TX - Elizabeth Barraza, 29, murdered setting up garage sale, Harris Co, Jan 2019 #3

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I have been wondering about their camera system and what type it is. Could the perp have been given or gained access somehow? I am not familiar with how easily they could be accessed, but it could explain the timing of things. In the timeline (Timeline) posted by Liz's parents, this part struck me:
  • Early Morning [06:47:50 AM] The Nissan Frontier arrives and pulls into the neighborhood Princeton Place Drive from Kuykendahl Road and then drives into the Goddard School parking lot.
  • Early Morning [06:48:00 AM] The Nissan Frontier leaves the Goddard School parking lot to conceal on a different street.
  • Early Morning [06:48:00 AM] Sergio leaves the property to go to work, in a white panel van.
  • Early Morning [06:51:40 AM] The Nissan Frontier comes back into view and heads towards the Barraza home.
A lot of conversation has been about the timing of the shooter when Sergio leaves, but they were moving into the neighborhood the exact same time he was getting ready to leave. If this person had access to their cameras, they would have known exactly when to position themselves based on SB's movements. I am not sure if we know exactly what type of camera system they had, but I would be interested to know if LE looked at who had access, if there was a login shortly before the incident, and if they could see where logins took place. MOO
 
BINGOdinoDNA said:
I have been wondering about their camera system and what type it is. Could the perp have been given or gained access somehow? I am not familiar with how easily they could be accessed, but it could explain the timing of things. In the timeline (Timeline) posted by Liz's parents, this part struck me:
  • Early Morning [06:47:50 AM] The Nissan Frontier arrives and pulls into the neighborhood Princeton Place Drive from Kuykendahl Road and then drives into the Goddard School parking lot.
  • Early Morning [06:48:00 AM] The Nissan Frontier leaves the Goddard School parking lot to conceal on a different street.
  • Early Morning [06:48:00 AM] Sergio leaves the property to go to work, in a white panel van.
  • Early Morning [06:51:40 AM] The Nissan Frontier comes back into view and heads towards the Barraza home.
A lot of conversation has been about the timing of the shooter when Sergio leaves, but they were moving into the neighborhood the exact same time he was getting ready to leave. If this person had access to their cameras, they would have known exactly when to position themselves based on SB's movements. I am not sure if we know exactly what type of camera system they had, but I would be interested to know if LE looked at who had access, if there was a login shortly before the incident, and if they could see where logins took place. MOO
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Did SB follow the same routine every day? Did he leave for work at the same time every day? Drive the same route? Maybe the perp or someone else watched their house..I don't know how that would fit in with a perp driving from a long distance away, tho. (It was my theory.) Hmmm
 
BINGOdinoDNA said:
I have been wondering about their camera system and what type it is. Could the perp have been given or gained access somehow? I am not familiar with how easily they could be accessed, but it could explain the timing of things. In the timeline (Timeline) posted by Liz's parents, this part struck me:
  • Early Morning [06:47:50 AM] The Nissan Frontier arrives and pulls into the neighborhood Princeton Place Drive from Kuykendahl Road and then drives into the Goddard School parking lot.
  • Early Morning [06:48:00 AM] The Nissan Frontier leaves the Goddard School parking lot to conceal on a different street.
  • Early Morning [06:48:00 AM] Sergio leaves the property to go to work, in a white panel van.
  • Early Morning [06:51:40 AM] The Nissan Frontier comes back into view and heads towards the Barraza home.
A lot of conversation has been about the timing of the shooter when Sergio leaves, but they were moving into the neighborhood the exact same time he was getting ready to leave. If this person had access to their cameras, they would have known exactly when to position themselves based on SB's movements. I am not sure if we know exactly what type of camera system they had, but I would be interested to know if LE looked at who had access, if there was a login shortly before the incident, and if they could see where logins took place. MOO
Click to expand...
That is actually a brilliant way to have coordinated in secret. All you need is the Ring password to watch live and then you could hear and see everything in the front of the house. The view is obscured but you would be able to see when the husband's car left. It would let you have timing that is perfect to within 10 seconds. I am sure Ring stores who was logged in when, and their router might also have the IP of who was logged in.
 
