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

[Richard]

New: Brasher now linked and identified as perp of a murder/fire in Lexington, KY

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Statement from Lexington, KY police in link above
"
On November 7, 1998, around 7:40 am, the Lexington Fire Department was dispatched to the Nixon Hearing Aid Center in the 100 block of Malibu Drive for a structure fire. When crews arrived at the scene, they observed heavy smoke coming from the business and made entry. The fire was extinguished quickly, and a female victim was located deceased in the back hallway.
The Fayette County Coroner’s Office identified the victim as 43-year-old Linda Marie Rutledge. Ms. Rutledge’s cause of death was determined to be multiple gunshot wounds to the head."

Brashers shot himself in January 1999, only two months after the murder of Linda Marie Rutledge. Police were investigating his possession of a stolen car.

How many other victims were there?

 

[arielilane]

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Scripps News Lexington) — Lexington police have solved a 27-year-old homicide case, identifying the killer of Linda Marie Rutledge through advanced DNA and ballistic evidence that connected her 1998 murder to the infamous “Yogurt Shop Murders” in Austin, Texas.

Kentucky cold case solved, linked to Texas yogurt shop murders

Suspected serial killer Robert Eugene Brashers has been identified as the suspect in the cold case murder of Linda Marie Rutledge.

www.courttv.com

1/10/2026

FILE – Linda Marie Rutledge (Lexington Police Department)

 

[Betty P]

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Scripps News Lexington) — Lexington police have solved a 27-year-old homicide case, identifying the killer of Linda Marie Rutledge through advanced DNA and ballistic evidence that connected her 1998 murder to the infamous “Yogurt Shop Murders” in Austin, Texas.

Kentucky cold case solved, linked to Texas yogurt shop murders

Suspected serial killer Robert Eugene Brashers has been identified as the suspect in the cold case murder of Linda Marie Rutledge.

www.courttv.com

1/10/2026

FILE – Linda Marie Rutledge (Lexington Police Department)

Brashers was a real menace to society. One sick, evil person robbing young women of their lives in the most horrible ways.

 

[dotr]

'Yogurt shop murders suspect '100%' linked to more crimes, investigator says | Unsolved: Central Texas''​

Feb 5, 2026
Months after revealing a major breakthrough in one of the most infamous cold cases in Central Texas, there's little rest for the police detective and the former prosecutor leading the investigation into the deaths of four girls at a north Austin yogurt shop in 1991.

 

[SpringDonut77]

'Yogurt shop murders suspect '100%' linked to more crimes, investigator says | Unsolved: Central Texas''​

Feb 5, 2026
Months after revealing a major breakthrough in one of the most infamous cold cases in Central Texas, there's little rest for the police detective and the former prosecutor leading the investigation into the deaths of four girls at a north Austin yogurt shop in 1991.

they didn't really come out and say how he found the yogurt shop, how he knew it would be 4 girls alone, why he was in Austin to begin with? Maybe they are still trying to figure those pieces out?

 

[TwinkieDefense]

Feb 18, 2026 article

Family of Maurice Pierce reacts as court moves to clear wrongly accused men in Yogurt Shop Murders

A Travis County court is set to clear the names of four men accused of the 1991 Yogurt Shop Murders.

www.wfaa.com

[…]

Now, after Austin police announced that new DNA, ballistics and investigative work link the murders to a known serial killer, a Travis County court is expected to declare them innocent and clear their names.

[…]

 

[jbirner]

Springsteen and Scott should get $5 million each and the family of Pierce should get $10 million. That is the least they can do for all the harm that was done to them. This was incompetent police work at its worst. The families of the victims should also be compensated as well.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

A Travis County judge declared four men innocent Thursday in the 1991 Yogurt Shop Murders, formally closing a case that haunted Austin for more than three decades

Judge Dayna Blazey exonerated Michael Scott, Robert Springsteen, Maurice Pierce, and Forrest Welborn in connection with the murders of four teenage girls at an Austin yogurt shop.

"Today's decision is not an act of generosity. It is an act of obligation," said Judge Blazey. "The court can and does state without qualification and hesitation that you are cleared and that your innocence is affirmed."

Four men declared innocent in Austin's 1991 Yogurt Shop Murders

The ruling formally closed a case that haunted Austin for more than three decades.

kcby.com

 

[twall]

Bring on the civil lawsuits!

 

[CrimeDawg123]

A Travis County judge declared four men innocent Thursday in the 1991 Yogurt Shop Murders, formally closing a case that haunted Austin for more than three decades

Judge Dayna Blazey exonerated Michael Scott, Robert Springsteen, Maurice Pierce, and Forrest Welborn in connection with the murders of four teenage girls at an Austin yogurt shop.

"Today's decision is not an act of generosity. It is an act of obligation," said Judge Blazey. "The court can and does state without qualification and hesitation that you are cleared and that your innocence is affirmed."

Four men declared innocent in Austin's 1991 Yogurt Shop Murders

The ruling formally closed a case that haunted Austin for more than three decades.

kcby.com

About time.