Yogurt Shop Murders - 30 Years Later /// Part 1 /// 539 | Forensic Files

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welcome to True Crime garage wherever you are whatever you're doing thanks for listening I'm your host Nick and with me
as always is a man that's living Life By the Drop ladies and gentlemen here is the captain that's right and you know I
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[Music] in the early 1990s several Unforgettable Billboards were popping up in and around
Austin Texas these Billboards were not put up with the purpose of advertising for a great restaurant located at the
next exit off of Texas Highway 130 and these Billboards didn't stare at the passing cars to influence your next
cable provider Choice the only purpose for these Unforgettable Billboards screamed their mission loud and clear
with bold white letters all in caps set on a red background who killed these girls this
was the question on the minds of every red-blooded Texan possibly minus one two or who knows how many for sure because
somewhere maybe in the Lone Star State or across state lines maybe even South of the
Border someone or someone's know the answer to that question who killed these girls the question posted on the
Billboards centered just below what looks to be four School photos the pictures are of Amy a
Jennifer Harbison Sarah Harbison and Eliza Thomas these are the four victims of an
Infamous crime known as the yogurt shop murders the four girls ranged in age from 13 to
17 the yogurt shop murders are a still unsolved quadruple homicide taking place at the local I Can't Believe It's Yogurt
Shop on a Friday night in Austin Texas the crimes committed that night were many they were fast and they were brutal
these girls were killed on December 6th 1991 the unknown as salent or asants started a fire in the stock room of the
yogurt shop before fleeing into the night an on duty patrolman noticed the fire it was close to midnight he rushed
to the smoke coming from the I Can't Believe It's Yogurt located in a strip Plaza 2949 West Anderson l
he called it in to dispatch firefighters arrived on the scene and began knocking the fire down
once they entered the small Northwest Austin yogurt shop one firefighter motioned to the other pointing to a
charred foot and then they started finding bodies Austin police were called and the lone homicide detective working
that night got the call that no one wants to receive even the most seasoned of detectives two fatalities suspected
arson suspected homicide looks like gunshot wounds the dispatcher called out over the police radio APD Sergeant Jon
Jones was in route minutes later the dispatcher tells Jones they found another body and as he drives closer a
cop at the scene radioed Jonesy make that for on the scene Jones got to work the following is from the 2016 Beverly
Lowry book titled who killed these girls ignoring the firefighters who either milled around or just stood there
looking down Jones stepped gingerly around the bodies having been schooled in evidence collection and processing he
felt competent to handle 95% of most crime scenes but this one lie well beyond his expertise in a memo to the
district attorney's office he will describe the situation as robbery plus sexual assault plus multiple child
victims plus bondage plus gunshot wounds plus fire heat smoke water damage plus no known Witnesses equal the homicide
arson and DA's worst nightmare this is true crime garage and this is a new look at the yogurt shop
murders case 30 years [Music] later later this week will Mark 30 years since some kind of monster or Monsters
committed the horrific yogurt shop murders and and the Austin Police Department and the FBI are still on the
hunt for those responsible some of the following was taken from a recent reporting texas.com article the four
teenage girls were brutally murdered on a Friday night at a yogurt shop in North
Austin in December of 1991 the girls families and those who worked decades trying to find and
prosecute their Killers say the 30th anniversary of their murders approaches with no sense of closure the murders
remain unsolved and experts say that crimes lacking resolution can leave a psychological impact on an entire
Community but new state and federal efforts as well as a promising DNA lead have brought renewed Hope For answers
and Justice the details of the crime including the subsequent investigation and criminal trials that followed have
been well documented Jennifer Harbison and Eliza Thomas both 17 worked at at the I Can't Believe It's Yogurt on West
Anderson Lane Jennifer's Sister Sarah Harbison 15 and Amy airs 13 arrived at the yogurt shop around closing time on
December 6th 1991 with plans to attend a sleepover together Amy was an eighth grader at
Bernett middle school and the other girls attended laner high school they were shot in the head and gagged with
their own clothes their bodies were stacked on top top of one another before being set on fire authorities arrested
four suspects but this was almost 8 years later in October of 1999 only two of the four Robert Burns
Springsteen and Michael James Scott stood trial and both were convicted Springsteen received the death penalty
and Scott got life in prison but the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturned their convictions ruling that
their confessions were improperly used against each other at trial Springstein and Scott were released from prison and
prosecutors dismissed all charges against them in 2017 another potential breakthrough
