Judge certifies two as adults in murder case

By Mike Crissey Associated Press

Posted: Dec. 9, 1999

Two men who were 15 and 16 when four teen-age girls were killed at an Austin yogurt shop eight years ago should stand trial as adults, a judge ruled Thursday.

State District Judge Jeanne Meurer said Maurice Pierce, now 24, and Forrest Welborn, 23, should be treated as adults in the case in which the girls were shot Dec. 6, 1991 at an I Can't Believe It's Yogurt! store. The shop then was set ablaze.

Two older men, Robert Burns Springsteen Jr. and Michael Scott, both 25, already have been charged as adults in the killings that shocked Austin.

Police have said they believe that Pierce allegedly masterminded the killings and shot at least one girl, while Welborn waited outside the store as a lookout.

Springsteen and Scott have been charged as adults in the slayings of Eliza Hope Thomas, 17; Amy Ayers, 13; Jennifer Harbison, 17; and her sister, 15-year-old Sarah Harbison.

Miss Thomas and Jennifer Harbison worked at the store, which was set on fire after they were killed. The case was unsolved for eight years until police in Texas and West Virginia arrested the four men in October.

During testimony Thursday, police detective Robert Merrill, who interviewed the older suspects, answered questions from attorneys about confessions obtained from Scott and Springsteen. Both men have given statements to police implicating the younger men and themselves.

The detective said Scott was "not real truthful in all his answers" during interviews prior to a written statement he gave police on Sept. 14.

Merrill said Springsteen "was a pretty cold individual" during questioning Sept. 15 in Charleston, W.Va., where he had been living. "He didn't tell us the truth about a lot of things," Merrill said.

But questioned by prosecutor Buddy Meyer, Merrill testified that Scott's and Springsteen's basic statements about the events were consistent.

Merrill said they told police they entered the back of the yogurt shop through an opened door; a revolver and a semiautomatic handgun were used to shoot each girl in the back of the head; one girl was pistol whipped; at least one girl was sexually assaulted; and five shots were fired in the store because one girl was shot twice.

Defense attorneys asked Merrill about inconsistencies in Scott's and Springsteen's statements and how those statements compared with physical evidence collected by police.

Merrill said Scott told police he shot two of the girls, including Miss Ayers. Springsteen said he shot Miss Ayers.

Scott also told police he used lighter fluid to set the girls' bodies on fire. Springsteen did not mention lighter fluid and no physical evidence of such fluid was found.

Scott and Springsteen also didn't agree on where the group went after the crime.

Pierce's attorney, Guillermo Gonzalez, attacked the police interrogation, saying Scott and Springsteen simply told the detective what he wanted to hear.

"You chose to go down the dangerous path with no corroborating evidence and mention Maurice Pierce," Gonzalez said.