TX TX - Elizabeth Barraza, 29, murdered setting up garage sale, Harris Co, Jan 2019 #5

[FromGermany1]

Were there any cops in the 501st Legion cosplay community?

I am trying to wrap my head around why the mystery person would have the good excuse to be in the area at the time. (I partially think they fabricated an emergency to borrow someone's truck who was visiting from out of town, so the excuse may have been rehearsed or prepared)

I've been trying to think of what else the shooter could be extending with their left arm. So....what if the left arm extension wasn't a note or a phone, but a badge? It really seems like this person knew not to use a magazine fed weapon and knew how to cover their tracks pretty good. Could they have held a badge out to get Liz's attention, keeping her from running away?

I think its a major longshot that a cop did this, but nothing is impossible.

A cop in a "night gown"? With a wig? Wouldn't be on duty at least. Therefore his badge wouldn't have impressed me, I think.

 

[arielilane]

<modsnip - quoted post was removed> See attached thread:

TX - TX - Elizabeth Barraza, 29, murdered setting up garage sale, Harris Co, Jan 2019 #5

I'd like to see Houston or local media outlet exclusively focus on Liz's case - report her story periodically to help keep it in the news. Just one reporter to latch onto this case and give it some attention. I believe people have forgotten about this case. Wonder if phone records were...

www.websleuths.com

rsbm
2-It's been reported in some sources that Liz held sort of an annual garage sale before vacations, almost like this was an annual event. Liz's parents said that is not accurate, that she had had maybe one garage sale previously. They also told me that garage sales in Houston is a very busy and lucrative business w/ sellers & buyers being extremely active which is why Liz had it so early in the morning as to not miss the people who would be out and about. They also verified that the garage sale signs DID go up the night before, and that there were no social media posts by Liz about the sale. They also added that they didn't think Liz would have told a lot of friends about the sale because she didn't think her friends would be interested in buying anything she had to sell


Additionally, I've noticed there are several conflicting SB comments. My point is SB - I am sure under pressure and perhaps not remembering correctly. No link and speculation and my opinion only.

 

[lonewanderer]

A cop in a "night gown"? With a wig? Wouldn't be on duty at least. Therefore his badge wouldn't have impressed me, I think.

Valid points.

I personally think the shooter was female and was not wearing a wig.

 

[rosesfromangels]

Valid points.

I personally think the shooter was female and was not wearing a wig.

Yes. Crime of passion; jealousy over real or perceived interaction with a love interest.

All just amateur opinion and speculation

 

[fridaybaker]

I’m halfway considering mathematically solving for the probability that 2 of the same car (make, model, and color) would be in the same area given the population, time of day, and relative popularity of the car. I mean it’s not a black toyota Corolla in the middle of a city.

Guess I need to find my stats books and get to work.

Edit: upon reflection, I’m not sure it would be possible to calculate the probability/odds ratio that 2 identical vehicles are spotted in a central location. If anyone more intelligent than I wants to figure it out, I’m all ears! Off to chat gpt

What is chat gpt?

I think we can look at the prevalence of the make/model of truck nationally, them extrapolate to Texas. I’m not sure where to get that information, but I believe that someone did just that in the Missy B case. The only drawback, of course, is that the killer could have been from somewhere else. That doesn’t mean it mightn’t be helpful, though.

I’ll see if I can track this info down.

 

[BlaiseFinlay]

There is one thing that hit me this morning....

As I previously stated, I noticed Liz took a HUGE step back one the shooter got closer to her, and then leaned in when the shooter extended their left arm. I suspect this was the shooter showing something like a picture or text strings to Liz on a phone.

What is bothering me is, Liz is shot as soon as she leans in. We don't get to see her body language. She didn't get the chance to throw her hands up like "whoa! This isn't me!" or "look, I can explain". She could have also reacted like "Oh God, look its not what you think it is" or "Crap, look, it was a one time thing OK?".

I feel like if we could have seen a reaction, then we may have more to speculate on.

My thinking is that was the sole purpose of purporting to show her something — to distract her for the time necessary to pull the trigger. I wouldn’t assume what she was being shown had any significance at all.

 

[Trebor5591]

What is chat gpt?

An artificial intelligence computer application, where a human asks a question and a computer (Chat GPT) answers.

 

[FromGermany1]

As you can see in your post, SB also stated in the police report:

"He said they have a garage sale every year to raise money to take a vacation."


That was not correct information. See attached thread:

TX - TX - Elizabeth Barraza, 29, murdered setting up garage sale, Harris Co, Jan 2019 #5

I'd like to see Houston or local media outlet exclusively focus on Liz's case - report her story periodically to help keep it in the news. Just one reporter to latch onto this case and give it some attention. I believe people have forgotten about this case. Wonder if phone records were...

www.websleuths.com

rsbm
2-It's been reported in some sources that Liz held sort of an annual garage sale before vacations, almost like this was an annual event. Liz's parents said that is not accurate, that she had had maybe one garage sale previously. They also told me that garage sales in Houston is a very busy and lucrative business w/ sellers & buyers being extremely active which is why Liz had it so early in the morning as to not miss the people who would be out and about. They also verified that the garage sale signs DID go up the night before, and that there were no social media posts by Liz about the sale. They also added that they didn't think Liz would have told a lot of friends about the sale because she didn't think her friends would be interested in buying anything she had to sell


Additionally, I've noticed there are several conflicting SB comments. My point is SB - I am sure under pressure and perhaps not remembering correctly. No link and speculation and my opinion only.

