Filmmaker Margaret Brown’s The Yogurt Shop Murders series brought one of Austin’s most searing and traumatic unsolved mysteries to national attention when it aired last year on HBO. Less than a month after the series premiered, something remarkable happened: new technology revealed critical evidence, and the case was closed for good. Brown has returned to the subject with a final fifth episode on the case’s closure and what it means to have an answer after decades of uncertainty. We will present the complete series across three screenings, each accompanied by a panel discussion. Episodes 1 & 2 will feature a panel of the victims’ families. Episodes 3 & 4 will feature a panel of the filmmaking team, including Austin-based cast and crew members, to discuss the making of this Austin-made HBO/A24 series. Following Episode 5, filmmaker Margaret Brown will be joined by the investigators who worked on the case and the exonerated accused. This discussion will be moderated by AFS Artistic Director Richard Linklater.

Episode 1 – “Fire and Water” (Runtime: 1h 1min) 

In 1991, the murder of 13-year-old Amy Ayers, 17-year-old Eliza Thomas, and teen sisters Jennifer and Sarah Harbison rocks the city of Austin, Texas. One week later, the police arrest 16-year-old local Maurice Pierce, who implicates his friends Forrest Welborn, Robert Springsteen, and Michael Scott but the investigation is thwarted by a lack of hard evidence.

Episode 2 – “The Fifth Victim” (Runtime: 59min)

Trauma continues to haunt the community as family members search for healing, resolution, and ways to hold on to the memories of the girls. After years of false leads and wrongful arrests, new lead investigator Paul Johnson revisits the case and an interrogation video reveals Robert Springsteen claiming to have seen Maurice Pierce with a gun on the night of the murders.