[SPEAKER_01]: Welcome back to my mystery.

[SPEAKER_01]: I am your host Kelly, and today's episode is going to be a weekly docket episode where I recapped the top headlines in true crime for the week.

[SPEAKER_01]: If you're watching on YouTube, I did watch this sweatshirt before I recorded today because I know I wore it in my last video, but listen, it is my favorite sweatshirt.

[SPEAKER_01]: You can get it on TikTok, shop, let me know if you want the link.

[SPEAKER_01]: But anyway, [SPEAKER_01]: We've got a lot to cover a lot.

[SPEAKER_01]: It was almost hard to narrow down the stories.

[SPEAKER_01]: I felt like I could include them all for like a two hour long podcast, but we don't really have time for that.

[SPEAKER_01]: So we're gonna dive in with the first story of this week, which is a huge one out of Austin, Texas.

[SPEAKER_01]: The yogurt shop murders, the breakthrough DNA identifies us back after 34 years.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now on December 6th of 1991, we're gonna back up so I can tell you kind of a little bit about what really happened here.

[SPEAKER_01]: But Austin, Texas was shaken to its core by one of the most horrific crimes in the city's history.

[SPEAKER_01]: Four teenage girls, Jennifer Harbison, her sister Sarah, and their friends, Eliza Thomas, and Amy Ayers, were found murdered inside of an eye can't believe it's yogurt shop.

[SPEAKER_01]: That night, the shop was set on fire, and when firefighters arrived around 1147 PM, [SPEAKER_01]: They put out the flames only to uncover the bodies of the four girls.

[SPEAKER_01]: The girls had been bound, gagged, and shot execution style.

[SPEAKER_01]: Their bodies had also been set on fire.

[SPEAKER_01]: The youngest Amy had been shot twice and tragically, evidence suggests that she was still alive when the fire began.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now, for years, investigators struggled to make sense of what happened.

[SPEAKER_01]: At first, it looked like a robbery gone wrong.

[SPEAKER_01]: There was cash missing from the register, but the level of violence and the way that the girls were killed made it seem far more personal.

[SPEAKER_01]: By the late 1990s, police turned their focus to four local men.

[SPEAKER_01]: Michael Scott, Robert Springstein, Maurice Pears, and Forest Wellborn.

[SPEAKER_01]: Two of them, Michael Scott and Robert Springsteen gave confessions under heavy interrogation.

[SPEAKER_01]: Their stories conflicted and both later recanted saying that their confessions had been coerced, which is something we've seen before.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now, despite the problems with their confessions, Michael Scott and Robert Springsteen were convicted in 2001 and 2002.

[SPEAKER_01]: one received a life sentence and the other a death sentence, but DNA testing told a different story.

[SPEAKER_01]: Evidence from the crime scene didn't match any four of the men.

[SPEAKER_01]: After years of appeals, both convictions were thankfully overturned by 2009.

[SPEAKER_01]: The case went cold once again, leading families devastated, and the city without answers, and the break finally came more than three decades later.

[SPEAKER_01]: In 2024, HBO released a docu-series which reignited public interest in the case.

[SPEAKER_01]: Behind the scenes detectives were re-examining old evidence with new technology, advances in DNA testing and forensic genealogy, [SPEAKER_01]: pointed them towards a new name, Robert Eugene Brashers.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now, Brashers was a Missouri man with a long history of violence, including burglaries, rapes, and murders across multiple states.

[SPEAKER_01]: So, let's not mince words.

[SPEAKER_01]: He was a serial killer, a mass murderer, and a rapist.

[SPEAKER_01]: In 1999, police noticed that a stolen vehicle was parked in a super 8 motel parking lot in Kenet, Missouri.

[SPEAKER_01]: After talking with employees, police discovered Robert Brasher was there with his family and that they had arrived in that stolen vehicle.

[SPEAKER_01]: So, police...

[SPEAKER_01]: broke down the door to their room and found Robert hiding under a bed with a loaded gun.

[SPEAKER_01]: When they tried to arrest him, he opened fire on them, so the police were forced to retreat go back outside.

[SPEAKER_01]: Meanwhile, he essentially holds his whole family hostage, his wife, daughter, and two step daughters.

[SPEAKER_01]: The police brought in negotiators and after about four hours, he released the hostages and then shot himself in the head.

[SPEAKER_01]: He actually didn't die right away.

[SPEAKER_01]: He was taken to the hospital and lived for about six days until he ultimately died from his injuries.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now fast forward decades later and his DNA has now been linked directly to the yogurt shop crime scene.

[SPEAKER_01]: On September 26, just last week, it was announced that DNA connected Robert to the yogurt shop murders.

[SPEAKER_01]: A partial YSTR DNA profile was developed from a vaginal swab from one of the victims.

