TX - Elizabeth Barraza, 29, murdered setting up garage sale, Harris Co, Jan 2019 #4

[Cedars]

I speculate it is motive related, but could fit more than one narrative.

If it was personal and they knew Liz well "He/that was MINE!" "You remember (insert action)?".

If this was a hired hit, they could be confirming Liz's identity. But....I would like to mention there is not shortage of mistaken identities murdered on a hit. See Daniel Ott (happened to be two in that small town), Doug Johntson who was driving a nearly identical car and lived on the same street as the intended target (See Chuck Morgan case) Angela Hammond being abducted after being confused with a different Angela who looked a lot like her, and the high likelihood that 2 Mary Morris's were killed in the same town under mistaken identity during a hit.

I would agree about confirming identity, except that it doesn't appear that Liz had a chance to say anything, or nod...she seems to be just listening.

I'm trying to imagine how it would work for the killer to have no interaction. She said good morning, they probably wanted to get closer up to her before shooting, so may have just blabbed some small talk to justify coming right up to her, without having even looked at any of her stuff.

I think it's quite possible the shooter was just spouting nonsense, stalling for a few moments, in order to get into position, gather his/her focus and take Liz completely by surprise.

JMO

 

[santacruztodd]

I would agree about confirming identity, except that it doesn't appear that Liz had a chance to say anything, or nod...she seems to be just listening.

I'm trying to imagine how it would work for the killer to have no interaction. She said good morning, they probably wanted to get closer up to her before shooting, so may have just blabbed some small talk to justify coming right up to her, without having even looked at any of her stuff.

I think it's quite possible the shooter was just spouting nonsense, stalling for a few moments, in order to get into position, gather his/her focus and take Liz completely by surprise.

JMO

I think that this is the most likely scenario.

 

[santacruztodd]

I think that two things need to be done simultaneously: First, increase the reward to $100,000. Secondly, turn this case over to a new set of eyes because the old set doesn’t seem to be working.

 

[TGIRecovered]

I continue to believe there was a specific, advanced plan for that truck to immediately disappear into Mexico. or specialty chop-shop, or otherwise change its identity. Killer/killers prepared well for the vehicle to be quickly gone and/or unidentifiable.
moo

I agree, Chelly! I've always suspected that the vehicle disappeared into a nearby garage or up a ramp into a moving van shortly after the second pass by the house to make sure she looked dead. Someone knew the neighborhood and knew where to make the vehicle go poof without a camera catching it. MOO

 

[Ajs1004]

I think that two things need to be done simultaneously: First, increase the reward to $100,000. Secondly, turn this case over to a new set of eyes because the old set doesn’t seem to be working.

While this sounds great, the only motivation they have to solve it are Liz’s parents. S has moved on and doesn’t seem to involved in solving this mystery. The police don’t do monthly, or really even yearly new updates on this case. They aren’t going to update the reward unless they have detectives regularly working on this.

 

[JnRyan]

I continue to believe there was a specific, advanced plan for that truck to immediately disappear into Mexico. or specialty chop-shop, or otherwise change its identity. Killer/killers prepared well for the vehicle to be quickly gone and/or unidentifiable.
moo

That the truck ended up in Mexico? So obvious, yet I missed it.

Someone I knew in the southwest told me about a friend who had their truck stolen. Sometime later this person and their spouse are in a border town in Mexico. While driving the street the guy sees HIS TRUCK parked. He reaches into his pocket and get out his key, starts up the truck and has his wife follow him back home.

That this truck could now be in Mexico is something I should have considered. The owner might have reported it missing. But I have to believe LE checked TX and LA missing vehicle reports - IF it was reported missing. Otherwise, if they received a payment for it for cash under the table, then it is a dead end.

 

[Sincerely]

I wish I had better eyes because I found a dark colored frontier sitting in the driveway of a neighbor (google street view) of one person (an address associated) known in this case but was reportedly not known until after EB was killed. IMO and hopefully not breaking any rules. Also, a stretch because many people have this vehicle.

 

[lonewanderer]

I wish I had better eyes because I found a dark colored frontier sitting in the driveway of a neighbor (google street view) of one person (an address associated) known in this case but was reportedly not known until after EB was killed. IMO and hopefully not breaking any rules. Also, a stretch because many people have this vehicle.

How long ago was this?

The google street view of the house I grew up in still has by brothers car from 10 years ago, even when you look at it today.

 

[Sincerely]

How long ago was this?

The google street view of the house I grew up in still has by brothers car from 10 years ago, even when you look at it today.

I’ll have to go back and look when I’m on my laptop. I recall changing the dates to right before and after the murder. But as you said maybe it shows 10 years ago even when looking for current images. I’ll check back in and update this.

 

[santacruztodd]

They haven’t linked the truck to the crime, so for all we know that truck could be half a mile away in a driveway and nobody would know it, so the theory that it ended up in Mexico or was scrapped for metal really doesn’t come into play in my opinion-unless the killer themself lives in Mexico. I’m thinking that the license plates were obscured, stolen, altered, or removed from the vehicle prior to the crime. Perhaps the killer chose early morning because they knew that the camera resolutions would not be sharp enough to catch the plate.

