DNA Links Brashers to 1991 Yogurt Shop Murders

After more than three decades, Austin police have identified Robert Eugene Brashers as the suspect in the Dec. 6, 1991 slayings of four teenage girls at an I Can’t Believe It’s Yogurt! shop. Victims Eliza Thomas (17), Amy Ayers (13) and sisters Jennifer (17) and Sarah Harbison (15) were found bound, gagged, apparently sexually assaulted, shot in the head, and the store was set on fire. Investigators say renewed DNA testing and genetic genealogy tied DNA recovered at the scene — including material from under Ayers’ fingernails — to Brashers, while ballistics and a NIBIN match connected a .380 casing to a gun linked to him in other crimes. Brashers, who died by suicide in a 1999 standoff, cannot be charged; authorities say he has been tied to multiple murders and sexual assaults in other states. The case’s fraught history includes earlier arrests, confessions and convictions that were later overturned when DNA excluded those men. Police say they will continue investigating other unsolved crimes linked to Brashers, and renewed public attention, including an HBO documentary, helped spur fresh leads.