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Back on the 6th of December, 1991, seventeen-year-old Jennifer Harbison and Eliza Thomas, both 17, were wrapping up at the frozen yogurt shop where they were employed. Staying behind for a lift were Jennifer’s younger sister, 15-year-old Sarah Harbison, and her friend, Amy Ayers, who was 13.

Shortly before the clock struck twelve, a blaze at the shop attracted first responders, who made a grim discovery: the four teenagers had been tied up, fatally attacked, and showed evidence of sexual violence. The fire wiped out most of the forensic clues, with the exception of a shell casing that had fallen into a gutter and minute samples of DNA, including evidence found in her nail scrapings.

The Crime That Stunned Texas

These horrific killings traumatized the city of Austin and became one of the best-known unsolved mysteries in the nation. Over many years of false leads and mistaken arrests, the homicides in time led to national legislation approved in recent years that permits families of the deceased to petition dormant cases to be reopened.

However the crimes stayed unresolved for nearly 34 years – before this development.

A Major Breakthrough

Investigators disclosed on Monday a "important advance" made possible by advanced techniques in ballistics and genetic testing, said the city's mayor at a press conference.

Forensic clues indicate Robert Brashers, who was confirmed posthumously as a multiple murderer. More murders are likely to be added to his record as genetic testing continue to improve and more commonly used.

"The only physical evidence found at the crime scene has been matched to him," explained the head of police.

The case isn't closed yet, but this represents a "major step", and Brashers is considered the sole perpetrator, police said.

Closure for Loved Ones

A family member, Sonora, expressed that her psyche was fractured when her sister was murdered.

"One part of my brain has been screaming, 'What took place to my sister?', and the other half kept saying, 'I will never know. I will die not knowing, and I must accept that,'" she said.

When she learned about this development in the case, "the conflicting thoughts of my thinking started melding," she said.

"I know now what happened, and that lessens my pain."

Mistaken Arrests Corrected

This development not simply bring resolution to the victims' families; it also completely clears two suspects, who were teens then, who claimed they were pressured into giving false statements.

Springsteen, then 17 years old when the murders occurred, was sentenced to death, and Scott, a 15-year-old then, was sentenced to life. Both men said they gave confessions following hours-long interrogations in the late 1990s. In 2009, they were freed after their guilty findings were reversed due to court rulings on statements without tangible proof.

Legal authorities withdrew the charges against the defendants in 2009 after a forensic examination, known as Y-STR, indicated neither individual aligned against the samples left at the yogurt shop.

The Investigation Advances

This genetic marker – pointing to an unidentified male – would in time be the decisive factor in cracking the investigation. In 2018, the genetic data was reexamined because of scientific progress – but a nationwide inquiry to other police departments yielded no results.

During the summer, Daniel Jackson working on the case in 2022, had an idea. It had been since the ballistics from the spent round had been submitted to the national ballistic system – and in the years since, the database had been significantly improved.

"The technology has improved dramatically. Actually, we're dealing with 3D stuff now," Jackson said at the media briefing.

The system identified a link. An unsolved murder in the state of Kentucky, with a comparable method, had the identical kind of bullet casing. Jackson and a colleague spoke to the Kentucky detectives, who are continuing to investigate their open file – which involves analyzing evidence from a sexual assault kit.

Linking Multiple Crimes

The new lead made the detective wonder. Might there exist any other evidence that might link with crimes in different locations? He recalled instantly of the genetic testing – but there was a problem. The national DNA registry is the federal genetic registry for police, but the yogurt shop DNA was insufficiently intact and scarce to submit.

"I thought, well, several years have gone by. A growing number of laboratories are conducting this analysis. Databases are getting bigger. I proposed a countrywide check again," Jackson stated.

He sent out the long-standing DNA data to police departments across the United States, instructing them to review individually it to their internal records.

There was another hit. The DNA pattern corresponded precisely with a genetic evidence from a city in South Carolina – a 1990 murder that was resolved with help from a genetic genealogy company and a celebrated genealogist in 2018.

Genetic Genealogy Success

The researcher created a ancestry profile for the offender and found a kinship connection whose biological evidence indicated a immediate family link – almost certainly a sibling. A judge authorized that the suspect's remains be dug up, and his biological samples corresponded against the evidence from the yogurt shop.

Typically, this expert is able to set aside solved cases in order to work on the next one.

"However I have {not been