emerged an Austin detective submitted DNA evidence found in one of the victims into a database that searches yst DNA
samples a type of DNA profile that forensic investigators use to identify male relatives of suspects a match was
found the Austin Police Department requested more information about the identity of the matching donor but the
FBI has refused to release any information saying a federal statute prohibits it from disclosing identities
of anonymous donors despite these hurdles the families have continued to work to keep the case in the Forefront
their efforts have led to new crime fighting initiatives at the state and federal levels quote when I heard there
were over 19,000 unsolved homicides in Texas I was really taken aback by that and I think most people are when they
hear that number when you think about each of those cases there's a family associated with that said Mindy Montford
who was the first assistant district attorney for Travis County and one of the prosecutors assigned to the yogurt
shop murders case for 4 years the yogurt shop murders LED Montford to work with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to
form the state Cold Case and missing persons unit on October 19th the unit will Aid and support law
enforcement agencies across the state in the investigation and prosecution of Unsolved cases Montford serves as senior
councel for the unit Angie and Shan SS the brother of the youngest victim sit on its advisory committee the yogurt
shop victims families have been pushing to affect change on a national level in May of
2021 the bipartisan homicide victims families Rights Act was reintroduced US Representative Mike
McCall said quote if a case has been cold for 3 years it gives the victims the right to petition the local district
attorney to reexamine the cold case and take another look at it it's very much empowering to the the families of the
victims and particularly the case like the yogurt shop killings many remember the yogurt shop murders as a defining
moment in Austin which was about half its current size and not yet a tech or tourist Hub the 30th anniversary of the
yogurt shop murders brings up painful memories for those who tried to solve the crime Austin Police Sergeant JN
Jones who was the lead investigator assigned to the case at the time of the murders said quote there's no statute of
limitations on murder then there shouldn't be any limitation on doing what one can to try to get it solved and
that sometimes means having to relive that pain and answer questions my theory is if me talking about it to you or
anybody else can jog somebody's memory out there to perhaps get this thing solved then it's worth reliving that
night the girls families believe that the case will be solved and we here in the garage hope so as well we covered
this case rather extensively in early 2017 in True Crime garage episodes 81 and 82 now you don't need to stop these
episodes and go back these episodes with this information and Nick's research will stand on its own yeah just know
that this week's shows will be different from those episodes and they are there to listen to should you want to hear the
case as it were back in early 2017 then Captain we gave a detailed description of the events and the facts
of the case followed by the arrest of four persons nearly 8 years later two were convicted because they air quotes
here confessed and the two others saw their charges dropped due to a lack of evidence Rob Springsteen and Michael
James Scott as we said both went to prison Rob sentenced to death Michael to life imprisonment they both confessed
that they along with Maurice Pierce and Forest wilborne went to rob the store and killed all four girls the strange
thing here is obvious the two that ended up with charges dropped due to insufficient evidence did not confess
yet if we were to believe that the confessions of the two that the state convicted are correct well then all four
are guilty of the yogurt shop murders so to me Captain I've always felt like this
should be an all or nothing situation for these four suspects absolutely it's almost as if the prosecution didn't
believe law enforcement's confessions that they received now when we covered the case we spent a lot of time covering
the case against these four individuals the two trials and later their release we won't spend a lot of time on that
this time around we also covered some other good suspects and spent a lot of time on what is most likely the best
theory out there so as you can see this is a rather large case not a short True Crime Story at all and Captain I like
the cut of our jib because I think those episodes were really well done and we told as much of the story as you can in
just two episodes and now as we are approaching the 30-year marker well this is a really good time to revisit the
yogurt shop Let's dive into the facts of this case and the timeline that goes with it we're going to include some
angles theories and leads that perhaps were not pursued as doggedly as the four men that were arrested who were just
teenagers themselves at the time of the murders yes but first some background information Bryce Foods is the company
that owns the icby store I Can't Believe It's Yogurt store and they own dozens of
them Bryce Foods by 1991 had been in business for 14 years and the Bryce Foods firm was started by brother and
sister Bill and Julie Bryce from Dallas in 197 7 Bryce Foods purchased existing yogurt shops I'm not sure Captain if
this location is one of their original stores as said they owned many this location though we know that by 1991 has
