TX - Elizabeth Barraza, 29, murdered setting up garage sale, Harris County, Jan 2019 #2

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With the case not being solved, it would make sense that the person that did this doesn't have a close connection.

However - She normally would have been at work on that day. The garage sale wasn't widely advertised, Sergio had left for work only minutes before. I feel like they had to know those details.
 
Question.. I have read this thread on and off for a long time now. I read a “fact” somewhere else that I do not remember reading here and I was hoping someone could confirm or dispute it without me having to re-read from the beginning. So, the question is, is there any evidence that the shooter was NOT the driver of the truck, and that two people were (one sat in truck) there?
 
Hello, I listened to the increased volume clip from the Ring system that was posted here. I boosted certain parts using a set of steel series headphones.

This is what I got from the killer: "You were/are right Camry/Tamry/Family are gonna get/hurt you." The middle part is by far the hardest words to hear but the "Cam" sound is very prominent.

Doubt it breaks anything open, but I just wanted to help cause this case is quite upsetting to me.
 
Turkeytrot said:
With the case not being solved, it would make sense that the person that did this doesn't have a close connection.

However - She normally would have been at work on that day. The garage sale wasn't widely advertised, Sergio had left for work only minutes before. I feel like they had to know those details.
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Someone a few pages back presented the theory that the killer may have picked that day because they had access to the truck (owned by someone else) and could use it without the owner's knowledge. Perhaps their original plan was to ring the doorbell and either shoot them inside the house or right there at the door. Or maybe as she was leaving in her car. It's happened before where the killer made their kill as the person pulled up in their car or as they were going out for the newspaper. And the garage sale was an unforeseen detail for the killer till that morning. After all didn't this occur about the time Elizabeth would normally have left for work? I do strongly believe this killer had some idea when Sergio normally left from previous trips to the area.

To be sure I tend to believe the higher probability is this killer knew about the garage sale. But I hope LE doesn't get tunnel vision on that sale to the exclusion of other theories. Because if the garage sale doesn't factor into the prior planning, we've opened up the possibilities to a much broader field of possible candidates.
 
Yeah I have gone back and forth on whether the killer knew about the garage sale or not. IF she normally left for work around this time, I do find that interesting. They could have planned to wait in their car until she left (if she parked in the garage, many people open the garage door first before they're ever in their car and she could have been intercepted there OR stopped as she was backing the car down the drive). But instead they pull up to find her outside alone and go with it anyway. If the killer knew about the Ring, I don't think they would have rang her bell just IMO.

I think it is logical to assume they did it that day because of the garage sale, as we know this was a rare and unique situation that happened the day she got murdered, so we think "Maybe the killer chose this day because of this event." But it is possible they chose that day for whatever other reason and it happened to be on a day she had a garage sale. If the killer pulled up and there was already customers shopping the sale extra early, I wonder what they would have done. Come back Monday morning? Come back that night? I do agree I think they knew her routine and what time her husband left in the morning and what time she left for work. I am still torn on whether they were one of the few people who were aware of the garage sale ahead of time.
 
Turkeytrot said:
With the case not being solved, it would make sense that the person that did this doesn't have a close connection.

However - She normally would have been at work on that day. The garage sale wasn't widely advertised, Sergio had left for work only minutes before. I feel like they had to know those details.
Click to expand...
All true- but if it was totally random those are just the coincidences that made her vulnerable that day.

And of course the opposite is true as well- that the timing suggests pre-knowledge of the schedule that day.

I am just guessing like everybody else of course.

That the killer exchanged some words with her suggests at least they wanted to tell her something; which isn't really what you expect a random person to do. Unless it was racially motivated perhaps and not really personal.
 
I feel like it was another Hispanic person by their body style and gait (no offense intended to anyone), they were obviously heavyset due to their body size and the way they moved. I feel the victim made someone mad (most likely a female) and this person was a relative of that person and killed her due to anger.
 
I would like to see any other video at nearby houses or businesses. What kind of reputation does the police have ......maybe they should have called in more experienced teams like Texas Rangers or something.
 
