The Yogurt Shop Killings

Summary

Podcast Title: 48 Hours
Episode: The Yogurt Shop Killings
Host/Author: CBS News
Release Date: August 4, 2025

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Introduction

"The Yogurt Shop Killings," an episode of CBS News' award-winning podcast "48 Hours," delves deep into one of Austin's most harrowing unsolved crimes. Through meticulous reporting, gripping interviews, and the painstaking examination of evidence, the episode explores the complexities surrounding the tragic murders of four teenage girls in 1991. This summary encapsulates the key discussions, insights, and conclusions drawn throughout the episode.

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Background of the Case

The Crime Scene:

On December 6, 1991, a robbery escalated into a horrifying massacre at a local Austin yogurt shop. Four young girls—Eliza Thomas (17), Jennifer Harbison (17), her sister Sarah Harbison (15), and Amy Ayers (13)—were brutally murdered. The victims were gagged, tied up with their own clothing, and shot in the head. The perpetrators also set the shop on fire, destroying crucial evidence. As Detective [Timestamp: 03:01], an Austin police detective, remarked, “There has never been in Austin a more grisly, ugly crime.”

Initial Investigation:

John Jones, the lead investigator with 32 years at the Austin Police Department, was deeply affected by the case. Reflecting on his long struggle for closure, Jones stated at [Timestamp: 01:07], “I'll always be associated with that case. There's no getting away from that. I just hope one of these days we can put this thing to bed.”

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Impact on Families and Community

Families' Grief:

The murders left the Austin community in shock. Families like the Harbisons and Ayers were devastated. Jennifer's mother, Barbara Harbison, poignantly shared at [Timestamp: 08:59], “My life was sort of focused around them from here until eternity. Someone took eternity away from me.” Similarly, Pam Ayers expressed her anguish, “I want to see her graduate,” highlighting the lost potential and dreams of her daughter, Amy.

Sonora Thomas's Struggle:

Eliza Thomas's younger sister, Sonora Thomas, faced immense emotional turmoil. At [Timestamp: 09:34], she recounted, “I remember fantasizing for days that my sister had somehow escaped and run away and that she was going to come back.” Her struggle with trauma led her to become a therapist, aiming to help others cope with similar losses.

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Police Investigation and Pursuit of Leads

Early Leads and False Confessions:

Detective Jones and his team pursued numerous leads, resulting in over 342 suspects, including Maurice Pierce, who was arrested eight days post-murders with a .22 caliber gun matching the crime scene. However, Pierce's story unraveled when he implicated others without credible evidence, leading to dismissals due to insufficient proof. Jones reflected at [Timestamp: 11:12], “We went where the case took us,” emphasizing the exhaustive nature of their search.

Counterculture Group and Flimsy Connections:

The investigation took a detour when a local counterculture group, rumored to be interested in the supernatural, became a focus. A raid was conducted on a woman's home connected to this group, but it yielded no substantial evidence. At [Timestamp: 15:06], Jones noted, “They were just living a make-believe life,” signaling the end of this lead.

Link to a Separate Crime:

A breakthrough occurred when a sketch matched a suspect from a separate 1991 kidnapping and sexual assault case. This led to the arrest of four men in Mexico, who later confessed to the yogurt shop murders. However, inconsistencies in their confessions cast doubt on their guilt. As Jones stated at [Timestamp: 18:07], “There were too many inconsistencies in the confession.”

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Trials and Legal Proceedings

Overturned Convictions:

In 2001, eight years after the murders, Robert Springsteen and Michael Scott were tried and convicted based primarily on their confessions, which they later recanted, claiming coercion. Fifteen years post-murders, their convictions were overturned due to violations of the Sixth Amendment, which guarantees the right to confront accusers. Detective Jones expressed the emotional turmoil as families struggled with the news, saying at [Timestamp: 30:38], “They were the same young men that John Jones and his investigators questioned just eight days after the murders.”

DNA Evidence and Its Repercussions:

In 2009, DNA testing revealed that the male DNA found at the crime scene did not match any of the original suspects, including Scott and Springsteen. This pivotal discovery led District Attorney Rosemary Lemberg to drop the charges, though the defendants remained incarcerated pending potential retrials. At [Timestamp: 34:03], genetic genealogist Cece Moore emphasized, “It is a tool that can eliminate almost everyone. It should eliminate everybody but the suspect.”

