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

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JnRyan said:
To poke holes in my scenario this would only work if the killer and owner of the truck were the same. It even might work if the killer is the spouse or child of the owner. But if this was a rental, a truck on a dealer's lot, a truck in for repairs with parts on order or someone caring for a deployed military member overseas, this wouldn't likely work. (On that last one I've had someone look after my vehicle while I was deployed. Twice.) As we've looked at this it isn't a very common truck. It makes me wonder if the killer was even the owner of the truck.
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My main theory since the doorbell video was released - the killer or driver was a teen-age minor, driving a car belonging to a parent. The parent refused to cooperate with police when contacted, hired a good attorney. Without enough evidence, the case is stalled. No license number on security video, no search warrant. I had that impression from the sound of the engine of the truck as the killer cruised up to the Barraza's house and beyond. The "gunning of the engine", on and off, like someone unaccustomed to driving the truck and not able to press the gas to a slow, continuous speed. Someone without a lot of driving experience or at least not much with that vehicle.

It might be the same if the killer had borrowed the vehicle from someone else, a friend.
 
Betty P said:
My main theory since the doorbell video was released - the killer or driver was a teen-age minor, driving a car belonging to a parent. The parent refused to cooperate with police when contacted, hired a good attorney. Without enough evidence, the case is stalled. No license number on security video, no search warrant. I had that impression from the sound of the engine of the truck as the killer cruised up to the Barraza's house and beyond. The "gunning of the engine", on and off, like someone unaccustomed to driving the truck and not able to press the gas to a slow, continuous speed. Someone without a lot of driving experience or at least not much with that vehicle.

It might be the same if the killer had borrowed the vehicle from someone else, a friend.
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Good observation. So someone likely not familiar with this truck. Child, other relative, truck from a maintenance garage, rental, off a sales lot or simply borrowed from another individual. IF a son or daughter, we have an individual(s) with a suspicion of the crime if not definite knowledge. Then the other options above are someone who uses the truck without the knowledge of the owner.

The handling of truck appears to be another clue.
 
I wonder if the perpetrator is one person removed from Elizabeth — someone who is in love/obsessed with someone who has a cosplay dispute with Elizabeth. Someone who is taking revenge on the person who upset the person they’re in love with. That would explain it both being personal and yet someone who Elizabeth didn’t know making it difficult for LE to find that link, but would presumably depend on this person not trying to take “credit” for “solving the problem”. Maybe I watch too much TV.
 
Perhaps this angle has been explored before. This is just me thinking out loud and throwing some ideas up in the air.

Did her husband have any enemies? Had he or his family pissed someone off in a way that would make them want to take out revenge on them. Doing so in such a way to hurt him on a personal and emotional level (because they perhaps experienced the same somehow). Making his wife a target for this revenge.

Perhaps Elizabeth was the victim, because the husband was not there. He had left for work. The killer arrived. His car is gone, but his wife is there out front. The killer saw the yard-sale signs nearby and started a conversation to see if this really was her and not someone else. She confirmed it. So the killer picked her instead of him.
 
iamnotagolem said:
If someone from the 501st was a suspect from the beginning surely LE investigated that and moved away from that theory? No?
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I agree with you.

The investigation could well have started with the jilted cosplayer possibility and then went on to clear a certain number of "might want to look at" types from the cosplay world.

There might, however, be some difficulties in clearing the cosplay possibility:

- The possibility that the murderer was "seething in silence- or had vented to one significant other who either participated, or is not inclined to call the police.

- The pool is relatively large: 550 or so 501st members in Texas alone, -plus- the membership of other groups- plus- the number of "independent" / unaffiliated cosplayers. Then... factor in say, LA and OK cosplayers.

- The pool has a number of "deep divers": A forum member and former cosplay participant (non Star Wars genre) said a visible minority of the participants derive disproportionate or all their self esteem, social contacts, social standing and even "chosen family" from the cosplay world. Thus, a relatively large number of people with...."big investments".

Perhaps a profile (potentially horrible word) could be created to eliminate a certain number of cos players. Maybe....

Participant type "A": Participant has sufficient income to fund the hobby interest (costumes and convention travel get expensive) with out having to "invest" in the hobby. Participant is married, has children. More chance of life interests other than cosplay. Real world job has good potential to full fill self esteem. Social media shows other interests etc.

Participant type "B": Participant's apparent income would make hobby expenses "investments". Appears to have limited "distractions" from cosplay: Not married / not in a relationship. Or, spouse / BF, GF is also a cosplayer. Does not have children. "Day Job" not likely provide a sense of self esteem. Social media indicates Star Wars cosplay is sole interest.

Bad news is that type "B"s are said to be a visible minority. Lets say that equates to 25% of the participants. That could result in say, several hundred or so cosplay "deep divers" in Texas, LA, OK, alone. Of course, being a "B" participant does not make anybody murderous in and of itself.
 
