HBO Original Four-Part Documentary Series THE YOGURT SHOP MURDERS Debuts August 3
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HBO Original Four-Part Documentary Series THE YOGURT SHOP MURDERS Debuts August 3

The Yogurt Shop Murders

The Enduring Mystery And Loss Around A Case That Forever Changed The City Of Austin

 

  • The HBO Original four-part documentary series THE YOGURT SHOP MURDERS, directed by Margaret Brown (“Descendant”), from A24 and Fruit Tree, debuts SUNDAY, AUGUST 3 (10:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT) on HBO and will be available to stream on HBO Max. New episodes will debut subsequent Sundays at the same time.
     
  • Synopsis: In 1991, four teenage girls were brutally murdered at a frozen yogurt shop in Austin, Texas. What happened that night forever shook the Austin community and continues to mystify the police and haunt the families left in the wake of unthinkable loss. Including interviews with the investigative teams, the victims’ parents and siblings, and the two men who served time for the crime, the series explores law enforcement practices and raises complex questions about press coverage and the power of suggestion on memory. The series offers a unique window into the lasting effects of grief and the enduring impact of unrelenting crime coverage in mainstream media through poignant interviews with those closest to the crime and investigation.

    Illustrated by a wealth of news coverage and archival video over the decades with families and suspects, THE YOGURT SHOP MURDERS includes interrogation room footage and audio tapes from the four teenage boys who were brought in for questioning. All four were arrested, and when the police obtained confessions of rape and murder from two of the young men, they were indicted for murder in the first degree, with their written confessions leading to convictions. When new DNA evidence came to light, the two men were released on bond, having both served over nine years. The charges were eventually dropped, but the men still live in a state of presumed guilt by many despite no physical evidence tying them to the murder scene. As they and the victims’ families continue to struggle with the ongoing trauma and the lack of resolution in the case, the series recognizes the importance of storytelling to help in healing and explores the fragility and the resilience of the mind – in preserving memories, coping with loss, and remaining convinced of one’s own innocence.
     
  • Episode Descriptions:
    Episode One: Fire and Water
    Debut date: SUNDAY, AUGUST 3 (10:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT)
    In 1991, the murder of four teenage girls rocks the city of Austin, Texas. Amy Ayers (13), sisters Jennifer Harbison (17) and Sarah Harbison (15), and Eliza Thomas (17) were at the yogurt shop where Jennifer and Eliza worked, at closing time but never returned home. They were found later that night in the rubble of the store which had been set on fire. One week after the murders, 16-year-old Maurice Pierce is arrested at a local mall carrying a gun. Under questioning, he implicates his friends Forrest Welborn, Robert Springsteen, and Michael Scott in the crimes. As the families grieve and the community comes together to find ways to heal, the police are thwarted in their investigations by a lack of hard evidence.

    Episode Two: The Fifth Victim
    Debut date: SUNDAY, AUGUST 10 (10:10-11:10 p.m. ET/PT)
    Trauma continues to haunt the community as family members search for healing, resolution, and ways to hold on to the memories of the girls. The initial suspicions around the four teenage boys lead nowhere. After several false leads and wrongful arrests, homicide supervisor Hector Polanco is found to have coerced a suspect into a false confession and is reassigned. Lead investigator John Jones is diagnosed with PTSD and is taken off the case, suffering guilt about the department’s inability to solve the murders. The family of Amy Ayers even turns to a private investigator in their frustration with the lack of progress. Eight years after the murders, new lead investigator Paul Johnson revisits the case and an interrogation video reveals Rob Springsteen claiming to have seen Maurice Pierce with a gun in his hand on the night of the murders.

    Episode Three: Mental Evidence
    Debut date: SUNDAY, AUGUST 17 (10:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT)
    As the investigation revisits the young suspects more deeply, the police call them in for new videotaped interrogations, which reveal conflicting and ever-changing information. In October 1999, all four boys are arrested. Welborn is released quickly, followed by Pierce, who never gave a confession. However, Springsteen and Scott are charged with murder after having confessed to killing the girls and are sentenced to death and life in prison respectively. But in 2008, with new technology, a DNA sample from the crime scene turns the case upside down.

    Episode Four: In Your Time
    Debut date: SUNDAY, AUGUST 24 (10:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT)
    In 2009, Springsteen and Scott are released on bond and the charges are dropped.  But the men still live in a state of presumed guilt by many, despite no physical evidence tying them to the murder scene and more being revealed about false confessions, and the mind’s susceptibility to confusion between truth and suggested truth. Three decades after the murders, a cold case detective continues to search for answers and closure for the families. Sonora Thomas, the sibling of one of the girls, works as a therapist, advocating storytelling to heal trauma and a way to change how memories live inside of us. Each of the families seeks solace in their own way as they grapple with their loss.
     
  • Featured Participants: Documentary filmmaker Claire Huie, Austin Police Department lead investigator (1991-1994) John Jones, homicide investigator Mike Huckabay, author Beverly Lowry, “48 Hours” correspondent Erin Moriarty, journalist Mike Hall, Austin Police Department lead investigator (1997-2002) Paul Johnson, memory expert Robert Shomer, lawyers Joe Sawyer, Carlos Garcia, and Amber Farrelly, Judge Mike Lynch, detective Dan Jackson, family members, and friends of victims.
     
  • Credits: HBO Documentary Films presents THE YOGURT SHOP MURDERS, an A24 Production and A Fruit Tree And Pig Village Production. Directed and executive produced by Margaret Brown; produced by Alice Henty and Michael Bloch; executive produced by A24, Nicole Stott, Emily Osborne, Emma Stone, Dave McCary, Mickey Stanley, Beth Garrabrant, Ali Herting, Avi Belkin, and Limor Gott Ronen. For HBO: executive producers, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, and Sara Rodriguez.

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