TX TX - Yogurt Shop Murders, Austin, 6 Dec 1991

[no greed]

I believe there was more than one person who was involved in this horrible crime. I can't believe, after all these years, no one has talked or "bragged" about committing these murders to someone. These 4 girls deserve justice!

Deadmen don’t talk. I believe it was most likely the two unidentified customers that were in the shop at closing time. I believe if they had lived very long after those murders they would have been identified. IMO only.
I hope LE kept Kenneth McDuff’s DNA and have compared it to the DNA recovered at the YSM murders. I know LE have excluded him and his usual method of murder was kidnapping; but it was reported he did confess to the YSM murders before his state execution.

 

[dotr]

Aug 2 2025 rbbm.

The Chilling Yogurt Shop Murders: Who Killed 4 Texas Teens—and Why the Case Went Cold

HBO docuseries The Yogurt Shop Murders chronicles the investigation into the 1991 killing of four Austin teenagers and the shocking aftermath of the chilling crime.

www.eonline.com

'Travis County prosecutors said they planned to retry both men, but both walked free in 2009 after newly tested DNA collected from crime scene samples wasn’t a match to Springsteen, Scott, Welborn or Pierce (who died in 2010).'

''Where does the yogurt murder shop case stand now?
The 1991 case remains open.
“We're waiting for…the DNA science to improve to then resubmit what we have left in the crime lab for further testing,” U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, whose district includes Austin, told 48 Hours in July 2025. The DNA, he noted, “is everything.”

 

[dotr]

Aug 3 2025

Detective on 'Yogurt Shop Murders' is 'confident' he'll solve 34-year-old cold case

In 1991, four teenage girls were killed in Austin. Decades later, their cold case is the subject of HBO docuseries "The Yogurt Shop Murders."

ca.news.yahoo.com

'Brown remembers when she moved to Austin in the late '90s when she says billboards asking for information on the case plastered the sky. One of the reasons she signed on for the project is “because a lot of my friends who are crime reporters said this is the most interesting crime that exists,” Brown says in an interview. “There's not one with more rabbit holes. This is the mothership of interesting crime.”

''When I started, we needed a certain amount (of DNA). We weren't even close to it, but that amount that you need is so much less now.”
He adds, “I am confident that I will solve this.”
He’s also hopeful that the docuseries could lead to the tip that cracks open the case.''

 

[Baba O'Riley]

I just watched the first episode on MAX. What a terrible case. I hope the advances in DNA technology finally solve this case.

 

[kemo]

Apparently there was enough biological material available to create a Y-SRT profile with 16 markers in 2010. At the time, this was considered sufficient for a “match” if a known subject had the same 16 markers on their Y-SRT profile. Apparently, the FBI has a database of Y-SRT profiles that it is reluctant to discuss. (this is different from the CODIS database which relies entirely on samples obtained by people convicted of particular crimes) There are murky issues related to privacy rights the FBI doesn’t want to expose.

From what has been disclosed, a 16 marker “match” was found from someone on this database. The FBI did not make this person’s identity known or otherwise investigate them for possible involvement in the Yogurt Shop case. Instead, they performed additional tests on that sample and were able to create a Y-SRT profile with 25 markers. Now, it has been revealed that with 25 markers, the profile is no longer a “match” so the lead is effectively a “dead end”. The best hope now is that enough biological material can now be found to obtain a SNP profile which is the best tool for Genetic Genealogy. Advances in recovery methods hold hope that this may still be possible.

The fact that the Y-SRT profile was very close raises interesting possibilities however. If 16 markers are a match but 9 are not, that wouldn’t mean much but if 23 or 24 were a match, that wouldn’t suggest a close relative on the male line and Familial DNA analysis might be possible. Familial DNA has its own “legal issues” since it involves using the DNA of someone who is not suspected of a crime (and has not granted permission) to be used to identify a suspect. It is unclear whether or not the FBI would utilize this technique if it were feasible.

Besides being a horrific high profile crime, this case has seriously damaged the reputation of Austin Law Enforcement due to the probable innocence of those defendants who were convicted. There has always been the suspicion that Austin LE doesn’t want the case solved for fear that it will turn out that the real murderer (or murderers) were under their noses while the innocent were being prosecuted.