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Ongoing Efforts and Current Status

Renewed Investigations:

Despite the initial hope, further DNA analysis in 2017 yielded no conclusive matches, exacerbating the frustration and despair of the victims' families. Congressman Michael McCall advocated tirelessly for the release of information from the FBI, but privacy laws impeded progress. As he expressed at [Timestamp: 34:54], “We really thought we had it."

Emotional Toll on Those Involved:

Both Detective Jones and Sonora Thomas continue to grapple with the case's unresolved status. Jones, battling PTSD, finds solace in singing with his church choir, yet remains haunted by the case. Sonora, overcoming her trauma, channels her pain into helping others, but the loss of her sister and mother continues to cast a long shadow over her life.

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Conclusion and Reflections

"The Yogurt Shop Killings" episode underscores the relentless pursuit of justice in the face of overwhelming adversity and the profound, lasting impact such crimes have on families and communities. Detective John Jones remains steadfast in his commitment to solving the case, symbolized by the green and white shirt he vows to wear once closure is achieved. As he poignantly hopes at [Timestamp: 44:20], “I just hope one of these days we can put this thing to bed for the family's sake.”

The episode serves as a testament to the enduring quest for truth and the human spirit's resilience, even when faced with seemingly insurmountable challenges.

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Notable Quotes

• John Jones ([00:31]): “Every year marks another year. You know that there's no closure.”
• Detective ([03:01]): “There has never been in Austin a more grisly, ugly crime.”
• Sonora Thomas ([09:34]): “I remember fantasizing for days that my sister had somehow escaped and run away and that she was going to come back.”
• John Jones ([10:45]): “We told them what we could, and I assured them that we would keep them apprised as to everything that was happening.”
• Detective ([11:12]): “We stayed in constant contact with the Behavioral science unit at the FBI and Quantico. They said that I should, as the face of the investigation, project an air of confidence that would cause the bad guy to shiver in his boots.”
• Sonora Thomas ([32:20]): “It ruins your sense of fairness. It ruins your sense of that we live in a just world.”
• John Jones ([35:19]): “Tell us. Let's do it today.”

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Final Thoughts

"The Yogurt Shop Killings" is a poignant exploration of a case that has left an indelible mark on Austin. Through the voices of those directly involved—the investigators, the victims' families, and the legal representatives—the episode paints a comprehensive picture of the enduring struggle for justice and closure. It highlights the complexities of law enforcement investigations, the pitfalls of false confessions, and the heartbreaking toll on those left behind. As the years pass, the hope remains that advancements in forensic science and unwavering dedication may one day bring the truth to light, finally allowing the families to heal.

Transcript

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[John Jones]

Every year marks another year. You know that there's no closure. Yeah, I still have insomnia. Thirty years after the fact. I wish I'd solved a crime for the families we tried. This is the. I can't believe it's shielded. I was a cop for 32 years at Austin PD. I'll always be associated with that case. There's no getting away from that. I just hope one of these days we can put this thing to bed. Jonesy? Yeah? You hear about the call? 2900 Wes Anderson. Yeah, I'm headed over there. The call occurred at 11:27pm Homicide 4. Homicide 4. Did you get my en route there? That was the lead investigator on the I can't believe it show Sugar Shot murder case. On December 6, 1991, there was a robbery, fire and murder committed. It's all right. I'll make the call myself. The victims were Jennifer and Sarah Harbison, Eliza Thomas and Amy Ayers. I can still see him. I can still see the inside of that place. That stuff's indelibly burned in my mind.

[Detective]

There has never been in Austin a more grisly, ugly crime.

[Witness]

There's four girls in there, and they're all beautiful girls and they're very young. They're cleaning up. They lock up the yogurt shop. And then we believe it to be two individuals came in. They forced them to the back room at gunpoint.

[Sonora Thomas]

I lost my sister, Eliza Thomas, in the yogurt shop murders. I was 13. Yeah, I was 13 when my sister died. The whole city was in shock. Everywhere we drove, there were these billboards with a picture of my sister on it. And so it's like you just hold on to anything you can to get through these moments that are so impossible.

[John Jones]

We went where the case took us.

[Detective]

Open the door.

[John Jones]

Police. We're either gonna charge some people and get them in jail or clear them from this case.

[Detective]

I don't know how many murders I've tried. It's unlike anything I've ever done before. It's nothing but one unexpected twist after another.

[Reporter]

Do you believe that there is right now some ev that could lead to the killers?

[Detective]

Yes.

[Witness]

Yes, I know who did this. I just don't know his name.

[John Jones]

Is this the end of the beginning or the beginning of the end?