been around for years and only two of the four girls that were killed worked there one of the victims 17-year-old
Eliza Thomas started working there in early 1991 it's either January or early February and her friend Sarah Harbison
started working there in July of 1991 the two were friends and they both attended the same high school well since
we've been doing this for 5 years it seems like every time around December when it starts and you start filling
that Christmas holiday there's a couple cases that always come to mind obviously
the John Benet Ramsey case and then this case happening on December 6th 1991 at 6:30 p.m. Eliza drives home and
is getting ready to make her drive to the icby store she was there by 700 p.m. she worked the night before and was said
that she had a difficult shift that night before due to a prank phone call from her exboyfriend Roger cardui and
one of his Pals so at 700 p.m. Eliza is replacing another employee Jorge Barney is closing his
store mind you this is like a shopping plaza so they're we're going to reference some other stores that are
nearby throughout this case and timeline Jorge Barney is closing his store the party house he's the owner of the store
he's owned it for three months at this time he has a Santa on the roof because this is a you know the party house is
where you're going to go get decorations and things for party planning and such and with the Christmas holiday coming up
he's got Santa on the roof and other decorations going on he walks three stores down to another store this is
called Mr Gaddy and he says that he went there to get some pizza it's a pizza place from there he will take his pizza
to go back to his store in his office to eat and do some bookkeeping and watch some TV he's important because his
office shares a wall with the stock room at the icby shop Eliza once she arrives
and she gets into work she places her personal belonging belongings in the store's office which is located in the
back of the store in the area we will refer to as the stock room this stock room is the room behind the sales
counter which is located in the dining room the stock room has a walk-in cooler two bathrooms one designated as men's
and the other as ladies and the Shop's small office in this back corner the office has a locked door and a floor
safe there is a back door to the shop which is located near the door to the office from my understanding captain
that back door to the store is locked via deadbolt and the manager has the only key to this back door that's key to
know because this back door is not used often when the manager with the key is not there because this case is so
perplexing it's been investigated by several detec Ives and several crime shows so I will post all the pictures
that I think are relevant to see in the outside of the building and there's also
a couple diagrams of inside the building obviously we'll post those on social media at True Crime garage Twitter
Facebook or even at the website and the captain's really doing everybody a big service by doing that because I think
it's important here as is in most cases but in this case it's particularly important to understand the layout of
the store because we will be talking about the movements of not only suspects but our victims as well well and anybody
that's worked at a shop knows that you have Closing Time duties that you start preparing even though customers are
still in the store so I think that becomes very important in this case yes we're going to want to keep an eye on
several things the events leading up to that closing time as well as those closing duties like you just pointed out
as well as the customers that are coming and going from the shop leading up to closing time now after placing her
personal belongings in the yogurt Shop's locked office Eliza will then return the
office door key to its designated location which is under the cash register later Eliza Thomas's personal
belongings will be found inside the locked office Eliza at this point in our timeline Captain she is going to be
running the store by herself until 8:00 p.m. this is when her shift mate Jennifer Harbison arrives for the
closing shift before arriving at the shop for her 800 p.m. shift Jennifer Harbison will drive her sister Sarah age
15 and her friend Amy SS age 13 to the North Cross mall so they can hang out with some friends we should also note
for those not familiar with Austin the North Cross mall is relatively close to the yogurt shop I believe it's less than
one mile from the yogurt shop note their ages as well 13 and 15 right one of the
parents would later say that this was the first time that the two good friends were allowed to go to the mall by
themselves I think we all can look back and remember one of those days right when you're a young teenager and maybe
it's the first time that you and a friend are allowed to go somewhere without any type of adult
supervision and you're you're going to the location being driven by your friend's older brother or older sister
who's dropping you off it feels very adultlike right it feels very special to those at that time and I'm sure that's
how Amy and Sarah felt on this Friday night yeah I remember being dropped off at the cinema and
being able to play a couple arcade games before we watch the movie but you're basically just going into a building
watching a movie and coming out it was more rare if they would let you walk around and look at different multiple
shops Jennifer does everything that we just said and then she arrives at the icby store just before her 800 p.m.
