Men imprisoned for yogurt shop murders released

Two men accused in the 1991 yogurt shop murders walked free after charges were dismissed Wednesday, but Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg promised to eventually retry both defendants.

Lehmberg filed the motion to dismiss charges against Robert Springsteen and Michael Scott rather than proceed with inadequate evidence that fails to match DNA found at the scene with either suspect. The DNA of an unknown man, discovered during the initial investigation, was tested against 70 DNA profiles including Springsteen’s and Scott’s in 2008. However, none of the matches were conclusive.

Austin firefighters responded to a fire at the I Can’t Believe It’s Yogurt! shop around midnight Dec. 6, 1991. Inside, firefighters found the bodies of 13-year-old Amy Ayers, 15-year-old Sarah Harbison, 17-year-old Eliza Thomas and 17-year-old Jennifer Harbison.

Two of the girls were bound and gagged, and all four had been shot in the head before the fire was set. DNA tests revealed that Harbison was sexually assaulted.

The district attorney filed a continuance for the case in June after the DNA evidence emerged last year. Because the DNA neither denied nor confirmed Springsteen and Scott as the murderers, they were released from jail on personal bonds with an inevitable court date in the future.

After the continuance was granted, State District Judge Mike Lynch issued an order in August stating he would not grant another delay based on the same grounds proposed by the district attorney. As a result, Lehmberg only had two choices: dismiss the case pending further investigation or proceed to trial with the evidence at hand.

“Make no mistake, this is a difficult decision for me and one I would rather not have to make,” Lehmberg said. “I believe it is the best legal and strategic course to take and is the one that leaves us in the best possible posture to ultimately retry both Springsteen and Scott.”

The fire left only ashes to comb through for evidence. Remnants of denim jeans and other articles of clothing were found in a pile. Bullet shell casings and a semiautomatic handgun magazine were also found. All definitive evidence leading to a suspect, save the single unknown DNA sample left at the scene, was destroyed by the fire.

Maurice Pierce was found at the Northcross Mall near the scene eight days later with the same type of weapon used at the scene. Upon questioning, he disclosed the names of Springsteen, Scott and Forrest Wellborn. All four were teenagers at the time of the murders.

The investigation ran dry and was not picked up again until 1999, when Springsteen was apprehended by West Virginia law enforcement. Austin Police Department officials traveled to West Virginia and interrogated Springsteen, who confessed to the murders and was later brought back to Austin for trial. However, over the course of the investigation, Austin officials had over 50 confessions, further convoluting proceedings.

Indictment charges against Wellborn were dropped in 2000 after two grand juries failed to indict him.

The alleged mastermind of the crime, Pierce, was indicted and remained in jail for four years before the district attorney’s office dismissed charges against him in 2003, citing a lack of evidence for conviction.

Springsteen was tried and convicted in 2001 and sentenced to death. Gov. Rick Perry commuted his sentence to life in prison in 2005 because convicted killers 17 years old and younger cannot be executed. Scott was convicted in 2002 and sentenced to life in prison.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturned Springsteen’s and Scott’s convictions in 2006, citing an inadequate opportunity for the defense to cross-examine witnesses for the prosecution. The court determined that the men had implicated each other in their respective statements, which attorneys claimed were coerced.

“The appellate court found these statements to be voluntarily given but reversed the convictions, and we now know that when we try the cases again, we will only be able to use the individual statement of the defendant on trial,” Lehmberg said.

Lehmberg said the investigation by her office and APD will continue. She said there is no statute of limitations for murder, and as science improves and the DNA database is expanded, they will identify the DNA sample and proceed to trial.

“While I remain confident that Springsteen and Scott are responsible for these murders, going to trial and risking a result that could forever prohibit future trials of these men is a risk I will not take,” Lehmberg said. “We will continue until the persons responsible for these horrible murders are brought to justice.”