() Thirty-four years after four teen girls were found shot and bound at a yogurt shop in Texas, investigators have linked dead serial killer and rapist Robert Eugene Brashers to the killings.

Detectives were able to connect Brashers to the yogurt shop murders through DNA and ballistics testing, local affiliate KXAN in Austin reported.

The DNA and ballistics matched evidence recovered from previous crimes he committed, finally giving families answers about the brutal murders.

But who is Robert Eugene Brashers, and how did he elude police for so long after the yogurt shop murders?

1991 yogurt shop murders

On Dec. 6, 1991, a man entered an “I Can’t Believe It’s Yogurt!” shop in Austin through the back door, attacked four teens and set the building on fire.

Jennifer Harbison, 17, and her sister Sarah, 15; Eliza Thomas, 17; and Amy Ayers, 13, were found naked, bound, gagged and shot. Three of the victims were also sexually assaulted.

Eight years after the murder, in 1999, four men were accused of being involved. Two were convicted and sentenced to life in prison, but by the late 2000s, all four were exonerated and released from custody, as reported by KXAN.

A new HBO documentary, “The Yogurt Shop Murders,” has renewed attention to the case. Brashers was named a suspect roughly half a year after its release.

Who was Robert Brashers?

Robert Eugene Brashers was born March 13, 1958, in Newport News, Va. Aside from the yogurt shop murders, he has been linked to several killings and rape in various states.

The first recorded instance of violent crime for Brashers was when he was convicted and sentenced to 12 years in prison for the attempted murder of a 25-year-old woman in 1985. In 1989, Brashers was released on parole after only serving three years.

Following his release, Brashers had a lengthy and violent criminal history across the southern U.S., much of which was only discovered after his death.

Robert Brashers’ lengthy criminal history

Brashers shot and killed himself in 1999 during an hour-long standoff with police in Missouri.

In 2018, DNA evidence linked Brashers to several crimes, including the murders of two women and a girl in the early 1990s. His DNA also connected him to the 1997 rape of a 14-year-old girl, as reported by local affiliate WREG in Memphis.

Between 1985 and 1999, Brashers was found to be connected to several crimes, including attempted murder, burglary, impersonating a police officer and unlawful possession of a weapon, according to a 2018 Missouri State Highway Patrol press release.

Investigators were eventually able to match DNA evidence from three of the yogurt shop teens’ fingernails with Brashers.

Robert Brashers’ daughter reacts

Brashers’ daughter, Deborah Brashers, told KXAN that she had never heard of the yogurt shop murders but knew her father had been connected to other violent crimes throughout the years.

“My first thought was I was born in 1991 August where was he at then?” she questioned.

Deborah said that she first found out about her father’s criminal past in 2018. She explained that it has been difficult being associated with her father, but she wants the families of victims to understand that she is sorry for his actions.

“I am very sorry to every family that my father hurt,” said Deborah. “I know that it is not my place at all to tell you I am sorry, but someone has to because he was not sorry for it and half of my DNA is the person that hurt you the most, so I want to tell you sorry, and I am so sorry for everything, but I am finally glad that you are getting answers.”

local affiliate KXAN contributed to this report.