TX TX - Elizabeth Barraza, 29, murdered setting up garage sale, Harris Co, Jan 2019 #7

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I am sure the police have thoroughly investigated this and ruled out the possibility of there being some kind of disgruntled ex-lover or affair partner.

But this case just reminds me of Kendra Hatcher's murder which I posted a couple links to but basically Kendra was dating a guy who had an ex girlfriend who was basically obsessed with him and she hired people to murder Kendra. Apparently thinking the boyfriend would come back to her if Kendra was out of the picture. They went in the parking garage of Kendra's apartment and shot her.
 
Going out on a limb here, but I would like to know if Liz or Sergio owned a valuable/rare/sentimental item that was NOT for sale at the garage sale, or that they owned at one point and later sold?
Could the killer be a deranged person who wanted that specific something they had and when asked about it was told that they sold it last garage sale or weren't selling it. Could the killer have been looking for something specific and when denied went on a rage killing? Perhaps he/she showed up hoping to take that item back "once and for all".
 
Going out on a limb here, but I would like to know if Liz or Sergio owned a valuable/rare/sentimental item that was NOT for sale at the garage sale, or that they owned at one point and later sold?
Could the killer be a deranged person who wanted that specific something they had and when asked about it was told that they sold it last garage sale or weren't selling it. Could the killer have been looking for something specific and when denied went on a rage killing? Perhaps he/she showed up hoping to take that item back "once and for all".

What makes me doubt this possibility is that the killer didn't even take time to look what was laid out for sale.
 
Going out on a limb here, but I would like to know if Liz or Sergio owned a valuable/rare/sentimental item that was NOT for sale at the garage sale, or that they owned at one point and later sold?
Could the killer be a deranged person who wanted that specific something they had and when asked about it was told that they sold it last garage sale or weren't selling it. Could the killer have been looking for something specific and when denied went on a rage killing? Perhaps he/she showed up hoping to take that item back "once and for all".
I have also wondered if one of the items for sale was a catalyst for Liz's murder.

I had a slightly different theory. The item in question may have been gifted to Liz and in the shooter's mind, it was extremely offensive and/or heartbreaking that Liz would sell the item for next to nothing at a yard sale.

I have also wondered if one of the items was won in a competition of some kind, and the shooter was still upset that Liz owned it (and was selling it for cheap).

These costumes are NOT cheap to make, and it would make sense if someone got really upset over it being sold.

If there was a catalyst item, the shooter was smart not to take it. In this case, its clear cut that the shooter was there for Liz (or who they perceived Liz to be).

There has been plenty of mistaken identity cases. 2 guys named Daniel Ott, 2 women named Mary Morris, and one case of a reporter named Don Devereux and a murdered man named Doug Johnston.

I don't think its completely impossible that Liz was misidentified. Some parts of this case remind me of Dan Markle in 2014, who's killers were basically given a picture of him (without too much more information) and shot him in his driveway.
 
<modsnip> I think we can say the suspect was close to Liz, less than 5'8" and most likely male... any other known or highly likely identifiers for the suspect that I may have missed?
 
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<modsnip> I think we can say the suspect was close to Liz, less than 5'8" and most likely male... any other known or highly likely identifiers for the suspect that I may have missed?
The person drove around the neighborhood hours before the murder, indicating they were looking for her car or house. What would be the point of unecessary exposure to cameras or witnesses? If they had her name, a simple internet search would find her address. Not likely necessary if they already knew her. In my opinion, nothing in the way that person approached her, showed that she knew them or that they knew her well.
 
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Respectfully, it being said five years ago and no movement since that time, IMHO may indicate one of the two options:

1) police thought it would be an open and shut case, but they were mistaken,
Or,
2) their intuition prompted it to be someone close to Liz, but intuition is a tricky feeling.

Scenario 1) is better than 2). One's instinct prompts the investigator to collect clues that would support their guess; something very important might be easily missed.

To be honest, I, too, used to feel that the perpetrator was connected to the person close to Liz. It used to resemble the case of Dan Markel to me. Sergio is close, of course, and i believe that LE has studied that version and didn't find any decisive information.

I think that we all are drawn to the idea of the perp being somehow linked to Sergio mostly of very peculiar timing of the murder. But if Sergio is not involved, the timing may mean something different. The killer does not want to inflict collateral damage, or doesn't want to be responsible for two murders.