[Advertiser 2]

Aaron Moriarty reports the yogurt shop murders.

[Reporter]

So what is all of this here?

[John Jones]

These are my notes.

[Reporter]

It's been more than 30 years since John Jones began the painstaking search for the killers of four teenage girls in an Austin yogurt shop.

[John Jones]

Oh, that's the big book. This one is really.

[Reporter]

From day one, he has long since retired from the Austin police department and moved out of Texas. But copies of some of the case files move with him.

[John Jones]

Hypnosis, polygraph, confessions.

[Reporter]

You know, I notice this sitting here.

[John Jones]

Yep.

[Reporter]

We will not forget. You haven't?

[John Jones]

Nope. Can't.

[Reporter]

The images of December 6, 1991 remain all too vivid.

[John Jones]

I can definitely still see it. What do y' all got out there? I'm in Ralph Airport, 35, inside a fire. But we gotta tie inside of business.

[Reporter]

It started with that call from dispatch.

[John Jones]

Okay, I'm copying the fire part. You cut out on the first part.

[Reporter]

Of that to go to a scene of a fire. That would turn into something far worse.

[John Jones]

Apparently a robbery homicide is criminality. Last stand for morning rap. And then about halfway out there, they called me again on the radio and said we found a fourth body.

[Reporter]

A local TV news crew happened to be filming Jones on a ride along that night.

[John Jones]

What place of business is this? This is the I can't believe it's yogurt. Okay. Fire department had just knocked down the fire. I mean, there was still a lot of water in there, a lot of smoke still. It was all muted grays and blacks. There is no color in there. With the exception of the girls.

[Reporter]

The girls were quickly identified. Two had been working at the shop closing up that night. Eliza Thomas and Jennifer harbison were both 17 years old. Jennifer's 15 year old sister Sarah and their friend 13 year old Amy Ayers had met them there to head home. The four girls had been gagged, tied up with their own clothing and shot in the head. Investigators would learn that at least one of the victims had been sexually assaulted. The yogurt shop had also been set on fire, destroying potential evidence.

[John Jones]

There was smoke and soot on every surface, so kind of made fingerprinting kind of difficult.

[Reporter]

This was a crime like none Austin had seen before. Jones knew he needed help, and from the scene, contacted the bureau of alcohol, tobacco, and Firearms, the FBI, and the Texas department of public Safety.

[John Jones]

As soon as we knew what type of guns we were looking for, that information went out nationwide.

[Reporter]

Gunshot wounds showed two different types of guns were used, leading investigators to believe that there were at least two killers on the loose. What were the two guns?380 and a.22.

[John Jones]

And we recovered all of the rounds.

[Reporter]

The weapons, though, were not found, and a task force worked to come up with potential suspects.

[John Jones]

They were from all spectrums. I mean, we looked at everybody, from family members to drifters.

[Reporter]

And while police tracked down leads, the families and the city of Austin grieved. The Harbison family lost their only children. Daughters Jennifer, a hardworking high school senior, and Sarah, who was enjoying sports and clubs as a high school freshman. Their mother, Barbara, spoke with us in 1992. My life was sort of focused around them from here until eternity. Someone took eternity away from me.

[John Jones]

I lost my daughter. I lost my first dance.

[Reporter]

Bob Ayers is the father of the youngest victim, Amy, a country girl with a love for animals.

[John Jones]

I want to see her graduate.

[Detective]

I want. She'll become a veterinarian. She was a daddy's girl.

[Sonora Thomas]

I remember the shock.

[Reporter]

Sonora Thomas, 13 years old, when her only sibling, Eliza, was murdered, had a hard time dealing with the loss of the sister she looked up to.

[Sonora Thomas]

I remember fantasizing for days that my sister had somehow escaped and run away and that she was going to come back. And so that's what I was kind of holding onto.

[Reporter]

Her parents struggled as well.

[Sonora Thomas]

My family never talked about my sister after she died.

[Reporter]

Never.

[Sonora Thomas]

No, it's too. It's too painful.

[Reporter]

Sonora did as best she could, picking up some pieces of her sister's life. Eliza, an animal lover, had a pig she planned to enter in a livestock show. Just a few months after the murders, Sonora took over those duties.

[John Jones]

Third place.

[Reporter]

Sonora Thomas, While Sonora may have seen, seemed to be coping. The reality, she says, was far different. You had to grow up quickly, very.

[Sonora Thomas]

Quickly, I would say. I fell apart under that pressure.

[John Jones]

We knew they were hurting because, you know, we were hurting, too. Here you go. Open your little mouth.