 

[dotr]

August 24, 2025

‘The Yogurt Shop Murders’ Director & Cold Case’s Lead Detective On Enduring Tragedy Of 1991 Murders As New Developments Signal Hope

Director Margaret Brown and Yogurt Shop investigator Dan Jackson spoke with Deadline about the case as the HBO documentary reaches its final episode

deadline.com

''Over the course of four episodes, director Margaret Brown has simultaneously dug into the twists and turns of the 34-year-old cold case while also primarily focusing on the lasting trauma felt by the surviving family members who have tried to make peace with such an unimaginable loss. Certainly, the details of the case are gripping but, ultimately, she wanted the series to be about “dealing with trauma in our lives, and how we can and can’t hold on to memory and all its facets.”

''For all the frustrations of the Yogurt Shop case, detectives have exhibited quite an incredible amount of foresight regarding the DNA component of the case. The documentary details how, upon discovering the grisly scene, the first investigators at the scene convinced the coroner not to move the bodies until they’d been swabbed for DNA, even though it went against conventional wisdom at the time.''

 

[dotr]

Aug 29, 2025 Forbes True Crime
'On the night of December 6th, 1991, a fire raged inside an Austin I Can't Believe It's Yogurt shop. After the blaze was put out, a grizzly scene was revealed. The bodies of four girls – Amy Ayers, Eliza Thomas, and sisters Sarah and Jennifer Harbison, were found bound and shot in the back of the store. The shocking crime haunted the community and answers as to who murdered the teenagers eluded investigators. Over the last three decades, this case has been filled with twists and turns – multiple false confessions, convictions that were then overturned years later, and DNA evidence found at the scene that still does not have a match. Close to 34 years later, the case still remains unsolved. Margaret Brown, director of 'The Yogurt Shop Murders,' joins “Forbes True Crime” to discuss her new documentary series that reexamines the story.'

 

[TexLil]

Suspect has been identified in the 1991 murder of four teenage girls in an Austin, Texas, yogurt shop.

Bullet casing in drain at Texas yogurt shop links serial killer to the infamous murders, says original investigator

"48 Hours" can exclusively report there has been a huge break in the 1991 murders of four teenage girls in a Texas yogurt shop.

www.cbsnews.com

 

[MassGuy]

Robert Eugene Brashers’s history of murder​

On March 28, 1998, the bodies of 38-year-old Sherri Scherer and her 12-year-old daughter, Megan Scherer, were found in their home in Portageville, Missouri. Missouri officials said both of the Scherers had been murdered, and Megan Scherer had been sexually assaulted.

A partial DNA profile was developed from evidence at the crime scene, but the profile didn’t have enough markers to be entered into the Combined DNA Index System, commonly known as CODIS.
In 1999, Brashers died by suicide. But his death was far from the end of his story.
In the years that followed the Scherer murders, Missouri officials said investigators conducted numerous interviews and followed hundreds of leads. The case was also featured on “America’s Most Wanted.”

Then, in 2006, significant advances in DNA testing led evidence from the Scherer murders to be resubmitted to the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Crime Library. A full suspect DNA profile was developed and entered into CODIS.
That resulted in a match to the April 1990 murder of 28-year-old Genevieve Zitricki in Greenville, South Carolina.
Missouri officials said following that match, investigators from South Carolina, Tennessee and Missouri worked together to investigate more than 1,200 leads and the cases were again featured on “America’s Most Wanted.”
More years passed. In 2017, the investigation yielded a CODIS match to the March 1997 rape of a 14-year-old girl in Memphis, Tennessee.

Who was Robert Eugene Brashers? | What we know about the man law enforcement sources say committed the Yogurt Shop Murders

Brashers, who died in 1999, was a serial killer whose DNA has been connected to numerous crimes across the U.S., including the 1991 quadruple murder in Austin.

www.kvue.com

 

[DS2021]

Suspect has been identified in the 1991 murder of four teenage girls in an Austin, Texas, yogurt shop.