JMO: the murderer feels absolutely justified in killing Liz, perhaps even (delusionally) thinking that if caught, his reason for killing Liz could be explained to the jury. What kind of a person could easily target a young woman and yet care about not harming anyone else?

I have a feeling that the killer is a man, and that he has a certain trouble walking in the boots. Maybe he is shorter than 5'8" and wants to conceal his true height. By nature, he seems (JMO) prone to some rigidity. He has no qualms about the murder. Feels like he is the Avenger (the game was released in 2020, the movie in 2019, were there some earlier archetypes?)

I wonder if the person is from Liz's past life and indirectly connected to her. The connection can be found but no one bothered to look there. MOO - Liz didn't know the murderer at all, but could know his ex, something like this. I suspect the paper, indeed, served to explain why Liz was punished, but IRL, the killer didn't care if Liz had the time to read it or not.

I also wonder if the person took extra care to be sure that Liz's father would not be there.
 
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The person drove around the neighborhood hours before the murder, indicating they were looking for her car or house. What would be the point of unecessary exposure to cameras or witnesses? If they had her name, a simple internet search would find her address. Not likely necessary if they already knew her. In my opinion, nothing in the way that person approached her, showed that she knew them or that they knew her well.
There is quite a few details that indicate the shooter may not have personally known Liz (that well anyways).

A big thing that stands out to me is Liz's reaction when the shooter walks up. Granted, we don't see it live in person or with high quality audio/visual. Liz doesn't have a reaction like she knows the shooter. "Good morning" not "oh...hey..." (like she was apprehensive or worried about this persons presence) or "(Insert name) what are you up to this morning?" (Wondering why this person was there at 6am but not quite suspicious of them yet).

I remember in the Dan Markle case, the shooters were basically given a picture of Dan and told where he lives.

As far as the internet searches, I remember someone posting in this thread (many pages ago) about how Liz's name had a huge spike in Google searches close to her time of death.

With all this information, I tend to think the shooter will be revealed as someone who had a major grudge against Liz (think like the Sheila Warren case), a hired hit (lots of shades Dan Markle and many other "shot in their driveway" cases I looked into) but also has quite a few mistaken identity (same name, wrong person) markers similarities with cases like Daniel Ott, Mary Morris, and a very interesting case with Doug Devaraux and Don Johnston.
 
The person drove around the neighborhood hours before the murder, indicating they were looking for her car or house. What would be the point of unecessary exposure to cameras or witnesses? If they had her name, a simple internet search would find her address. Not likely necessary if they already knew her. In my opinion, nothing in the way that person approached her, showed that she knew them or that they knew her well.
I have always thought this was the important clue- this person drove by to check out the surroundings and didn't care in the slightest that they might be seen (by Liz for example) by cameras or other witnesses. This, and the fact that nobody has pointed to a friend with a truck like this, tells you this person likely didn't know and wasn't familiar to Liz.

I also think there should have been video from the surrounding area showing where this person was between that drive-by and the murder. Did they go to hotel? Did they park at a Walmart? Where were they? It is likely too late now to find this video unfortunately.
 
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This is exactly what I was talking about! When did the detective say that??? It seems like that have some idea of who did this crime just maybe not enough evidence to take to trial.
 
Just to mention what Liz Barraza's parents said in the podcast:

1) sadly, as I thought, they said their detective (Richie?) was absolutely sure that the case would be solved in a few days and he feels very bad that he was wrong. IMHO, we may forget about that early "devastated" statement
2) the parents are true supporters of Liz. There was a time when their detective was promoted but essentially had to do a different job, but they always stayed in touch with him, and he always followed the case
3) new technology is available, and their detective tries to stay on top
4) the parents say that by the video, it appears that she did not know the killer
5) They mentioned Liz was a creature of habit

Anyhow, a surprisingly good podcast. I paid attention to one thing. Mother, being polite, and humorous, is the diplomat in the family. I can hear only the voice, but she definitely has some natural charm. We see Liz on the videos and photos, but after the interview, it was easier to imagine Liz as the person. Yes, she was in that cosplay group, but I suspect, she was a very social cosplayer. Liz was naturally aware, her mother said, but she (the mom) raised her kids in this way because she herself was afraid of child abduction. So, Liz was normally cautious. The fact that parents made (and keep) such a good connection with the hospital workers, with the police, with other victims' families might indicate that Liz tended to support her connections with people and was not a conflict-prone person. Not that it makes clearer who killed Liz, but what kind of a person Liz was, I can imagine better.
 