[SPEAKER_01]: That profile did not match any of the previous four boys that were questioned or later suspected and then convicted.

[SPEAKER_01]: But last week, they were finally able to match DNA with advanced DNA screening and it came back to Robert Eugene Brashers.

[SPEAKER_01]: Robert's daughter in interviews with local news stations expressed shock and sadness upon learning about the latest murders linked to her own father.

[SPEAKER_01]: Deb Rubrashers told KVU ETV that she was just an infant when the Austin murders happened and just eight years old when her father died.

[SPEAKER_01]: She told KXA and TV that she didn't know why he ended up in Austin other than to note that he worked in construction.

[SPEAKER_01]: She said she believes that more crimes could come to light with this new revelation.

[SPEAKER_01]: So if that does happen, I'll be sure to bring that to you here on the weekly docket.

[SPEAKER_01]: Next, police in the Lejo, California, made a disturbing discovery this week when they found the remains of a missing woman hidden behind a secret wall inside of a home piled floor too ceiling with clutter.

[SPEAKER_01]: After receiving a tip, investigators went to the residents of Douglas, Irwin Shaw, who lived alone in what neighbors described as a hoarder house.

[SPEAKER_01]: When officers searched to property, they found that he had built a concealed space in the wall and inside of it, they discovered the missing woman's body.

[SPEAKER_01]: Authorities say that Shaw not only admitted to the killing, but also described how he constructed the hidden compartment to conceal her remains.

[SPEAKER_01]: The Lejo police chief Shawnee Williams called it a heinous crime and said the level of planning was unlike anything his department had seen in years.

[SPEAKER_01]: Neighbors told reporters they were not surprised when police swarmed the property.

[SPEAKER_01]: Some described the house as overrun with junk, trash, and strange modifications.

[SPEAKER_01]: And many had kept their distance for years.

[SPEAKER_01]: One neighbor said quote, we always thought something was off about that place, but none of us could have imagined this.

[SPEAKER_01]: Shaw has since been arrested and charged with murder and concealment of a corpse.

[SPEAKER_01]: Investigators are still working to determine the victims' exact cause of death and whether there may be additional victims, given the unusual layout of the home and Shah's background.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now, the victim in this story is Renia Lewis, who was last seen on Friday, September 28.

[SPEAKER_01]: According to the Vallejo Police Department's press release, quote, officers contacted the reporting party and completed a missing person's report.

[SPEAKER_01]: Officers then entered her information into the law enforcement missing person's database while multiple VPD officers were assigned to search for the missing woman.

[SPEAKER_01]: That same day, the patrol divisions investigation, [SPEAKER_01]: led officers to the hoarder house in Belaeho.

[SPEAKER_01]: There were indications that the missing woman may have been inside the residence at some point before she went missing.

[SPEAKER_01]: Officers entered the residence to conduct a welfare check and a curse research of all the rooms, closets, and places a person could hide, but found no signs of the missing woman.

[SPEAKER_01]: The Belaeho Police Department Detective Division was called out that afternoon and took over the investigation.

[SPEAKER_01]: The next day, September 29th, the California Highway Patrol issued an Ebony Alert and the local police sought help from the FBI.

[SPEAKER_01]: The mom and other relatives had also been searching the area on their own, finding her phone on the roof of a nearby school.

[SPEAKER_01]: And they were able to narrow down her location because she was on life 360.

[SPEAKER_01]: So I'm about to show you a video that was posted by someone close to Renea.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so if you're only listening to this episode, I'll just kind of explain to you what is being shown.

[SPEAKER_01]: But this person is at the actual house of this guy going into the backyard, showing up at his door like it is up close and personal.

[SPEAKER_01]: And this is incredibly risky.

[SPEAKER_01]: I would never recommend anybody do this.

[SPEAKER_01]: But if I have to hand it to this girl who deeply cares about Renea and took matters into their own hands.

[SPEAKER_00]: So boom, we're here at the house.

[SPEAKER_00]: Um, this is the nigga in the beach.

[SPEAKER_00]: The nigga, I got his phone number.

[SPEAKER_00]: He won't answer the phone.

[SPEAKER_00]: Phone is boy, straight to voicemail.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like, nobody's have been home all weekend.

[SPEAKER_00]: We've been here since Saturday.

[SPEAKER_00]: Saturday night.

[SPEAKER_00]: And this nigga not answering he got held in different addresses and held the shit like this shit held a fucking dirty like This is just fucking very easy like a My fucking came through the back over there to fall was on the roof over there in a school directly right here [SPEAKER_01]: and yeah.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now I realize just listening to that clip doesn't give you a lot of information, but watching it, you see just how filthy this place is, how run down and just depressing it is.

