Austin Faces $35M Payout for 1991 Case

Austin officials have agreed to a tentative $35 million settlement with three men and the family of a fourth who were wrongly accused in the 1991 yogurt shop murders case. City Manager T.C. Broadnax disclosed the agreement on May 12, after Austin City Council had discussed the case in closed session a week earlier. The settlement follows a February court action that exonerated Robert Springsteen, Michael Scott, Forrest Welborn and Maurice Pierce, who died in 2010. The case remains one of the city’s most notorious criminal investigations and one of its most expensive wrongful-accusation payouts. ### Who is set to receive the $35 million? Robert Springsteen, Michael Scott and Forrest Welborn, along with the family of Maurice Pierce, are the parties named in the settlement announced by Broadnax. KUT and other outlets reported that the city agreed to pay the group a total of $35 million in restitution tied to their wrongful prosecution in the yogurt shop case. (kut.org) Maurice Pierce died in 2010, so his share would go to his family. The four men had long maintained they were innocent in the killings of Jennifer Harbison, Sarah Harbison, Eliza Thomas and Amy Ayers, who were murdered at the I Can’t Believe It’s Yogurt shop in North Austin in December 1991. ### How did the case against them unravel? (kut.org) February 2026 brought the formal exonerations after Travis County prosecutors moved to clear the four men. KUT reported that the men were officially declared innocent two months before the settlement announcement. September 2025 marked a major turn in the investigation when Austin police said DNA testing had identified Robert Eugene Brashers as a suspect in the murders. (kut.org) Police said Brashers died by suicide in Missouri in 1999 and described the case as still open and ongoing. Austin police also said the original crime scene was badly damaged by fire and sprinkler water, complicating evidence collection. (kut.org) In the same account, police said Pierce was arrested within a week of the murders after he was found with a gun of the same make and model as one of the weapons used, but detectives later determined his confession did not match the crime scene details and ballistics results were inconclusive. (austintexas.gov) ### What happened to Springsteen and Scott in court? Robert Springsteen was once sent to death row, and Michael Scott received a life sentence, according to reporting on the settlement. Those convictions did not stand. The case against the four men had centered heavily on confessions obtained during interrogations in 1999. (services.austintexas.gov) A 2012 Austin Public Safety Commission document that compiled prior reporting described the investigation as relying largely on circumstantial evidence and disputed confessions from Springsteen and Scott. That document cited earlier coverage arguing the interviews were lengthy and coercive. ### What has the city said publicly? T.C. (chron.com) Broadnax said the city had agreed to the settlement, but public details so far have been limited. Austin City Council’s May 5 work session agenda shows members met in private consultation with legal counsel to discuss “the Yogurt Shop criminal cases” under the Texas Government Code. (services.austintexas.gov) Austin’s public council records do not yet show a posted May 21 agenda item naming the settlement amount, though the council’s next regular meeting is scheduled for May 21. Any final public action would typically appear through the council meeting system or related backup documents. ### What are the key dates readers should keep straight? December 6, 1991, was the night the four girls were killed at the yogurt shop on West Anderson Lane. (kut.org) Austin police said the victims were Jennifer Harbison, 17, Sarah Harbison, 15, Eliza Thomas, 17, and Amy Ayers, 13. May 12, 2026, was the date Broadnax said the city had reached the tentative $35 million settlement. (austintexas.gov) May 21, 2026, is the date of Austin City Council’s next regular meeting listed on the city’s website, where any next formal step would be posted if council action is required. (kut.org) (services.austintexas.gov)