Docuseries on Austin's 1991 yogurt shop murders debuts August 3

Docuseries on Austin's 1991 yogurt shop murders

On December 6, 1991, a fire broke out at the ?I can?t believe it?s yogurt? business. When firefighters arrived, four bodies were found: sisters Sarah and Jennifer Harbison and their friends, Amy Ayers and Eliza Thomas.

AUSTIN, Texas - A now Austin-based director is exploring one of Austin’s most heinous crimes through a documentary series.

‘I can’t believe it’s yogurt’ murders

The backstory:

On December 6, 1991, a fire broke out at the ‘I can’t believe it’s yogurt’ business. When firefighters arrived, four bodies were found: sisters Sarah and Jennifer Harbison and their friends, Amy Ayers and Eliza Thomas.

It's a case that disrupted a city that was once seen as relatively safe.

"It's just part of this sort of mythos of Austin," Director Margaret Brown said.

Brown is revisiting the more than 30-year-old case through a documentary series called ‘The Yogurt Shop Murders.’

"I saw some of the archival footage, which was like sort of this like glimpse of the 90s that was super interesting and like the big hair, and it just seemed like a piece," Brown said. "Then I met the families and my approach kind of shifted because it was just so heartbreaking to meet them that I realized it couldn't just be sort of rooted in this sort of 90s nostalgia, there was something deeper there."

Utilizing decades-old tapes and recent interviews with investigators and family members, the series explores the lasting emotional impact.

"I think for people who are really into true crime, it's the craziest case ever. And for people that, I mean, for me, what kind of brought me through, it was just what I learned about how people deal with trauma, and I think that is universal, and we all go through, we all experience hard things, and this is a very extreme case of people going through hard things," Brown said.

The families of these girls are still left with questions.

In 1999, Austin police charged four men with the crime. Two of their convictions were overturned because of a mistake made by prosecutors and investigators. Two men were never tried.

The case remains unsolved.

"We worked with the cold case unit and talked a lot about, well, what can we use, what can be not use? Because I don't want to mess anything up," Brown said.

‘The Yogurt Shop Murders’ debuts on Sunday, August 3 at 9 p.m. New episodes will follow each Sunday night.