WEBVTT 1 00:00:30.199 --> 00:00:32.799 So welcome to a very special edition of The Path 2 00:00:32.920 --> 00:00:35.119 Went Chili. We're going to do something a little different 3 00:00:35.119 --> 00:00:38.119 from the normal. We've given Ashley a little break because 4 00:00:38.159 --> 00:00:40.520 we're going to be talking about a salt case, but 5 00:00:40.560 --> 00:00:43.560 it's a very complicated and shocking one, so we have 6 00:00:43.640 --> 00:00:45.719 a lot to talk about and I'll be sharing the 7 00:00:45.799 --> 00:00:50.439 details with Jewels and getting her live reaction. So hilariously enough, 8 00:00:50.719 --> 00:00:53.600 last month, I had an idea pop into my head. 9 00:00:53.960 --> 00:00:57.159 They had just released a new documentary on HBO Max 10 00:00:57.200 --> 00:01:00.280 about the Austin yogurt shop murders from nineteen ninety one, 11 00:01:00.439 --> 00:01:02.159 and I had covered it on The Trail Went Cold 12 00:01:02.240 --> 00:01:04.760 two years ago, did a long two part episode. So 13 00:01:04.799 --> 00:01:06.719 I was thinking, we need to tackle this on The 14 00:01:06.719 --> 00:01:09.760 Path Went Chilly because we can maybe get three four 15 00:01:09.799 --> 00:01:12.480 episodes talking about this, and then all of a sudden, 16 00:01:12.640 --> 00:01:16.519 it wound up being solved. So that changed everything. So 17 00:01:16.560 --> 00:01:19.239 instead of following our usual format where we talk about 18 00:01:19.319 --> 00:01:21.760 with Ashley, we're going to spend a couple episodes where 19 00:01:21.760 --> 00:01:24.319 I share the details with Jewles and she will give 20 00:01:24.359 --> 00:01:27.480 off her reactions. So, Jules, I know you told me 21 00:01:27.599 --> 00:01:30.920 before that you haven't watched the recent documentary, but how 22 00:01:30.959 --> 00:01:32.959 familiar are you with the case in general? 23 00:01:33.959 --> 00:01:36.640 So I think I listened to like a true crime 24 00:01:36.719 --> 00:01:39.920 garage or perhaps your episodes on the Trail went cold 25 00:01:40.200 --> 00:01:44.319 years ago. I purposefully didn't listen to the documentary when 26 00:01:44.359 --> 00:01:48.359 you discussed maybe we would tackle this together and you 27 00:01:48.400 --> 00:01:51.200 would tell me the details, and I didn't read anything 28 00:01:51.359 --> 00:01:53.519 on how the case was solved or any of that, 29 00:01:53.719 --> 00:01:56.120 because I wanted to be as fresh as I could 30 00:01:56.120 --> 00:02:00.000 possibly be, so everything would be new and I would 31 00:02:00.120 --> 00:02:01.560 be surprised by the details. 32 00:02:02.560 --> 00:02:04.760 Yeah, definitely. Like this is considered to be one of 33 00:02:04.760 --> 00:02:08.240 the more infamous homicides of the modern era. It's just 34 00:02:08.319 --> 00:02:11.199 so horrible on so many levels, and it also has 35 00:02:11.280 --> 00:02:14.960 a wrongful conviction and a lot of people's lives were 36 00:02:15.039 --> 00:02:18.800 ruined by this, and it's so surreal after nearly thirty 37 00:02:18.800 --> 00:02:21.840 four years to finally get a concrete resolution. But there 38 00:02:21.879 --> 00:02:24.360 are still a lot of unanswered questions to this case. 39 00:02:25.120 --> 00:02:28.199 It takes place in Austin, Texas in nineteen ninety one, 40 00:02:28.599 --> 00:02:31.599 on the evening of December sixth. Took place at a 41 00:02:32.039 --> 00:02:34.759 shop called I Can't Believe It's Yogurt, which was a 42 00:02:34.800 --> 00:02:38.039 frozen yogurt establishment located at a strip mall called the 43 00:02:38.120 --> 00:02:42.039 Hillside Center, and at around eleven forty seven pm, a 44 00:02:42.120 --> 00:02:44.840 patrolman from the Austin Police Department noticed that there was 45 00:02:44.879 --> 00:02:48.039 a fire inside the yogurt shop and called for assistance. 