- www.texas-justice.com
- www.texas-justice.com
No DNA match found in yogurt case
State lab report finds that crime scene samples are not from the 4 murder suspects
DNA samples taken from the victims in the 1991 yogurt shop killings do not belong to the four murder suspects, according to a Department of Public Safety laboratory report.
After testing for sexual assault and analyzing fingernail clippings and mucus that were found beneath one of the four slain teen-agers, the DPS concluded in a June 30 report that no DNA was found matching that of suspects Robert Springsteen, Michael Scott, Maurice Pierce or Forrest Welborn.
Autopsy reports do not mention sexual assault, and the men arrested last fall in the slayings at the I Can't Believe It's Yogurt Shop are charged with capital murder, not rape.
However, in statements that authorities have called confessions, Springsteen and Scott said one girl was sexually assaulted, court records show.
The DNA report is another setback for prosecutors. Charges against Welborn were dismissed in June after a second grand jury did not indict him. Now, with the results from the DNA testing, it appears there is no physical evidence against the accused killers.
Ballistics reports have concluded that a .22-caliber handgun found on Pierce shortly after the crime probably was not the murder weapon. Amy Ayers, Eliza Thomas and sisters Sarah and Jennifer Harbison all were shot with a .22. A .380-caliber handgun, also used in the crime, has not been found.
The linchpin of the case continues to be Scott's and Springsteen's statements, which defense attorneys are trying to get thrown out, arguing they were coerced.
Court documents filed in May stated that a detective at one point held a gun near the back of Scott's head while interviewing him for 18 hours over several days in September. Prosecutors say the description is inaccurate.
On Thursday, a hearing on the admissibility of Springsteen's statement continued before state District Judge Mike Lynch.
Austin police had traveled to West Virginia to interview Springsteen in a Charleston police station, where they talked for five hours. Defense attorneys say the statement was illegal, saying Springsteen was a suspect and thus should have been read his Miranda rights and had access to a lawyer hired by his family.
Charles Meyer, who took part in the interview as an agent for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, testified Thursday that Springsteen was not a suspect or in custody at the time.
Meyer, now retired, said his portion of the interview focused on Springsteen's description of the yogurt shop and who was there the night of the killings. He also testified that Springsteen said he raped one of the girls.
A defense lawyer used that answer to bring up the issue of the DNA test results -- their first mention in court -- before being cut off by a prosecutor's objection. Joe James Sawyer asked Meyer if he knew whether Springsteen had been ruled out as someone who sexually assaulted the girls. Meyer said he did not. Asked if he was aware of any DNA testing, Meyer also answered no.
Prosecutor Darla Davis objected, saying Sawyer shouldn't be able to go into details of the evidence, which she said he was trying to "blurt out" in the courtroom.
Citing a gag order in the case, prosecutor Buddy Meyer said he would not comment on the DNA report, which is not public but was obtained Thursday by the Austin American-Statesman.
Lynch said he would rule Aug. 23 on whether Springsteen's statement can be used at his trial.