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Season 1 – The Yogurt Shop Murders

Play trailer 1:34 Poster for Season 1 – The Yogurt Shop Murders Aug 2025 Documentary Crime Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
100% Tomatometer 14 Reviews 43% Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
Exploring the tragic murder of four teenage girls at an I Can't Believe It's Yogurt shop on December 6, 1991, in Austin, Texas; chronicling the immense trauma left by the crime and detailing the maze of the investigation.

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The Yogurt Shop Murders — Season 1

Critics Reviews

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Graeme Blundell The Australian Mar 27
Brown has created a highly moving documentary and not simply a story about an elusive, frustrating investigation. Go to Full Review Judy Berman TIME Magazine Sep 2
Unlike the anti-true-crime manifestoes that have, themselves, become a stock subgenre of true crime, The Yogurt Shop Murders also illustrates how telling such painful stories can be a path to healing. Go to Full Review Craig Mathieson The Age (Australia) Aug 18
4.5/5
...The Yogurt Shop Murders may well be the most profound documentary this misshapen genre has ever produced. Scene by scene, year by year, it tells a story that is not only heartbreaking, but also deeply illustrative. Go to Full Review Carla Hay Culture Mix 1h
Although this sprawling docuseries needed tighter editing, it's a worthwhile deep dive into this murder mystery that took 34 years to solve. The fifth episode (added in May 2026) packs an emotional punch and is a fitting conclusion to the documentary. Go to Full Review Aglaia Berlutti Hipertextual Aug 24
A+
Margaret Brown does not present the case as a simple police puzzle, but as a turning point for the community. [Full Review in Spanish] Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Umutoni G @RT01569678 1d A powerful true-crime documentary about the unsolved 1991 yogurt shop murders, focusing on the investigation, wrongful confessions, and the lasting impact on the victims’ families. See more mark G @Mark_Alan_G. Apr 11 Lifelong resident of Austin that remembers this incident very well. This documentary has access to a lot of information, both old newsreels, interviews with people including the suspects, in that regards it's great. It only slightly goes off the rail when it gives Sheila Wysocki any kind of attention because she's a total joke only seeking attention. It also portrays Paul Johnson as the clown that he is. I have read and watched everything having to do with this case, as I had involvement with people who were friends with the victims. I did believe the four might have done it, but I abandoned that years ago See more Marc Z. @TKDLife Mar 19 Boring. Poorly shot. Poorly edited. Way too long. Among the worst documentaries I have seen. See more Luisa S @RT61695462 Sep 2 A different way to narrate a crime story. It does touch on the pain of these families and all the difficult angles of the same complex problem. I really hope this case gets resolved, but if not it is very reassuring to know these families have each other. See more Michael W @mawilps Sep 2 This crime docuseries was pretty good. The entire crew did a pretty good job on telling this shocking story of four teenage girls murdered in a yogurt shop in Austin, TX. It was a very dramatic and tragic story that hasn't been solved yet. If you haven't seen this docuseries yet, you might enjoy it. It wasn't as great as I thought it would be, but it wasn't terrible. See more John K @Kingy Aug 31 Very disappointing. Boring and repetitive See more Read all reviews
The Yogurt Shop Murders — Season 1

My Rating

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Cast & Crew

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Beverly Lowry

Self

Claire Huie

Self

John Jones

Self

Robert Ayers

Self

Nancy Abraham

Executive Producer

Avi Belkin

Executive Producer

Episodes

Episode 1 Aired Aug 3, 2025 Fire and Water In 1991, the murder of four teenage girls rocks the city of Austin, Texas. Amy Ayers (13), sisters Jennifer Harbison (17) and Sarah Harbison (15), and Eliza Thomas (17) were at the yogurt shop where Jennifer and Eliza worked, at closing time but never returned home. They were found later that night in the rubble of the store which had been set on fire. One week after the murders, 16-year-old Maurice Pierce is arrested at a local mall carrying a gun. Under questioning, he implicates his friends Forrest Welborn, Robert Springsteen, and Michael Scott in the crimes. As the families grieve and the community comes together to find ways to heal, the police are thwarted in their investigations by a lack of hard evidence. Details Episode 2 Aired Aug 10, 2025 The Fifth Victim Trauma continues to haunt the community as family members search for healing, resolution, and ways to hold on to the memories of the girls. The initial suspicions around the four teenage boys lead nowhere. After several false leads and wrongful arrests, homicide supervisor Hector Polanco is found to have coerced a suspect into a false confession and is reassigned. Lead investigator John Jones is diagnosed with PTSD and is taken off the case, suffering guilt about the department’s inability to solve the murders. The family of Amy Ayers even turns to a private investigator in their frustration with the lack of progress. Eight years after the murders, new lead investigator Paul Johnson revisits the case and an interrogation video reveals Rob Springsteen claiming to have seen Maurice Pierce with a gun in his hand on the night of the murders. Details Episode 3 Aired Aug 17, 2025 Mental Evidence As the investigation revisits the young suspects more deeply, the police call them in for new videotaped interrogations, which reveal conflicting and ever-changing information. In October 1999, all four boys are arrested. Welborn is released quickly, followed by Pierce, who never gave a confession. However, Springsteen and Scott are charged with murder after having confessed to killing the girls and are sentenced to death and life in prison respectively. But in 2008, with new technology, a DNA sample from the crime scene turns the case upside down. Details Episode 4 Aired Aug 24, 2025 In Your Time In 2009, Springsteen and Scott are released on bond and the charges are dropped. But the men still live in a state of presumed guilt by many, despite no physical evidence tying them to the murder scene and more being revealed about false confessions, and the mind’s susceptibility to confusion between truth and suggested truth. Three decades after the murders, a cold case detective continues to search for answers and closure for the families. Sonora Thomas, the sibling of one of the girls, works as a therapist, advocating storytelling to heal trauma and a way to change how memories live inside of us. Each of the families seeks solace in their own way as they grapple with their loss. Details Episode 5 Aired May 22, 2026 The End of Wondering APD cold case detective Dan Jackson reveals the behind-the-scenes details of the painstaking work that he and other investigators used in tracking down the killer of four teenage girls in Austin, Texas in 1991. Details

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The Yogurt Shop Murders — Season 1

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The Yogurt Shop Murders — Season 1

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Season Info

Director
Margaret Brown
Executive Producer
Nancy Abraham, Avi Belkin, Beth Garrabrant, Lisa Heller, Ali Herting, Dave McCary, Emily Osborne, Sara Rodriguez, Limor Gott Ronen, Mickey Stanley, Emma Stone, Nicole Stott
Network
HBO Max
Rating
TV-MA
Genre
Documentary, Crime
Original Language
English
Release Date
Aug 3, 2025