Robert Brashers

Serial Killer

Robert Eugene Brashers: Serial Killer, Rapist, and Posthumously Identified Cold Case Suspect

Overview

Robert Eugene Brashers was an American serial killer and serial rapist whose crimes stretched across multiple states, including South Carolina, Texas, Tennessee, Missouri, Kentucky, Florida, Georgia, and Arkansas. He was born on March 13, 1958, in Newport News, Virginia, and died on January 19, 1999, after shooting himself during a police standoff in Kennett, Missouri. During his lifetime, he was known to law enforcement as a violent offender, burglar, thief, and fugitive, but he was not publicly identified as the killer in his major murder cases until years after his death. Brashers lived much of his criminal life under shifting identities and false appearances. He used aliases, moved between states, and committed crimes that often involved home invasion, sexual assault, firearms, restraint of victims, and attempts to destroy evidence. His known crimes were not solved as one connected series during his lifetime. The full scope of his violence only became clearer decades later through DNA testing, forensic genealogy, and ballistic evidence.

Known Fatal Victims

• Genevieve "Jenny" Zitricki Age 28 Killed on April 4, 1990, in Greenville, South Carolina. She was attacked inside her apartment. Investigators later determined that she had been sexually assaulted and murdered by Robert Brashers.
• Amy Ayers Age 13 Killed on December 6, 1991, at the I Can't Believe It's Yogurt! shop in Austin, Texas. She was one of four teenage girls murdered in the case known as the Austin Yogurt Shop Murders.
• Eliza Thomas Age 17 Killed on December 6, 1991, at the I Can't Believe It's Yogurt! shop in Austin, Texas. She was working at the store on the night of the murders.
• Jennifer Harbison Age 17 Killed on December 6, 1991, at the I Can't Believe It's Yogurt! shop in Austin, Texas. She was also working at the store that night.
• Sarah Harbison Age 15 Killed on December 6, 1991, at the I Can't Believe It's Yogurt! shop in Austin, Texas. She was Jennifer Harbison's younger sister.
• Sherri Scherer Age 38 Killed on March 28, 1998, in Portageville, Missouri. She was murdered inside her home along with her daughter, Megan.
• Megan Scherer Age 12 Killed on March 28, 1998, in Portageville, Missouri. She was sexually assaulted and murdered in the same attack that killed her mother.
• Linda Marie Rutledge Age 43 Killed on November 7, 1998, in Lexington, Kentucky. She was found dead after a fire at the Nixon Hearing Aid Center, where she worked.

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Confirmed Victims: (8)

Genevieve Zitricki Age: (28), Date of Death: 1990-04-05

Survivors:

Young Mother Age: (25), Date of Attack: 1998-03-28

14-year-old girl Age: (14), Date of Attack: 1997-03-07

Bullet casing in drain at Texas yogurt shop links serial killer to the ...