Travis County will formally undo charges leveled against four young men for Austin's infamous yogurt shop murders after police found the man they believe responsible for the 1991 case earlier this year.
Travis County District Attorney José Garza said he has filed the paperwork to exonerate the four men initially accused of the murders of Amy Ayers, Eliza Thomas, and Jennifer and Sarah Harbison at an I Can't Believe It's Yogurt shop in December 1991.
Michael Scott, Robert Springsteen, Maurice Pierce, and Forrest Welborn were all tied to the murders in 1991 and charged in 1999.
Austin Police said in September they believe Scott Brashers was responsible for the murders, ending a decades-long search for answers in the case that shocked Austin, drew national headlines and was the subject of an HBO docuseries.
Garza said his office filed paperwork Thursday for the surviving men to formally clear their records.
"Thirty-four years is too long for anyone to have to wait for the criminal legal process to be over," Garza said. "And it is our hope that [this filing] ... will be the first step in finally closing this case so that all involved can move forward."
While the charges were previously dropped against the former suspects, they were still on the record. Garza said the filing will allow their records to be formally cleared in Travis County.
Springsteen and Scott were convicted in 1999. Springsteen was sentenced to death, while Scott was given a life sentence. Both of those cases were tossed out in 2006 by the state's highest criminal court.
Pierce spent more than three years in a Travis County jail awaiting trial until the case was dismissed in 2003. Pierce later stabbed an Austin police officer and was fatally shot in 2010. Wellborn's charges were dropped in 2000.
Both Springsteen and Scott maintained for decades that their confessions were coerced by police.
After APD's announcement in September, Scott, who was incarcerated for nearly 10 years, said he was glad the real suspect was finally identified.
“This case stole decades of my life, but the truth has finally come to light,” Scott said.
KUT reached out to Scott's attorney for a comment but did not hear back before publishing time.