46 00:02:48.280 --> 00:02:50.120 It looked like it was closed, so they didn't think 47 00:02:50.159 --> 00:02:52.400 anyone would be in there, but when they arrived, they 48 00:02:52.439 --> 00:02:54.840 noticed the shop's lights were off, the closed sign was 49 00:02:54.840 --> 00:02:57.719 facing outward, and the front door was locked, but oddly, 50 00:02:57.919 --> 00:03:00.680 a key was still inside the lock on the inside, 51 00:03:01.199 --> 00:03:03.759 so the firefighters used a crowbar to bust open the 52 00:03:03.840 --> 00:03:06.400 door and entered the back room, and then they discovered 53 00:03:06.439 --> 00:03:09.080 that there was a small fire burning in there, so 54 00:03:09.120 --> 00:03:11.639 they were able to extinguish the flames relatively quickly and 55 00:03:11.759 --> 00:03:14.800 initially just looked like a routine fire, but then they 56 00:03:14.800 --> 00:03:17.599 were horrified to discover that there were four dead bodies 57 00:03:17.680 --> 00:03:20.439 lying in the area, and even more tragically, they all 58 00:03:20.479 --> 00:03:23.439 belonged to teenage girls. One of them was seventeen year 59 00:03:23.439 --> 00:03:27.800 old Eliza Thomas, seventeen year old Jennifer Harveson, her younger 60 00:03:27.840 --> 00:03:31.599 fifteen year old sister, Sarah Harveson, and Sarah's thirteen year 61 00:03:31.639 --> 00:03:36.599 old best friend, Amy Ayres, and Eliza. Jennifer and Sarah's 62 00:03:36.639 --> 00:03:39.120 bodies were all stacked on top of each other, and 63 00:03:39.159 --> 00:03:42.000 they were burned so badly that they could not be recognized. 64 00:03:42.039 --> 00:03:45.520 They had to be identified via dental records, and Amy's 65 00:03:45.599 --> 00:03:48.319 body was located a few feet away from the pile. 66 00:03:48.400 --> 00:03:51.400 It's possible she may have actually still been alive when 67 00:03:51.400 --> 00:03:54.520 the killer left, and then crawled a little bit before 68 00:03:54.560 --> 00:03:57.840 she passed away right before the firefighter showed up. But 69 00:03:58.400 --> 00:04:01.199 everyone was totally shell shocked when they realized that four 70 00:04:01.240 --> 00:04:02.560 girls have been murdered in there. 71 00:04:03.199 --> 00:04:07.759 I can't imagine that everybody's worst nightmare for first responders 72 00:04:07.800 --> 00:04:10.680 to walk in there. You don't think that you're going 73 00:04:10.719 --> 00:04:13.360 to see dead bodies, but I'm sure that they've been 74 00:04:13.439 --> 00:04:15.919 used to it, and they've seen it under certain circumstances. 75 00:04:16.279 --> 00:04:19.639 Maybe one dead body. But when you have four kids, 76 00:04:19.680 --> 00:04:24.279 like they're teenagers, they're kids, to see that, how traumatic 77 00:04:24.360 --> 00:04:26.920 that would be and to know what a loss to 78 00:04:26.959 --> 00:04:29.240 the community this is going to be. This is going 79 00:04:29.319 --> 00:04:33.480 to reverberate outwards everybody at their high school, their families, 80 00:04:33.519 --> 00:04:36.360 their friends, their loved ones. This is going to be 81 00:04:36.399 --> 00:04:38.800 felt so deeply by everybody. 82 00:04:39.759 --> 00:04:42.639 Yeah, Like I've watched the documentary series. I've read a 83 00:04:42.720 --> 00:04:44.920 number of books about this, It's been featured on a 84 00:04:45.000 --> 00:04:47.680 number of true crime shows like forty eight Hours, and 85 00:04:47.720 --> 00:04:50.199 I can't think of many more examples of a crime 86 00:04:50.240 --> 00:04:53.839 that totally devastated the community. I mean, I know Austin 87 00:04:53.959 --> 00:04:56.759 is not a small town. It's the capital city in Texas. 88 00:04:56.800 --> 00:05:00.879 It's used to having crimes, but never anything of this magnitude. 89 00:05:01.079 --> 00:05:04.319 And it was especially tragic for the parents, Mike and 90 00:05:04.399 --> 00:05:07.639 Barbara Harbison. They had since gotten divorced, but they had 91 00:05:07.800 --> 00:05:11.600 still close relationships with their daughters, and Sarah and Jennifer 92 00:05:11.680 --> 00:05:13.959 were their only children and they had to lose both 93 00:05:13.959 --> 00:05:16.959 of them in one night. What's extra tragic is that 94 00:05:17.040 --> 00:05:20.360 the only employees at the yogre shop were Eliza and Jennifer, 95 00:05:20.439 --> 00:05:23.959 but Amy was planning a sleepover with the Harbisons, so 96 00:05:24.199 --> 00:05:26.399 they had been spending the night hanging out. I know 97 00:05:26.560 --> 00:05:28.959 that Sarah and Amy have been dropped off at a 98 00:05:29.120 --> 00:05:31.519 mall and then Jennifer picked them up at nine o'clock 99 00:05:32.079 --> 00:05:34.240 and then took them back to the ogre chop and say, 100 00:05:34.399 --> 00:05:36.680 after we're done closing, you can help me out and 101 00:05:36.680 --> 00:05:39.360 then I'll drive you back home for the sleepover. So 102 00:05:39.480 --> 00:05:41.759 these two youngest girls were just in the wrong place 103 00:05:41.800 --> 00:05:43.720 at the wrong time. They weren't even supposed to be 104 00:05:43.800 --> 00:05:46.399 there and just happened to get murdered because they were 105 00:05:46.399 --> 00:05:48.800 working alongside Jennifer and Eliza. 