Morbid Podcast: The Yogurt Shop Murders

Hosts: Ash Kelley & Alaina Urquhart
Release Date: December 11, 2025

Overview

In this highly anticipated episode, Ash and Alaina tackle one of Austin's most infamous unsolved cases: The Yogurt Shop Murders. They weave detailed research and signature banter through the harrowing 1991 crime where four teenage girls were murdered while closing a yogurt shop. The hosts dive into the immediate aftermath, the community’s shattered innocence, false confessions and police missteps, and the wild decades-long journey that led to a break in the case. With their usual dose of empathy and dark humor, Ash and Alaina illuminate how wrongful convictions, coerced confessions, and evolving forensic science shaped the search for the truth.

Main Discussion Themes

1. The Crime & Initial Investigation
2. Impact on Community and Families
3. False Confessions, Police Errors, and Wrongful Accusations
4. Decades-Long Cold Case Frustration
5. Breakthroughs in DNA & Ballistics Technology
6. Exoneration of Wrongly Accused, Identification of the True Perpetrator
7. Reflections on Justice, Closure, and Police Integrity

1. The Crime & Initial Investigation

Summary:
Just before midnight on December 6, 1991, Austin police and fire reports lead to a horrific discovery at the "I Can't Believe It’s Yogurt" shop—four teenage girls, Eliza Thomas (17), Jennifer Harbison (17), Sarah Harbison (15), and Amy Ayers (13), murdered and set on fire.

Key Details & Insights

• Only one homicide detective, Sgt. John Winston, was on duty that night ([13:07]).
• The initial call escalated from two to four bodies discovered in quick succession.
• Grisly crime scene: Victims were found nude, bound and gagged with their own underwear; three shot execution-style, youngest (Amy) found separately, shot twice ([16:20]).
• Firefighters stumbled upon the bodies while extinguishing the fire.
• The fire and water obscured much of the physical evidence—soot, smoke, and soaking made forensic collection near-impossible ([17:20]).

Notable Quote:

• “I saw things in Vietnam and I thought nothing will ever match that. Well, this matches that, because it’s in Austin, Texas, right down the street from where we live.” – Sgt. John Jones ([17:11])

2. Impact on Community and Families

Summary:
The murder shattered Austin’s “small-town” sense of safety. The schools mourned, families were devastated, and the greater community banded together with tributes, T-shirts, music singles, and reward funds—but also with mounting fear.

Key Details

• Measures of support included memorials, benefit fund drives, and a tribute single, “We Will Not Forget” ([39:43]).
• The case was seen as evidence that big-city crime had arrived in Austin ([23:51]).
• Teenagers, friends of the victims: “There’s a lot of denial. Nobody wants to think this happened.” ([22:41])

Notable Quote:

• “It reminds me of the street horror that I left behind in Manhattan.” – Local man ([23:29])

3. False Confessions, Police Errors, and Wrongful Accusations

Summary: Multiple false confessions and police missteps undermined the case from early on. One major suspect group, four local teens, would spend years wrongly accused and, in two cases, imprisoned.

Key Events

• False confession by a teenage girl and her boyfriend, easily disproved ([34:06]).
• Years of fruitless leads, including a bizarre international confession from two men in Mexico – later retracted and discredited ([43:09], [48:30]).
• Police focused on four teens—Maurice Pierce, Forrest Welborn, Rob Springsteen, and Mike Scott—largely based on (later discredited) “confessions” extracted using questionable tactics ([53:47]).
• Long, high-pressure interrogations: e.g., Michael Scott interrogated for 18-22 hours, with a gun at his head during questioning ([52:48], [74:53]).
• Evidence against the teens was circumstantial at best; no physical evidence tied them to the crime ([72:40]).

Notable Quotes:

• “Confessions sound good, but that’s not the standard by which charges are filed. The killers have to tell us certain things that only the killers would know.” – Jon Jones ([37:23])
• “At the time, investigators were very tight lipped about their pursuit of the four accused, and they didn’t share any information about the evidence… so much of that had been corrupted by the efforts to put out the fire…” ([61:36])

Memorable/Disturbing Moment:

• Discovery of police photograph: Detective holding a gun to the back of Michael Scott’s head during interrogation ([74:53]).

4. Decades-Long Cold Case Frustration

Summary:
For years, leads dried up, tips went nowhere, the accused were tried and convicted mostly on dubious confessions, and families were left in limbo.

Key Developments

• Case goes cold for seven years ([49:00]).
• “We have a few leads, but I wouldn’t call any of them strong. We’re not too optimistic.” – Lt. Andrew Water ([38:55])
• Appeals in the 2000s eventually overturned convictions for Springsteen and Scott; they were freed after almost a decade ([91:21]).
• DNA evidence from the crime scene exonerated the accused—a fact that was not available at time of trial ([84:18]).

