Crime Junkie
Crime Junkie
"When Detective Jones walked through the yogurt shop, still thick with smoke that was filling his lungs, he was horrified at what he saw. The girls had been burned so badly that their bodies had melted and they had become part of the floor that they were found on." — Host
"The defense tried to push that the men were forced into confessing but by the time these men were in court, it's 2001. And the idea of false confessions were still a very foreign idea to the general public. So what jury found it very hard to believe and both men were convicted of the murders." — Host
"But they couldn't find anything more. And when the old jury was pulled, they found out that seven of the twelve wouldn't have convicted the men had they known about the DNA evidence." — Host
The episode recounts the horrific 1991 murder of four teenage girls at an "I Can't Believe It's Yogurt" shop in Austin, Texas. The crime scene, discovered after a fire, revealed the victims bound and shot, with evidence suggesting sexual assault. Initial investigation faced significant challenges due to fire and water damage, and potential oversights in evidence preservation, such as failing to swab for accelerants or dust for fingerprints. Despite a lack of concrete evidence, the investigation led to the arrest of four young men, with two, Michael Scott and Robert Springsteen, eventually confessing after lengthy interrogations.
The confessions, which were later recanted and claimed to be coerced, formed the basis of the prosecution's case. The defense argued that the confessions did not align with the known facts and highlighted the absence of crucial evidence like accelerant swabs. However, in 2001, the prevailing public understanding of false confessions made it difficult for juries to accept the defense's arguments, leading to convictions for both Michael and Robert. Michael received a life sentence, while Robert was sentenced to death.
Years later, appeals based on the constitutional right to confront accusers led to the overturning of their convictions. A significant turning point came in 2008 when retesting of evidence using advanced DNA technology revealed unknown male DNA samples that did not match Michael or Robert. Despite this exculpatory evidence, prosecutors pursued a theory of a "fifth man" to keep their case against the accused alive. Ultimately, the prosecution was forced to dismiss all charges against Michael and Robert in 2009 due to the overwhelming evidence of their innocence and the lack of any physical evidence linking them to the crime. The case remains unsolved, with the podcast hosts emphasizing the need to identify the two men observed at the yogurt shop shortly before the murders.