DNA Links Deceased Robert Brashers to 1991 Austin Yogurt Shop Murders

Austin police have identified Robert Eugene Brashers, a deceased career criminal who died by suicide in 1999, as the likely perpetrator of the 1991 murders of four teenage girls at the "I Can't Believe It's Yogurt" shop in Austin. Advanced DNA testing, including evidence from under Amy Ayers' fingernails, and ballistics analysis linked Brashers to the crime, overturning previous convictions of two men who were later exonerated. Brashers was previously convicted of attempted murder in Florida and has been tied through DNA to several other violent crimes across multiple states, including the 1990 murder of Genevieve Zitricki in South Carolina and other murders and sexual assaults in Missouri and Tennessee. The breakthrough came through the collaborative efforts of Austin police cold case detectives and the Texas Attorney General's Cold Case and Missing Persons Unit, established in 2021 to address unsolved cases statewide. This development brings long-awaited closure to families and highlights the effectiveness of modern forensic technology in solving cold cases. Brashers' history of violence and his links to multiple unsolved crimes underscore a pattern of serial offenses that had remained hidden for decades.