Men wrongfully accused of yogurt shop murders declared innocent
Summary
Four men who were wrongly accused of a 1991 yogurt shop murder in Austin, Texas, were declared innocent by a judge. The city agreed to pay them a $35 million settlement after new DNA evidence linked the crime to a different suspect who died in 1999.Key Facts
- The four men were wrongly accused of killing four teenage girls at an Austin yogurt shop in 1991.
- A judge officially declared them innocent in court on May 28.
- The city of Austin will pay $35 million to the men as a settlement.
- Two of the men, Michael Scott and Forrest Welborn, attended the hearing with family; one man, Maurice Pierce, died in 2010, and Robert Springsteen did not attend.
- The original convictions were based on confessions that the men said were forced by police and were later overturned.
- New DNA evidence identified Robert Eugene Brashers, who died in a 1999 police standoff, as the likely killer.
- The murders involved the victims being bound, gagged, shot, and the shop set on fire, which destroyed some evidence.
- The case remained unsolved for decades and received renewed attention after an HBO documentary.
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