Texas Judge Exonerates Four in 1991 Yogurt Shop Murders

In Austin, Texas, a state district judge formally exonerated four men on Thursday, declaring them innocent of the 1991 murders of four teenage girls at a yogurt shop, more than three decades after they were wrongly accused in one of the city's most haunting crimes.

Judge Dayna Blazey addressed Michael Scott and Forrest Welborn, who attended the emotional hearing in a crowded courtroom filled with family members. "You are innocent," she said, describing her order as an obligation to the rule of law and the dignity of the individual. Robert Springsteen did not appear, while Maurice Pierce, who died in 2010 during a confrontation with police after a traffic stop, was represented by his daughter Marisa Pierce. The ruling came after prosecutors acknowledged the men's innocence, prompted by new evidence identifying a deceased serial offender as the perpetrator.

The killings occurred on December 6, 1991, at the I Can't Believe It's Yogurt shop on Westview Drive. Employees Eliza Thomas, 17, and Jennifer Harbison, 17, were closing the store when Jennifer's sister Sarah Harbison, 15, and friend Amy Ayers, 13, arrived to wait for a ride home. The girls were bound with their own clothing,...