[Reporter]

Jones, a parent himself, felt the family's grief. He promised to do all he could to help them.

[John Jones]

We told them what we could, and I assured them that we would keep them apprised as to everything that was happening. And we did.

[Reporter]

Jones also made a pledge to the families involving the shirt he wore on the night of the murders.

[John Jones]

I kind of made a promise to them the next time they saw me with that green and white shirt on. That was a signal to them that we knew who did it.

[Reporter]

And Jones seemed assured they would find the killers.

[John Jones]

We stayed in constant contact with the Behavioral science unit at the FBI and Quantico. They said that I should, as the face of the investigation, project an air of confidence that would cause the bad guy to shiver in his boots. So look in the camera and be confident.

[Reporter]

And when we followed him working the case in 1992, he did just that.

[John Jones]

You know, let me just say this. Whoever you are out there, you're going to be mine one of these days. Where you at? Okay, I'm right here.

[Reporter]

But trying to figure that out was daunting.

[John Jones]

342 people that have been listed as suspect. But we're looking at pages and pages of suspects here.

[Reporter]

One of those early suspects was a teenager named Maurice Pierce. He was arrested eight days after the murders at a mall near the yogurt shop, carrying a.22 caliber gun, the type used in the murders.

[John Jones]

The.22s were unmatchable.

[Reporter]

So you can't say it wasn't his gun. No, but there was no way to.

[John Jones]

Prove that it was his gun. He gave a statement. Matter of fact, I took his statement. And he implicated three other boys.

[Reporter]

Jones says Maurice Pierce claimed that he was driving a getaway car. And. And that three acquaintances, Forrest Welborn, Michael Scott and Robert Springsteen, were involved in the murders. But Pierce's story began to fall apart.

[John Jones]

It started to crater when we wired him up to go talk to Forrest. And we were listening in on the wire. And it was pretty obvious Forrest didn't know what Maurice was talking about.

[Reporter]

And when Welborn Scott and Springsteen were brought in for questioning, they too denied any involvement. It was decided there was just not enough evidence to charge them.

[John Jones]

I stopped right here. Right here.

[Reporter]

And the search for other suspects continued.

[John Jones]

Get down on the ground. Get down on the ground. Get down on the ground.

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[John Jones]

Information flow. Anyway.

[Reporter]

Two months after the yogurt shop murders, with no viable suspects, police were chasing leads no matter where it took them.

[John Jones]

They're into vampires. The occult, graveyard riots.

[Reporter]

The task force became aware of a counterculture type group of local residents known to be into the supernatural.

[John Jones]

They go out and dance and take pictures on tombstones.

[Reporter]

And investigators began to hear that this group might be connected to something far more serious.

[John Jones]

The tips were that they were talking about the murders.

[Reporter]

Talking about the yogurt shop murders.

[John Jones]

The yogurt shop murders, yes.

[Reporter]

There was one woman in particular whose name kept coming up in connection with the these tips.

[John Jones]

She got stopped at Oakwood Cemetery.

[Reporter]

The task force planned a raid on her home, hoping to see if any evidence might be found there.

[John Jones]

Right here.

[Reporter]

Unlock the door. Police.

[John Jones]

Okay. Police officer. Police officer. Get down on the police. It was creepy in there, all that stuff back there. But as it turns out, a lot of that stuff was rat bones and theatrical parts. But it was a good lead. So we finally figured out that they're just living a make believe life. This Sergeant Hook will be out the task force.

[Reporter]

The raid may have been a buzz, but it wasn't long before the task force had its eyes on another person of interest. This sketch shows a man that multiple eyewitnesses told police they saw sitting in a car outside the yogurt shop on the night of the murders.

[John Jones]

And it was somebody we really wanted to talk to, so we put it out there.

[Reporter]

And the response they got came from an unexpected source.

[John Jones]

A couple of other investigators from the sex crimes unit came up and go, we have a sketch that looks just like that.

[Reporter]

Three weeks before the yogurt shop murders, a young woman in Austin had been kidnapped and sexually assaulted. Police had released this sketch of three men wanted in connection with that crime. One of those suspects bore a striking resemblance to that man Witnesses reported sitting in a car outside the yogurt shop.

[John Jones]

You know, I just kind of went blip when I saw the. The composite.

[Reporter]

A tip came in that the men wanted in the kidnapping and sexual assault case had fled to Mexico. Two were caught and arrested. One who resembled the person of interest in the yogurt shop sketch. The development made national news.