Notable Quotes:

• “The light at the end of the tunnel? It’s the headlights of a train. 1991’s been a bad year. A real bad year.” – John Jones ([39:00])

5. Breakthroughs in DNA & Ballistics Technology

Summary:
Dramatic advances in DNA profiling and ballistics, plus new legislation and dogged cold case efforts, led to a crucial break decades later.

Key Details

• Partial DNA profile from rape kit and skin cells ruled out all original suspects ([84:18]).
• New database (National Integrated Ballistic Information Network—NIBIN) allows for cross-checking bullets; a .380 bullet from the scene is matched to crimes in Kentucky ([97:02]).
• Junction of ballistics and genetic genealogy points to Robert Eugene Brashers – a serial offender never previously connected ([98:36]).

Notable Quotes:

• “Once the bullets had been matched…the rest of the pieces of the puzzle all started to fall into place.” ([98:05])
• “Citizen genealogists” played a key role developing a crucial DNA sample from skin cells ([98:53]).

6. Exoneration of the Wrongly Accused & Identification of the True Killer

Summary:
Authorities formally announce the identification of Robert Eugene Brashers as the killer. It’s a bittersweet “resolution”—Brashers had died by suicide in 1999 after a violent standoff with police.

Key Details

• Press conference in September 2025: After 34 years, case is finally solved ([101:21]).
• The wrongly accused men, Scott and Springsteen, continue to fight for full exoneration and possible compensation ([102:23]).
• Maurice Pierce, another wrongly accused, was killed by police during a later altercation ([102:52]).
• The case prompts the DA to establish a Conviction Integrity Unit to review coercive confessions in other cases ([103:36]).

Notable Quotes:

• “After 34 years of frustration and heartbreak, investigators could conclusively identify Robert Eugene Brashers as the killer…” ([101:10])
• “Their poor management, misconduct and malpractice in general allowed a killer to go free while two innocent men spent nearly a decade of their lives in prison.” ([102:10])
• “It takes one person, luckily, that was like, ‘I don’t know about this, and I should look into it.’” ([104:09])

7. Reflections on Justice, Closure, & Police Integrity

Summary:
Ash and Alaina close with a candid discussion of how miscarriages of justice can derail investigations for decades and warn against overreliance on confessions. They advocate for skepticism, more rigorous checks in police work, and highlight the need for continued advances in forensics and case review.

Notable Quotes:

• “It’s so scary to think of a time where we just thought…people don’t confess to things they didn’t do, so lock ‘em up.” ([88:16])
• “This whole case really is…when I was getting to the end, I was like, I feel like I’ve heard this before, which is sad…Because you hope that something like that…never…it’s like a once in a lifetime thing. But unfortunately it’s not.” ([104:47])

Memorable Moments & Quotes

• On coerced confessions & police tactics:
  • "At the same time, I don’t know under what circumstances that would be appropriate [pointing a gun at a suspect's head]." – Defense attorney Jamie Belagia ([78:19])
  • “Anybody who has a gun put to their head is going to say whatever the fuck you want them [to say]…” – Elena ([79:47])
• On the toll for families and community:
  • “Every time I hear those words, that their rights were violated, I feel like I’m going to go insane.” – Eliza Thomas’s mother, Maria ([92:28])
  • Ash: “You’re just never a kid again. That innocence is stripped away from you…” ([38:29])
• When the true perpetrator is identified:
  • “Journalist Mike Hall said: I kept expecting some outcry or something, but it was stunned silence.” ([101:22])
  • “Even though they now have identified Robert Brashers as the sole killer…the biggest thing…is that he can’t really face justice.” ([101:42])

Important Timestamps

• [12:29] – Announcement of covering the Yogurt Shop Murders.
• [13:55] – Initial crime scene discovery and description.
• [17:11] – Police compare crime scene to horrors of Vietnam.
• [49:00] – Case stalls for seven years after false leads.
• [52:59] – 18-hour interrogation described.
• [74:53] – Photo surfaces of detective with gun to suspect’s head.
• [84:18] – DNA evidence excludes main suspects.
• [91:21] – Appeals overturn wrongful murder convictions.
• [97:02] – Forensic ballistics finally links bullet to out-of-state crimes.
• [101:10] – Identification of Robert Eugene Brashers as the killer announced.

Tone & Approach

Ash and Alaina maintain a compassionate, often wry tone—conveying the horror and heartbreak of the murders, the frustration at botched police work, and outrage at wrongful conviction, but also moments of empathy for all involved. They frequently reference their signature comedic asides, pop culture, and “fun facts” to lighten the mood ("Keep it weird…just not like durian fruit, like Robert Brashers" [107:01]).

Final Takeaways

• No case is truly "cold"—technology and investigation can catch up, even after decades.
• Wrongful convictions aren’t merely academic—they devastate lives and let perpetrators walk free.
• Community memory and advocacy matter—those lost were never forgotten.
• Forensic science and investigative integrity are crucial for real justice.

“No case is an ice-cold case. It’s merely chilly.” – Elena ([105:26])