Overview

• The Austin Police Department called the finding a significant breakthrough and said the investigation remains open after notifying the victims’ families.
• The four victims — Jennifer Harbison, 17; Sarah Harbison, 15; Eliza Thomas, 17; and Amy Ayers, 13 — were found bound, gagged and shot before the shop was set on fire.
• Brashers died by suicide in 1999 during a police standoff in Missouri, so prosecution is not possible even as investigators work to close remaining gaps.
• Officials say modern forensic work, including DNA and ballistics, led to the suspect identification years after earlier convictions were overturned when new testing pointed to a different male profile.
• Investigators note Brashers has been linked by DNA to other violent crimes in South Carolina, Tennessee and Missouri, and the case has drawn renewed attention following an HBO docuseries.