[John Jones]

When they got caught in Mexico, we went down there to interview them.

[Reporter]

Jones is team questioned the men, and so too did the Mexican authorities.

[John Jones]

The Mexican government announced to the whole world that they confessed and they were going to try for the murders down there.

[Reporter]

They confessed to the yogurt shop?

[John Jones]

Yes, they did.

[Reporter]

But Jones learned those confessions had details that didn't match the crime scene. Even the caliber of guns they claimed to use was wrong.

[John Jones]

There was too many inconsistencies in the confession.

[Reporter]

So Jones team re interviewed the men, and he says this time they recanted just about everything. It made Jones and other investigators wonder if those confessions were coerced by the Mexican authorities. The once promising lead fell apart.

[John Jones]

It was depressing.

[Reporter]

Over the following years, there would be other confessions, ones that were willingly.

[John Jones]

You know, we face six confessions.

[Reporter]

Six people who confessed.

[John Jones]

Yeah.

[Reporter]

Written that confessed to this crime.

[John Jones]

Yes, they did.

[Reporter]

And they didn't do it.

[John Jones]

Nope.

[Reporter]

In 1994, after nearly three years of leading the investigation, John Jones was moved out of the homicide division. He says it was a mutual decision. Austin police wanted fresh eyes working the case, and Jones felt it was time to move on. Other detectives took over, and as time passed, the victims families were left wondering why no one had been arrested. Amy air's mother, Pam, spoke to us in 1996. They're probably out there leading a life.

[Sonora Thomas]

As normal as they've ever had.

[Detective]

And ours is never going to be the same.

[Reporter]

That same year, Eliza Thomas mom moved away from Austin. And the painful reminders. Running into people who were constantly asking how the case was going was very hard on me and especially my daughter Sonora. Sonora's life had taken a downward spiral.

[Sonora Thomas]

In my high school years. Things really deteriorated. Drugs, using alcohol, being hospitalized, going to a boarding school for, you know, disturbed teenagers, things like that.

[Reporter]

The case seemed stalled until October 1999.

[John Jones]

Some breaking news. Austin police have arrested four men in connection with the yogurt shop murders of 1991.

[Reporter]

There were finally arrests. But would it answer the question on the billboard that had been haunting Austin for nearly a decade? After nearly eight years, Austinites are getting some answers in the case of the yogurt shot murder.

[Detective]

I want to start off by thanking Y' all for joining us here today. For almost eight years, we've all waited to hear the words that our police department is close to a point of solving a crime that has haunted our very souls. Today, we finally get to hear those words.

[Reporter]

When four men were arrested in the fall of 1999 for the yogurt shop murders, relief was felt citywide.

[Detective]

Sarah, Jennifer, Amy, Eliza, we did not forget the girls.

[Reporter]

Families struggled to take it all in.

[Sonora Thomas]

There had been so many false leads for such a long time, it was hard to know how to think about it and how to feel about it.

[Reporter]

But there were finally names and faces to blame. Maurice Pierce, Forrest Welborn, Michael Stone Scott, and Robert Springsteen. To the task force, they were familiar names and faces. They were the same young men that John Jones and his investigators questioned just eight days after the murders.

[Detective]

Did you do this?

[John Jones]

I have no comment.

[Reporter]

And ultimately released for lack of evidence.

[John Jones]

I was confident and remain confident to this day, that we got as far with him as we could then. But that doesn't mean that there wasn't something developed later that would cause them to actually go out and arrest him. So I was going, yes, good job. I was ready to dig out the hideous green and white shirt.

[Reporter]

But before that shirt could come out of the closet, the one he promised the girls families he would wear when the case was solved, Jones wanted to know more about what led to the arrests.

[Detective]

There was no physical evidence, Nothing.

[Reporter]

Joe James Sawyer was appointed as Robert Springsteen's attorney. What made them go back and charge these guys?

[Detective]

Because the new officers, when they reopened the cold case, convinced themselves that we let them slip through our fingers. We had to have had the murderers. In the beginning, in part, they decided that because they had nothing else.

[Reporter]

There was no new physical evidence suddenly tying any of the four men to the crime. But what police did have were two newly obtained confessions. One from Michael Scott and another from Sawyer's own client, Robert Springsteen. Michael Scott's confession came first. He was questioned over four days.

[Detective]

Come on, Michael, you're doing good.

[John Jones]

Tell us. Let's do this today.

[Detective]

Let's do it. Same girl. I remember one girl screaming, terrified.