106 00:05:49.639 --> 00:05:52.759 The timing of it is just it's shocking right to 107 00:05:52.879 --> 00:05:56.199 think that if they'd made a different decision like how, 108 00:05:56.240 --> 00:05:59.199 things would have turned out differently. And it's one of 109 00:05:59.240 --> 00:06:03.560 those arguments where people say, oh, things happen for a reason, 110 00:06:03.639 --> 00:06:06.040 and you think, what could be the reason that four 111 00:06:06.079 --> 00:06:10.439 teenage girls would end up being murdered, And then you 112 00:06:10.560 --> 00:06:12.360 have two people that aren't two of them that aren't 113 00:06:12.360 --> 00:06:16.399 even supposed to be there. So the Harvestins have such 114 00:06:16.399 --> 00:06:20.279 an incredible loss here, to have two daughters struck down 115 00:06:20.439 --> 00:06:23.920 in such a horrific way, to have their bodies burned, 116 00:06:24.639 --> 00:06:27.399 to not be able to do I mean, I don't 117 00:06:27.439 --> 00:06:30.079 know what they did as far as a funeral, but 118 00:06:30.519 --> 00:06:32.360 I would think when the bodies are burned like that, 119 00:06:32.399 --> 00:06:34.680 it would be very difficult to do an open casket. 120 00:06:35.199 --> 00:06:37.720 And for a lot of people that need to say 121 00:06:37.720 --> 00:06:40.279 goodbye and that need to be able to see their 122 00:06:40.319 --> 00:06:44.199 loved one that one last time in their coffin that 123 00:06:44.279 --> 00:06:46.560 would have been taken away from them, and that is 124 00:06:46.639 --> 00:06:49.839 truly sad if that was the path that they were 125 00:06:49.839 --> 00:06:50.759 going to be taking. 126 00:06:51.439 --> 00:06:53.680 Yeah, they did have a massive funeral, and of course 127 00:06:53.759 --> 00:06:55.839 Yad had to be a closed casket because they were 128 00:06:55.839 --> 00:06:58.720 burned so badly. But it drew over one thousand people, 129 00:06:59.000 --> 00:07:00.839 a lot of them who were strangers who didn't even 130 00:07:00.879 --> 00:07:03.319 know the girls because it was such a devastating crime 131 00:07:03.759 --> 00:07:06.759 that affected the entire community. And like, these were all 132 00:07:06.800 --> 00:07:10.199 considered to be very good girls. They excelled academically, they 133 00:07:10.240 --> 00:07:12.720 had a lot of hobbies, they never caused any trouble. 134 00:07:13.240 --> 00:07:15.399 And it'll be a sharp contrast because as we're going 135 00:07:15.399 --> 00:07:18.279 to talk about, four people would later be arrested in 136 00:07:18.399 --> 00:07:20.800 charge with their murders who were the polar opposite. They 137 00:07:20.800 --> 00:07:23.439 were kind of considered to be juvenile delinquents who did 138 00:07:23.439 --> 00:07:25.920 not do very well in school and were known for 139 00:07:26.040 --> 00:07:29.879 causing trouble. But everyone said, like, why these four girls. 140 00:07:29.879 --> 00:07:33.240 It's just like they never harmed anyone, and it's been suspected. 141 00:07:33.279 --> 00:07:36.160 Maybe we will probably never know the motive for this crime. 142 00:07:36.199 --> 00:07:39.120 That there were signs that it was a robbery because 143 00:07:39.120 --> 00:07:41.639 some money was taken from the till, and it's possible 144 00:07:41.639 --> 00:07:44.560 that whoever did it was only expecting two employees to 145 00:07:44.560 --> 00:07:47.120 be in there and then was just completely thrown off 146 00:07:47.120 --> 00:07:49.720 when they discovered two additional girls who are just hanging 147 00:07:49.720 --> 00:07:51.720 out in the back, and that might have just caused 148 00:07:51.759 --> 00:07:55.920 them to lose it and commit this quadruple murder. So 149 00:07:56.000 --> 00:07:58.800 they discovered that all four girls have been shot in 150 00:07:58.839 --> 00:08:01.279 the back of the head, execute style with a twenty 151 00:08:01.279 --> 00:08:04.800 two caliber weapon. Like I said, Amy's body was found 152 00:08:04.800 --> 00:08:07.279 a few feet away from the others, and even though 153 00:08:07.319 --> 00:08:09.240 she was also shot in the head with a twenty 154 00:08:09.240 --> 00:08:11.839 two caliber weapon, it turned out she had a second 155 00:08:11.839 --> 00:08:15.680 gun shot wound from a three eighty automatic cold pistol, 156 00:08:16.439 --> 00:08:19.240 possibly because the bullet from the first shot missed her brain. 