shift she Parks her vehicle next to Eliza Thomas's vehicle Eliza will be running the register and
Jennifer will be taking and filling orders the store closes at 11: p.m. Bryce Foods the company has a pretty
detailed closing procedures for the employees and this is important here because of these closing duties and
Jennifer harbison's and Eliza Thomas' work ethic we will get a really good idea of when things went down and how
things may have gone down this is because everyone has stated that Eliza and Jennifer carried out the closing
duties 28 completing each task in the very specific order designated by the Bryce
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signed up get signed up today all the cool kids are doing it yes cheers to you Captain cheers all right Colonel why
don't you go through a list of the closing duties the yogurt shop closes at 11:00 p.m. so starting at 10 till 11 the
person's working that night they will lock the front door from the inside then they will change the sign from open to
closed and they will leave the key in the lock in the door this is done at this time regardless if there are any
remaining customers in the store or not then they would deposit the money in the
floor safe that is in the locked office and then clean up the store when the store is completely clean they would
remove the key that's in the front door leave through the front door door then they would lock the door from the
outside place the key inside of an envelope and then slide that envelope under the front door the manager with a
key to the store opens the store in the morning and then retrieves the envelope and the key when they arrive let's get
into some of the icby customer testimonials and some of the events that we know happened that night we have
customer Lucilla Jones who arrives at the yogurt shop and says that when she entered the store she noticed two
teenage boys seated at the table nearest the door they were approximately between
the ages of 14 and 17 and she says they had a sort of hippie look to them she describes one of them as being between
5'4 and 5' 7 in tall with medium dark hair 130 to 140 lb possibly Hispanic or Ang
she does not see the face of the other so no description of him is given other than he looks to be older and larger
than the other boy that she just described she would give three different descriptions of the table throughout the
course of the events there will be a trial in the last 30 years one of these descriptions says that the boys were
focusing in on something that may have been a paper bag centered on the table a another description that she gives says
that she did not see any containers on the table and then the third description says she did not have a clear view of
the table itself she says that these boys gave her an uneasy feeling and she didn't think that the boys fit the quote
normal yogurt shop customers she orders a yogurt and pays by check and then leaves the store now we are at 900 p.m.
here Captain this is this is when Jennifer Harbison leaves the yogurt shop she has to go back and pick up her
sister Sarah and her friend Amy from their visit to the mall when the three return Sarah and Amy walk over to Mr
gaddy's to get some pizza the mall closed at 9900 p.m. and Mr gaddy's closes at 10 p.m. so we are very
confident with the times that are provided here at 9:30 p.m. Maria Thomas Eliza's mother arrives at the yogurt
shop Eliza takes a phone call from her younger sister and at some point gives the phone to her mother Amy and Sarah
then arrive at the yogurt shop with their takeout pizza shortly after this Jennifer is going to receive a phone
call from her boyfriend Samy Buchanan around the same time a man named Daryl Croft arrives at the yogurt shop he puts
his arrival time between 9:30 and 10 p.m. he is traveling with two women who stay in croft's vehicle Croft goes into
to order to go desserts for all three of them he says that when he walks into the
yogurt shop he sees two girls working behind the counter Maria again this is Eliza's mother is
standing near the counter there's a man and a woman reviewing the menu standing in front of the counter a young couple
is seated at one of the booths on the right hand side of the dining room and there's a young man in a green army type
jacket this young man is near the counter and near the couple reviewing the menu right he later would describe
this young man as early to mid 20s medium build 150 to 170 lb between 5' 10 and 6' tall and Caucasian he says there
was something off about this man there are two differing descriptions of what this man says and does while in the
store one in Beverly Lowry's book who killed these girls and another in the book murdered Innocents by Corey
Mitchell both of these books are very thorough and very good anyone that is fascinated by this case should read both
of them but rather than ordering the young man says to Croft you go first and then there is this weird awkward
exchange where the two men keep offering to allow the other to go first you go you go first no you go first yeah oh I'm
sorry you were here before me but it's like Andy and Dwight in that episode where they just kept doing each other
favors over and over again it's weird to me that he has an uneasy feeling from this gentleman that's letting him go
first the guy in the Army jacket is obviously not in a rush and obviously trying to be polite well I think what we
need to keep in mind here is we are reviewing all of these customers and their statements
after the fact and they're giving these statements to police after the murders occurred so I'm thinking what we have
here captain in most of these situations is people are going about their everyday
lives these are all very routine acts uh this Daryl Croft individual he was a regular at the yogurt shop a lot of the
customers coming in that night were regulars to this yogurt shop and so I think when you have regulars one they
seem to notice more that's going on because they're aware that you know this visit's a little different than last one
this time they're really busy this time they're not right I don't think that most of these people are walking into
the yogurt shop that night observing what's going on and going oo something something terrible is here I feel I I
