Judge orders suspects' release in yogurt shop case By JIM VERTUNO Associated Press Writer June 24, 2009 AUSTIN, Texas — A judge on Wednesday ordered two suspects awaiting retrial in the 1991 rape and murders of four teenage girls at an Austin yogurt shop be released from prison while prosecutors try to find the source of new DNA evidence that can't be linked to either man. Michael Scott, 35, and Robert Springsteen, 34, were previously convicted in the slaying of 13-year-old Amy Ayers. Scott was sentenced to life in prison, and Springsteen was originally sent to death row. Both convictions were overturned on an appeals court ruling that the men's confessions were improperly used against each other. State District Judge Mike Lynch ordered their release on personal recognizance bonds. New DNA tests on evidence from taken from the victims revealed the presence an unknown male. Defense attorneys say that proves Scott's and Springsteen's innocence. Lynch's order came during a hearing for Scott's retrial, which was scheduled for July 6. The judge had warned prosecutors he would order the men released if they requested more time. Prosecutors asked that the trial be delayed until 2010 while they tried to find the donor of the DNA. Although Springsteen has not been scheduled for retrial, the judge ordered both men released. They are still facing capital murder charges in the deaths of Ayers, Eliza Hope Thomas, 17, and sisters Jennifer and Sarah Harbison, ages 17 and 15. All four girls were bound, gagged and shot in the head at an "I Can't Believe It's Yogurt" store. Scott and Springsteen originally confessed in 1999, but quickly recanted and said their statements were made under pressure by police. A fire destroyed the crime scene and prosecutors have no physical evidence linking the men to the rape and murders. Scott hugged one of his attorneys after the hearing before being led away to start the process of his release. Although Scott will be out of jail for the first time in nearly 10 years, his wife was angered by the delay and believes he will be found innocent by a jury. "The big day will be when 12 people declare my husband not guilty so that this nightmare for our family is over and the state can start pursuing the actual perpetrators and give those girls' families some peace," Jeannine Scott said outside the courtroom. "This is just a tactic by the state to get more time to shore up a weak case." The case has bedeviled authorities for nearly 18 years. After the murders, police chased thousands of leads and received several false confessions. Cold-case investigators interrogated Springsteen, who had moved to Charleston, W.Va., and Scott and two other men and arrested all four in 1999. Charges against the two other men were dropped and they never went to trial. Springsteen, who didn't attend Wednesday's hearing, was convicted in 2001 and sentenced to death. That penalty was later reduced to life in prison when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that juveniles who commit crimes cannot be executed. Springsteen was 17 when the girls were killed. Scott was convicted in 2002. Springsteen's conviction was overturned in 2006 and Scott's was overturned in 2007. The new DNA results of vaginal swabs came from technology not available during the first trials. It traces male lineage, and the new results cannot be connected to Scott, Springsteen or the other two original suspects. Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg said investigators have conducted at least 100 new DNA tests and need more time to keep testing. She said the DNA evidence doesn't exonerate Scott and Springsteen and suggested the presence of a previously unknown fifth suspect. "I could not in good conscience allow this case to go to trial before the identity of this male donor is determined and the full truth is known," Lehmberg said. "I remain confident that both Robert Springsteen and Michael Scott are responsible for the death at the yogurt shop." Springsteen's attorney, Jim Sawyer, scoffed at the suggestion of a fifth suspect. He said there was never a suggestion of a fifth suspect during the original trials. "The state continues to refer to it as 'the fifth man.' They're wrong," Sawyer said. "It is the first man. That's the man who raped and killed Amy Ayers."

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