Murdered Innocents (2 page)

Jones appeared horror-struck by the chaos before him.

“It was like no other crime scene in history.”

He had no idea.

Jennifer and Sarah Harbison were the precocious daughters of Mike and Barbara Harbison. Their parents were high-school sweethearts from the small town of Hooks, Texas. Mike and Barbara graduated from high school and married one year later on Independence Day, July 4, 1970.

They were “babies,” Barbara Harbison said of the couple. She described herself as the more “loosey-goosey liberal type,” while Mike was definitely more small-town and conservative. She added that “they were so poor that they did not even have a car between them. We had to get a loan just to get enough money for a down payment on a car.”

Barbara longed to spread her wings and escape the small-town mentality. She was ready to assert her independence along with Mike. One year to the day after they were married, on July 4, 1971, the couple packed up and moved to Austin. Barbara immediately found work at a Casual Corner store, located in Highland Mall. She worked there for three months before switching to a job at the old Capital National Bank in downtown Austin.

In less than three years, Barbara became pregnant. On May 9, 1974, she gave birth to a tiny baby girl they named Jennifer. Mike then decided they would be better off back home in Hooks. Again the Harbisons packed their bags and moved halfway across the state of Texas. Within less than 2½ years, on October 28, 1976, Barbara gave birth to another daughter, whom they named Sarah.

The serenity, however, did not last.

Barbara was still searching for something that the town of Hooks could not offer. On May 14, 1979, she packed her bags and took the two girls with her back to Austin. She knew the only independence she could find existed in the Texas state capital.

“When I left Mike, I felt like I could do anything,” Barbara exclaimed.

Barbara soon realized she could not do it all. She talked about the responsibility of feeding her daughters, keeping clothes on their backs, and providing a roof over their heads.

“It’s much harder than people acknowledge. It was much harder for me.”

Later that year, one specific group of people helped out the young mother. Child, Inc. took Barbara Harbison and her two daughters under their protective wing. Child, Inc., a government-funded program, provides early education for children whose parents earn less than the poverty level. Jennifer was five years old and starting kindergarten. Barbara had transportation issues because kindergarten only provided a half-day program and she was unable to pick her daughter up from school. She also could not get Jennifer into a day care program. A friend informed her about Child, Inc., but she resisted at first. Eventually she relented and asked for help. Child, Inc. accepted Jennifer. They later accepted Sarah. The assistance from Child, Inc. allowed Barbara to work, save money, and raise her daughters properly.

The following year, in 1980, Barbara met a young Italian man by the name of Francis “Skip” Suraci. The couple married that same year. Barbara stated that “he didn’t really want to get married.” However, she considered herself and her two daughters to be “quite a catch.” Skip relented.

According to Barbara, Skip was “a little harsh with the girls. Stern.” He was “a bit of an outsider in the family.” Yet, somehow, the couple managed to make their relationship work.

Barbara recalled the precociousness of her youngest daughter, Sarah. When she was in the fourth grade, she informed her mother, “Mom, I don’t know everything you think I know.” Barbara was stunned. She truly believed her daughters were the most intelligent children in the world.

As the girls grew, they became involved in a multitude of fun experiences. They loved the outdoors, they loved to playfully pick on each other and their mother, and they loved music. Both Mike Harbison and Skip Suraci loved to sing, so the girls grew up with a deep appreciation for music. Both girls would often sing around the house. They played musical instruments as well. Jennifer learned to play the viola in fourth grade. Sarah would also learn an instrument in fourth grade, the alto saxophone. She learned it in her music class at the Saint Louis Catholic School, located off Anderson Lane in North Austin. Both sisters enrolled in the private school in 1986.

The girls grew into beautiful young ladies. Jennifer, all eighty-six pounds of her, stood five feet two, and practically disappeared when she turned sideways. Her mother claimed that she was a fireball of energy and called her “a skinny little thing.” She added that Jennifer “lived off chips and soda. She had terrible health. She never slept at night. Too much caffeine. She had a hard time getting up in the morning.” Her mother also described her as “wound up real tight.” Jennifer hardly ever ate, not because she was anorexic or bulimic, but because she was so energetic and active.

Sarah also stood five feet two and was the heavier of the sisters. Of course, anyone standing next to Jennifer would have been considered heavier. Sarah grew into a lovely young woman with flawless peaches-and-cream skin and big, thick blond Texas hair. Sarah was the more conservative of the two girls. She kept in shape and ate a healthy diet all the time. She was the quieter of the two girls, but she was known for her witty sense of humor.

