Austin Police solves yogurt shop murders mystery after 34 years

The Austin yogurt shop murder of four teenage girls in 1991 has been solved after 34 years through DNA identification.

Police said they connected the three-decade-old cold case to Robert Eugene Brashers, who committed suicide in 1999, using DNA identification.

In a statement on Friday, September 26, 2025, the Austin Police said that the killer was a predator with a history of violent crime.

According to Austin American-Statesman, Brashers was sentenced to 12-years in prison for shooting and killing a woman in 1985. He was released after serving only three years.

The DNA evidence has linked Brashers to several other criminal activities, including the rape and murder of a mother and daughter in Missouri, as well as crimes in South Carolina.

Previously, two teens at that time, Robert Springsteen and Michael Scott, were convicted of Texas quadruple murder and sentenced to life in prison. However, their sentence was overturned due to lack of evidence including the DNA identification.

The teenage girls who were brutally killed by Brashers include:

• Amy Ayers aged 13,
• Eliza Thomas aged 17
• And two sisters Jennifer and Sarah Harbison, aged 17 and 15.

The case later became famously known as Yogurt Shop Murders and HBO also premiered a docuseries regarding the crime.

Police revealed that Brashers committed suicide by shooting himself during a 1999 standoff with officers at a motel.