[SPEAKER_01]: Also, the IDs that she's showing in the video are actually not that of the man who was eventually arrested.

[SPEAKER_01]: Those two IDs belong to people who lived near Douglas's house apparently, but they are not connected to the case as of right now.

[SPEAKER_01]: On September 30th, the investigation led detectives back to that residence based on new information detectives were granted a search warrant to thoroughly search the residents and during this search they discovered a concealed entry into the attic.

[SPEAKER_01]: Officers searched the attic and located the remains of a deceased female inside that is suspected of being the missing woman.

[SPEAKER_01]: They obtained additional information that identified Douglas Irwin Shaw, a 41-year-old resident of Vallejo, as the suspect in the death of the female, and he was subsequently placed under arrest at his place of employment.

[SPEAKER_01]: Renia Lewis was only 28 years old.

[SPEAKER_01]: Next FBI's most wanted Cindy Rodriguez saying has been captured abroad.

[SPEAKER_01]: After years on the run, Cindy, one of the FBI's 10 most wanted fugitives has been captured overseas and returned to the United States to face charges.

[SPEAKER_01]: Cindy gave birth to her son, Noel, on February 2nd of 2017.

[SPEAKER_01]: He was born premature and had several physical and developmental disabilities, including a visual impairment, a limp, speech delay, esotopia, and a chronic lung disease.

[SPEAKER_01]: Cindy allegedly believed that his ailments were because he was born evil and possessed by a demon.

[SPEAKER_01]: so she would deprive him of food and water to avoid having to change his diaper, and anytime she caught him drinking water, she would allegedly beat him with a set of keys.

[SPEAKER_01]: In 2020, she was sentenced to 10 years of probation after she drunk and drove her car into a pole with two of her children in the car.

[SPEAKER_01]: Between 2020 and 2021, three of her kids, including Little Noel, were placed with a foster family before being returned to Sydney.

[SPEAKER_01]: By fall of 2022, Noel had not been entered into compulsory schooling and lapsed scheduled doctor's appointments beginning in July of 2022.

[SPEAKER_01]: Apparently, Cindy had once asked an acquaintance to borrow their child for a medical visit during this time.

[SPEAKER_01]: On November 1, 2022, Cindy took passport pictures for six of her children, not including a novel and applied for passport for her family again, not including a novel.

[SPEAKER_01]: And then a few days later, she was searching for how much a trip to India would cost.

[SPEAKER_01]: In March of 2023, Cindy lied to investigators and told them that Noah was living with his biological father in Mexico.

[SPEAKER_01]: The day after she told them this, her new husband, Archdeep Singh, threw away carpet that was later believed to have human remains on it at one point.

[SPEAKER_01]: The next day, the same guy stole $10,000 from his job and then Archdeep, Cindy and their kids flew to India.

[SPEAKER_01]: Noel was not on that flight.

[SPEAKER_01]: For years, Cindy managed to evade capture, living under assumed identities and moving between different cities abroad.

[SPEAKER_01]: After years, the FBI tracked Cindy to Pune job India where local police worked with the U.S.

[SPEAKER_01]: officials to arrest her.

[SPEAKER_01]: She was taken into custody earlier this month and extradited back to the U.S.

[SPEAKER_01]: to face charges of murder, obstruction, and flight to avoid prosecution.

[SPEAKER_01]: Neighbors from our old community in New Jersey say [SPEAKER_01]: One former neighbor told reporters, quote, we always hope she'd be caught that little boy deserves justice.

[SPEAKER_01]: Prosecutors have said that they will seek the maximum penalty.

[SPEAKER_01]: Her bond has been set at $10 million.

[SPEAKER_01]: She is charged with capital murder in Texas, even though Noel has never been found.

[SPEAKER_01]: Our last story takes us to Michigan when a Sunday worship service turned into tragedy in Grand Blanc Township, when a gunman launched a coordinated attack on a Mormon church.

[SPEAKER_01]: On the morning of Sunday, September 28, Thomas Jacob Sanford, 40 years old, drove his pick-up truck through the front doors of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

[SPEAKER_01]: After crashing through the wall, Sanford opened fire with an assault-style rifle and then set parts of the church [SPEAKER_01]: By the time police had arrived, four people had been killed, and at least eight more were injured, some from gunfire, others from smoke inhalation, as flames spread through the building.

[SPEAKER_01]: Authorities later said that the entire attack unfolded in just a few minutes.

[SPEAKER_01]: Sanford was ultimately shot and killed in a gunfight with responding officers.

[SPEAKER_01]: Among the victims identified so far is John Bond, who was 77 years old, and Navy veteran, [SPEAKER_01]: He enjoyed golf and trains, he loved his wife, Joanne, and their six children and ten grandchildren.

