SOCIAL SCIENCES

Who Killed These Girls? Cold Case; The Yogurt Shop Murders

Knopf. Oct. 2016. 400p. bibliog. ISBN 9780307594112. $27.95; ebk. ISBN 9781101947999. CRIME
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On December 6, 1991, the city of Austin, TX, was rocked by the brutal murder of four teenage girls in the back of a frozen yogurt shop, which was then burned to cover the killings. Owing to the inexperience of the crime scene investigators, the case stalled until 1999, when a pair of young men confessed and implicated two others. Two of the men were never put on trial; the trials of the other duo resulted in convictions, which were overturned on appeal when DNA evidence exonerated all four suspects and left the authorities back at square one. Lowry (Crossed Over) began following the retrial hearings, expecting insight into the notorious crimes, but instead discovered a gross miscarriage of justice, with a complete lack of physical evidence and only coerced confessions to tie the young men to the crime. Lowry researches the case through records and interviews, showing the psychology behind false confessions and the desperation of the city to solve these crimes, which resulted in the destruction of lives. The killer(s) still walk free.
VERDICT This shocking example of justice denied as a result of questionable law enforcement practices is essential for regional holdings and a useful addition to true crime and criminal psychology collections.
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