[Reporter]

Scott told investigators that he and the others only intended a simple robbery. He said they cased the yogurt shop earlier that day. And then after dark, he said, they came back armed with two guns.

[Detective]

I hear the gun go off. I only pull the trigger once.

[John Jones]

I hear another gun go off.

[Reporter]

Investigators claim that Springsteen later corroborated much of what Scott said.

[John Jones]

How you doing? Is that correct?

[Reporter]

But after intense Questioning. He went further.

[John Jones]

You know how?

[Detective]

Raised her arm, didn't say it.

[Reporter]

Springsteen told them he shot one girl and raped her.

[Detective]

He was so tired of this. He'd already been questioned. He'd already been through that mill. And he thought, you know what? I'll tell you any damn thing you want.

[Reporter]

Sawyer maintains his client is innocent and says the confession was coerced. In 2009, Robert Springsteen explained to 48 Hours why he would admit to doing something so horrible, something he says he didn't do.

[John Jones]

I was berated and berated and berated by the police officers until they obtained what it was they wanted to hear. They were not going to allow me to leave, and basically, they broke me down.

[Reporter]

Let me just ask you, did you have anything to do with the murders at the yogurt shop?

[John Jones]

No. Never.

[Reporter]

Even though Joe James Sawyer didn't have Michael Scott as his client, he says he has serious concerns about his confession, too.

[Detective]

Is that the gun you shot somebody with, Mike? Is that the gun you walked up behind somebody with and shot in the head? I frankly couldn't believe it. They terrorized him, and he was afraid to say no.

[Reporter]

Forrest Welborn denied having anything to do with the murders, but police were convinced he was the lookout that night, and Michael Scott placed him at the scene. Hi, I'm erin Moriotti with CBS. I spoke to Welborn in 1999, in jail shortly after his arrest. Were you there that night?

[John Jones]

No.

[Reporter]

Were you there as a lookout? No. Man said you had nothing to do with this?

[John Jones]

Nothing at all.

[Reporter]

Well, born a big question multiple times by investigators over the years, and he never wavered. He, like the others, first came on police radar when, in 1991, just days after the murders, Maurice Pierce had been caught with that.22 caliber gun at the mall near the yogurt shop. Pierce told the detectives back then that he had given the handgun to Welborn and that it had been used in the yogurt shop murders. Why would he say that?

[John Jones]

I don't know.

[Reporter]

Welborn has always maintained his innocence despite pressure from the police.

[John Jones]

They'll get right in my face and, you know, tell me everything I said was a lie.

[Reporter]

Remember, false confessions in this case were nothing new. Jones said that six written false confessions were obtained when he was in charge. So when he learned that the two confessions were all the new investigators seemed to have, it gave him pause.

[John Jones]

I go, well, maybe I shouldn't get that shirt out just yet.

[Reporter]

It wasn't long before the case against the men began crumbling. Charges against Forrest Welborn were dismissed after two grand juries failed to indict him. And later on charges were dropped against Maurice Pierce for lack of evidence. Everything fell apart except the cases against Michael Scott and Robert Springsteen. And with Scott and Springsteen's confessions, the victims families felt prosecutors had a strong case. These young men have been implicated and they have confessed and they can withdraw it. But the truth is they actually were there and they actually did the murders.

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It's a chat show about women whose society is called crazy.

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We're going to be rediscovering the stories of women's society dismissed by calling them mad, sad or just plain bad.

[Reporter]

Listen to and follow the C Word with Lena Dunham and Alyssa Bennett. Available now wherever you get your podcasts.

[John Jones]

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[Reporter]

In 2001, nearly 10 years after the murders of Eliza Thomas, Amy Ayers and Sarah and Jennifer Harbison, the yogurt shop murder trials began. Both defendants, Robert Springsteen and Michael Scott faced the death penalty.

[Detective]

The only thing that ever tied Robert or Mike Scott to that crime scene with their confessions.

[Reporter]

Confessions that both defendants said were coerced. The two were tried separately. Springsteen's trial was first. Neither of the men would testify against one another. So instead, prosecutors used their confessions against one another, reading parts of the confessions to the juries. Springseat's lawyer, Joe James Sawyer, was frustrated that he couldn't cross examine Scott.

[Detective]

I thought the trial was massively unfair to my client and that it was being done systematically and with deliberation.

[Reporter]

The trial lasted three weeks. The jury deliberated for 13 hours.

[John Jones]

Defendant, please rise.

[Reporter]

And then reached a verdict.