“Sarah was a serious comedian,” her mother said. “She would watch any comedian on videotape. She was studying punch lines, pauses, and timing. She used to love to cut up.”

Both girls excelled in their studies. Honors classes were the norm. They were also involved in a multitude of scholastic extracurricular activities. Jennifer served as a team manager for the Lanier High School Vikettes drill team for two years. She told her mother that when she first started, the older girls did not trust her. Eventually they came to rely on her, but when it was Jennifer’s turn to be offered a position on the team, she turned it down. Her mother asked her why after she spent so much time helping out.

“I’ve already conquered that,” Jennifer replied, referring to winning the trust of the older girls.

Sarah was the more athletic of the two girls. She was proficient at volleyball and basketball. She also participated as an Extra Gold cheerleader her freshman year.

As they got older, the girls’ attentions turned toward animals, boys, and music. Country on all three counts.

They loved to listen to country music. “They were way into Willie,” Barbara recounted, referring to Austin native and country music legend Willie Nelson. The girls also found joy in singing songs by George Strait and Garth Brooks.

The sisters also liked the older boys at Lanier High School, especially the ones in the Future Farmers of America (FFA). “Older boys in blue jeans,” their mother recalled with a laugh. “That was a plus right there for Jennifer.”

The girls, however, were interested in more than just cowboys. Both girls shone in their agricultural endeavors. Jennifer served as the school’s agricultural club president her junior and senior year in high school.

“She enjoyed being part of the team. I also believe the girls enjoyed ag because it was something I had no interest in. It was a way for them to assert their independence from me.”

The girls learned responsibility in their agricultural courses. They would head over to the FFA farm every day before and after school to care and feed their animals.

Jennifer and Sarah both thrived on competition. Their mother recalled one FFA meet where both sisters showed off their prize lambs. The girls were positioned in opposite brackets. Each girl progressed to the next round, beating each prospective opponent, until they both won their brackets and faced off against each other.

Jennifer also excelled in a national horticultural competition through FFA that took place in Kansas City. She placed eighth in the country, but was more excited about getting to see snow and ice for the first time.

Jennifer’s boyfriend, Sam Buchanan, was also a senior at Lanier High School. The stocky blond cowboy was a member of FFA and played baseball for the Lanier Vikings during his first three years of high school. Everyone on the baseball team fell in love with Jennifer. Even head coach Ed Sanders loved having Jennifer around. She became the team’s unofficial mascot.

Jennifer Harbison’s best friend was the olive-complected, dark-haired Eliza Thomas. Eliza was born on May 16, 1974, one week after Jennifer was born. Eliza’s parents, James and Maria Thomas, divorced when she was little. Her father, a social worker, remarried Norma Fowler, an associate professor of botany from the University of Texas. Eliza, Maria Thomas, and Eliza’s younger sister, Sonora, all lived together in a small house off Skylark Lane, less than one-half mile from I Can’t Believe It’s Yogurt.

Eliza started working in the yogurt shop in late 1990. Several months later, she helped Jennifer get a job there. Eliza worked at the yogurt shop so she could buy and then later maintain a dilapidated green 1971 Karmann Ghia. The car was in a constant state of disrepair. One of her friends described her car as looking like an egg and that it was “junky.”

Jennifer used to tell her mother that Eliza was “the most beautiful girl” she ever knew. With her long brown hair and brown almond-shaped eyes, Eliza had an exotic look to her. Despite her appearance, she thrived in several nontraditional female fields, such as welding and small-engine repair. Useful for the Karmann Ghia.

Eliza succeeded in the world of agriculture as well. She transferred from nearby McCallum High School in Austin to Lanier High School after her junior year so she could join the Lanier FFA chapter and be with Jennifer.

Eliza would also venture over to the Lanier FFA farm, located off Lamar Boulevard and Ferguson Drive, approximately two miles away from campus. There she took care of her eight-hundred-pound prize pig, Stoney, which made auction at the Travis County Junior Livestock Show in the spring of 1991.

At home, Eliza had her own personal menagerie-in-the-making. She kept three gray crawfish in a pan beside her bed. She also owned a pair of “ugly rats.”

Eliza also loved country music and preferred Willie Nelson. She also spent her spare time, what little there was, reading books. Her mother said that she would often have two or three books going at the same time. Her mother was convinced that Eliza would eventually become a writer.

