TX - Elizabeth Barraza, 29, murdered setting up garage sale, Harris County, Jan 2019

New Posts

Status
Not open for further replies.
IMO, the longer this goes unsolved, the less likely the shooter was unhinged. Mentally disturbed people are usually known to have hated their target, they make mistakes during the crime, confess to someone or act suspiciously, or do something criminal again.

This seems almost professional: done when the victim would be outside so no need to break into the home, done when it would be dark with no one else around, pulls up to park without even driving past to scope out the scene, so they must have been watching beforehand (how did the killer know there wasn't someone helping her set up the sale?), completely deliberate killer who took repeated shots with successful aim, who had the presence of mind to immediately run back to their car, and drive away without getting into an accident. Astonishing self-control.

I'm not so sure Elizabeth saw the gun: I think perhaps she jumped back because the woman suddenly appeared in front of her, but she doesn't keep backing off as you'd do if a crazy person confronted you carrying a gun. The way the killer showed Elizabeth something may have just been a way to distract her and draw her closer, so she wouldn't have a chance to run away.

I have a very hard time seeing this as random, and yet why would someone sane take this enormous risk to kill her. Maybe love, or maybe money.
 
Satchie said:
IMO, the longer this goes unsolved, the less likely the shooter was unhinged. Mentally disturbed people are usually known to have hated their target, they make mistakes during the crime, confess to someone or act suspiciously, or do something criminal again.
Click to expand...
i agree with you - someone unhinged enough to do this will offend again or be suspected by others. Or is being protected by someone.

Also agree that it's likely the shooter was more familiar with a handgun than not. So how does that happen? Is she law enforcement? Is she former or current military? Is someone in her family one of those? Women are known to own and use firearms, I know - I'm just looking, again, for an angle.

Side-story: in college there was a guy, strange, alternative, who wore a bathrobe around campus. He was belligerent, socially volatile etc. He had long, stringy hair. He was really angry. Is there a young angry man similar to this guy that lives with his parents in the neighborhood?
 
Ajs1004 said:
Yeah, I have stayed at hotels all over Texas, Florida and Georgia. I’ve never had to tell hotel staff what my car looked like.
Click to expand...
We must live in different worlds. I have almost always been asked to give make, model, color of vehicle when checking in. They usually skip the license plate. I traveled to South TEXAS this weekend and stayed at the Home2 Suites - and yes, they asked for make, model and color.
 
To the locals: how much coverage did this get at the time and how about now? Someone in the area knows who this is - unlike the Missy Bevers case in TX we have a decent video of the murderer and a vehicle description. Perhaps there needs to be another blast of coverage - because someone has to have suspicions or is covering for someone.

Based on the "early-morning attire" I would say this person lives within a 10-15 few miles-radius of the murder location. Then again, this could be a case of someone "driving through the night" to get to that location... Perhaps it will just take old fashioned police-work; exploring every single owner of a vehicle that matches the description.

The vehicle is an "older, dark-colored Nissan Frontier pickup truck"..."Investigators said the pickup truck was seen on camera shortly before Sergio Barraza left for work that morning, possibly indicating that the shooter was waiting for their victim to be alone with her guard down." Source
 
moslym3 said:
To the locals: how much coverage did this get at the time and how about now? Someone in the area knows who this is - unlike the Missy Bevers case in TX we have a decent video of the murderer and a vehicle description. Perhaps there needs to be another blast of coverage - because someone has to have suspicions or is covering for someone.

Based on the "early-morning attire" I would say this person lives within a 10-15 few miles-radius of the murder location. Then again, this could be a case of someone "driving through the night" to get to that location... Perhaps it will just take old fashioned police-work; exploring every single owner of a vehicle that matches the description.

The vehicle is an "older, dark-colored Nissan Frontier pickup truck"..."Investigators said the pickup truck was seen on camera shortly before Sergio Barraza left for work that morning, possibly indicating that the shooter was waiting for their victim to be alone with her guard down." Source
Click to expand...

No, there has not been much further coverage of this case in local news.
That is frustrating, and disheartening, as if it’s just another senseless crime lost in a crowd of countless other senseless crimes. I think it would be great to have “another blast of coverage” in the media for this case.
 
It’s really surprising that this case hasn’t been solved by now. It seems from the video to be a targeted kill as opposed to a random act of violence, which is much harder to solve. The police have to know her killer has to be someone acquainted with her or or hired by someone acquainted with her. Plus they have a general description of the suspect and vehicle, based on the video (admittedly not exactly in high def).

I would like to think that the police have a very good idea who did this or who organized it, and they’re just trying to build a concrete case against them without spooking them with additional media coverage. Their silence in this case gives me hope that they don’t feel they need to appeal for the public’s help any further to identify the murderer.

I know everyone grieves differently, and there’s certainly no timetable for moving on with one’s life after tragedy strikes. Some grieve in a deep sadness for months, while others are able to compartmentalize, bury the grief, and try to move on as if nothing happened. <modsnip - not victim friendly>
 
Last edited by a moderator:
mysteryfan96 said:
To me, there is a significant difference between saying “person X is totally the killer” and “person X’s actions aren’t what I would have done in that situation, but it could mean nothing”.

Just trying to understand the policy so that no more of my posts get snipped or removed.
Click to expand...

If a person's activities or behaviors are reported in mainstream media then you can comment on them. Otherwise they are considered rumor and on this site we cannot discuss rumors. I read your original post -- did you get that info from a mainstream media article? If so, you can post it and then I assume your comments wouldn't have been deleted. But if it's something you saw on social media, for example, it's not allowed on this site.