157 00:08:19.639 --> 00:08:21.959 And it also turned out that she had a cloth 158 00:08:22.040 --> 00:08:25.480 ligature around her neck to suggest that someone attempted to 159 00:08:25.480 --> 00:08:28.800 strangle her. So it was just major overkill, and they're 160 00:08:28.800 --> 00:08:31.360 guessing that maybe Amy just took a long time to 161 00:08:31.439 --> 00:08:34.559 die and that's why there were multiple bullets fired into 162 00:08:34.639 --> 00:08:37.759 her and she was also strangled. It's been theorized, like 163 00:08:37.840 --> 00:08:39.679 I said, that she may have and still been alive 164 00:08:39.720 --> 00:08:42.200 when the firefighters first arrived at the scene and tried 165 00:08:42.240 --> 00:08:44.360 to crawl away from the rest of the victims, but 166 00:08:44.600 --> 00:08:48.320 passed away before the fire was put out. And even 167 00:08:48.360 --> 00:08:51.519 what's more horrific is that all victims had their clothing remove, 168 00:08:51.799 --> 00:08:55.200 likely after being ordered to undress a gunpoint, and some 169 00:08:55.320 --> 00:08:58.000 other articles of clothing were found neatly stacked on the 170 00:08:58.000 --> 00:09:00.679 floor near the bodies, but other articles were used to 171 00:09:00.720 --> 00:09:03.840 bite and gag the victims. And it would turn out 172 00:09:03.960 --> 00:09:06.200 that at least some of the girls, though not all 173 00:09:06.240 --> 00:09:09.240 of them, have been raped. So at the outset, they 174 00:09:09.240 --> 00:09:12.360 suspected that there were two perpetrators involved in this crime, 175 00:09:12.480 --> 00:09:14.759 just because it would have been very difficult to handle 176 00:09:14.799 --> 00:09:17.840 all four girls, and also the fact that two separate 177 00:09:17.879 --> 00:09:19.559 guns were used to fire the shots. 178 00:09:20.120 --> 00:09:23.000 Well, I think that that would be a pretty logical deduction. 179 00:09:23.720 --> 00:09:26.960 Since you have two guns. How many perpetrators will come 180 00:09:27.000 --> 00:09:29.320 to commit a crime and bring two guns with them, 181 00:09:29.759 --> 00:09:32.519 So I would think that, yeah, that would make sense, 182 00:09:32.600 --> 00:09:36.039 especially when you have, like you said, four victims. How 183 00:09:36.080 --> 00:09:40.600 would you control those other victims? I guess it is possible, 184 00:09:40.720 --> 00:09:42.639 right if you think of a scenario where you have 185 00:09:42.679 --> 00:09:45.759 a gun and you're leveraging the relationships of these girls 186 00:09:45.799 --> 00:09:48.559 with each other. So you're saying, if you run or 187 00:09:48.600 --> 00:09:51.320 you do something, I'm going to shoot her in the head. 188 00:09:52.080 --> 00:09:55.639 And they're all going to be petrified, and they don't 189 00:09:55.679 --> 00:09:58.600 want their friends to get hurt or sister to get hurt. 190 00:09:58.759 --> 00:10:01.320 So I would think it would be pretty easy to 191 00:10:01.399 --> 00:10:06.080 control these girls based on their relationships, even if you 192 00:10:06.159 --> 00:10:08.440 had a solo perpetrator who was in the middle of 193 00:10:08.480 --> 00:10:11.799 a rate. If he's raping, say one of the sisters 194 00:10:12.360 --> 00:10:15.000 or the best friend, then you're not going to have 195 00:10:15.120 --> 00:10:17.879 somebody making a rash decision like to try to run 196 00:10:17.919 --> 00:10:20.360 away if they think that that's going to get that 197 00:10:20.440 --> 00:10:24.039 person killed. So it is possible, but I can see 198 00:10:24.159 --> 00:10:26.440 how they jump to their had to have been at 199 00:10:26.519 --> 00:10:27.639 least two perpetrators. 200 00:10:28.799 --> 00:10:30.879 Yeah, I mean, I'm thinking that even if there was 201 00:10:30.960 --> 00:10:33.840 only one perpetrator, that these girls are going to be terrified. 