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The first part of The Yogurt Shop Murders, the four-part documentary that follows one of Texas’ most devastating unsolved crimes, was released on HBO on August 3. In 1991, four teenage girls were murdered inside an Austin frozen yogurt shop, and the perpetrators are yet to be sentenced to a fair punishment.
The Yogurt Shop Murders follows the long and painful investigation of those murders, the ups and downs of the case, and why justice still hasn’t been served. More than three decades later, The Yogurt Shop Murders has become a cold case, with many questions unanswered.
How The Yogurt Shop Murders became a cold case
It was the night of December 6, 1991, when Jennifer Harbison and Eliza Thomas, both 17, were working the evening shift at I Can’t Believe It’s Yogurt! in northwest Austin. Jennifer’s younger sister Sarah, 15, and Sarah’s friend Amy Ayers, 13, were at the store, waiting for a ride home.
At 11:47 p.m., a police officer on patrol saw flames inside the yogurt shop. Firefighters rushed in and found all four girls killed, and their bodies inside the burning shop. Investigators soon believed the fire had been intentionally set to cover up the murders. The Travis County Medical Examiner later confirmed The Yogurt Shop Murders took place before the fire started. Amy Ayers had been shot twice. The other three had each been shot once in the head.
Though there were no signs of forced entry, the back door was found open. Investigators also noted missing money, which led to an early theory of robbery. But police weren’t sure. Lt. Andrew Waters of the Austin Police told the Austin American-Statesman,
“it’s possible there could have been something else and they attempted to make it look like a robbery.”
Just eight days later, police made an arrest regarding The Yogurt Shop Murders. Sixteen-year-old Maurice Pierce was found nearby with a .22-caliber revolver. He claimed the weapon was used in the crime and told police he was the getaway driver. Retired detective John Jones, the case’s lead investigator at the time, told 48 Hours that Pierce
“implicated”
three others: Forrest Welborn, Michael Scott, and Robert Springsteen IV, who were fifteen, seventeen, and seventeen years old at the time of the murders.
But when police questioned them, all three denied any role in the murders. There wasn’t enough evidence to press charges. Over time, detectives interviewed hundreds of people, but there were no suspects against whom they had concrete evidence.
Then, in 1999, the investigation restarted. Michael Scott was brought in again for questioning. He denied knowing anything at first. After hours of interrogation, his story changed. According to police, Scott admitted he was involved in The Yogurt Shop Murders and once again named the same three friends.
Shortly after, Springsteen was arrested in West Virginia. He also denied involvement at first, but later told detectives he had sexually assaulted and shot one of the girls. Welborn and Pierce were arrested again that fall. All four were charged with capital murder.
But the four victims of The Yogurt Shop Murders were not going to get justice yet. Scott and Springsteen both later recanted their confessions. They claimed their admissions were forced by intense and lengthy questioning. Police denied this. Despite the doubts, both were convicted. Springsteen received the death penalty in 2001. Scott was sentenced to life in prison in 2002.
After spending three years in jail, charges against Pierce were dropped after prosecutors admitted they didn’t have enough evidence. Welborn was never indicted, and two grand juries declined to press charges. Springsteen’s conviction was overturned in 2006. The court ruled that his rights were violated when parts of Scott’s confession were used against him. The same ruling applied to Scott in 2007. Prosecutors planned to retry them both. But in 2009, DNA results changed everything.
Samples taken from the crime scene were tested using newer methods. None of the DNA matched Scott, Springsteen, Pierce, or Welborn. With no physical evidence and no credible suspect, both Scott and Springsteen were released.
The Yogurt Shop Murders case went cold and remains unsolved. In July 2025, U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul spoke to 48 Hours about the importance of DNA, saying,
“We’re waiting for…the DNA science to improve to then resubmit what we have left in the crime lab for further testing. The DNA…is everything.”
Families of the victims continue to live with the pain of not knowing who killed the girls and why. As documentary director Margaret Brown shared with the Austin American-Statesman,
“All of the family members always said to me, ‘There never is closure. You learn how to live alongside it, but it never loses its potency.’”
You can watch the details of the case in the HBO documentary The Yoghurt Shop Murders. While the first part is streaming on HBO Max, the three remaining parts will be released weekly on August 10th, 17th, and 24th, respectively.
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