Someone can correct me if I'm mistaken.
 
I’m local and was very much aware when this strange murder occurred. After a short time I figured the police were on it and just needed the right info before an arrest.

But no publicity at all. I don’t hear her parents speaking out as is usually the case

There have been several high profile cases that I read about almost everyday.
I’m very surprised the way this is going.

I feel it’s got to be close to home.
 
Out of all the crimes that have occured in the last 2-3 years (including those unsolved) this one is grating on my nerves the most. I think because of the near-immediate release of the video, the graphic nature of the crime, and most of all the fact there are still no leads. So frustrating! Let's get Justice for Liz, someone, somewhere knows something!

The lack of coverage is further disheartening.
 
moslym3 said:
Also agree that it's likely the shooter was more familiar with a handgun than not. So how does that happen? Is she law enforcement? Is she former or current military? Is someone in her family one of those? Women are known to own and use firearms, I know - I'm just looking, again, for an angle.
Click to expand...

She is not using one of say, two strongly preferred police stances (trained to become near instinctual with police and reverted to unless the situation does not allow it). Likewise, almost all military personnel are only given very general pistol training- and then probably only in the one or two police stances. Of course, special forces would be an exception.

Though truly skilled people deviate from trained stances, her lack of the stance could also indicate an untrained individual firing a pistol point blank "cowboy" style.
 
Cryptic said:
She is not using one of say, two strongly preferred police stances (trained to become near instinctual with police and reverted to unless the situation does not allow it). Likewise, almost all military personnel are only given very general pistol training- and then probably only in the one or two police stances. Of course, special forces would be an exception.

Though truly skilled people deviate from trained stances, her lack of the stance could also indicate an untrained individual firing a pistol point blank "cowboy" style.
Click to expand...

That makes a lot of sense. So perhaps she's around guns, has access to them, but we can rule out military or LE training.

So follow up question, does her stance, and stance during the shooting indicate someone who is surprised by the recoil/feedback or someone that has fired that weapon before? I've fired a handgun and a rifle and with both I was surprised by how hard it was to handle the weapon during the firing - frankly it terrified me.

What is your view of the motivation behind the suspect walking up to Elizabeth to shoot her again while on the ground - to make absolutely sure she was dead? Did Elizabeth know the shooter? Was the shooter afraid of Elizabeth saying or knowing about something unrelated that she couldn't let out? It's such an "assassination" style murder - which means either a very specific motive or the shooter is a David Berkowitz type.

And if it's a Berkowitz type then it will happen again, won't it?
 
moslym3 said:
So follow up question, does her stance, and stance during the shooting indicate someone who is surprised by the recoil/feedback or someone that has fired that weapon before? I've fired a handgun and a rifle and with both I was surprised by how hard it was to handle the weapon during the firing - frankly it terrified me.
Click to expand...

I think you have an insightful observation. As you mentioned, "full calibre" fire arms can have a surprisingly heavy recoil if the shooter is not accustomed to it.

The shooter's hand does not move drastically off target with the recoil. Likewise, she is able to bring the pistol back on "target" (horrible observation) quickly. I think this could indicate two things:

1. A person experienced with weapons firing a "full calibre" pistol. Would not need to be an expert, but had fired pistols enough to gain familiarity with the recoil and how to well, re- align the weapon quickly.

2. A person not familiar with weapons "cowboy" shooting a smaller calibre pistol. As there is far less recoil, she is able to control the weapon despite not being trained with it.

I think option two would be more likely.

moslym3 said:
What is your view of the motivation behind the suspect walking up to Elizabeth to shoot her again while on the ground - to make absolutely sure she was dead? Did Elizabeth know the shooter? Was the shooter afraid of Elizabeth saying or knowing about something unrelated that she couldn't let out?
Click to expand...

I think it was targeted and personal for the following reasons.

- The shooter approaches the victim like she was on a mission and moves very close to her- as if she had a personal intent that over rode caution. A random "thrill" shooter would just as likely fire from the curb and may need a build up (driving by twice, pacing on the way up, looking around for witnesses out of caution etc.)

- The shooter and the victim appear to have a brief conversation that includes the murderer showing her something. Both elements seem to indicate a personal encounter.

- The victim does not start to instinctually back away despite being rapidly approached by somebody "on a mission". This could imply that she knew the murderer, but did not anticipate her intent.
 
Last edited:
Cryptic said:
- The shooter and the victim appear to have a brief conversation that includes the murderer showing her something. Both elements seem to indicate a personal encounter.

- The victim does not start to instinctually back away despite being rapidly approached by somebody "on a mission". This could imply that she knew the murderer, but did not anticipate her intent.
Click to expand...

One way a crazed woman out in the early morning driving around in her robe could approach me without me being alarmed is if I knew her or if she was asking if I'd seen her lost cat/dog/kid/hitandrundriver/burglar etc.

I can't get past the clothing - what to me looks like a robe/dressing gown type of early morning, right out of bed look. This, to me, indicates the action was on some impulse, early in the morning. She didn't even put her hair back. Looks like she raced out of her house, hopped in her car and came down the street.

Or maybe she slipped out of bed to commit the act and hoped to sneak back into her own house so her family wouldn't notice she left.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

DNASolves

Who is Escambia County John Doe (1989)?

Members online

... and 193 more.
Total: 4,035 (members: 194, guests: 3,841)

Online statistics

Members online
194
Guests online
3,841
Total visitors
4,035
Totals may include hidden visitors.

Forum statistics

Threads
591,535
Messages
17,954,165
Members
228,524
Latest member
archangel78100
Back
Top