AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A judge has dismissed murder charges against two men awaiting retrial in the 1991 slayings of four teenage Austin yogurt shop workers.
A Travis County jury has already sent one of the men, Robert Springsteen, to death row after he was convicted of capital murder in the slayings. Another jury had sent Michael Scott to prison for life.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturned the convictions, however. Springsteen and Scott had given police statements implicating each other. The appeals court found in separate rulings that they were unfairly denied a chance to cross-examine their accusers.
Retrials have been delayed after new DNA evidence taken from the victims revealed the presence of an unknown man.
Killed were 13-year-old Amy Ayers, 17-year-old Eliza Thomas, 15-year-old Jennifer Harbison and her 15-year-old sister Sarah Harbison.
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