BINGOdinoDNA said:
I have been wondering about their camera system and what type it is. Could the perp have been given or gained access somehow? I am not familiar with how easily they could be accessed, but it could explain the timing of things. In the timeline (Timeline) posted by Liz's parents, this part struck me:
  • Early Morning [06:47:50 AM] The Nissan Frontier arrives and pulls into the neighborhood Princeton Place Drive from Kuykendahl Road and then drives into the Goddard School parking lot.
  • Early Morning [06:48:00 AM] The Nissan Frontier leaves the Goddard School parking lot to conceal on a different street.
  • Early Morning [06:48:00 AM] Sergio leaves the property to go to work, in a white panel van.
  • Early Morning [06:51:40 AM] The Nissan Frontier comes back into view and heads towards the Barraza home.
A lot of conversation has been about the timing of the shooter when Sergio leaves, but they were moving into the neighborhood the exact same time he was getting ready to leave. If this person had access to their cameras, they would have known exactly when to position themselves based on SB's movements. I am not sure if we know exactly what type of camera system they had, but I would be interested to know if LE looked at who had access, if there was a login shortly before the incident, and if they could see where logins took place. MOO
Click to expand...
This is a bit too far fetched for me. But if they did have access, wouldn’t they have the forethought to not have their vehicle not be seen on camera?

I’ve never been one to believe Sergio was behind this but how peculiar is it that the perp is entering the neighborhood at the precise moment Sergio is leaving the home and the shooter seemingly knows Elizabeth would be out front? Whether directly or indirectly I think he is key in all of it.
 
Force Ten said:
While a stranger killer, like stranger abductions, is rare, it certainly does happen. Being that this person may have not been known to Elizabeth or anyone else in her life could be the very reason it’s not yet solved. And when you get to the heart of it, clearly the person is unhinged enough to stalk her street the night before and then so brazenly at point blank in her driveway. This could have been some deranged person she had an altercation with in the grocery store or road rage and they followed her home.

Nothing to support this but since the beginning I’ve always had the feeling the killer lives or lived in the neighborhood. So many cases have a perpetrator right under everyone’s noses.
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I live like 4 miles from their house and it's always disturbed me to think that her murderer might be nearby. There's been a rise in crime in the area after the pandemic and I'm always looking at the news wondering if her killer just got arrested for road rage shooting, breaking into a house, stealing a car, etc. The apparent callousness of the shooting makes me wonder what this person has done before and after 2019.
 
Looking back on this today, I stumble across a point made early on in post #22.

If this is a murder for hire, why did the killer do this like they did. IOW, a strictly hired kill would just as likely walk up behind Elizabeth and shoot her in the head. Instead this killer walks up to her and looks her in the eye and apparently even says something to her. That's personal on the killer's part or at least it seems so to me. Of course, it could still be a third party who does it as a favor or for some other reason on behalf of someone else and the killer has an emotional attachment to that party. That third party may be deceased, possibly prior to the murder.

On that last point, I wonder if LE has looked into Elizabeth's visits to the hospitals.
 
Force Ten said:
While a stranger killer, like stranger abductions, is rare, it certainly does happen. Being that this person may have not been known to Elizabeth or anyone else in her life could be the very reason it’s not yet solved. And when you get to the heart of it, clearly the person is unhinged enough to stalk her street the night before and then so brazenly at point blank in her driveway. This could have been some deranged person she had an altercation with in the grocery store or road rage and they followed her home.

Nothing to support this but since the beginning I’ve always had the feeling the killer lives or lived in the neighborhood. So many cases have a perpetrator right under everyone’s noses.
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I have to come back to this 'stranger killer'. I have no doubt LE has talked, multiple times, to those Elizabeth knew. But what is a 'stranger'? If LE is questioning those with obvious connections to Elizabeth then LE may consider anyone outside of that a stranger. But this could be someone Elizabeth had seen in the store more than once, a hospital worker or another re-enactor and Elizabeth knew well enough to recognize them by sight, but not well enough to know or remember a name.

As a case in point there is the murder of Tara Grinstead in GA. LE was all over Tara's connections and many thought it was her former BF. When the killer is finally caught it is discovered he was a former student at the high school where she taught and I don't believe he was ever questioned by LE. (I don't remember, but he might have even been one of her former students.) There is probably very little doubt Tara knew his face if not his name when she was accosted in her home. Yet when LE makes the arrest years later a Georgia Bureau of Investigation makes the statement, "He was not even on our radar." The killer was not a stranger to Tara, but evidently he was for the purposes of the investigation.