202 00:10:33.879 --> 00:10:35.840 And like you said, even though if all four of 203 00:10:35.840 --> 00:10:38.360 them fought back, they might be able to overpower him, 204 00:10:38.440 --> 00:10:41.200 it would be very difficult to do so without at 205 00:10:41.279 --> 00:10:43.320 least one of them getting hurt. So I'm thinking they're 206 00:10:43.320 --> 00:10:45.840 probably thinking to themselves, even if I fight back, there's 207 00:10:45.840 --> 00:10:48.159 a good chance my sister or one of my friends 208 00:10:48.600 --> 00:10:51.120 will be shot, so let's just do what they say 209 00:10:51.240 --> 00:10:54.039 and hopefully we'll get out of this alive. But unfortunately 210 00:10:54.080 --> 00:10:55.600 that turned out not to be the case. 211 00:10:56.279 --> 00:10:59.039 And you said that they were bound with items of 212 00:10:59.080 --> 00:11:02.399 their clothing, so it makes it a lot more difficult. Say, 213 00:11:02.519 --> 00:11:07.360 if this individual or individuals wanted to rob the place 214 00:11:07.600 --> 00:11:12.080 and rape the victims. If you have these girls, they've 215 00:11:12.200 --> 00:11:15.279 undressed and you've bound them and say, I don't know 216 00:11:15.320 --> 00:11:17.840 how their arms and legs are tied, it would make 217 00:11:18.000 --> 00:11:20.639 escape very very difficult, would it not? 218 00:11:21.679 --> 00:11:24.320 It would. Yes, we don't know the exact series of 219 00:11:24.320 --> 00:11:27.039 events how they played out, but the store was scheduled 220 00:11:27.039 --> 00:11:29.919 to close at eleven o'clock, and of course the patrol 221 00:11:29.960 --> 00:11:33.879 officer didn't notice the fire until eleven forty seven pm, 222 00:11:34.399 --> 00:11:36.639 and when the fire marshal came to the scene, he 223 00:11:36.720 --> 00:11:40.120 suspected that the fire was originally started at eleven forty two. 224 00:11:40.480 --> 00:11:43.519 So this was a pretty protracted thing, Like it's possible 225 00:11:43.559 --> 00:11:45.519 the perpetrator could have been in there for as long 226 00:11:45.519 --> 00:11:48.320 as forty five minutes or so, so they took their 227 00:11:48.320 --> 00:11:50.440 time what they were doing and probably used a lot 228 00:11:50.480 --> 00:11:53.639 of fear to control these girls. Yeah, that makes sense, 229 00:11:54.720 --> 00:11:57.120 so I mentioned that the keys to the front door 230 00:11:57.159 --> 00:11:59.600 were found in the lock. So it was speculated that 231 00:11:59.720 --> 00:12:02.519 the girl ros were planning to close, and that whoever 232 00:12:02.559 --> 00:12:04.919 the killer was may have been the last customer or 233 00:12:05.080 --> 00:12:08.559 customers inside the store. But they also saw that the 234 00:12:08.600 --> 00:12:11.679 shop's back door was broken. They couldn't determine at the 235 00:12:11.720 --> 00:12:14.759 time whether the perpetrator had broken and through the back 236 00:12:14.919 --> 00:12:17.919 or broke the door when they left, but they suspected 237 00:12:17.960 --> 00:12:20.639 that they fled the scene through the back door when 238 00:12:20.639 --> 00:12:23.840 they were finished. The cash register was empty, and an 239 00:12:23.840 --> 00:12:26.679 automate later showed that five hundred and forty dollars was 240 00:12:26.720 --> 00:12:29.840 missing from the register, which seemed to point to robbery 241 00:12:29.879 --> 00:12:33.360 being the motive, But surprisingly, an open bank bag containing 242 00:12:33.360 --> 00:12:37.279 additional money was left behind under the register. Ivy never 243 00:12:37.320 --> 00:12:40.320 disclosed how much money was in this bag. I don't 244 00:12:40.360 --> 00:12:42.679 know if it was a lot, but it's possible maybe 245 00:12:42.679 --> 00:12:45.679 the killer didn't even notice it, or maybe they just 246 00:12:45.720 --> 00:12:49.000 wanted to kill someone and the money was of secondary importance. 