The Yogurt Shop Murders: All about the HBO Max docuseries' cold case (and where the investigation...

The fourpart documentary is now streaming on HBO Max. The Yogurt Shop Murders: All about the HBO Max docuseries' cold case (and where the investigation stands t

The four-part documentary is now streaming on HBO Max.

The Yogurt Shop Murders: All about the HBO Max docuseries' cold case (and where the investigation stands today)

The four-part documentary is now streaming on HBO Max.

By Randall Colburn

Randall Colburn

Randall Colburn is a former editor at **. He left EW in 2023.

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Published on August 5, 2025 10:00AM EDT

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'The Yogurt Shop Murders' on HBO. Credit:

- *The Yogurt Shop Murders *is a new HBO documentary about the unsolved 1991 homicide of four teenage girls in Austin.

- The series explores the since-overturned convictions of Robert Springsteen and Michael Scott, who claim their confessions were coerced.

- The first episode of the four-part series is now streaming on HBO Max.

It was one of the most brutal and cold-blooded murders to ever occur in Texas — and, nearly 35 years later, it remains unsolved.

On Dec. 6, 1991, four teenage girls were sexually assaulted and then murdered inside an I Can't Believe It's Yogurt! shop in Austin. After the attack, the yogurt shop was burned down by the perpetrators, contaminating much of the evidence. **

The case is the subject of a new HBO series, *The Yogurt Shop Murders*. Directed by Margaret Brown and produced by A24 and Fruit Tree, the four-part true crime documentary delves into the many developments that have arisen in the decades since, including the arrest (and eventual release) of the case's four prime suspects.

Like Netflix's popular 2015 docuseries *Making a Murderer*, *The Yogurt Shop Murders* explores unethical interrogation tactics used by law enforcement and questions of coerced confessions.

So, what were the Yogurt Shop Murders? Who was arrested for them? And where are the former suspects now? Below, we dig into the disturbing case, which remains unsolved to this day.**

What are the Yogurt Shop Murders?

The Austin ICBY where the Yogurt Shop Murders occurred.

On Dec. 6, 1991, close friends Amy Ayers (13), Sarah Harbison (15), her sister Jennifer Harbison (17), and Eliza Thomas (17) were bound, shot, and murdered inside an ICBY in Austin.

Jennifer and Eliza worked at the shop, while Amy and Sarah were visiting as the girls closed up for the evening. The full extent of what happened next remains unknown, but around midnight, an hour after the shop closed, authorities responded to a fire at the location. There, first responders discovered the victims' bodies.

The Harbison sisters and Thomas were piled on top of each other in one corner of the shop's back area, while Ayers' body was located by herself in a separate area of the shop. Each of them had been undressed and bound with their underwear. The Harbison sisters and Thomas were shot in the head execution style with a .22 pistol. Ayers had been shot twice in the head with a .380 handgun. At least one of the girls had been sexually assaulted.

At the time, law enforcement believed the murders and fire to be the result of a robbery gone bad. There was $540 missing from the cash register, per CBS News.**

Who was arrested for the Yogurt Shop Murders?

Robert Springsteen; Michael Scott.

The Yogurt Shop Murders made national news, with authorities offering a $25,000 reward for any information leading to the identity of the murderers. According to the *Austin Chronicle*, this led to more than 50 people confessing to the murders. CBS News reported that investigators had as many as 342 suspects at one point.

It was an early lead, however, that led to arrests. Roughly a week after the murders, a 15-year-old named Maurice Pierce was arrested at a mall near the yogurt shop with a .22-caliber pistol. While being questioned by authorities, Pierce implicated three of his friends: Forrest Welborn, Robert Springsteen, and Michael Scott, all of whom were under the age of 18 at the time. Due to a lack of evidence, though, the four boys were cut loose.

Several years later, a new detective, Paul Johnson, took over the case and decided the boys were actually credible suspects. In 1999, police interrogated Pierce, Welborn, Scott, and Springsteen, all of whom were now in their 20s. Though they initially denied any involvement, Scott and Springsteen eventually confessed to the assaults and murders. (As explored in the docuseries and elsewhere, Scott and Springsteen would both later claim their confessions were coerced.)

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That same year, charges were filed against Pierce, Welborn, Scott, and Springsteen, though the charges against Pierce and Welborn were later dropped due to a lack of evidence, per CBS News.

In 2001, Springsteen was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. A year later, Scott was convicted of the same and sentenced to life in prison. Their defense lawyers argued that there was no evidence linking them to the murders, but it was their confessions that sealed the deal.

Scott and Springsteen's murder convictions were later overturned on appeal because, per the *Austin Chronicle*, "prosecutors had violated basic constitutional due process."

In June 2009, they were released on bond after forensic technology advancements showed that male DNA collected from Ayers at the crime scene did not match Springsteen or Scott, nor Pierce or Welborn. All charges were dismissed against Scott and Springsteen that October.**

Where are Robert Springsteen and Michael Scott now?

After being released from prison, Robert Springsteen and Michael Scott spoke to documentarian Claire Huie about their experience. Though Huie's documentary remains unfinished, footage from it is featured throughout HBO's *The Yogurt Shop Murders*.

In 2009, Springsteen was also interviewed for the CBS series *48 Hours*. Speaking to his coerced confession, he said, "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... they broke me down."

Though free, Springsteen and Scott are not fully exonerated. As the *Austin Chronicle* notes, this denies them a wrongful conviction payout. Since being released, Springsteen has sought to be officially declared innocent of the murders, but his appeals have been rejected.

Brown, the docuseries' director, told *USA Today* that Springsteen and Scott both declined her requests for interviews.

Are the Yogurt Shop Murders still being investigated?

'The Yogurt Shop Murders' on HBO.

Yes, Detective Dan Jackson was assigned the case in 2022. "One of the things that we want the public to know is that this case is active," he told *USA Today*. "It's constantly worked on."

He added that he's "confident that I will solve this," noting new advances in DNA technology. "I think that with new technology, new information that we have − that I can't go into − even since I've taken the case over, the ability to do more with less when it comes to forensics is light years ahead than it was a few years ago," he said. "When I started, we needed a certain amount (of DNA). We weren't even close to it, but that amount that you need is so much less now."**

Where can I watch The Yogurt Shop Murders?

'The Yogurt Shop Murders' on HBO.

The first episode of *The Yogurt Shop Murders* is now streaming on HBO Max. New episodes drop every Sunday at 10 p.m. ET through August 24.**

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