sense a presence a bad element something's Brewing I think that it's you know we know what happened and when
I left or later that night or now that I know the outcome now now that I know that four girls were killed
here I remember this guy something was off about him something was weird about this guy and we're looking for somebody
who killed four people and so here is my information and Daryl Croft again he's a
regular to the yogurt shop he was a security guard at the time he owned a security company a lot of times these
individuals will be hyper Vigilant they will be extra aware of their surroundings and take mental note of
their surroundings so he to me can offer up possibly some better information than maybe just the average
Jane or Joe walking into the shop that night well he's coming in like you said between 9:30 and 10: so this is getting
close to closing time my big issue is that it's December 6th yes I understand that it's in Texas but seems like
there's quite a bit of pockets of people seems like there's quite a bit of people
towards the end of the day yeah so you're going to have this for several reasons one it's a Friday night and the
yogurt shop is open till 11: p.m. yeah good point so this is going to offer up traffic to this store when other stores
are closing for the night remember we already pointed out that Mr gaddy's the pizza place closes at 10:00 well the
mall closes at 9:00 mall closes at 9:00 so we have customers that are coming in maybe from Mr gaddy's after Pizza they
want a little dessert they want the yogurt shop dessert maybe people are leaving a movie we have several
customers that we know went to movies that night and decided to get a dessert on the way home a lot of these customers
too you're going to see some stay there to eat their frozen treats at the shop but also a lot of them are taking things
to go MH they're going in placing their order paying for them and they're leaving and that's what Daryl Croft was
doing here that night I think I have in my notes here and I can't remember where
I got this from but I think that he he and these other people they were they were either out that night and decided
to stop for dessert or he knew Eliza Thomas and Eliza Thomas's mother as well so that's interesting too
that he knows some of the people in the store when he's walking into it uh he knows them very very Loosely they're
like acquaintances because they went to the same gym so darl Croft again a regular to the shop
security guard security company owner remember we said that there will be trials because we know that two
individuals were con convicted in this case and later they were released but at the trial Croft
testified that he visited the shop around 10 p.m. that night in line in front of him was a suspicious looking
man dressed in a green army jacket the man asked him about his security guard car which was parked out front this is
part of that weird exchange where this man sees croft's vehicle and says you know what are you some kind of cop right
which Croft that kind of tickled his spidey sense a little bit because he's like why is this
guy so observant and paying so much attention to me and my vehicle and my vehicle has these lights on it who is
this kid to question me and so the man asked him about his security guard car which was parked out front and then
insisted that Croft should cut in front of him now finally Croft said that the man slipped into the back headed to what
he thought would be the bathroom this is another reason why I think Croft has a vivid memory of this
guy he walks into a busy yogurt shop sees all these customers and this is the only individual that he's going to see
go into the back room now remember the restrooms are back there so that's the assumption that Croft is going to make
well also it seems like there's pairs of people and we don't know if this Army shirt or Army jacket guy is connected to
the couple that he was closest to it almost seems like he's in there by him self yes everything that goes on would
give the appearance that this man is in there by himself so crof says that the man gave him such a funny feeling that
he decided to kind of stick around like linger a bit to see the man return from the back room but eventually you know
he's handed his three desserts that he's ordered he's paid he's made some chitchat tried to hang out a little bit
but eventually Croft will leave now Croft could not identify the suspicious man he saw as
being any of the four suspects that were later arrested and two convicted MH that's
quite interesting to me Croft is sure that he was there at 10 p.m. based off of his testimony and later when shown
pictures of the four guys that were arrested Maurice Michael Robert and forc again Croft does not match the
suspicious person to any of the four now from the book who killed these girls Croft says of green army jacket man his
voice was deep clear and distinctive and that he has a long pointy nose Army jacket man then ordered a seven up and
Eliza explains that they only have Sprite and so he orders a Sprite this before dipping into the back room with
the assumption that he went to the restroom right at 10 p.m. James Thomas this is Eliza Thomas's father stops by
the yogurt shop and says that he sees all four girls there in the store at that time is he stopping by just to
check in on his kids you know sometimes that happens where your parents just drop in on you at work when you're a
teenager or is he getting yogurt this I don't know I do know that both he and his wife stopped by that night his wife
was there just minutes before I think they're traveling separate and I don't know if James was in the process of
picking up Eliza's younger sister who had called earlier that night I think that there
was some chance here captain that Eliza's sister was going to find her way to the yogurt shop and maybe one of the
parents or both of the parents were going to retrieve her there but they very likely stopped in as customers and
to see their daughter at 10:42 p.m. Eliza Thomas rings in the last purchase of the night okay underl that make
mental note don't forget 10:42 p.m. Eliza rings in the last purchase of the night yeah 18 minutes before closing we
have our customers names this is Tim Striker and Margaret Sheen they will later say that when they get there they