247 00:12:49.919 --> 00:12:52.360 The register's log showed that someone had used the no 248 00:12:52.559 --> 00:12:55.440 sale button to open the till at eleven oh three pm, 249 00:12:55.600 --> 00:12:59.240 three minutes after closing time, and an unopened coke can 250 00:12:59.279 --> 00:13:01.679 in an empty st irofoam cup were found next to 251 00:13:01.720 --> 00:13:04.919 the register, so this led to speculation that whoever this 252 00:13:05.159 --> 00:13:07.720 was was the last customer in the store before closing 253 00:13:07.879 --> 00:13:09.799 may have gone to the counter to buy a coke, 254 00:13:10.200 --> 00:13:13.399 but then suddenly pulled out a gun and forced Jennifer 255 00:13:13.600 --> 00:13:16.720 or alies it empty the register and then forced all 256 00:13:16.720 --> 00:13:19.120 four of the girls into the back room in order 257 00:13:19.159 --> 00:13:19.720 to kill them. 258 00:13:20.799 --> 00:13:24.159 I wonder what order it happened in, Like, there is 259 00:13:24.159 --> 00:13:27.720 a potential that say, this individual pulled out a gun 260 00:13:28.360 --> 00:13:31.679 and threatened to whomever was out the cash register and said, 261 00:13:32.039 --> 00:13:34.559 you know, I'm going to rob the place, and before 262 00:13:34.840 --> 00:13:37.200 actually getting the money from the cash register, got the 263 00:13:37.200 --> 00:13:41.200 girls into the back and ended up having them stripped 264 00:13:41.200 --> 00:13:46.159 down and committed the rapes and then went to the 265 00:13:46.159 --> 00:13:49.320 cash register. Because if you're in a hurry after you've 266 00:13:49.360 --> 00:13:52.960 done that and maybe you started the fire, maybe you've 267 00:13:53.120 --> 00:13:55.440 got all these things already in motion, and you're in 268 00:13:55.480 --> 00:13:59.039 a huge rush trying to get everything done, you might 269 00:13:59.120 --> 00:14:02.039 overlook something like a bank bag. But I feel like 270 00:14:02.080 --> 00:14:04.799 if you did that first, you would be a little 271 00:14:04.799 --> 00:14:07.480 more methodical and a little more organized, because you're not 272 00:14:07.519 --> 00:14:09.840 going to be operating under the gun in such a 273 00:14:09.879 --> 00:14:13.559 way that you would be after you've already taken all 274 00:14:13.600 --> 00:14:16.679 the time to get them undressed and to rape one 275 00:14:16.759 --> 00:14:19.639 or more of the girls, and then then you go 276 00:14:19.720 --> 00:14:21.080 to rob do you know what I mean? 277 00:14:22.039 --> 00:14:24.639 Yeah, And that's why I've suspected that maybe they were 278 00:14:24.679 --> 00:14:27.679 just thrown off when they discovered that two additional girls 279 00:14:27.679 --> 00:14:30.840 were in there, Sarah and Amy, that they may have 280 00:14:30.879 --> 00:14:32.799 just thought, there are two employees working here, I can 281 00:14:32.799 --> 00:14:34.679 handle them all on my own. I'm going to commit 282 00:14:34.720 --> 00:14:37.399 this robbery. And then he probably would not have seen 283 00:14:37.600 --> 00:14:40.039 Sarah and Amy from the front of the store. And 284 00:14:40.080 --> 00:14:42.759 then when Jennifer and Eliza were forced into the back 285 00:14:42.840 --> 00:14:45.080 and they noticed two additional girls there, that might have 286 00:14:45.279 --> 00:14:48.080 like caused them to freak out. Maybe they lost control 287 00:14:48.120 --> 00:14:51.159 because they weren't expecting these additional witnesses, and that's why 288 00:14:51.200 --> 00:14:54.840 they decided to just go so overboard with raping them, 289 00:14:54.879 --> 00:14:57.440 tying them up, killing them, and then setting them on fire. 290 00:14:58.399 --> 00:15:01.960 It just makes you wonder what was the primary motive? 291 00:15:02.519 --> 00:15:06.759 Was the primary motive to sexually assault two girls that 292 00:15:06.840 --> 00:15:10.960 they could begets the perpetrator. Perpetrators likely thought that there's 293 00:15:11.000 --> 00:15:13.360 just the two girls there, so was that the primary 294 00:15:13.360 --> 00:15:17.919 motivation and the robbery was secondary, or robbery the primary 295 00:15:17.919 --> 00:15:20.039 motivation and the rape was secondary. 