. They didn't say how long his sentence was for the stolen car crime. (I'm still wondering about the gap in his known crimes.)

What? Do you have a link?

Wikipedia says he was arrested in Georgia two months after the murders for unlawful possession of a weapon and stolen vehicle. If he was arrested and charged with the same crimes in West Texas, two days after the murders how did he get his gun back so quickly?

I'm not seeing anything concrete connecting him to Mexico, West Texas, New Mexico or anything south and west of Austin.

I'm confused...

On February 18, 1992, he was arrested in Cobb County, Georgia, for grand theft auto, unlawful possession of a weapon and theft. While searching his vehicle and apartment, policemen found a radio scanner, a police jacket, lock-picking tools and a fake Tennessee driver's license. Fearing another prison sentence, he made a plea deal with the prosecutors and pleaded guilty to the most serious of the charges, allowing for the rest to be dropped. As a result, he was sentenced to an additional five years imprisonment, which he served in full and was released in February 199 Robert Eugene Brashers - Wikipedia

Source:

Robert Brashers: A timeline of crimes police say he committed​

https://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/crime/2018/10/05/greenville-cold-case-robert-brashers-jenny-zitricki/1534079002/?gnt-cfr=1&gca-cat=p&gca-uir=false&gca-epti=z11xx51u117551e002700v11xx51&gca-ft=220&gca-ds=sophi

Never mind: I found the link. Weird. How does that happen? He was driving to into New Mexico. (Not Mexico) But two months later was back in Georgia with another stolen vehicle and another unlawful firearm? Was it the same one that was in Texas? Was it the same stolen vehicle or did they just let him go? Was it a random checkpoint? Was there APB on a stolen vehicle? Something just isn't adding up. Since he was stopped by BP, it likely would have been a federal firearms charge.

BP will also often check "suspicious vehicles" if they are speeding or driving weird. They can do that under the guise of BP.

I guess he was out on bond or something? Was he even charged in the Texas case? Because he was charged in the Georgia case.

Weird....

Significant Breakthrough Made in 1991 I Can't Believe It's Yogurt Murders | AustinTexas.gov

The Austin Police Department (APD) Cold Case Homicide Unit has made a major development

www.austintexas.gov

A bit OT: Someone I know was stopped by BP after doing fieldwork in Big Bend National Park. She did not have a passport with her because she never left the country. So, you don't need to be going to and from Mexico to be stopped by BP.

 

[ReDReq]

I am glad this case us finally solved. I barely knew of it, but after reading the thread, I became more acknowledged about it.

I was thinking as well, that if Brashers wasn't one of the two guys inside, it's plausible that they were just random "creepy weird dudes" trying to kill some time inside the shop. Additionally, they might have left the store bit before Brashers entered (Forceful enter during while the door was opened?). Also he might have even come in earlier, and hid somewhere. Like the bathroom, or sneaked into store room or something. We also know, that he did impersonate police, at least once. It would be easy for young girls first trust him enough, to allow him inside.

Also I am not 100% sure, but did they talk about one full and two partial profiles, when talking about the DNA evidence. We know one full and one partial was from virginal swap, but was there still other?
If there was, could it had been transferred possibly from Eliza? I think it was inconclusive was she sexually assaulted or not? I mean, she could have had a boyfriend, that no one knew about yet.

But yea, I think it's super likely that Brashers did commit this alone. And I think reason why Ayers might have clearly fought the hardest, could easily be, that perhaps Brashers took forceful hold of her, and by gun point, got the other girls to pushed further back on the premises. You know, like holding your arm behind your back... you girl would definitely fight back. It's even possible she managed to get loose, and that would definitely piss off the assailant. Personally, I would kick and bite, if involved in such an attack (OT: I have, thus kind of personal view.).

But was it clear that the girls were alive, when the assault took place? Even bound and gagged, they would be - in theory - able to help each other loose, while Brashers was involving himself with one girl alone. Also the timeline is short, and I would theorise, that if the girls were alive during the assault, they would try their hardest to escape. no matter how tightly bound.

OT: when I was working in restaurant business, you were most likely to open door, even after closing for delivery men, LE, Fire fighters, Ambulance staff, Repair men (if you've called them in.), Security Personnel and Postal workers delivering packages. This is why I thought about him playing a conb for the girls.... since the false sense of security.

This is just my speculations... but it could happen?