notice only two other customers in the store so by this point in our timeline right we have James Thomas we have the
security guard man Daryl Croft all these people have left the store by this time
by this point we have two coming in two customers coming in Tim Striker and Margaret Sheen they say that when they
arrived in the store they only noticed two other customers in the store at that time and they would later describe them
as large people in hooded jackets sitting in the last booth on the left this is the booth nearest the cash
register they said that they saw Eliza by behind the counter she's the one that took and fulfilled their order right and
they see Jennifer cleaning the dining room she's wiping tables refilling napkin holders and placing chairs on the
tables Margaret Sheen does not get a good look at these two customers the two that are described as large people in
hooded jackets now I'm assuming they're just they have hoods on their jackets but their hoods are not up this
description I'm giving Captain is the best one that I have found it's it's extremely vague and limited but I
actually think given some other things that I've seen along the way that that potentially they have these hoods up
that they're wearing the hoods because that's pretty suspicious so Margaret Sheen does not get a good look at these
two customers in fact she says that she's not even certain of the gender for either but based off of their size she
believes that they were both males she says one was larger than the other and the larger
one was wearing a khaki or beige colored padded jacket the other man if it was a
man the other large person let's say was thinner with light brown hair she does not remember seeing any food or drink or
containers on the table where the two were sitting Margaret says that she and Tim left the store
and when they did she looked at her watch and it was 10:47 p.m. so it took him 5 minutes to
place their order get their yogurt they sat down briefly and then decided to take their desserts with them but 5
minutes being in a store where when there's only four individuals working and only two customers other than you
and your date that's a long time to get a perspective of what's happening and to
kind of sense what's going on with inside that shop that's right and note again the time she says was 10:47 p.m.
when they left we also have when it comes to a lot of these customers well all of them anyone that ordered
something and paid for something we will have the register tape later that's going to kind of give us a timeline of
some events as well but we don't know if these two large individuals had any dessert with them or any all we know is
that they at a booth they're at a table it it doesn't mean that they're eating anything exactly in fact we have
Margaret who says one I didn't get a good look at him right here's what I do remember and goes out of her way to say
I don't remember seeing any food drink or containers on their table well and this would be like you said 3 minutes
they're leaving 3 minutes before they're going to go put that key in that door and and lock the door Yes again this is
10:47 pm. M and she says that when she and Tim left the two people sitting in the booth nearest the cash register were
still in the store Margaret says when she arrived and when she left that she noticed a green car in the parking
lot this green car is a tricky little piece of information as we don't know if this is a suspect vehicle right or a car
with no real significance to the Murders At All You tricky little piece of [ __ ]
or if it was one of the girls Vehicles because we know that Eliza drove a bright green Carmen Gia right this is a
pisser here captain and in my opinion a bit of a stumble in the investigation because we can't say if this is a
suspect car or a lies or a vehicle that has nothing to do with the murders at all well but maybe law enforcement knows
and they just haven't shared that information with the public this thing went to trial twice right there's that's
your time to share information with the public when you're going to sentence a man to death and another to life
imprisonment let's lay out the facts of the case yeah but they also charge two individuals that confessed that all four
people were involved and they only charged two people here here's a stumble in the case in my opinion because if if
we truly are still on the hunt for the individuals responsible for these murders
yeah this could be important information again I don't think until we have somebody locked up in the proper person
convicted that we will know for certain if the suspect drove or suspect drove a or suspects drove a green vehicle that
night but the reason why I say that it's a stumble is we could at least eliminate
one possibility and one possibility is that it's Eliza's bright green car Gia a Carmen Gia is a unique looking
vehicle I would have shown Margaret a picture of el Li's Carmen Gia and at the very least try to confirm or rule out
that as a possibility well I agree with you because that makes the most logical sense now we don't know Captain what
happens in the next 3 minutes so our two customers left at 10:47 they say that there are two male customers left in the
store sitting at that Booth nearest to the cash register at the time that they left we don't know
if these men left or if these men stayed there and are responsible for the four murders what we do know is within the
next hour that's 60 minutes all four of the teenage girls will be killed yeah so
for the next 60 Minutes a lot of horrible shit's going to happen one thing we don't know for
certain but can assume based off of manager and co-worker statements Eliza and Jennifer followed the closing
procedures to a te and add to that equation that the two workers are teens right it's late on a Friday night
they're going to want to get everything done and get out of there with the quickness so according to the closing
duties the girls would have at 10 till 11:00 locked the front door from the inside whether or not the store was void
of customers and then flipped the sign from open to close and then continued with their closing duties now our
customers that left at 10:47 did not say that they saw the two younger girls they
only said that they saw the two older girls that were working at the shop that night it's