[SPEAKER_01]: The victims ages ranged widely from children to older adults, leaving families across the community devastated.

[SPEAKER_01]: Benjamin Phelps and his young son were both injured in the attack.

[SPEAKER_01]: Benjamin and Idaho native lives in Linden with his wife and children and they've been involved in overseas missions.

[SPEAKER_01]: Their son has been released from the hospital to recover at home, but Benjamin still faces a long and difficult recovery.

[SPEAKER_01]: Jared and Brandy Hickin and their young daughter were all injured in the attack as well.

[SPEAKER_01]: Jared Hickin is a fourth year chief emergency medicine resident and also participated in overseas missions.

[SPEAKER_01]: Brandy and their daughter were released from the hospital but Jared is still there and his condition has not been made public.

[SPEAKER_01]: Craig Hayden lost his life during the attack as well.

[SPEAKER_01]: He was married to his wife for 50 years and he was a leader within the church.

[SPEAKER_01]: His daughter Julie posted a letter that her sister wrote about the attack.

[SPEAKER_01]: She was there when it happened and said that while she was comforting her dad and placing her hands on him after she had been shot, the shooter came out to her and stared at her right into her eyes.

[SPEAKER_01]: She says in that moment, quote, I saw pain, he felt lost.

[SPEAKER_01]: I deeply felt it with every fiber of my being.

[SPEAKER_01]: I forgave him, I forgave him right there, not in words, but with my heart, end quote.

[SPEAKER_01]: Investigators revealed Sanford had a military background.

[SPEAKER_01]: He served in the Marine Corps and was deployed to Iraq.

[SPEAKER_01]: Friends told reporters that he harbored a deep resentment toward the Mormon church, stemming from a failed relationship over a decade ago where he was in this intense relationship, but she would not be with him unless he converted to the Mormon faith.

[SPEAKER_01]: And ever since then, he has just had [SPEAKER_01]: I don't know, I guess a deep-seated hatred towards the Mormon faith.

[SPEAKER_01]: In the days before the shooting, he reportedly made hostile comments online, calling Mormons the Antichrist.

[SPEAKER_01]: Police also found IEDs in his truck suggesting the attack had been carefully planned.

[SPEAKER_01]: The FBI has joined local authorities in the investigation, calling the attack both targeted and religiously motivated.

[SPEAKER_01]: Officials say Sanford acted alone, but are working to determine if he left behind digital evidence or a manifesto of some kind.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now I'll leave you with this as you go into the weekend.

[SPEAKER_01]: Multiple online campaigns were set up to help the victim's families as is typical in situations like this.

[SPEAKER_01]: But what is not typical?

[SPEAKER_01]: And the first time I've ever seen anything like this is that a give send go campaign was set up for none other than the shooter's family.

[SPEAKER_01]: So far, that campaign has raised over $180,000.

[SPEAKER_01]: and it says quote, my name is Dave, like all of you I was shocked by the murders at the LDS Chapel in Grand Block, Michigan, on September 28th.

[SPEAKER_01]: Multiple families were left grievously wounded and in need of help.

[SPEAKER_01]: One of the families that suffered a terrible loss on that day was the family of Thomas Jacobsanford, the shooter.

[SPEAKER_01]: Sanford leaves behind a wife and children who must be grieving.

[SPEAKER_01]: They will face financial hardship and psychological trauma as a result of this week's horrifying event.

[SPEAKER_01]: On top of that, one of Sanford's sons deals with serious medical challenges that require ongoing care, treatment, and specialized support.

[SPEAKER_01]: In the past, the family attempted to raise funds for him, but with limited success.

[SPEAKER_01]: I have no connection to the Sanford's [SPEAKER_01]: I'm a fantasy and science fiction writer, and if you know me at all, it's probably because you've seen me on an LDS YouTube channel, such as The Stick of Joseph or Ward Radial.

[SPEAKER_01]: But James teaches us that, quote, pure religion and undefiled before God, and the father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction." [SPEAKER_01]: The purpose of this gives him go is to do that.

[SPEAKER_01]: Every donation will go to help provide for the Sanford family's daily means.

[SPEAKER_01]: provide for ongoing medical treatment and create some stability in a time of heartbreak and upheaval.

[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you for your kindness, your compassion, and your willingness to lift up those who are suffering.

[SPEAKER_01]: And quote, if you're interested in donating to any of these campaigns, I will put links to all of them.

[SPEAKER_01]: in the show notes for this episode.

[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you so much for listening to this week's episode of the weekly docket.

[SPEAKER_01]: We'll be back next week with a deep dive on Tuesday and another weekly docket on Friday.

[SPEAKER_01]: Have a great weekend, stay curious, stay vigilant, mama, mystery, pals.