2026年2月19日、テキサス州の裁判官は、1991年にオースティンのヨーグルトショップで少女4人が殺害された事件について、男性4人の無実を言い渡した。この決定は、2025年にDNA鑑定により、すでに死亡している連続殺人犯が容疑者として特定されたことを受けて下された。その後、オースティン市は4人に対して3500万ドルの和解金を支払うことに合意した。
州地方裁判所のデイナ・ブレイジー判事は、傍聴席が埋め尽くされたオースティンの法廷で無罪判決を言い渡し、男性たちに「あなた方は無実です」と告げた。この判決により、ロバート・スプリングスティーン、マイケル・スコット、モーリス・ピアース、フォレスト・ウェルボーンの4人の無実が正式に確定した。4人は1999年に逮捕され、後に信頼性が低いと判明した物議を醸した自白に基づいて有罪判決を受けたり、起訴されたりしていた。審理には2人の男性が家族と共に出席した。モーリス・ピアースは2010年に他界しており、ロバート・スプリングスティーンは欠席した。
X（旧Twitter）のユーザーやニュースアカウントは、2026年2月にDNA鑑定で死亡した連続殺人犯との関連が判明したことによる4人の無罪確定と、同年5月の市との3500万ドルの和解について議論した。投稿では、強要された自白や被害者の闘い、未成年者への単独尋問禁止といった政策変更について強調された。反応としては、ABCやFoxニュースといったメディアによる事実報道、制度的欠陥に注目した詳細な事件の振り返り、市長の謝罪への言及などが見られた。
Four men have formally been exonerated decades after their arrests in the infamous 1991 yogurt shop quadruple killings in Austin, Texas — and months after police announced that the real killer had been identified using advanced DNA analysis.
— Chimp (@CHIMPUSX) 2026年2月20日
DNA exonerated them.
I remember that… pic.twitter.com/1j2Q0LR9E9
Four men have formally been exonerated decades after their arrests in the infamous 1991 yogurt shop quadruple killings in Austin, Texas — and months after police announced that the real killer had been identified using advanced DNA analysis. https://t.co/J1g21XWRoP pic.twitter.com/pfwmyhdGDb
— ABC News (@ABC) 2026年2月20日
Judge declares 4 men “actually innocent” in Austin yogurt shop murders.
— Fox News (@FoxNews) 2026年2月20日
In a packed courtroom, a Texas judge cleared the men once accused in the brutal 1991 killings, citing new forensic evidence tying the crime to a serial offender who died in 1999.https://t.co/6xNw4ubvkL
The case began in 1991, when four teenage girls were tragically murdered in an Austin yogurt shop.
— Blueblur (@Blueblur_23) 2026年5月23日
⁰The case lacked any real progress until 1999, when Robert Springsteen, Michael Scott, Forrest Welborn, and Maurice Pierce were arrested and charged.
Robert and Michael were… pic.twitter.com/zv0Zay3sZ1
The Austin City Council formally approved a $35 million settlement with four men wrongfully accused in the 1991 Yogurt Shop Murders. Mayor Kirk Watson also issued a public apology to the men and their families for what he called "an awful mistake."https://t.co/glPuuI8Hmk
— CBS Austin (@cbsaustin) 2026年5月28日
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