Kriti Mehrotra
It was shortly before midnight on December 6, 1991, when the entire city of Austin, Texas, was left utterly shocked as an I Can’t Believe It’s Yogurt! store went up in flames. That’s because, once it was extinguished, officials found the remains of four individuals inside, belonging to teenagers Amy Ayers, Eliza Thomas, Jennifer Harbison, and Jennifer’s sister Sarah Harbison. As explored in CBS’ ’48 Hours: The Yogurt Shop Murders’ and HBO’s ‘The Yogurt Shop Murders,’ this case remains unsolved to this day, but two individuals were once convicted before the verdict was ultimately overturned.
Robert Springsteen and Michael Scott First Came Under Suspicion in 1991
With 17-year-old Jennifer Harbison and Eliza Thomas being employees of the yogurt store, the former had reportedly locked the doors just before 11 pm to prevent more customers from entering, as was routine. However, as per records, they were accompanied by her sister, 15-year-old Sarah Harbison, and their friend, 13-year-old Amy Ayers, because the plan was for all of them to ride home together. Unfortunately, this never transpired because just before midnight on that fateful December 6, 1991, the place was set on fire after the girls had been shot in the back of the head, execution style.
According to records, at least one of the teenagers had been sexually assaulted, and a couple did come forward to report seeing two males sitting at a table inside and acting furtively just around 11 pm. With all these details, as well as a few composite sketches, a 16-year-old named Maurice Pierce was taken into custody eight days after the fact on suspicion of being involved in the case. He was actually caught with a .22 caliber gun in a mall, following which he gave rather promising information that incriminated three of his friends, 16-year-old Forrest Welborn, 17-year-old Robert Springsteen, and 17-year-old Michael Scott.
The authorities thought they were looking at the right suspects since all four teenagers were known in the area as petty criminals, but it fell apart over time owing to a complete lack of evidence. Not only was the pistol in Maurice’s possession ruled not to be one of the murder weapons – a .22 and a .380 gun was used – but his wearing a wire while talking to others didn’t help either. As per records, it was obvious Forrest had no idea what Maurice was talking about, and both Robert and Michael also denied any involvement in the heinous offense when interrogated within days. Thus, all of them were released without any issues.
Robert Springsteen and Michael Scott Were Arrested in 1999
Although many years passed without an arrest or any charges filed, officials never put this case on the back burner; instead, they were continuously looking into new leads, possible confessions, etc. Nevertheless, in 1994, new eyes were brought on in the hopes they would be able to have a fresh perspective and find a significant breakthrough, which they seemingly did in October 1999. That’s when they arrested Maurice, Forrest, Robert, and Michael in connection with the quadruple homicide, hypothesizing that the latter two were the primary gunmen while Forrest participated and Maurice served as the getaway driver.
However, it’s imperative to note that these arrests were made solely on the basis of Maurice’s statements around eight years prior and not because of any additional physical evidence being recovered. Now in their 20s, Forrest maintained his innocence at every step, yet Michael allegedly confessed after 4 days of questioning, claiming they had cased the shop earlier in the day before returning. He indicated their plan was not only to rob the store but also to attack the girls working there before adding, “I hear the gun go off. I only pulled the trigger once…. I hear another gun go off.”
It was then that Robert also allegedly confessed, with authorities asserting he corroborated much of what had been admitted prior to taking responsibility for shooting and raping one of the girls. In the end, while two grand juries failed to indict Forrest and all counts against Maurice were dropped owing to a lack of evidence, Robert and Michael were both charged with four counts of murder. They stood trial for the same a few years later, but by this point, they had already tried recanting their statements, claiming they had been coerced, pressured, and terrorized into giving them.
Robert Springsteen and Michael Scott Seemingly Lead Quiet Lives Today
Since Robert and Michael were tried separately and didn’t testify against one another, prosecutors were able to use their confessions without any worries of cross-examination by the defense. Thus, they were convicted in June 2001 and September 2002, respectively, with the former receiving the death penalty, whereas the latter was only handed a life term since he was just 15 at the time of the offense. Yet, everything started turning around in 2006 when Robert’s conviction was overturned on the grounds of an unfair trial, only to be reinstated by the Supreme Court in 2007.
Then, in 2009, both Robert’s and Michael’s verdicts were overturned for good as the prosecution’s use of their alleged confessions at each other’s trial violated the Confrontation Clause. Therefore, at 2:50 pm on June 24, they walked out of the Travis County Jail with their respective attorneys on bond, awaiting retrial, just for it to never happen based on new evidence. Since DNA technology had made a lot of advancements by this point, a sample recovered from one of the victims was sent in for analysis, and a Y-chromosome profile was created.
Neither Robert nor Michael was even a close match to this profile, so on October 28, 2009, all charges against them were dismissed. However, this does not mean that they were exonerated. Since then, it appears as if these late 40/early 50-year-olds have both preferred to remain well away from the limelight for privacy reasons. So, we believe that while Michael still seems to reside in Texas, Robert has relocated to West Virginia, where they are now surrounded by families of their own.
Read More: Robert Marks: Where is the Killer Now?