296 00:15:21.159 --> 00:15:22.960 Well we'll talk more about this later, but when you 297 00:15:23.000 --> 00:15:25.840 find out the background of the person who's been identified 298 00:15:25.840 --> 00:15:28.080 as the perpetrator of this crime, I have a feeling 299 00:15:28.120 --> 00:15:30.360 it was probably the sexual assault and that they just 300 00:15:30.399 --> 00:15:33.200 wanted to perform a thrill kill and that the robbery 301 00:15:33.279 --> 00:15:37.519 was secondary. So the artist investigator would come to the 302 00:15:37.600 --> 00:15:40.399 scene and believe that the fire had been started on 303 00:15:40.440 --> 00:15:43.679 some steel shelves located on a corner in the storage 304 00:15:43.720 --> 00:15:46.679 room because it contained a bunch of combustible items like 305 00:15:46.919 --> 00:15:50.399 styrofoam cups, so when they set them on fire, that 306 00:15:50.440 --> 00:15:53.639 caused this fire to spread really quickly and cause them 307 00:15:53.679 --> 00:15:56.519 to burn so badly. But unfortunately, this would be a 308 00:15:56.559 --> 00:15:59.080 recurring theme here. Some of the key pieces of evidence 309 00:15:59.120 --> 00:16:02.000 would go missing over the years, such as the metal shelves, 310 00:16:02.039 --> 00:16:04.360 then the ladder that have been used on there, and 311 00:16:04.399 --> 00:16:07.519 also the broken lock from the back door also went missing, 312 00:16:07.639 --> 00:16:11.360 even though it could have contained fingerprints or the killer's DNA. 313 00:16:11.639 --> 00:16:14.559 And this is not anyone's fault, but unfortunately, because the 314 00:16:14.559 --> 00:16:17.440 firefighters when they instantly went in there, they had to 315 00:16:17.519 --> 00:16:19.480 use the water to put the fire out and didn't 316 00:16:19.480 --> 00:16:22.080 even realize at the time that there were four bodies 317 00:16:22.159 --> 00:16:25.120 under there, And of course this could have also compromised 318 00:16:25.159 --> 00:16:28.360 potential forensic evidence. I mean, you can't blame the firefighters. 319 00:16:28.399 --> 00:16:31.480 Obviously they have to put the fire out immediately, but 320 00:16:31.600 --> 00:16:33.440 I'm sure it was so frustrating to know that they 321 00:16:33.480 --> 00:16:35.519 could have compromised a crime scene. 322 00:16:36.559 --> 00:16:39.240 I'm sure that this happens all the time because their 323 00:16:39.360 --> 00:16:42.240 primary focus is to put out the fire and to 324 00:16:42.360 --> 00:16:45.919 hopefully save whomever is in there, and they're not thinking 325 00:16:46.360 --> 00:16:49.840 first thought, like I've got to preserve this potential crime scene. 326 00:16:49.960 --> 00:16:52.120 They're just there to do their job. And once they 327 00:16:52.200 --> 00:16:55.960 realize that i'm sure everybody there is de ceased, then 328 00:16:56.120 --> 00:16:58.679 their focus will switch right and there will be to 329 00:16:58.720 --> 00:17:02.039 preserve the scene and to get investigators in there as 330 00:17:02.120 --> 00:17:06.640 quickly as possible. But in those first moments, when you 331 00:17:06.720 --> 00:17:08.960 know they just want to put out the fire, they 332 00:17:09.000 --> 00:17:11.720 don't know that there's four bodies. I'm sure that there 333 00:17:11.799 --> 00:17:14.359 was a huge amount of destruction of evidence. 334 00:17:15.599 --> 00:17:17.559 Yeah, and as we're going to talk about, like this 335 00:17:17.599 --> 00:17:21.039 would eventually get solved with DNA testing, but because of 336 00:17:21.079 --> 00:17:25.160 all the water. Some of the DNA samples weren't complete. 337 00:17:25.200 --> 00:17:27.400 It was only like a partial profile. And I'm sure 338 00:17:27.400 --> 00:17:29.000 this probably had a lot to do with the fact 339 00:17:29.079 --> 00:17:33.079 that fire and water was used over the bodies. So 340 00:17:33.160 --> 00:17:35.400 what makes a story even sadder is that throughout the 341 00:17:35.440 --> 00:17:37.839 course of the evening some of the girl's parents would 342 00:17:37.839 --> 00:17:40.599 even stop by the store before closing, just to check 343 00:17:40.640 --> 00:17:44.079 on their daughters and just everything seemed completely normal at 344 00:17:44.119 --> 00:17:47.279 the time. I know that Eliza's mother, Maria stopped by 345 00:17:47.319 --> 00:17:49.960 it around nine point thirty and said that everything was fine, 346 00:17:50.039 --> 00:17:52.759 and that Eliza's father stopped by at a different time, 347 00:17:52.920 --> 00:17:56.880 and nobody saw anything out of the ordinary. And of course, 348 00:17:56.920 --> 00:18:00.680 by today's perspective, it probably seemed shocking that these two 349 00:18:00.799 --> 00:18:04.400 seventeen year old girls were working alone to close a 350 00:18:04.440 --> 00:18:07.440 store in like a downtown area. And I'm sure you're 351 00:18:07.440 --> 00:18:09.559 going to ask this, but no, there were no security 352 00:18:09.599 --> 00:18:12.880 cameras there, so they didn't get any footage of the crime. 