Bullet casing in drain at Texas yogurt shop links serial killer to the infamous murders, says original investigator

"48 Hours" can exclusively report there has been a huge break in the 1991 murders of four teenage girls in a Texas yogurt shop.

www.cbsnews.com

That suspect is Robert Eugene Brashers, who is deceased, says retired Austin detective John Jones.

Brashers is a serial killer and rapist who committed at least three murders between 1990 and 1998 in the states of South Carolina and Missouri. He died in January 1999 by suicide during a standoff with police.

 

[DS2021]

The word solved is being used. This case is
solved

After more than 3 decades, investigators believe the Yogurt Shop Murders have been solved

Nearly 34 years ago, four teen girls were killed at a yogurt shop in North Austin. Their murders have remained unsolved – until now.

www.kvue.com

Law enforcement sources confirmed to KVUE Senior Reporter Tony Plohetski that the 1991 Yogurt Shop Murders have been solved using genetic genealogy technology. The perpetrator has been identified as American serial killer Robert Eugene Brashers, who died by suicide in 1999

 

[katikaboom]

Robert Eugene Brashers’s history of murder​

On March 28, 1998, the bodies of 38-year-old Sherri Scherer and her 12-year-old daughter, Megan Scherer, were found in their home in Portageville, Missouri. Missouri officials said both of the Scherers had been murdered, and Megan Scherer had been sexually assaulted.

A partial DNA profile was developed from evidence at the crime scene, but the profile didn’t have enough markers to be entered into the Combined DNA Index System, commonly known as CODIS.
In 1999, Brashers died by suicide. But his death was far from the end of his story.
In the years that followed the Scherer murders, Missouri officials said investigators conducted numerous interviews and followed hundreds of leads. The case was also featured on “America’s Most Wanted.”

Then, in 2006, significant advances in DNA testing led evidence from the Scherer murders to be resubmitted to the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Crime Library. A full suspect DNA profile was developed and entered into CODIS.
That resulted in a match to the April 1990 murder of 28-year-old Genevieve Zitricki in Greenville, South Carolina.
Missouri officials said following that match, investigators from South Carolina, Tennessee and Missouri worked together to investigate more than 1,200 leads and the cases were again featured on “America’s Most Wanted.”
More years passed. In 2017, the investigation yielded a CODIS match to the March 1997 rape of a 14-year-old girl in Memphis, Tennessee.

Who was Robert Eugene Brashers? | What we know about the man law enforcement sources say committed the Yogurt Shop Murders

Brashers, who died in 1999, was a serial killer whose DNA has been connected to numerous crimes across the U.S., including the 1991 quadruple murder in Austin.

www.kvue.com

I honestly never thought they would find him. Are any of the girl's parents or siblings still alive?

 

[boopboopshoop]

Wow. Amazed they've finally identified a suspect. And I'm surprised it seemed he acted alone and wasn't local to Texas

 

[boopboopshoop]

I honestly never thought they would find him. Are any of the girl's parents or siblings still alive?

Yes, the families were heavily featured in the HBO docu series that came out a few months ago

 

[deadinthewater]

Whoa!!!

 

[deadinthewater]

Wow. Amazed they've finally identified a suspect. And I'm surprised it seemed he acted alone and wasn't local to Texas

I wonder if he did actually actually alone.. I really thought it would have been two men for sure.

 

[MassGuy]

I wonder if he did actually actually alone.. I really thought it would have been two men for sure.

A gun is a great equalizer.

 

[jackornaught]

Wow. I kind of suspected that this was someone that was "experienced". I just don't know how else to say it.

Peace be with the family of the victims.

 

[typical_vacation]

Wow!!!! Didnt expect this!! Sending peace & love to the friends and family.

 

[bajaflash]

I regret not clicking this notification earlier. But to be fair, I am at work lol.

Then I just checked the AP headline on my phone (I have all their tweets appear as notifications) and you know what? Maybe be better im sitting here FREAKING OUT with only 50 mins to go instead of having 2.5 hrs left (when the websleuths notification originally appeared.) I already have an error my supervisor will have to fix next week. Finding this out earlier may have made for more lol.

Finally, answers!!!!!!!!!