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On the 6th of December, 1991, seventeen-year-old Jennifer Harbison and Eliza Thomas, both 17, were wrapping up at the dessert shop where they worked. Waiting for a pickup were Jennifer's sister, Sarah Harbison, aged 15, and her friend, Amy Ayers, who was 13.

Shortly before the clock struck twelve, a inferno at the shop summoned emergency crews, who made a grim discovery: the four girls had been tied up, fatally attacked, and showed signs of sexual assault. The blaze destroyed the bulk of physical proof, except for a bullet casing that had fallen into a gutter and tiny traces of DNA, including evidence found in her nail scrapings.

The Murders That Rocked Austin

These horrific killings traumatized the community in Austin and became one of the best-known cold cases in the nation. Over many years of false leads and mistaken arrests, the murders eventually contributed to a federal law enacted in 2022 that allows victims' families to petition unsolved investigations to be reinvestigated.

Yet the crimes continued to baffle investigators for almost thirty-four years – until now.

Key Development

Law enforcement officials disclosed on Monday a "major development" driven by modern methods in ballistics and forensic science, said the Austin mayor at a media event.

Genetic matches point to Robert Brashers, who was identified following his demise as a multiple murderer. More murders could be linked to him as genetic testing continue to improve and broadly applied.

"The sole forensic clue recovered from that scene has been linked to him," said the city's police chief.

The murders remains open, but this is a "huge leap", and the suspect is considered the only attacker, authorities stated.

Healing Begins

Eliza's sister, Sonora Thomas, said that her psyche was fractured when her sister was murdered.

"One part of my consciousness has been yelling, 'What happened to my sister?', and the other part kept insisting, 'I will never know. I'll go to my grave unaware, and I have to be OK with that,'" she stated.

After discovering about this development in the investigation, "those two parts of my thinking started coming together," she said.

"Finally I comprehend the events, and that lessens my suffering."

Wrongful Convictions Overturned

The news doesn't just bring closure to the loved ones; it also completely clears two individuals, minors when arrested, who maintained they were coerced into admitting guilt.

Robert Springsteen, a teenager at the time at the time of the killings, was sent to death row, and Scott, aged 15 at the time, was received a life sentence. Each defendant stated they only confessed following marathon interviews in the late 1990s. In 2009, they were set free after their guilty findings were reversed due to new precedents on statements lacking physical evidence.

Prosecutors abandoned the charges against Springsteen and Scott in that year after a genetic test, referred to as Y-STR, indicated neither individual corresponded against the DNA samples recovered from the murder site.

Scientific Breakthrough

This genetic marker – suggesting an unidentified male – would ultimately be the crucial element in solving this case. In 2018, the DNA profile was reexamined because of scientific progress – but a countrywide check to law enforcement agencies found no matches.

During the summer, the lead detective assigned to the case in recently, had an idea. Several years had passed since the firearms evidence from the spent round had been entered to the NIBIN database – and in the interim, the registry had been significantly improved.

"The technology has advanced significantly. In fact, we're talking like 3D stuff now," Jackson commented at the media briefing.

The system identified a link. An unresolved killing in another state, with a identical pattern, had the matching variety of cartridge. Jackson and a cold case expert met with the local investigators, who are still working on their unnamed case – and are analyzing evidence from a forensic kit.

Connecting the Dots

The apparent breakthrough prompted further inquiry. Might there exist any other evidence that might match against cases in other states? He recalled instantly of the DNA profile – but there was a problem. The national DNA registry is the countrywide system for police, but the yogurt shop DNA was too fragmented and minimal to upload.

"I said, well, several years have gone by. Additional facilities are doing this. Databases are getting bigger. I proposed a countrywide check again," the detective stated.

He sent out the long-standing Y-STR results to law enforcement agencies nationwide, requesting them to review individually it to their internal records.

They found another match. The profile matched perfectly with a sample from another state – a 1990 murder that was solved with help from a DNA firm and a celebrated genealogist in recent years.

Genetic Genealogy Success

The researcher created a family tree for the murderer from that case and identified a relative whose DNA sample pointed to a immediate family link – likely a brother or sister. A court official approved that Brasher's body be exhumed, and his DNA aligned against the evidence from the yogurt shop.

Typically, she is can move on from closed investigations in order to focus on the new mystery.

"But I have {not been