353 00:18:13.039 --> 00:18:15.799 And later on, the victims' families would actually file a 354 00:18:15.880 --> 00:18:20.359 lawsuit against the yogurt shop's parent company, Bryce Foods, as 355 00:18:20.400 --> 00:18:24.119 well as the property Morrison Properties, who owned the Hillside 356 00:18:24.200 --> 00:18:26.680 Center Strip mall, because it turned out there had been 357 00:18:26.680 --> 00:18:28.799 some robberies at some of the other shops at the 358 00:18:28.839 --> 00:18:32.480 malls in the months prior to the yogurt shop murders, 359 00:18:32.480 --> 00:18:34.599 and I don't think any of the families knew about that, 360 00:18:34.759 --> 00:18:36.720 And they're saying to themselves, if we had known that 361 00:18:36.759 --> 00:18:39.640 there was crime going on here, robberies, we never would 362 00:18:39.640 --> 00:18:42.319 have allowed these two teenage girls to close this shop 363 00:18:42.359 --> 00:18:45.519 by their own and they would after they filed the lawsuit. 364 00:18:45.559 --> 00:18:48.000 The two sides would reach a twelve million dollar settlement. 365 00:18:48.119 --> 00:18:50.240 But the good news is that the families would use 366 00:18:50.279 --> 00:18:54.519 the money to start a nonprofit organization about crime prevention 367 00:18:54.680 --> 00:18:59.319 and workplace safety, which was called We Will Not Forget SAJE, 368 00:18:59.559 --> 00:19:02.640 which was the first name initials of the four victims. 369 00:19:03.079 --> 00:19:07.039 And of course this would use this would be used 370 00:19:07.079 --> 00:19:09.599 to help implement a lot of new safety procedures to 371 00:19:09.680 --> 00:19:12.839 protect workers who had to work in this environment. So 372 00:19:12.880 --> 00:19:14.759 if there's a silver lining to this whole case, at 373 00:19:14.839 --> 00:19:17.440 least the families used the lawsuit money they earned to 374 00:19:17.480 --> 00:19:18.119 do some good. 375 00:19:19.160 --> 00:19:22.240 That's amazing when you hear that families are able to 376 00:19:22.880 --> 00:19:26.400 have the wherewithal to come together and to have this 377 00:19:27.079 --> 00:19:29.839 and to be united with this goal to not have 378 00:19:30.039 --> 00:19:33.440 other families have to deal with the tragedy that they did, 379 00:19:33.720 --> 00:19:36.400 because I feel like, on a level, this could have 380 00:19:36.440 --> 00:19:40.279 been preventable. I mean it's very nineteen ninety one. I mean, 381 00:19:40.480 --> 00:19:43.000 even a shop that's called I can't believe it's yogurt 382 00:19:43.319 --> 00:19:46.160 is very nineteen ninety one. Do you remember, like how 383 00:19:46.200 --> 00:19:49.039 big frozen yogurt was in the nineties. 384 00:19:49.039 --> 00:19:51.359 Oh, definitely, yes. I don't know if they ever had 385 00:19:51.359 --> 00:19:53.640 I can't believe it's yogurt in Canada because I don't 386 00:19:53.799 --> 00:19:55.839 remember ever seeing it, but apparently it was huge in 387 00:19:55.880 --> 00:19:57.400 the US during this time period. 388 00:19:58.319 --> 00:20:01.519 Yeah, so I get that. But when you know that 389 00:20:01.559 --> 00:20:05.079 there's robberies and you would expect that the stores within 390 00:20:05.160 --> 00:20:08.599 that strip mall are that mall, that they would respond 391 00:20:08.599 --> 00:20:11.200 accordingly and that they would do with everything that they 392 00:20:11.279 --> 00:20:14.480 could to keep their employees safe. Particularly when you're dealing 393 00:20:14.480 --> 00:20:18.279 with teenage girls or underage employees, you want to have 394 00:20:18.359 --> 00:20:22.319 those security measures in place. So I definitely understand why 395 00:20:22.359 --> 00:20:24.279 the families were awarded that twelve million. 396 00:20:25.200 --> 00:20:27.039 Yeah. This seems to be a recurring theme in a 397 00:20:27.039 --> 00:20:29.319 lot of old cold cases we cover, where we see 398 00:20:29.359 --> 00:20:32.559 people the victims doing dangerous things like working alone at 399 00:20:32.599 --> 00:20:35.839 a convenience store at night without any security cameras, and 400 00:20:35.880 --> 00:20:38.200 you're like, this would never happen today, But it was 401 00:20:38.279 --> 00:20:41.000