Forrest Welborn spent 34 years as a suspect in the Austin yogurt shop murders. He still can't forget.
He Was a Suspect in the Yogurt Shop Murders for Thirty Years. He Can't Forget
Forrest Welborn was 15 when he and three friends were arrested for the 1991 yogurt shop murders in Austin. Charges were dropped, but the stigma stuck for decades. Last year, police identified the real killer—a serial rapist—and Welborn was officially exonerated and compensated. Now 50, he runs a saloon south of Austin, but the hatred for those who falsely accused him, especially his former best friend Maurice Pierce, still burns.
I still hate him. Even though he’s not around anymore, I still hate him. I hate all of them. I know hate’s a strong word, but I really hate those guys.
- xvxvx
No disciplinary action for the cops involved in trying to convict innocent boys, and harassing one to the extent that he’s now dead. If their own freedom was on the line, they’d not be so motivated. Time to hold the police accountable:
- ahazred8ta
Irony: the real killer was arrested 2 days later and had the murder weapon on him, but it was never matched against the Austin murders. He killed himself in 1999.
- steve-atx-7600
Turns out I work a couple blocks away from the strip model where that shop was. One day I walked by and saw a memorial placard in the ground and started googling to find out what happened there. Pretty nuts. There’s been so much gentrification since the time of the murders that it’s hard to understand what kind of neighborhood it was back in the day.
- thefourthchime
Weirdly, and I'm I guess I'm a little embarrassed about this, but after I saw the documentary about what happened, I saw him interviewed at some bar. I used ChatGPT to figure out which bar it was. And then on a lazy Sunday I drove down there and just hung out and soaked in the atmosphere.
He was there, he works there. I didn't even want to look because it felt weird. But there he was, doing his job, living his life.
- comrade1234
Another example of why the death penalty should not exist. One of the boys spent five years on death row for a crime he didn't commit.