Elizabeth had many outside her employment as contacts. At Star Wars or Harry Potter events and hospital visits. Trying to ID all of them is probably impossible.

That this could be someone in the same neighborhood? Because the owner of the truck has not been found I automatically go to the thought that this truck and the killer are from an area several miles away. But it could just be the owner of the truck is from outside the Houston area and the killer is actually from the neighborhood.
 
Force Ten said:
This is a bit too far fetched for me. But if they did have access, wouldn’t they have the forethought to not have their vehicle not be seen on camera?

I’ve never been one to believe Sergio was behind this but how peculiar is it that the perp is entering the
Click to expand...
Curiousobserver said:
That is actually a brilliant way to have coordinated in secret. All you need is the Ring password to watch live and then you could hear and see everything in the front of the house. The view is obscured but you would be able to see when the husband's car left. It would let you have timing that is perfect to within 10 seconds. I am sure Ring stores who was logged in when, and their router might also have the IP of who was logged in.
Click to expand...
Yes. IMO, the killer is accessing the Nest camera throughout the entire operation. The doorbell cam shows him to correct himself. The item in the left-hand looks to be a mobile phone he is very clearly holding with a rigid arm. Why? Would you want to drop a phone and give it away you have access to a camera? Nope. Again, IMO, the killer is speaking to someone through the Nest camera. He is also more concerned about dropping it than Liz, and must return back with another driveby to check her condition. Help will be there quickly. Utilizing a mobile phone without getting caught wouldn't be too hard if you know what you are doing. I would think you'd need to know the neighborhood very well to understand the placement of ALL cameras involved, those in all directions you will be fleeing, and how much time you have to get in and out.
 
Hermoojo said:
Yes. IMO, the killer is accessing the Nest camera throughout the entire operation. The doorbell cam shows him to correct himself. The item in the left-hand looks to be a mobile phone he is very clearly holding with a rigid arm. Why? Would you want to drop a phone and give it away you have access to a camera? Nope. Again, IMO, the killer is speaking to someone through the Nest camera. He is also more concerned about dropping it than Liz, and must return back with another driveby to check her condition. Help will be there quickly. Utilizing a mobile phone without getting caught wouldn't be too hard if you know what you are doing. I would think you'd need to know the neighborhood very well to understand the placement of ALL cameras involved, those in all directions you will be fleeing, and how much time you have to get in and out.
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Sorry, how do you “clearly” see a phone? The footage is extremely grainy. Can’t even make out a gun let alone a phone.
 
I am new to this case so some of the questions I have may have already been answered in previous threads, even though I’ve read many of the posts. Sorry !

This appears to be a hit. Get there. Kill Liz. Leave.

In many ways the hit seems both brazen and sloppy. Shooting three times and then a final fourth to make sure. There was no silencer so it was surprisingly loud in that quiet neighbourhood. Again, running to leave but then to drive around one last time for a look. Sloppy. Odd.

However what strikes me is the disguise. After watching the Gray Hughes YouTube video he does make a compelling case that the suspect is male. So if a hit man is hired to kill her inside her home, he’d likely not choose to disguise himself in the same way - with a robe, wig, and cowboy boots. It seems the disguise is better suited for an outdoor shooting. That leads me to believe he/she knew Liz would be outside in the early morning hours.

I find it strange that the garage sale was held on a Friday instead of a Saturday when people have leisure time to spend on yard sales. The difference for Liz between Friday and Saturday means Sergio wouldn’t be there to help… she would be alone and he would be on his way to work. As another bonus, Liz would be distanced from their ring camera. Also a benefit for the shooter - not having to ever stand by the front door and get captured by video.

As a previous poster said here the shooter was very “lucky.” All these little details lined up too well.

<modsnip -casting suspicion on a family member who has not been named a suspect or POI is a violation of Websleuths’ Terms of Service>


Was this a personal vendetta by a person so far removed from their lives that there are no easily identifiable links? Could very well be.

What is known about the earlier Starbucks visit? Was Liz alone? Was she followed by the suspect ?