You would think that law-enforcement would have connected any known parties to Elizabeth (assuming that they did their job), so we have a killer that Liz probably did not know directly. Given the killers familiarity with the garage sale and use of a particular disguise leaning towards cosplay, I would say that the killer did not know Liz, but probably knows someone who does, and who has a grievance with her. This perpetrator may have acted for payment, or committed the act because of a strong tie to the person that had it in for Liz. Without DNA evidence, this really does represent the most difficult kind of case to solve. On TV they have satellites picking up license plates from space or psychics like Odamae in Ghost, but with a disguise and no license plate nor shell casings this case probably requires wayyyyyy more man-hours than can be assigned to any one case.

I still think that the key to solving this case lies in finding out who searched for her address within close proximity to the crime. We know that they cased the area at 2 AM and I doubt that they were looking at a map that was in the glove compartment. This case, because of the lack of evidence, will require the use of high tech and a few good nerds.

The frustration that we feel is because it is solvable, but most likely not by the people that are investigating it. I’m surprised that Sergio didn’t use proceeds from the sale of the house to hire a top-notch private investigator to look into this in greater depth.

 

[SnowAngels]

They haven’t linked the truck to the crime, so for all we know that truck could be half a mile away in a driveway and nobody would know it, so the theory that it ended up in Mexico or was scrapped for metal really doesn’t come into play in my opinion-unless the killer themself lives in Mexico. I’m thinking that the license plates were obscured, stolen, altered, or removed from the vehicle prior to the crime. Perhaps the killer chose early morning because they knew that the camera resolutions would not be sharp enough to catch the plate.

You would think that law-enforcement would have connected any known parties to Elizabeth (assuming that they did their job), so we have a killer that Liz probably did not know directly. Given the killers familiarity with the garage sale and use of a particular disguise leaning towards cosplay, I would say that the killer did not know Liz, but probably knows someone who does, and who has a grievance with her. This perpetrator may have acted for payment, or committed the act because of a strong tie to the person that had it in for Liz. Without DNA evidence, this really does represent the most difficult kind of case to solve. On TV they have satellites picking up license plates from space or psychics like Odamae in Ghost, but with a disguise and no license plate nor shell casings this case probably requires wayyyyyy more man-hours than can be assigned to any one case.

I still think that the key to solving this case lies in finding out who searched for her address within close proximity to the crime. We know that they cased the area at 2 AM and I doubt that they were looking at a map that was in the glove compartment. This case, because of the lack of evidence, will require the use of high tech and a few good nerds.

The frustration that we feel is because it is solvable, but most likely not by the people that are investigating it. I’m surprised that Sergio didn’t use proceeds from the sale of the house to hire a top-notch private investigator to look into this in greater depth.

Surprised.. yes, yes. This is solvable.

 

[somequestions]

IMO it was a paid hitman who murdered Elizabeth Barraza. I doubt the paid hitman needed to worry about taking off at their job, because a paid hitman likely does not have a regular job to worry about. A hitman probably makes their living in various criminal ways, like burglaries, and drug dealing, etc., in addition to murder, and is paid in all cash. If Elizabeth Barraza was murdered by a paid hitman, the question in my mind is, who paid to have Elizabeth Barraza murdered, and why? All this is just speculation on my part, and my opinion only.

​

If it was a paid hitman, then it is sort of strange once the news said she in critical condition in the hospital that the paid hitman was not worried. With paid hitman crimes, usually the victim has an association with the person who paid the hitman. If the news said Elizabeth Barraza was in the hospital, I would expect there would be a flurry of phone calls between the hitman and the person who hired them wondering what is going on and what to do next.

It could be lucky timing, but I think the garage sale is important. According to the below news report from a few months ago, there were only two signs put up about the garage sale that Elizabeth Barraza did not put up until after she got home from work on Thursday night.

This is why I am so surprised the crime is unsolved. How many people drive through the subdivision area between Thursday night and Friday morning? Yet it seems like people believe the murderer came from outside the subdivision area and was simply driving around the subdivision preparing for the murder. In my opinion, I think they lived in the subdivision and the Nissan Frontier Pro-4X truck is a clever diversion to make it appear they came from outside the subdivision. They had to know or assume that at some point along their route there would be surveillance cameras or a witness would tell police the type of truck the murderer was driving. They had to know even before they committed the crime they would never be driving that truck again for a long while if they have any type of connection to Elizabeth Barraza.

I think all of this because of the garage sale signs and the timing. The news report video is below:

 

[mickey2942]

So odd. Was it random? Or someone close?

 

[somequestions]

I could see the other point of view too: that the garage sale meant nothing.

For example, if you knew you were going to get rid of the Nissan Frontier Pro-4X truck, I think that plan would have been put in place before the murderer started driving it around the subdivision area. Then because of the timing of the garage sale signs, the garage sale meant nothing other than the murderer found Elizabeth Barraza outside attending to a garage sale.