The conversations on this thread and Missy Bevers thread are so similar that I constantly have to scroll back up to see which thread I’m on.

Targeted vs Random

male vs female

Why the vehicle hasn’t been tracked down

surveillance footage but unsolved murder


Sometimes I think they have so many similarities I wonder if they are somehow connected. Is there a service to hire a killer who uses disguises?
 
So it's been a few years since I posted, but this case brought me back. After seeing it this past weekend, I remembered it immediately and couldn't believe it still hadn't solved yet. And since then, I've been researching it. I can't get it out of my head.

So I wanted to add my opinion and theory on a couple things. I think everyone pretty much agrees it was planned. And that the killer staked out the house the night before. After that is when things start to deviate.

Was it a man or woman? What did they say? Was there a note? etc etc

To me it's easy to tell it was a man wearing some type of disguise. I've played in sports a long time and I can tell that is the way a man runs. The gait is very different than that from an athletic woman. The disguise on the other hand looks like either a robe or some type of jacket. A duster or trench coat. Since the vast majority of people have a robe, I would say that. And a wig.

I've seen an ongoing discussion about what the killer said to her. And to be honest, I think it's mostly speculation. I believe if you took the gunshots out, and gave that recording to 100 people; outside of the good morning, you would get 100 different interpretations. Anyone interested in the case that listens is more apt to suggestion and hearing kill or murder. I'm not saying it wasn't said, but it's pretty hard to declare it as a fact. I'm guessing the police have sent the audio to the FBI to have it cleaned up a bit.

The note. Was there one? Or did he just show her something? Or was it just the gun? So much misinformation on this. I've never seen the police say that there was a note. Of course they could be setting on it. Or did he just show her something? It sure looks like it to me. But again police say she was looking at the gun. To me, a note could have easily been left for Sergio to see. But without police clearing it up, we're left with nothing but a guess.

Also theres the yard sale situation. I'm in the camp of theres no way the killer knew about the yard sale, it just worked out for him. I think he staked the house out the night before and planned to drive around the next morning until Sergio left. He seen him leave and planned to either force his way in, or more likely wait on her to leave for work. He could pull up block the driveway, then go to her car and do the deed. What he didnt count on was here setting up a yard sale. This made things much easier. I do wonder if he had a mask in case of having to go to the door. But abandoned it at the ease of having her in the yard.

Also, the dispute over hiding from the cameras. I disagree with the police here. I think he probably didnt know there was a door bell camera. He may have wondered and planned to be cautious. And like I said above, may have brought a mask in the event that he would have to go to the door. But I think it's 100 percent luck on his part the way and angle it all played out to have blocked his face.

Finally, the truck rolling back through and the "hit man" argument. I keep reading that "professional" hit man wouldn't make this mistake. But I remember listening to a crime podcast where the guest was a retired police detective. He said the average cost of a hit job is only 85 dollars. This is because the drug world. So many people hooked on drugs are more apt to kill someone cheaply to get their next fix. It's usually sloppy and they usually get caught. Then theres the professional murders that cost up in the thousands of dollars to pull off. I just don't see anyone paying this much to kill her. So I'm unconvinced by the hitman or driving back through to confirm she is dead to an anonymous caller.

Sorry to overwhelm on my first post back, I just wanted to get this out while it's still on my mind. I will post a theory later.
 
I suspect the second drive-by was to make sure Elizabeth hadn't moved or gotten up or generally showed any signs of not dying. Guessing she may have still been moving a little and was still breathing when the murderer ran away, and they needed to be sure. I think they expected a shot to the head would end her life decisively. That may also explain the pause between getting into the car and driving off - looking at her, noticing she's moving. Then taking off, second-guessing themselves, and looping back just to be sure.

