The Trail Went Cold - Episode 342 - The Austin Yogurt Shop Murders (Part 1)

The Trail Went Cold

Robin Warder

True Crime, Tv & Film

4.5 • 3.2K Ratings

🗓️ 23 August 2023

⏱️ 63 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

December 6, 1991. Austin, Texas. After responding to a fire at a local yogurt shop, the authorities discover the burned nude bodies of four victims who have all been shot in the head: 17-year old employees Eliza Thomas and Jennifer Harbison; Jennifer’s 15-year old sister, Sarah Harbison; and Sarah’s 13-year old friend, Amy Ayers. Nearly eight years later, investigators arrest four suspects for the murders and while the charges against two of them are eventually dropped, the other two – Robert Springsteen and Michael Scott – had confessed to the crime, so they wind up being convicted at their respective trials. However, both men’s convictions are overturned due to civil rights violations and forensic testing reveals the presence of DNA on the victims which does not match any of the alleged perpetrators. In 2009, the charges against the two defendants are dismissed and they are released from prison, but there are no conclusive answers about who actually committed the crime. This week, “The Trail Went Cold” will be releasing the first part of a special two-part episode about one of our most highly requested cases: the Austin Yogurt Shop Murders. Special thanks to listener Melissa Lovell for narrating the opening of this episode. If have any information about this case, please contact the Austin Police Department at (512) 472-TIPS (8477). Additional Reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991_Austin_yogurt_shop_killings “Who Killed These Girls? The Unsolved Murders That Rocked a Texas Town” by Beverly Lowry “Murdered Innocents” by Corey Mitchell https://www.cbsnews.com/news/innocence-lost-the-yogurt-shop-murders-09-01-2010/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/yogurt-shop-murders-are-two-never-identified-customers-key-to-solving-austin-texas-case/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-yogurt-shop-murders-austin-texas-families-investigators-haunted-by-unsolved-case/ https://www.statesman.com/picture-gallery/news/2021/11/30/yogurt-shop-murders-austin-cold-case-photos/8798254002/ https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=3622 https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=3658 This episode of “The Trail Went Cold” is brought to you by HelloFresh. Go to HelloFresh.com/50wentcold and use code “50wentcold” for 50% off plus free shipping. “The Trail Went Cold” is on Patreon. Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content. “The Trail Went Cold” is doing a weekly livestream show on Vokl every Thursday from 7:00-8:00 PM ET as part of their “True Crime Thursday” line-up. For more information, please visit their website. “The Trail Went Cold” is going to be appearing on podcast row at “Crimecon” at the World Center Marriott in Orlando, Florida on September 22-24, 2023. To get a 10 % discount on the purchase of tickets to the event, please use our specialized promo code, “COLD23”, by visiting https://www.crimecon.com. “The Trail Went Cold” will be appearing at the True Crime Podcast Festival, taking place at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel in Austin, Texas on August 25-27, 2023. To get a 15 % discount on the purchase of tickets, please our specialized promo code, “TRAIL”, by visiting https://truecrimepodcastfestival.com. The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

Transcript

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0:00.0	We would like to send out a special thanks to Hello Fresh, America's Number One Meal Kit for sponsoring this episode.
0:06.0	Go to Hello Fresh.com slash 50 Went Cold and use code 50 went cold for 50% off plus free shipping.
0:14.2	Enjoy the episode.
0:16.5	December 6, 1991, Austin, Texas.
0:20.0	After responding to a fire at a local yogurt shop, authorities discover the bodies of four victims who have all been shot in the head.
0:27.0	Seventeen year old employees Eliza Thomas and Jennifer Harbison, Jennifer's 15 year old sister Sarah Harbison and Sarah's 13-year-old friend Amy Ayers.
0:35.0	Nearly eight years later, investigators arrest four suspects for the murders and
0:40.0	while charges against two of them are eventually dropped, the other two, Robert Springstein and Michael Scott, confessed to the crime, so they wind up being convicted at trial.
0:49.3	However, both men's convictions are overturned due to civil rights violations, and forensics
0:54.4	testing reveals the presence of DNA on the victims, which does not match any of the alleged perpetrators.
1:00.0	In 2009, the charges against two defendants are dismissed and they are released in prison,
1:04.7	so there's no conclusive answers about who actually committed the Austin yogurt shop murders.
1:09.7	After that, the trail went cold. Oh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, and uh, and uh,
1:34.0	uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, Hello everyone and welcome to our latest episode of The Trail Went Cold.
1:53.6	I'm your host Robin Warder, and this week we're going to be covering a very infamous case
1:58.6	and releasing what will be the first part of an extensive two-part series.
2:03.0	The 1991 murders of Eliza Thomas, Jennifer Harveson, Sarah Harveson, and Amy Ayers,
2:09.0	aka the Austin yogurt shop murders. And that voice you just heard narrating our intro was Melissa Lovell,
2:16.0	the latest winner of our most recent trail went cold listener voiceover contest,
2:20.0	so thank you very much, Melissa.
2:22.0	This is a contest which we've been carrying on for six years now. So if you'd like to enter and haven't already done so, I will be providing instructions near the end of this episode.
2:31.0	Anyways, you probably know, this coming weekend I'm going to be appearing at the
	...

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