This one hits close to home. Literally. I live in Texas and only a few hours away from Austin. I had heard about this case in a podcast about a year or so ago and I was surprised that I had never heard of it before. Though it's considered a cold case, the Austin police department are still investigating.
On December 6th, 1991 Jennifer Harbison (17) and Eliza Thomas (17) were working their afternoon shift at the I can't believe it's yogurt! shop in Austin, TX. Their entire shift had been uneventful but with closing time approaching, Jennifer's younger sister Sarah, and her friend Amy Ayers joined them in preparation for a slumber party they had planned for that night.
Shortly before midnight, an officer that had been patrolling the area noticed smoke and flames coming from a nearby building and notified his dispatcher. When the fires were extinguished, police discovered four bodies inside the store. In a back room, there was 3 bodies stacked on top of each other and the fourth body was off to the side. All of the girls had been undressed and had been bound and gagged with their own clothing. When police took a closer look, they noticed that all 4 bodies had bullet holes in their head which led them to theorize that the girls had been killed before the fire even started.
In the podcast I listened to, there were things said that I have not been able to find anywhere else. I'm not sure where they did their research but there were claims that the girls had seen some shady men in the shop before they closed. Around 10pm, there was a couple who visited the shop and had seen 2 men sitting at a table off to the side but they thought nothing of it. They left shortly after not knowing they may have been some of the last people who would see the girls alive.
Around the time of the murders, there was an active serial killer by the name of Kenneth Allen McDuff who was well known for killing teenagers but the police ruled him out claiming that particular incident didn't fit his M.O. McDuff ended up getting executed for his crimes on November 17, 1998.
Austin police interviewed hundreds of people during an 8 year span, many of who confessed to the crime (around 50) though none were ever placed under arrest for this particular crime. On October 6, 1999, 4 men were arrested in connection to this murder.
Robert Burns Springsteen, Jr. (24) was arrested in West Virginia, Michael James Scott, (25) was arrested in the Austin area, Maurice Pierce (24) was arrested in Lewisville, TX and Forrest Wellborn (23) was arrested in Lockhart, TX.
During the trials, most of the charges were dropped against 3 of the men due to lack of evidence involving DNA and that ultimately led to all three walking free with the exception of Springsteen. In 2006, Springsteen's conviction was overturned under the basis of an unfair trial. In 2008, both Scott and Springsteen's lawyers requested DNA testing of alternative suspects and none of the tests matched any evidence presented earlier in the year. Many of the jurors that were present in the original trial stated that had they known that information, they would not have convicted the men. The district attorney's office stated that due to the fact that there was foreign DNA found that belonged to an unknown male, they could not in good conscience continue the trials without first identifying the 3rd man involved.
On June 24, 2009, due to a series of events, both men were released on bond before the trials began again as the Travis County District Attorney's office decided as such. Though they were temporarily free, they still had to follow certain conditions. They were not allowed to move out of Travis County and if they moved, they had to alert the courts of their new residence. They also were not allowed to own any weapons, partake in any use of illegal drugs, consume alcohol and they had to report to court on a routine basis to maintain their freedom.
On December 23, 2010, Maurice Pierce was killed by an Austin police officer on a routine stop. According to records, Pierce was stopped by an officer who was accompanied by his rookie partner. After a brief chase on foot, one of the officers held Pierce down in order to remove a knife he was carrying, and Pierce ultimately ended up stabbing the officer in the neck. Though the officer survived, the injured officer pulled out his gun and fatally wounded Maurice Pierce.
As of the date of this post, the case remains an open investigation. All 3 men are still walking free pending the trials.
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