I don't know for sure but I lean toward thinking the murderer knew about the yard sale. Not just because of the timing, but because they delivered some kind of message to her before killing her, whatever that message was. That says to me that there was a personal motive here (which is a silly thing to say, I guess, because wanting to kill someone is pretty personal no matter what!) - she wasn't some random nobody to this individual. I don't know who they were to each other, and the murderer may have been acting on behalf of someone else (that wouldn't be my first guess, though). But they wanted her to die, and they wanted her to know why she was dying.

I think that a grudge like that is more likely to involve a personal connection, either direct or indirect; and a personal connection would explain how they might have known about it.

What's more, the murderer is careful not to stand in view of Liz's ring camera. If they didn't already know it was there, they'd have found out from that drive-by the previous night. If their plan had been to enter the house, they had to know they'd be right in plain view of that camera. I think they knew she'd be outside and alone just before dawn, when streets are usually quiet and empty. This person was (relatively) careful. Entering the house would have created a closed crime scene with more opportunities to accidentally generate evidence, too many possibilities for Liz to get behind something or obscure line of sight. Again, this is only a leaning for me, not something I take as a plank. Just what I'm inclined to think given what I have in front of me. Additional information might change that.

The quiet moments before sun-up in a suburban town are a pretty good time to murder someone. If that someone happens to be alone, outside, it's perfect. Perfection rarely happens by accident.
 
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I would really like to see this crime solved along with Missy Bevers murder. I believe they can both be solved with the right investigation. I wish our really good sleuthers would put this on the front burner and get some answers,
 
Turkeytrot said:
The truck being in the neighborhood the night before always made me think they were double checking the address and their way in/out.

I know it's old news but posting the article that states it was there the night before
Father of slain Tomball woman hopeful new clues help | khou.com
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I know I've seen that before from the local LE as well. What I can't get out of my mind is if LE can't positively ID the truck the morning of the murder, how do they know the truck seen the night before is the same one? In any one year from 2013 there have been 50K to almost 75K Frontiers sold in the USA. Besides knowing the make (Nissan), model (2013 or later Frontier Pro-X) and color (black) is there something else? I think back to the abduction/murder in Illinois of Yingying Zhang. In that case LE had the video of the vehicle but no license number. LE, though, did see the car had a sunroof and cracked hubcap and that matched the suspect's vehicle. I wonder if there isn't something else here with the truck that LE has not released.
 
Devil's advocate here:

The perp was so closely related that they knew about a not-advertised garage sale and what time her husband left for work to within 4 minutes, but also didn't care if their car was seen that day or the night before, also didn't know/care about the Ring camera recording their voice, and didn't know/care the neighbors had a camera that captured the whole crime. And didn't worry that another camera had caught the truck turning a corner. Also didn't care that they woke up the whole neighborhood and drove by again to check their work. But they were concerned enough to run back to their truck and wear a gender changing disguise?

The only reason to wear a disguise is so nobody recognizes you, because there is a connection between you and the person you're going to kill.

For whom did they wear the disguise, if they knew the husband was gone, she was alone, and was going to be dead?

And none of her friends, family, LE or neighbors have been able to make this connection in a year.

We have to believe that they were so smart that they found an untraceable truck and an impenetrable disguise with communication/coordination sophistication so clever nobody can figure out how they knew all that information or link it to her husband or anybody else.

Only a small number of people knew about the garage sale and what time her husband was going to leave that day. I am positive that LE was all over that list of people.

I definitely do not know what happened here but...

I definitely don't agree that the crime had to have required extensive planning; it could have been completely opportunistic.
 
Curiousobserver said:
I definitely don't agree that the crime had to have required extensive planning; it could have been completely opportunistic.
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100 percent agree. I think sometimes people try to come up with these huge movie like scripts to explain something as terrible as this. If he was that smart, he wouldn't have drove an uncommon truck into this neighborhood the night before. He wouldnt have doubled back. And don't forget, we don't know what all video the police have. I think it's a little naïve to think that was the only house in the area with security cameras. My guess is the police have at least 5 or more different videos of this truck.

I think the simplest explanation is the most likely. He came there that morning to kill her. The plan was to wait on husband to leave. Knock on the door and shoot her. Or get her going the car for work. The yard sale just made it that much easier.