Eliza had other aspirations as well. She wanted to become a veterinarian. Her goal was to attend Texas A&M University and its internationally renowned agricultural program. She dreamed of earning a degree, becoming a licensed vet, and owning a ranch so she could take care of even more animals when she came home from work.

Eliza, however, was not ready to leave home just yet. She let her mother know that she wanted to stay with her for a couple more years before she went off to Texas A&M. She did not want her mother to be lonely. She decided, instead, to attend Austin Community College for a couple of years. Maria Thomas was elated.

Sarah Harbison’s best friend was thirteen-year-old Burnet Middle School eighth-grader Amy Ayers. Amy was the second child of Bob and Pam Ayers, who had an older son, Shawn. Amy was born on January 31, 1978. She attended Wooten Elementary School in Austin. It was apparent from an early age that Amy would be an achiever in school.

Burnet Middle School principal James Wilson described Amy as the epitome of the good student: “A good student is one who makes good grades, does well in class, has lots of friends, and participates in extracurricular activities.” Amy did all of those things. She was a member of the Aim High team, a member of the yearbook staff, and she received two academic achievement awards. Amy also received the Outstanding Student Award at Burnet.

Just like Sarah, Jennifer, and Eliza, Amy had a passion for animals. Like many young girls, she had a special place in her heart for horses. Encouraged by her father, a polite, honest-to-goodness cowboy, Amy began showing quarter horses when she was only three years old.

Amy was probably the most country out of all four of the girls. As she grew older, she inhabited the role of the all-American country girl. From her boots to her blue jeans to her preference in music, Amy was pure country.

The quiet, reserved young girl, who took after her mother in that regard, was also very popular. Her brother, Shawn, had been a member of the FFA, which inspired her to get involved in the organization at an early age. She became a junior member of the Lanier chapter during the third grade. She was later nominated as the vice president of the Junior FFA.

Amy was hugely successful in competition. She showed hogs in competition at the Travis County Junior Livestock Show for five years. One year, she won the Showmanship Award. She also participated in the Livestock Show Arts and Crafts Fair, where she won the Grand Champion Award at the Travis County Fair for her needlepoint doorstop.

Not only did her participation in FFA bring Amy closer to animals, it brought her closer to her best friend, Sarah Harbison. Despite their age difference, which was considered a big deal for teenagers, the two girls got along wonderfully. Amy confided in Sarah her dream to become a veterinarian and to own a ranch, just like Eliza.

All four girls became the best of friends. They would always spend time together, in school and out of school. They would spend the night at each other’s houses, go to competitions together, spend time at the FFA farm, go shopping together.

You name it, they did it.

It was a common sight to see the bright, smiling faces of Jennifer and Sarah Harbison, Eliza Thomas, and Amy Ayers together.

Faces that lit up rooms and barns wherever they went.

 

It seemed like another ordinary day. All four girls went to school. When she got home, Sarah immediately called Amy and invited her over to spend the night. Jennifer would pick Amy up and take the two girls to Northcross Mall that night. The girls would gallivant around the mall while Jennifer worked at I Can’t Believe It’s Yogurt. Before her shift was up, Jennifer would pick up the two girls, bring them back to the shop, and have them help close up. Amy readily agreed and began to pick out her clothes for the evening.

Amy grabbed her beige tote bag. She stuffed the bag with more clothes for the sleepover. She threw on her favorite outfit: turquoise Wrangler jeans, her brother’s dark brown leather bomber jacket, her ever-present cowboy boots, a heart-shaped belt buckle that belonged to her mother, a pair of gold shrimp earrings, and three friendship bracelets. She was ready for a fun night with her best friends.

 

 

Sarah sat on the couch in her home. Her mother walked in after a draining day at work at the bank and saw the huge smile on her daughter’s face.

“So what are you smiling so big about?”

“I just spoke with Amy. We’re gonna go to the mall tonight,” Sarah replied as she peeled an orange. “I think we’re gonna see a movie.”

“How are you gonna get there? Because I’m just exhausted. I really don’t want to take y’all up there. I’m sorry. Maybe you can ask Jennifer to take y’all.”

“Jennifer offered to take us.”

A day like any other in the Suraci household.

Sometime between 6:15 and 6:30
P.M.
, Jennifer showed up. She had returned from her boyfriend Sam Buchanan’s house. Sam’s grandfather Lynn Irwin had passed away a few days earlier. Sam missed school that day to act as a pallbearer at his grandfather’s funeral. Jennifer stopped by after she dropped off her sister from school. She was there to comfort him. When she arrived at her home, she bounded through the front door, yelled out hello to her mom and sister, and headed for her bedroom to change. The tiny, eighty-six-pound Jennifer pulled on her size-zero pair of blue jeans, her black high-top tennis shoes, and an I Can’t Believe It’s Yogurt Izod-style shirt. She yelled out to Sarah to make sure she was ready to go.