[John Jones]

We the jury find the defendant, Robert Springsteen iv, the guilty of the offense of capital murder.

[Reporter]

Guilty. Springsteen was condemned to death row. In 2002, Michael Scott went on trial. He was convicted as well. He was sentenced to life in prison. But the case didn't end there. Fifteen years after the murders came a shocking turn of events. In a 5, 4 decision, the court behind me said that Michael Scott's constitutional rights were violated during his trial and.

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Therefore should get a new one.

[Reporter]

Both Scott and Springsteen's convictions were overturned on constitutional grounds. The sixth Amendment gives defendants the right to confront accusers. And remember, in Scott and Springsteen's trials, their confessions were used against one another, but they weren't allowed to question each other in court.

[Detective]

And the relief, the relief was incredible.

[Reporter]

But that relief for the defendants came as a devastating blow to the victims families. We later spoke to Eliza Thomas, mother Maria about that moment. Every time I hear those words that their rights were violated, just feel like I'm going to go insane. Their rights were violated. Our girls were murdered.

[Sonora Thomas]

It ruins your sense of fairness. It ruins your sense of that we live in a just world.

[Reporter]

Even though their convictions were overturned, Scott and Springsteen were not released. A new district attorney, Rosemary Lemberg, was determined to retry them. In an effort to find more evidence, her office had ordered DNA tests on vaginal swabs taken from the victims at the time of the murders. It's called YSTR testing and was Fairly new in 2009 when we spoke with Da Lemberg. This technology searches for male DNA only. A partial male DNA profile was obtained from one of the victims believed to have been sexually assaulted. And no one expected what it would reveal. Does that DNA match any of the four young men who were originally accused and two of them who've been convicted? It does not. The DNA did not match any of the original four suspects, including Scott and Springsteen. And that scene significant because Springsteen, in that confession he said was coerced, told investigators he raped one of the girls. Cece Moore is a DNA expert and genetic genealogist whom we asked about the case and the role of YSTR DNA in criminal cases.

[Witness]

It is a tool that can eliminate almost everyone. It should eliminate everybody but the suspect.

[Reporter]

If their YSDR does not match, they did not contribute that.

[Witness]

Because where that DNA was found. Yes, in this case it's very important.

[Reporter]

The district attorney was focused on finding the source of that DNA. She wondered if Springsteen and Scott had another partner. I remain really confident that both Springsteen and Scott were responsible for killing those poor Girls. But in 2009, with no matches on that DNA, Lemberg dropped charges against Springsteen and Scott after nearly 10 years behind bars, they were released but not exonerated, leaving open the possibility they could be retried at a later time. Time this was a difficult decision and one I'd rather not have to make. The question remained though, whose DNA was it?

[Witness]

I know who it is.

[Detective]

The killers.

[Reporter]

You're convinced that that is a certain truth. Amber Farrelly was part of both Scott and Springsteen's defense teams. She came up with a theory that the mystery DNA might belong instead to two never identified men who witnesses reported seen sitting in the yogurt shop just before it closed.

[Witness]

Those two men were described wearing fatigued colored jackets. They were very slouched over, whispering like they were. It was a very close conversation in a booth.

[Reporter]

Officials tried to track down those two men as well, as well as the source of the DNA. And then in 2017, an Austin police investigator searched a public online DNA database to see if he could get a hit. And unbelievably, he did.

[Congressman]

I thought, my God, we actually have a chance, a shot to solve this crime after so many years.

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[Congressman]

I really thought this was it. I really thought we had a chance to solve it.

[Reporter]

US Congressman Michael McCall, like so many others from Austin, hoped that the recently uncovered DNA in the yogurt shop murder case might finally bring answers to the victims families.

[Congressman]

We'll never forget that tragic day. It's stained in my memory.

[Reporter]

25 years after the murders, the Austin police department went searching for a match to the YSDR DNA that had been found on the yogurt shop victim believed to have been sexually assaulted. And in 2017, they got a break on a public DNA database used for population studies. Investigators thought they had found a match.

[Congressman]

I've seen DNA prove homicide cases. The DNA evidence is really the key here.

[Reporter]

But that sample from the crime scene was not a complete DNA profile. It was just ystr the male portion of DNA. And it was not a very detailed sample. Having just 16 markers.

[Witness]

16 STRs is not a very powerful match. There could be millions of people with that same profile. So in genetic genealogy, we usually use 67 or 111 markers or maybe even more.

[Reporter]

But isn't it a place to start? It is.

[Witness]

It's not absolute, but if there's nothing else to work with, it is certainly something to look into.