It seems like in this case police looked into everyone close to her, husband, friends, family, etc. I think after that point looking at any neighbor who lived where or close to where they could see her putting up the garage sale signs is important because you never know. The whole time it might have been someone who lived right there in the same neighborhood.

 

[JnRyan]

If it was a paid hitman, then it is sort of strange once the news said she in critical condition in the hospital that the paid hitman was not worried. With paid hitman crimes, usually the victim has an association with the person who paid the hitman. If the news said Elizabeth Barraza was in the hospital, I would expect there would be a flurry of phone calls between the hitman and the person who hired them wondering what is going on and what to do next.

It could be lucky timing, but I think the garage sale is important. According to the below news report from a few months ago, there were only two signs put up about the garage sale that Elizabeth Barraza did not put up until after she got home from work on Thursday night.

This is why I am so surprised the crime is unsolved. How many people drive through the subdivision area between Thursday night and Friday morning? Yet it seems like people believe the murderer came from outside the subdivision area and was simply driving around the subdivision preparing for the murder. In my opinion, I think they lived in the subdivision and the Nissan Frontier Pro-4X truck is a clever diversion to make it appear they came from outside the subdivision. They had to know or assume that at some point along their route there would be surveillance cameras or a witness would tell police the type of truck the murderer was driving. They had to know even before they committed the crime they would never be driving that truck again for a long while if they have any type of connection to Elizabeth Barraza.

I think all of this because of the garage sale signs and the timing. The news report video is below:

Even her parents believe the killer was not the person with a grudge against Elizabeth. 1:52 into the video. IOW, the killer was either paid or did it as a favor for someone. The more people who know the secrets the greater the possibility it will become known.

 

[arielilane]

So odd. Was it random? Or someone close?

Around the 4:00 minute timestamp, here is what Bob (Liz’s Dad) Nuelle had to say, "So what we learned was... this was not a random thing. The people that did this had it very highly planned out."

 

[arielilane]

Think about it... maybe the truck is right there in front of LE hiding in plain (yeah, I'm tired of that quote, too) sight. If LE didn't get a license plate, why destroy the truck? Hide it in a garage, or stay low for a few months after the murder? moo

 

[lonewanderer]

Think about it... maybe the truck is right there in front of LE hiding in plain (yeah, I'm tired of that quote, too) sight. If LE didn't get a license plate, why destroy the truck? Hide it in a garage, or stay low for a few months after the murder? moo

I have wondered if the truck was usually far, far away from Texas.

In one of my theories, the truck was not usually anywhere close to Texas, but the owner of it was spending the night there, visiting, etc.

The way the person was dressed reminded me of (specifically) a woman in their late 20s - mid 30s who rolled out of bed to do something such as walk a dog, smoke a cigarette etc. Not dressed to go anywhere, but having on a robe and Ugg style soft shoes.

In one of the paths in one of my theories, this person has the perfect storm of knowing Liz will be setting up a yard sale, after Sergio left, in the dark, and early in the morning.

I have wondered if the truck was not as planned as it appears. In one of my theories, the truck was there from an out of town visitor, and the shooter made a clever excuse to use it that morning, that early. "Baby is out of diapers/formula" "Oh man I promised so an so I would do x and x and my car won't start/can't find my keys, can I borrow yours real quick?".

In this set of paths of details, the owner of the truck is not from Texas and may have no idea their vehicle was used in the commission of a murder.

That's just one set of theories I have conjured, and obviously speculative.

 

[lonewanderer]

Around the 4:00 minute timestamp, here is what Bob (Liz’s Dad) Nuelle had to say, "So what we learned was... this was not a random thing. The people that did this had it very highly planned out."

I think its highly possible they have a really good idea about who did it, or may know exactly who it was.

To me, the use of a revolver is a really important detail.

In addition to almost no chance of jamming, a revolver does not eject the shell casings, which can keep fingerprints and other specific forensics from being obtained.

Being out in the street, early in the morning, and having distance between the victim was a smart move forensically.

 

[JnRyan]

Around the 4:00 minute timestamp, here is what Bob (Liz’s Dad) Nuelle had to say, "So what we learned was... this was not a random thing. The people that did this had it very highly planned out."

About 6 minutes in he says it hasn't been solved because it is a complex case. I wonder if that is his personal opinion or did he get that from LE. I've never got that impression. I actually thought it was very simplistic in its execution. The planning leading up to it probably took a lot of time.

I've often thought the killer probably planned to walk up and shoot her in her doorway or next to her car and the garage sale was happenstance. Now that I've read that Elizabeth usually left first and Sergio would likely have been at home I'm doubting that theory. I now wonder if this murder had been in the works for a while and when the garage sale came up the killer decided to take advantage of it. The counter to that is they did not advertise the sale, only put signs out the evening before and only a few folks knew about the sale. If this is something the killer had been working for a while then maybe they made several trips to that neighborhood in months leading up to the murder.

I still find it difficult to believe it hasn't been solved after being caught on video. This is so personal it would seem that someone would know who had a grudge against Elizabeth.