Sarah was dressed in her customary Western garb. She wore a pair of Rocky Mountain blue jeans, a pair of pull-on Ropers boots, and a black Western-cut jacket with an extravagant Aztec symbol on the back. The two sisters smiled, hugged, and gave their Mom a kiss good-bye.

Jennifer and Sarah headed out of the house, giggling as they went. They jumped into Jennifer’s tiny Chevy S10 pickup truck, a gift from her father, and headed to Ohlen Road to pick up Amy. Next stop was a family friend’s house, because Jennifer needed to fill out an application to run for “Queen of the FFA.” She and Eliza agreed that they would both run. Jennifer also left her wallet at another friend’s house so she went and picked that up too.

Jennifer dropped off the two younger girls at Northcross Mall and headed over to the yogurt shop. She saw Eliza’s Karmann Ghia. She knew her best friend would be glad to see her. Eliza had been on the clock since 5:00
P.M.
when the day shift left. Jennifer was supposed to be at work by 7:00
P.M.
She was ten minutes late.

 

 

Eliza Thomas spent that Friday morning getting ready by talking to her mother.

“Mom, can you go with me after school today and help me with Stoney?” Her pig was recently diagnosed with a disease and required two shots a day and tiny Eliza could not inject him by herself.

Therefore, Maria Thomas went with her daughter to the pen before school. Unfortunately, she could not help her daughter administer the shot. Eliza, instead, had one of her FFA buddies help her out while Maria cleaned up the pigpen.

Eliza headed off for school. Her mother headed off to work.

Eliza went to her classes for the day and then returned home so she could change clothes for work. She threw on a pair of blue jeans, some white high-top tennis shoes, her I Can’t Believe It’s Yogurt Izod-style shirt, and pulled her hair up in a scrunchy. She arrived at the store just before 5:00
P.M.
She was ready to work her Friday-night shift until 11:00
P.M.
with her best friend, Jennifer. Fridays were always fun because they usually stayed busy. Several of their friends and fellow teenagers would saunter over to get yogurt after coming out of the movie theaters at Northcross Mall. There were also several older customers who came from the nearby art house, the Village Cinema, located just two blocks north on Anderson Lane. It had been slower lately, however, due to the slightly colder weather.

Eliza always enjoyed working with Jennifer. The time seemed to pass much more quickly when they were together.

Eliza spoke with members of the daytime shift at the yogurt shop, then headed back to the office to pick up her cash register drawer. She opened the office and found it along with her usual allotted $87.50 in cash and coins. She signed off for the register and returned to the area behind the serving counter. She was ready to take over.

She was all by herself.

Two hours later, Jennifer showed up. She informed Eliza of her plans to pick up Sarah and Amy before closing time and bring them back to the shop. Sarah and Amy occasionally helped the girls out with the cleaning, which made everything go much faster. The two older girls were excited because they could get out earlier.

Two hours later, around 9:00 or 9:30
P.M.
, Maria Thomas paid the girls a surprise visit. She stopped by to chat with her daughter. There were only a few customers in the shop at the time, so Eliza came out from behind the counter and sat with her mother at a dining table. They chatted about Eliza’s classes and how work was going. Approximately ten or fifteen minutes later, two giggling young girls came in through the front entrance of the yogurt shop. One of the girls held a cardboard box in her hands. It smelled of pizza. Eliza looked up and instantly recognized the girls. She waved them over.

“Hey, guys, I want you to meet my mother. Mom, this is Sarah, Jennifer’s little sister, and her best friend, Amy.”

It was the first time that Maria Thomas had met either girl. They exchanged pleasantries. As they spoke, a gentleman entered the restaurant. He strode toward the counter but did not step up to the register. Eliza looked up at the man. She recognized Dearl Croft, whom she and her mother met while working out at HQ Fitness. Croft engaged the table of young ladies.

It was almost 10:00
P.M.

Jovial conversation filled the empty dining room.

Soon the door opened and two more customers entered the store. Croft excused himself and headed toward the counter that Eliza manned. Croft walked up to the ordering area and stood behind a young man in a green fatigue army jacket. Croft noticed the male stood almost six feet tall and was of slender build. Instead of walking up to the cash register, however, he stood a foot or so behind the young man. Croft scanned the menu board and its wide selection of frozen concoctions.

