Murder: True Crime Stories

Episode: SOLVED – The Yogurt Shop Murders, Part 1

Host: Carter Roy
Date: October 14, 2025

Episode Overview

In this deeply researched episode, Carter Roy examines one of Austin, Texas’s most haunting crimes: the Yogurt Shop Murders of 1991. The program details the events leading up to the crime, the night of the murders, the initial investigation, and the pervasive failures and controversies in the desperate hunt for answers. With a focus on the victims and community, Carter sets the scene for next episode’s dive into confessions, legal battles, and how the case was ultimately solved.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Setting the Scene: Austin in 1991

• Austin’s Atmosphere – Far from today’s bustling tech city, early ‘90s Austin “was still a college town with a neighborhood feel. The kind of place where parents could let their kids roam free. And the most exciting activity was going to the mall.” (09:24)
• Introduction to the Victims
  • Sarah Harbison (15) & Amy Ayers (13): Best friends, involved in Future Farmers of America, loved horses and country music.
  • Jennifer Harbison (17): Sarah’s older sister, working that night at "I Can’t Believe It’s Yogurt."
  • Eliza Thomas (17): Jennifer’s friend and workmate (12:00–13:00).

Timeline of the Crime

• Friday, December 6, 1991

  • Sarah and Amy go shopping before sleepover, Jennifer agrees to pick them up after her yogurt shop shift.
  • The group reunites at the yogurt shop as closing time approaches (09:00–11:00).

• Suspicious Activity Noted by Customers

  • Darryl Croft (ex-cop, customer): Notices a man in a military jacket acting oddly, asking if Croft is a cop. The man asked to use the bathroom and vanished (11:00–12:00).
  • Unnamed Married Couple: Observes two strange men in military jackets watching the girls and acting unsettlingly. “They noticed the way they kept staring at the girls behind the counter. Something about them made the wife feel deeply uncomfortable.” (12:44)

• After Closing

  • Staff begins clean-up, locks the doors, with the two men possibly still inside.
  • All four girls are last seen alive in the back, likely cleaning up (12:45–13:00).

Discovery of the Murders

• Fire Responders Arrive
  • Around midnight, a patrol officer sees smoke; firefighters respond (11:47pm). Nearly 50 responders tackle the blaze.
  • Inside: Four bodies, in a clear homicide. Victims stripped, bound, gagged, shot in the head, and stacked together; the blaze was a failed cover-up (13:20–14:20).
• Forensics Challenges
  • “The fire had been so intense, it had burnt most of the evidence. And the water from fighting the fire had pretty much destroyed the rest.” (15:39)

Early Investigation

Detective John Jones Takes Lead

• Adopts strict control of scene, “needed to see for himself what had happened and to stop anyone from accidentally disturbing the crime scene.” (14:40)
• Notable but unhelpful details: Areas like bathrooms and dumpsters not properly searched; some evidence collected (latent fingerprints, a few hairs, casings, magazine, items belonging to victims) (16:44–17:24).

Autopsy & Confidential Details

• Amy Ayers' cause of death: strangulation and two gunshots; others shot once. Amy and Sarah (the youngest) showed signs of sexual assault. (18:22–19:12)
• Crucially, the autopsy results are sealed, intended to filter out false confessions. Despite this, case details leak out, hampering the investigation.

Theories & Fallout

• Detective Jones suspects “a robbery gone wrong” that escalated and turned into a massacre (20:00–21:20).
• Two weapons involved: .22 caliber (favored by criminals due to trace difficulty) and a distinctive .380, offering the possibility of forensic tracing if found (21:21–22:37).

The Four Teenage Suspects

The Maurice Pierce Arrest

• Eight days after the crime, Maurice Pierce (16) is arrested with a .22 caliber pistol at the same mall the girls visited.
• He confesses under interrogation that his gun was used in the murders, but blames his friend, Forrest Welborn (15) (22:45–23:47).
• Police wire Maurice, but Forrest appears genuinely confused and denies involvement. Both pass polygraphs, creating contradictions for detectives (26:29–27:21).

Quote:

• “There was no way he could pull off a quadruple homicide on his own and get away with it.” – On Forrest Welborn, Carter Roy (26:45)

Expanding the Circle

• Maurice and Forrest mention two others: Robert Springsteen (17) and Michael Scott (17). All four are brought in and released, for lack of evidence (27:21–28:30).

Criminal Profiling & Task Force Creation

• Multi-agency task force and FBI involvement leads to a psychological profile targeting local white males in their late teens to mid-20s. The profile is contested by others who suspect older offenders, due to the crime’s methodical nature (28:40–29:58).
• Physical evidence and tips run dry; by February 1992, the case stalls despite 342 suspects being interviewed.

Public Pressure and Media

• “12 billboards went up across Austin… who killed these girls?” (29:58)
• Family-funded reward escalates from $25,000 to $125,000.
• National media coverage ramps up pressure; detective Hector Polanco accused of coerced confessions is pulled from the case (33:06–34:24).

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On the magnitude of the scene:

  “Jones had seen a lot of ugly things in his career, but he’d never seen anything like this. He knew from those very first moments that this case would be the kind that stayed with him forever.” (15:20)

• On police struggles:

  “Detective Jones and his team felt like they were letting the girls and their families down. It wasn’t for lack of effort, though. They’d interviewed 342 suspects and fielded thousands more leads by that point. But they were no closer to solving the case.” (32:15)

• On failed police tactics:

  “He’d never worked a murder case he couldn’t close. But that reputation came with controversy… it was common knowledge that Polanco sometimes fed suspects key details during interrogations to get them to say what he wanted.” (26:35)

• On public memory:

  “In 1991, 12 billboards went up around Austin… the signs were begging someone to look up and answer. No one ever did. And to this day, the city is haunted by that unanswered question.” (03:00)

Important Timestamps

• 00:54–03:25: Introduction & context for the Yogurt Shop Murders
• 09:00–11:00: The victims’ night, timeline of events
• 11:00–13:00: Suspicious men in the shop, last known observations
• 13:20–14:35: Discovery of the fire and bodies
• 14:40–18:00: Criminal investigation, forensics, detective Jones’ account
• 22:45–25:00: Arrest and questioning of Maurice Pierce and friends
• 28:30–34:00: Task force, criminal profiling, public and media response
• 34:24–36:54: Case going cold & wrap-up, setting up next episode

Next Episode Teaser

Carter promises, “Next time, I’ll explain how detectives finally forced the confessions they wanted, only for their questionable tactics to come under fire. I’ll discuss the decades long legal battle that followed and how all these years later there was finally a break in the case. All that and more coming up.” (07:38)

Summary

This episode provides a meticulous account of the Yogurt Shop Murders’ first chapter: four girls killed in a shocking, brutal manner; the early, often flawed investigation; a community desperate for justice; and the dangerous cocktail of pressure, media exposure, and police missteps that plagued the struggle to find truth. Carter Roy’s narrative balances clarity and compassion, keeping the focus on the girls and the pain of a city that, for decades, awaited answers.

End of Part 1. Stay tuned for the resolution, confessions, and long-awaited justice in Episode 2.