presumed that Amy and Sarah went to the back room we assume this for two reasons
one it was understood that Sarah would be helping her older sister with the closing duties that night in exchange
for Jennifer driving her and Amy around Amy was scheduled to ride home with the Harbison sisters and stay the night at
their house that night the second reason is later at the crime scene the Mr gadd's Pizza Box is found in the back
room at 11:03 p.m. a no sale was rang in on the register anyone who has worked a register is
familiar with the no sale key you push it and it logs a no sale on the register tape and then the register drawer opens
up so this would be recorded on the register and as we said when we covered this case four years ago it's believed
that this may be the start of the robbery and the start of the horrible events to to come well there's a lot of
evidence where we could go through and and talk about what we think could have happened but let's go through some more
events that we know for sure happen Okay at 11:47 p.m. rookie Austin PD officer Troy gay reports seeing smoke coming
from the rear of the icby store at 11:53 the first truck arrives from the Austin
fire department the response time note is 6 minutes which is long than normal here but at first it looks like they
were going to the wrong address and then the address was corrected on the call while in Route 1 minute later a second
fire engine and then at 11:57 p.m. another fire engine arrives in total captain we're going to have nearly 50
firefighters on scene that will respond to this call yeah later when the bodies are found they will also find Jennifer
harbison's Timex watch not on her she took this off when she and the others were ordered to strip by their Killers
her watch stopped marking the time at 11:48 p.m. when the watch quit working because of the fire now some other
things were found as well that helped to fill in the blanks for us as to what actually happened from
1103 to the time that the firefighters are on the scene so a couple of things here Captain one someone started to
clean out the yogurt dispensers but did not finish one of the girls was wiping the counter but did not finish right a
can of Coca-Cola and a cup of ice is later found on the counter the booth where Margaret Sheen
says the two men were sitting when she and Tim Striker left the yogurt shop at 10:47 p.m. is the only table in the
store's front of the house that does not have have a chair on it the chair is the
universal signal that the table has been cleaned stocked and closed yes this table has an empty napkin holder the
other tables have napkin holders that have been filled well that tells us something though right the other tables
have been cleaned restocked and closed so maybe not 100% but that could mean that these individuals were still in the
shop when the other duties were stopped possibly it tells us it tells us this that th those three items are all things
that should have been completed if they were able to finish their closing duties
right so whatever happened however it happened it took place before these three items could be closed out for the
night the yogurt dispensers were not finished being cleaned the counter was not finished being wiped down and that
table was not closed out for the night indicating either they didn't get to that table or as you said somebody was
sitting there which prevented them from getting to the table the fifth thing that I want to point out here is that
the register drawer was found open and the till removed the till was found on the floor in the back room next to Amy
A's body how much money was taken money taken is an interesting question because when reviewing this
case and reviewing the way that it was handled the investigation was handled it looks to me like robbery was the Genesis
of everything to come that's what they are telling us they being law enforcement and they being the
investigators that have worked this case from Jump Street to me I see something very different I see a situation where
money was involved and part of the crimes committed but I don't know if it's the Genesis I don't know if it's
where this whole attack and the whole nightmare began because when I'm looking at a picture of the crime
Scene It says next to the picture police discovered this register both open and empty with an open bag containing money
underneath so directly under the cash register visible to the naked eye is a bag that contains money that's just
sitting there it's still sitting there the next day while while investigators are going through the crime scene right
now one item that's also in the cash register that's visible again the register drawer is open the till has
been removed they will find the till along with scattered change next to the body of Amy SS in the stock room but you
can see a check that's still sitting in the register anybody that's operated a register knows that there are certain
items that you do not put in the till you put them underneath the till but inside the register drawer things get
really complicated here because I wouldn't expect a person in a robbery to want to grab a check take the check with them
and then later have to cash it somewhere especially when we know that the check is for a small amount this was a
customer check somebody that paid for their yogurt that night using a check well you didn't you say that one lady
paid for her yogurt her and her dates yogurt correct so there was checks left behind there was also a bag of money
underneath the cash register that was not even touched they did take some money and I have in my notes here and I
don't know where this information came from I was trying to track this down last night so I want everybody to take
this with a grain of salt but I have in my notes that $540 is what was determined to be
missing from that night again though one thing that this tells me is either cash is not the main
concern for the offenders or they didn't go around to the back of the counter because this bag of money and I
don't know how much money is in it but there's paper money that's visible at the top of this bag they didn't bother
to take that so either they didn't see it by going around to the back of the counter or money was not the main
concern for them yeah I agree later the detectives would review the closing duties with Bryce Foods company and this