Think about it. People keep saying someone in that it had to be someone in that small circle that knew about the yard sale. If it was someone that close, how come she didnt recognize them? If a close friend or relative of mine had a wig and robe on, I would still recognize them unless they had a mask...and even then I would probably recognize the voice. Also why would someone that close have to stake her house out the night before?

The more I think about it, I think it was an out of towner. That's why the vehicle hasn't been discovered. I've seen reports now that she was very active on cosplay forums and facebook groups. It would only take setting off the wrong person to end up getting targeted. I forget the name, but another podcast I listened to had a similar story. Some guy that wanted to be a writer, submitted his story to this website forum. This forum has readers and other writers that review your work and critique it. Anyways long story short, this girl insulted this guy's story and said it needed a lot of work. The guy got so mad, he tracked her down to the store she worked at and hit her over the head with a bottle. I cant remember if it killed her or not. But anyways, I suspect the same thing here.

That would explain why he showed her something before killing her (a picture of her comment?)
That would explain why no one has seen the truck since
That would explain why he had to stake the house the night before

I wonder if police checked local hotel rooms from that night. I would be curious if there were any Nissan Frontiers registered there that previous night
 
Shade13 said:
100 percent agree. I think sometimes people try to come up with these huge movie like scripts to explain something as terrible as this. If he was that smart, he wouldn't have drove an uncommon truck into this neighborhood the night before. He wouldnt have doubled back. And don't forget, we don't know what all video the police have. I think it's a little naïve to think that was the only house in the area with security cameras. My guess is the police have at least 5 or more different videos of this truck.

I think the simplest explanation is the most likely. He came there that morning to kill her. The plan was to wait on husband to leave. Knock on the door and shoot her. Or get her going the car for work. The yard sale just made it that much easier.

Think about it. People keep saying someone in that it had to be someone in that small circle that knew about the yard sale. If it was someone that close, how come she didnt recognize them? If a close friend or relative of mine had a wig and robe on, I would still recognize them unless they had a mask...and even then I would probably recognize the voice. Also why would someone that close have to stake her house out the night before?

The more I think about it, I think it was an out of towner. That's why the vehicle hasn't been discovered. I've seen reports now that she was very active on cosplay forums and facebook groups. It would only take setting off the wrong person to end up getting targeted. I forget the name, but another podcast I listened to had a similar story. Some guy that wanted to be a writer, submitted his story to this website forum. This forum has readers and other writers that review your work and critique it. Anyways long story short, this girl insulted this guy's story and said it needed a lot of work. The guy got so mad, he tracked her down to the store she worked at and hit her over the head with a bottle. I cant remember if it killed her or not. But anyways, I suspect the same thing here.

That would explain why he showed her something before killing her (a picture of her comment?)
That would explain why no one has seen the truck since
That would explain why he had to stake the house the night before

I wonder if police checked local hotel rooms from that night. I would be curious if there were any Nissan Frontiers registered there that previous night
Click to expand...


Why do you assume she didn’t know her killer?
 
iamnotagolem said:
Why do you assume she didn’t know her killer?
Click to expand...

I'm saying I dont buy the yard sale angle. Because it's been reported only a few close family/friends knew she was doing it. Of my family and close friends...people you see often...it would be insanely hard to trick them with just a coat and wig. Don't you recognize the people closest to you? Even their voice? She looked anxious before seeing the gun. I think had she had she seen one of these close friends/relatives, she would have looked at ease. But she didn't.

So that leaves the theory that a close friend/relative that knew about the yard sale...hiring a hit man...even though it was last minute she decided to have one. Not to mention the police have looked all this over exhaustively and said they can't find anyone close to her that wanted to do it.

I do think she knew of her killer, but didn't know them personally. I just got a feeling it was something that happened online that set the wrong person off. Or it was someone in her life that she had just a one time contact with. That 7 seconds...that was this person telling her who he was. She would have immediately known why he came there to kill her. Of course thats just my opinion.
 
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