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IMO, when viewing the video it appeared there is an accomplice in the truck because while the killer is outside of the truck there is revving/engagement of the clutch (of the truck's engine). I'm not familiar with a clutch or how to drive them but why is it necessary to engage the clutch while in park? I suppose to keep it from stalling out? Why take such a risky truck to kill someone?
 
arielilane said:
IMO, when viewing the video it appeared there is an accomplice in the truck because while the killer is outside of the truck there is revving/engagement of the clutch (of the truck's engine). I'm not familiar with a clutch or how to drive them but why is it necessary to engage the clutch while in park? I suppose to keep it from stalling out? Why take such a risky truck to kill someone?
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With a manual gearstick (How I miss my old car ...sigh) You have to push the clutch down, put into gear, then to drive off you start releasing the clutch as you start pushing down the gas with your other foot, eventually releasing the clutch. You push down the clutch every time you change gear. If you do not engage it while in park, you will not be able to go from park, to first gear, and start driving.

If you are revving an engine for example, you are basically pushing the gas down while holding the clutch down. As long as you hold the clutch down the car will not move and you are free to rev the engine. The moment you push the clutch down it "disconnects" the engine from the rest of the ...eh transmission(?) for that brief moment, to allow you to change gear or gas.
 
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I am not sure that there was someone else in the truck.

Plus, the shooter looks like they emerged from the driver's side & returned to the driver's side of the truck, so it would be very hard for someone else to climb across the seats to sit in the driver's seat & rev the engine &/or hop out of the passenger side, run around to the driver's side to sit & rev the engine. Either way, the person would then need to vacate the driver's seat when the shooter returned to the driver's side.

It seems complicated & not easy to do if you're planning to leave in a hurry.

(I don't remember hearing revving but it has been a long time since I've watched/listened to the video, fwiw. Could the sound have come from a different source?)

MOO.
 
arielilane said:
I'm not familiar with a clutch or how to drive them but why is it necessary to engage the clutch while in park? I suppose to keep it from stalling out? Why take such a risky truck to kill someone?
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Gosh, its been 15 years since I have driven a "stick" car.

If my memory is good, engaging the clutch would be needed to keep the truck from stalling out. In this case, I would not be surprised if the truck was put in neutral. But, the concept is the same.

As a trivia side note, a noticeably "reving" engine could be a sign of nerves, or an inexperienced clutch user. The engine will idle with clutch engaged in park or neutral, so there is no need to "rev" the engine to keep it going.

As for such a truck being risky for a get away vehicle.....

It depends on the user. Clutches are like riding bikes or teenagers using a phone to do 5 things at the same time: The actions of juggling 3 pedals, a parking break, listening to the engine to know when to engage the clutch, shift, let out seems complicated.

But... once you get them down, it becomes automatic.
 
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Mireille said:
Perhaps this angle has been explored before. This is just me thinking out loud and throwing some ideas up in the air.

Did her husband have any enemies? Had he or his family pissed someone off in a way that would make them want to take out revenge on them. Doing so in such a way to hurt him on a personal and emotional level (because they perhaps experienced the same somehow). Making his wife a target for this revenge.

Perhaps Elizabeth was the victim, because the husband was not there. He had left for work. The killer arrived. His car is gone, but his wife is there out front. The killer saw the yard-sale signs nearby and started a conversation to see if this really was her and not someone else. She confirmed it. So the killer picked her instead of him.
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I think this is an interesting thought - and one I've also had from time to time. What if Elizabeth was not the ultimate target but killing her would hurt someone else. In my scenario, I had thought that perhaps her father had an enemy and that enemy chose to punish him by murdering his daughter.
Opinions and speculation only.
 
There were only 2 people who knew EB would be outside that morning setting up for the garage sale. One of them was killed. Love is the oldest motive in the world.

The truck cruised the house the night before, so whoever killed her had inside information that she'd be vulnerable in the morning.
 
whokilledlizbarraza.com

Links to Press and Media

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whokilledlizbarraza.com
Investigation Discovery: On the Case with Paula Zahn
Rosemary and I interviewed with Paula Zahn and her team on June 7, 2022. They interviewed quite a few people close to her and the case.

UPDATE October 28, 2022

On Sunday October 30th, at 9PM CST the On the Case With Paula Zahn show about Liz will air. The show is on Investigation Discovery Channel.

Special Note: The episode description may be wrong on your channel guide - but here is the correct information:
S25 E8 · A Fairy Tale Ruined New 60 min · Oct 30, 2022
 
arielilane said:
whokilledlizbarraza.com

Links to Press and Media

default description
whokilledlizbarraza.com
Investigation Discovery: On the Case with Paula Zahn
Rosemary and I interviewed with Paula Zahn and her team on June 7, 2022. They interviewed quite a few people close to her and the case.

UPDATE October 28, 2022

On Sunday October 30th, at 9PM CST the On the Case With Paula Zahn show about Liz will air. The show is on Investigation Discovery Channel.

Special Note: The episode description may be wrong on your channel guide - but here is the correct information:
S25 E8 · A Fairy Tale Ruined New 60 min · Oct 30, 2022
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Did anyone watch?
 
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