Yes, she was in that cosplay group, but I suspect, she was a very social cosplayer.
I haven't a clue if an acquaintance from the same charity had a motive to harm the victim or not. I don't think the term "that cosplay group" is a description of the parent organization or Liz's volunteer work of going to hospitals to entertain children. Many times on WS, it's been described as cosplay, which has other implications that don't apply to this situation.
There is a difference between volunteers that appear in strictly enforced copywrited patented gear to help charities raise money and cosplay groups that have private events or go to fairs/public events, that choose their own makeup and clothes, from different times and places and themes, and "act out", look and talk or however they want.

What information is there that this couple did a lot of socializing with other members of the organization, outside of appearances at events and the business of the parent organization? If they went to meetings, it wasn't for cosplay. They are not in the costumes outside of charity appearances, you can't drive, sit, eat, drink or see each others' faces. In Texas, I can't imagine how hot it gets in that gear.

Do you know of a cosplay group, so organized and controlled, that it only appears when an application is approved by the administration of a charity?

Do you know of a cosplay group that you have to apply to and be approved and have your costume be inspected?
moo
 
Wasn't Liz still working at Cool Katz Party Supplies there in Tomball at the time?

I saw that her LinkedIn said she was a supervisor there. Could she have fired someone and they were mad about it? Was there anything associated with that party supplies store ever looked into?
 
I haven't a clue if an acquaintance from the same charity had a motive to harm the victim or not. I don't think the term "that cosplay group" is a description of the parent organization or Liz's volunteer work of going to hospitals to entertain children. Many times on WS, it's been described as cosplay, which has other implications that don't apply to this situation.
There is a difference between volunteers that appear in strictly enforced copywrited patented gear to help charities raise money and cosplay groups that have private events or go to fairs/public events, that choose their own makeup and clothes, from different times and places and themes, and "act out", look and talk or however they want.

What information is there that this couple did a lot of socializing with other members of the organization, outside of appearances at events and the business of the parent organization? If they went to meetings, it wasn't for cosplay. They are not in the costumes outside of charity appearances, you can't drive, sit, eat, drink or see each others' faces. In Texas, I can't imagine how hot it gets in that gear.

Do you know of a cosplay group, so organized and controlled, that it only appears when an application is approved by the administration of a charity?

Do you know of a cosplay group that you have to apply to and be approved and have your costume be inspected?
moo

( I was following another vein; most internet discussions are regurgitating the same scenario. I am thinking: Liz had natural charm, and chewing on Sergio’s possible role has led us nowhere. Why not test the opposite hypothesis, that she was loved, and he, uninvolved? I am not totally walking away from the situation that has been discussed, either.)

Your post, though, is interesting. Liz’s father joined 501st legion after her murder. In the podcast, Mr. Nuelle explained the rigorousness of the costumes, the selection, the organization. It was new to me.

However: every fandom organization, be it a Roman legion, or Greek hoplytes, or Medieval jousters, anything uniting people deeply interested in the topic, is obligatory de rigueur. The participants make it such. Now I can imagine the tensions existing inside fandom communities. With Star Wars having so many fans, the 501 Legion charity is large, thus probably leading to more “politics”.

I see Liz as warm and diplomatic, perhaps achieving more than “by the book” handicraft can do. I might be wrong, but IMHO, Liz could organize and lead. Could any inner squabble be the motive for intense hatred in such a situation? Likely, but IMHO, the most obvious suspects in 501 would be ruled out by now.

We may need to turn to earlier times, because if I understood correctly, 501st legion was Sergio’s hobby, and Liz joined suit. The perpetrator could even be from pre-Sergio times, with another hobby and a social, charming woman raising the ire of someone too rigid.

The Nuelles used the word “the Sopranos” in the podcast. Meaning, it was not a mistaken identity, Liz was targeted, the assassination was very-well planned, and the planning must have taken time. (Plus, Liz did not know the killer.)

Strictly MOO: a Kaitlin Armstrong-type person, but smarter, gender unclear. Not necessarily someone from a prior relationship, but a person who can seethe with hatred. Very obsessive. Likely, not too social. With KA’s-type personality disorder and paranoia. A person who doesn’t let go, and is a planner. They could have hired an assassin, but the timing makes me think they were in the car. JMO: the anger was totally disproportionate to the situation. Likely, the person is great with time and never late.
 
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