is important here because as we said it's clear that they were not finished closing for the night the door may have
been locked the sales may have been done for the day but the girls were still working when whatever happened went down
now Bryce Foods is not trying to sway any type of opinion they're just simply trying to offer up an alternative here
and one being that the no sale button being pushed at 1103 may not have been the start of the robbery but could
simply have been the start of one of the girls closing out the register another thing that they offered up was that the
cocacola can and the cup of ice found on the counter could have belonged to one of the girls that after closing for the
night they decided to get themselves a drink and set this down on the counter and
then things got bad from there right I appreciate the additional information and the thoroughness of Bryce foods and
their involvement in the investigation but the problem with those two thoughts are a couple of things we
already mentioned the yogurt dispensers someone started cleaning them out but did not finish we also mentioned the
counter somebody was wiping down the counter but did not finish this to me indicates that we got two girls working
two girls trying to complete these closing duties and both of them are interrupted simultaneously so I think we
have a situation where very likely the 1103 pressing of the no sale key is probably the start of the robbery and
this probably took place shortly after one individual orders a Coca-Cola and a a cup of ice sets it down on the C girl
turns around gun in the face open up the register this is a robbery right from there they're probably going to Usher
all of the girls into the back and I say probably because we do not know we do not know the point of entry for the
attackers because at this point we have three possibilities one would be the front
door however the front door is locked so we can go ahead and cross that one out but if if our Killers came through the
front door that means they came through that front door before the girls locked it at 10: till 11: that night and that
means it was the two guys sitting in the booth or the states case against the four guys that they would later arrest
eight years later was that the killers came in through the back of the house through that back door that Robert
Springstein at some point went into the shop and wedged the back door open using
I think it was a empty pack of cigarettes and in his confession states that he Jimmy rigged that door so that
it would remain open that you could pull it open from the outside gaining access
to the store from the back but it was positioned in a way that persons from the inside it would not be obvious to
them that the door was not closed not latched not locked right this is still possible however
this begs the question well then why didn't the perpetrator take that bag of money because now if you have our
Killers our attackers are robbers are are robbers and we're told that the Genesis of everything that's about to
happen starts from a planned robbery from these four young men still boys at this time that they entered through the
back with the main purpose of robbery and then went to the front approached the girls and went to the register
and started taking the till and money from the register the problem with that is then why didn't they take that bag of
money that was sitting underneath the register I don't think that the robbers SLK Killers ever saw that bag of money I
think that the attack came from the other side of the counter the girls were surprised and the girls were coralled
into the back of the store to where our Killers then discovered two additional girls or knew that they were already
back there well well this crime could have been committed by one individual two individuals or or or possibly more I
think sometimes people lean to the fact that there was four attackers involved because we have four victims I would
actually lean towards less uh two individuals even possibly one because if that back door is locked if you're in if
you're in that building be before they lock that door with a weapon or with a gun you can easily control that
situation yes and there's evidence at the scene that will suggest that the number of attackers was either two or
three persons so much more to get to meet us back here in the garage tomorrow and
until then be good be kind and don't [Music] litter is it possible to predict the
unpredictable can 3D printed life-size organ models help to map out complex surgeries ahead of time is it possible
it already is right here Mayo Clinic you know where to go

Yogurt Shop Murders - 30 Years Later /// Part 1 /// 539

Part 1 of 2

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This week we take a good solid look at a case that has weighed heavy on the hearts and minds of everyone in the Lone Star state’s capital city. The Austin Yogurt Shop Murders is one of most infamous cases in Texas history. Despite the efforts of the APD it remains unsolved thirty years later. Join us as we discuss the facts of the case and the timeline.

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Brief Summary

The episode discusses the unsolved yogurt shop murders in Austin, Texas, and ongoing efforts for justice 30 years later.

Key points

The Yogurt Shop Murders. In 1991, four teenage girls were brutally murdered in a yogurt shop in Austin, Texas, leaving a community in shock and a case that remains unsolved.
30 Years Later. As the 30th anniversary of the yogurt shop murders approaches, families seek closure and justice.
Closing Procedures at Bryce Foods. Detailed closing procedures reveal the importance of timing in the investigation.
Customer Testimonials. Witness accounts from customers provide crucial details about the night.
The Last Purchase. Eliza rings in the last purchase of the night just before closing.
The Night of the Murders. In the hour leading up to the murders, two male customers left the store, leaving uncertainty about their involvement.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Who killed these girls?

The haunting question posed on billboards in Texas.

4:56WatchNov 16, 2023

Tension

70/ 100High tension

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