[Reporter]

Still, it seemed to be the most promising lead in years. But there was a problem. The seemingly matching sample on the public database had been submitted anonymously by the FBI. That meant it came from a federally convicted offender, arrestee, or detainee, but had no name attached to it. When Austin authorities tried to get that name, the FBI would not provide it, citing privacy laws.

[Congressman]

There are some restrictions on privacy, so it gets into some very sort of, you know, dicey issues.

[Reporter]

Frustrated officials reached out to Congressman McCall for help.

[Congressman]

And so I pressed the FBI very hard.

[Reporter]

Finally, in early 2020, the FBI agreed to work with the Austin police department to see if further testing could be done on that YSDR DNA from the crime scene.

[Congressman]

I was very excited about it, the idea that we could bring this case to closure for the families and bring those responsible to justice.

[Reporter]

More advanced testing came up with additional markers 25 instead of the original 16. But as so often happened in this case, what seemed so promising turned into disappointment. Some of the additional markers did not match the FBI sample. In other words, what seemed to be a match was not. In a letter to Congressman McCaul, the FBI explained the new results conclusively exclude the male donor of the FBI sample. As such, the FBI YSDR profile is not an investigative lead.

[Congressman]

And that was the greatest disappointment because we really thought we had it.

[Reporter]

If it didn't match that individual, doesn't it still mean there's somebody out there? This DNA belongs to somebody, right?

[Congressman]

It does. It does. And that's why we're not going to arrest until we find the match.

[Reporter]

How important then, is this DNA profile that exists to solving this case?

[Congressman]

I mean, it's everything.

[Reporter]

With DNA research advancing so quickly, there's real hope that one day that sample of DNA obtained 30 years ago may finally solve this case. Still, it will not erase the pain or the loss of lives.

[Sonora Thomas]

Every year that goes by, I get farther and farther away from my sister, you know, and I worry about losing memories.

[Reporter]

Sonora Thomas struggled for years with panic attacks and physical pain until, with the help of therapy, she realized it was connected to the murder of her sister. Eliza. With a unique understanding of what trauma victims experience, Sonora wanted to help others like her and became a therapist.

[Sonora Thomas]

There's so many moments, you know when your heart is open, you know you're joyful, but there's also this loss that's always accompanying your life.

[Reporter]

Sonor found it helpful to look for ways to remember Eliza.

[Sonora Thomas]

When we got married, we have flour and an empty chair at our ceremony, and my sister was mentioned.

[Reporter]

Compounding Sonora's pain, her mother died. In 2015, Maria Thomas passed away. With so many unresolved questions about the murder of her daughter, there is a.

[Sonora Thomas]

Kind of torture that continues by the fact that it's unsolved and it's ongoing.

[John Jones]

It's always there.

[Reporter]

John Jones is still haunted by the fact that the case is unsolved and by what he saw that gruesome night. He has suffered from PTSD through the years.

[John Jones]

I had completely shut down to where all my energy was directed at the case.

[Reporter]

It took a toll on you, didn't it, John? Even 30 years afterwards.

[John Jones]

Well, yeah, it would on anybody, I think. Not as much as the families. You understand. I know whatever pain I'm having pales in comparison to what they're going through.

[Reporter]

These days, Jones finds solace singing in his church choir.

[John Jones]

I can relax when I'm in church.

[Reporter]

Leave the world behind. Leave outside.

[John Jones]

No, I know it's just past the door.

[Reporter]

And when he's in that outside world, the families of Amy Ayers, Jennifer and Sarah Harbison and Eliza Thomas are never far from his thoughts.

[John Jones]

I feel bad for them that it's still not solved.

[Reporter]

But Jones has hope. He has kept that shirt he wore the night of the murders, only worn once. The shirt he promised to never wear until the case was solved. Thirty years later, it's still sitting in there.

[John Jones]

Still sitting. Here it is.

[Reporter]

And sometime soon, John Jones looks forward to wearing it again.

[John Jones]

I just hope one of these days we can put this thing to bed for the family's sake.

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September 4th on Paramount.

[John Jones]

Someone is trying to frame us until our names are cleared.

[Reporter]

Fugitives from interval.

[John Jones]

Like Bonnie and Clyde with better snacks. Espionage.

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You used to be?

[Reporter]

Better.

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Is there love?

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Language? We like to walk that fine line between techno thriller and romantic comedy.

[Reporter]

We make up our own rules.

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NCIS Tony and Zeba. Streaming September 4th on Paramount Plus.