Suddenly the young man turned around and in a deep voice said, “Are you driving that car outside with the lights on top?”

Croft was a former military police officer and owner of Longhorn Security. He, indeed, drove such a vehicle.

“Yes, I am,” he replied.

“Are you police or security? What are you?” the teenage boy asked.

“I own a security company,” Croft answered. At the same time, Jennifer brought two yogurt servings to the register. She placed them next to Eliza. The couple that ordered took their desserts and left the store.

Jennifer made eye contact with the boy and said, “C’mon up here,” motioning toward the counter so Eliza could take his order. Instead, the boy turned to Croft and said, “You go ahead on.”

“No, you go ahead, because you was here before I was.” He smiled when he replied.

“Well, you just go ahead,” the boy insisted, “and go ahead of me.”

Again Croft declined. “No. You were here before me. Go ahead.” It turned into a demented “Chip and Dale” routine. Both men kept going back and forth as to who should have their order taken next. Finally Croft looked up at Jennifer and stated “Go ahead and wait on him. He was here before I was.”

Jennifer nodded and looked back at the young man. “What do you want?” she asked politely. “Come up here,” she said as she wiggled her finger toward the counter. “What do you want?”

The boy looked up at the menu again. “I will take a cold drink.”

“All we have is Sprite.”

“That’s okay.”

Jennifer poured the boy’s drink, placed it in a paper sack, and walked it down to the register. She walked back to take Croft’s order. She and Croft exchanged knowing glances and quietly chuckled. Croft heard the boy speak loudly to Eliza. He had no idea what he said to her.

Quickly the young man scurried past Croft down the hallway and past the counter. The young man looked up at Jennifer and motioned toward the back, signaling his need to use the rest room.

“Where’s he going?” Croft asked Jennifer.

“He has to go to the rest room.”

“I didn’t know you had a rest room back there.”

Jennifer laughed, as she was wont to do, and told him, “Well, it’s not open to the public, but he said he had to go, so I let him back there.” Jennifer took Croft’s order of three cups of yogurt and slid it down to Eliza.

Croft’s suspicions were raised. Instead of leaving the shop, he decided to bide his time and see what the kid was up to. He chatted with Maria Thomas some more, all the while keeping an eye out for the boy. He stepped back up to the counter and asked Jennifer for a sample of the strawberry yogurt. Then he tried the chocolate.

Still, no boy.

Finally Croft decided to leave, even though the boy did not return. Croft nodded toward the ladies, said his good-byes, and exited the yogurt shop.

He would never see his “yogurt girl” again.

Maria Thomas said her good-byes and walked out the front door.

Eliza received another surprise that night. Her father, James Thomas, also popped into the yogurt shop to visit his daughter. He had returned from a graduate-student party north of the yogurt shop. He and his wife, Norma Fowler, arrived sometime after 10:00
P.M.

Eliza introduced her father to Jennifer. It was the first time they met. James Thomas talked to his daughter about how things were going. He also spoke with Jennifer about an economics class she was taking. After about twenty minutes or so, James Thomas and his wife said their good-byes.

At 10:30
P.M.
, the girls started to clean the trays that lay in front of the yogurt machines. The ladles were removed from the toppings, which were used by the customers. Then each of the toppings—sixteen in all—were dumped into a large bucket. They were also required to empty all of the trash cans inside the store, then place the trash bags beside the back door. These chores were usually taken care of before closing so as to expedite the cleaning process.

The last customer was served at 10:45
P.M.

When the clock struck 11:00
P.M.
, the girls locked the front door and left the key in the lock. They did that so they would not lose the key while they cleaned the store. They swept and mopped the floors and hoisted chairs on top of the dining-room tables. One of the girls would put away the fruit toppings. Next up, they would empty the yogurt machines. The remaining yogurt was dumped into a five-gallon bucket, which was transported into the walk-in cooler. The fruit toppings were also placed in the cooler. Dry toppings were stored under the serving counter.

Eliza took the ice scoop from the ice-making machine and placed it in the back sink. Jennifer set up to count the night’s earnings on a metal table in the back.

The time was around 11:15
P.M.
Amy and Sarah sat in the front dining area chatting merrily, oblivious. As Eliza finished rinsing the silver ice scoop, she heard movement in the back of the store. She looked up and saw the metal double doors opening. A man crept inside. She was surprised by the intrusion.

“Hey, you! What are you doing?” Eliza queried. “You don’t belong here.”