In a significant development for a case that has troubled Austin for over three decades, the Travis County District Attorney’s Office is moving to absolve the four men who were once blamed for the notorious 1991 Austin Yogurt Shop Murders, a case entangled in the community’s memory. The DA’s motion promises legal representation for Michael Scott, Robert Springsteen, Maurice Pierce, and Forrest Welborn, all teenagers at the time of the crime. They found themselves ensnared in the legal system when they were charged in 1999 for the deaths of four teenage girls in what seemed an unsolvable mystery, as reported by FOX San Antonio.
According to Texas Public Radio, the exoneration follows police identification of Robert Eugene Brashers, now deceased, as the one responsible for the murders. They believe that this marks the end of a torturous journey for answers, a pursuit that sprawled over decades, drew the gaze of the nation, and spawned an HBO docuseries reflecting the depths of public fascination and horror.
While acknowledging the tragedy that has yet to relinquish its grip on the city’s heart, Austin Mayor Kirk Watson lamented at a press conference, “Over three decades after a horrible crime took the lives of four teenage girls and changed Austin forever, our hearts haven’t healed. They’re still broken for the precious girls we lost,” evidence to the profound sorrow and lasting scar left by the unspeakable events that unfolded within the walls of an unassuming yogurt shop, reported by FOX San Antonio…