People Magazine Investigates 1991 Austin yogurt shop killings DNA and JonBenet Ramsey

Thu Aug 24, 2023 12:06 am

I have finished watching

People Magazine Investigates
S7 E7 · Who Killed Our Girls?
Aug 21, 2023
1991 Austin yogurt shop killings


I have heard of 1991 Austin yogurt shop killings but this is the very first time I saw an actual documentary with actual family members and detectives and a re-enactment with actors


Its definitely worth a watch I think. Scary to think how dangerous it is to work in a small shop, here it is Yogurt, in another there's Burger Chef, resulting in robbery and killing.

This story definitely reminds me of the Burger Chef murders also involving teens at closing.

I'm not going to recap the story here, but I will comment on how DNA technology evolved and how it compares with Jonbenet Ramsey.

1991 Austin yogurt shop killings happened in 1991, they did do DNA testing on material from a vaginal swab of some of the girl victims. But that DNA had almost no value, all they can say is they found male DNA from multiple suspects but couldn't do much more than that.

This of course reminds me of Jonbenet original DNA profile in 1997, based on technology that existed in 1991 for Yogurt killing and 1997 Jonbenet.

The fire destroyed a lot of evidence and the soot-covered fingerprints, but police did find a partial DNA profile. Moriarty says, “It only had 16 markers which is not a lot of genetic material. It’s enough to eliminate but is not enough to incriminate.”

But advancements in DNA technology are allowing scientists to squeeze more information from that tiny piece of evidence. Moriarty says, “That’s actually a hopeful thing because if new tests can continually draw out more markers out of this sample then the hope is that not so far in the future they will be able to at least connect with a suspect.” She adds that whoever that DNA came from was involved in this crime.

https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/new-dna-tests-bringing-crime-investigators-closer-to-solving-1991-yogurt-shop-murders

So in the 1991 Yogurt killing, they had some DNA profile based on technology of 1991, they still asked public for suspects and they also asked the FBI to create a profile.

The FBI created a profile and Austin detectives found 4 individuals who met the profile, and coerced 2 into a confession Scott and Springsteen.

They initially confessed but then recanted but they spent 10 years in prison.

Well DNA technology continued to advance. By 2009 they could get a complete DNA profile, and it eliminated Scott and Springsteen who spent 10 years in prison for this murder that were eliminated by DNA.

All previous suspects in this case were also eliminated by DNA, and again this is result of improvements in DNA technology from 1991 to 2009.

DNA technology continues to evolve and with newer techniques such as genetic genealogy and Y-STR DNA.

A Y-chromosome match for the perpetrator DNA has been found in a research database of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) but it has declined to reveal the identity of the man in accordance with the law of anonymity for donors, and because thousands of men could bear this fragment of DNA, which is unable to identify individuals.

genetic genealogy can also be done with just Y-Chromosome DNA, but not as specific a match.

So in summary in 1991, forensics recovered biological material from victim in a sexual assault.

That DNA was partial and could not identify anyone, and 2 individuals were sent to prison for 10 years.

DNA technology advanced so by 2009 the vaginal swabs were re-tested using more advance technology in 2009 that did not exist in 1991 the 2 individuals were ELIMINATED and set free.

DNA technology continue to advance so by 2020 they have identified Y-Chromosome DNA individuals matches, but not to just 1 person.

The reports state they have found 1 complete DNA profile that can be used to idenify a suspect.

In the Jonbenet case there have been similar profession, including DNA experts recommending using Y-Chromosome DNA and Y-STR specific for males, and Y-Chromosome genetic genealogy.

It is highly likely that both cases will be solved with DNA and both leads to intruder killers