One thing that came up was that Liz was already packed for her 5 year anniversary trip.

<modsnip - sleuthing a family member is not allowed>

Is the 5 year mark significant in any way? Do Texas/Insurance/property laws between them change at the five year mark of marriage?

Were any dealer/civilian plates reported missing around that time of the murder?

Since it was so early in the morning what pings were coming from nearby towers at that time? Is there any information on that?

Were there any other captures of the vehicle from other homes/ shops surrounding areas? Were nearby gas station surveillance checked? Driving around all night the driver would likely need gas and spotting a person in a robe wouldn’t be very difficult.

If it was a disguise he/she likely changed in and out of it nearby the shooting. Were local dumpsters checked?
 
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Whomever murdered Elizabeth knew her (unless there's the small chance it was mistaken identity).

Narrow that down and it's a very small circle as I'd assume only a few people knew she was running the Garage Sale that morning.

LE presumably have their eye on someone but who knows?
 
chimpface said:
Whomever murdered Elizabeth knew her (unless there's the small chance it was mistaken identity).

Narrow that down and it's a very small circle as I'd assume only a few people knew she was running the Garage Sale that morning.

LE presumably have their eye on someone but who knows?
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I think they knew her but she didn’t know them. Her greeting and body language as the killer approached her seemed as If she didn’t know them. Obviously, the killer knew her and knew she would be out in the driveway preparing for a garage sale.
 
I am still not convinced the killer knew about the garage sale that morning. I do think they knew her husband would leave for work and the approximate time he would do that, therefore leaving Liz home alone. Perhaps they planned to walk up to the front door and when she came to the door, they would shoot and kill her. Perhaps the disguise was not only to conceal identity to anyone else who may witness this, but to seem more unassuming to Liz if she viewed him through the Ring/a window - dress up as an older woman in a nightgown and maybe talk through the Ring doorbell that you are a neighbor locked out of her house? But then the killer sees Liz outside alone due to the sale and decides to go ahead with it. All MOO of course.
 
MntnHiker said:
I am still not convinced the killer knew about the garage sale that morning. I do think they knew her husband would leave for work and the approximate time he would do that, therefore leaving Liz home alone. Perhaps they planned to walk up to the front door and when she came to the door, they would shoot and kill her. Perhaps the disguise was not only to conceal identity to anyone else who may witness this, but to seem more unassuming to Liz if she viewed him through the Ring/a window - dress up as an older woman in a nightgown and maybe talk through the Ring doorbell that you are a neighbor locked out of her house? But then the killer sees Liz outside alone due to the sale and decides to go ahead with it. All MOO of course.
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I'm thinking the same. The killer had planned to kill Elizabeth in her doorway or inside. They saw the garage sale and they improvised.
 
darkstar105 said:
As a garage sale shopper, I can attest that many if not most of them start on Friday. More's the pity. (I had to work and miss the best stuff)
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I was surprised at that aspect. That was because where I live you used to have to obtain a permit from the city. You were restricted to one day - so everyone picked Saturday - and a limited number per year. They've since dropped the permit process, but everyone, out of habit, has theirs on Saturday. (This archaic requirement is from the same cities that required us to purchase a $1 permit for a bicycle and if you got stopped without one it was a $25 fine.)
 
JnRyan said:
I was surprised at that aspect. That was because where I live you used to have to obtain a permit from the city. You were restricted to one day - so everyone picked Saturday - and a limited number per year. They've since dropped the permit process, but everyone, out of habit, has theirs on Saturday. (This archaic requirement is from the same cities that required us to purchase a $1 permit for a bicycle and if you got stopped without one it was a $25 fine.)
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I live maybe 90 miles from the Twin Cities. Garage sales here begin on Thursday and last the whole weekend. People are limited I believe to 2 per year, but that's not enforced. And then there is the city wide garage sale, where addresses are posted in the local paper of those who will be having sales, and that is held on a Saturday.
 
I'm not saying it had anythng to do with her murder but I do find it very unusual to see a Texas homeowner holding a garage sale in January. Garage sale season is normally spring to fall. I don't think you would expect to make much $$ from a no-advanced-notice winter garage sale here where temps were starting out in the 40s that morning.
 
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