Not advertising, but starting early in the morning for buyers to come seems to be somewhat contradictory, IMO. The signs, placed over night, wouldn't have helped, when nobody is cruising the streets for it. Or would it be indeed done by "garage sale hunters"??

 

[fridaybaker]

Not advertising, but starting early in the morning for buyers to come seems to be somewhat contradictory, IMO. The signs, placed over night, wouldn't have helped, when nobody is cruising the streets for it. Or would it be indeed done by "garage sale hunters"??

There have been posters from the general area who say that this would be pretty normal. I don't really see anything in it, either. "Garage salers" are often very eager to be the first one to a sale. At estate sales it's not unknown for people to start standing in line for a 9am opening at 5. It's just hard for me to read anything into this, but I don't know. We don't ever seem to get very far here. We need some new news!

 

[Curiousobserver]

Police know the license and identity of the person they stopped that morning, assuming that actually even happened.

I agree it is an extraordinary coincidence but-

In one televised interview the investigator said he had looked through every rental and lease of that make and model in Texas for two weeks before the murder. That says "Very Motivated" to me. No doubt they combed through registrations in the surrounding area and went over that list with the family for anybody they might recognize.

I am positive that if they stopped a similar car, that the investigators know about it and they have taken a very careful look for any linkages.

LE understands the importance of that vehicle, it is the only clue they seem to have.

The only explanation I could imagine is if the killer is actually a law enforcement officer and hasn't been subjected to the ordinary scrutiny.

 

[FromGermany1]

My thinking is that was the sole purpose of purporting to show her something — to distract her for the time necessary to pull the trigger. I wouldn’t assume what she was being shown had any significance at all.

Why did the shooter needed to be so very near to Liz? He had the advantage anyway with his weapon, this coward. Did he fear, she also would have a gun in her defense, in the morning in the dark?

 

[lonewanderer]

Why did the shooter needed to be so very near to Liz? He had the advantage anyway with his weapon, this coward. Did he fear, she also would have a gun in her defense, in the morning in the dark?

Could be a few reasons.

Point blank indicates they had a really strong hatred for Liz.

Getting that close to her also denied her the chance to run away and significantly increased the chance that the shots wouldn't miss.

It has been discussed here that Liz seemed to be trapped by some of the items around here. I think that is just a coincidence (and I don't believe in those often) because Liz did not look behind her and notice she was trapped and the shooter also didn't push forward to enforce the fact they had Liz trapped.

 

[hexicon]

I think there is a very simple explanation for this one: the perpetrator was not skilled with a firearm and needed to shoot from point blank range in order to hit the victim.

 

[lonewanderer]

I think there is a very simple explanation for this one: the perpetrator was not skilled with a firearm and needed to shoot from point blank range in order to hit the victim.

Even if (I think “she”) was a skilled marksman, the last thing you would want is a target running, and chasing them.

The shooter also shot her multiple times after the already putting her down.

I’m addition to making sure Liz was shot, it was to ensure Liz was dead, too.

 

[rosesfromangels]

I think there is a very simple explanation for this one: the perpetrator was not skilled with a firearm and needed to shoot from point blank range in order to hit the victim.

Could be. It could also be they wanted to look her in the eyes, see the fear and pain as she was murdered.

This was overkill; up and personal. Jealousy, revenge.

Amateur opinion and speculation

 

[morf13]

I just released today part 1 of a 2 part discussion about Liz's case on my podcast The Murder In My Family with her parents Robert & Rosemary as my guests. We are also joined by Andy Kahan of Crimestoppers who has been an advocate for her parents and the case.
We don't talk a lot about the theories, the rumors, the clues, the details. The conversation is more geared toward the aftermath of the murder, and the road that her parents have been on since the beginning trying to get justice for their daughter

 

[morf13]

Posted this theory on Reddit but I'd like to post it here too:

To me, it's clear Liz was targeted, it was NOT random. For what, and by whom, I couldn't tell you.

Someone somehow knew that Sergio would be leaving around a certain time that morning and knew that they could strike very soon after he did. How they knew that I think is one of the big clues to this case. To me, this is likely someone close enough to know about the garage sale and what time it would be starting.
At the same time. Another scenario, what if the killer didn't know about the garage sale. What if they would have gone there planning to knock on the front door and would have shot Liz as soon as she answered, and instead found her outside setting up for the sale. I think this is less likely because Liz was safety conscious, and probably wouldn't have opened the door for someone suspicious, not to mention, they would have had to walk up to the porch right in front of the camera (assuming that they knew about the camera), so this again brings me back to the garage sale. Two possibilities here- 1) someone knew about the pending garage sale thru Liz or Sergio directly or 2) They happened to see the sign from the night before and decided to take advantage of it, which still wouldn't explain how they knew Sergio would be leaving at the time he did, so to me, this is someone that knew of the garage sale directly thru Liz and Sergio. They didn't post about the garage sale on social media, so that can be ruled out. If you gather a list of everyone who had advance knowledge of the sale, the killer is either one of those people, or was given the details by one of those people (whether or not they knew or didn't know what they planned to do to Liz. It could have been someone who casually mentioned it to someone else and inadvertently set the wheels in motion)

So, Compile a list of people that had knowledge of both the garage sale happening & Sergio's schedule, and the killer is going to be associated with that list.

I forget, what time did Liz typically leave for work? If she was normally gone by 7am, then that implies even more knowledge, that the person didn't randomly choose that day when Liz happened to be off and by some lucky break catch Liz outside. Furthermore, Liz got the day off in advance, so co-workers could be suspect if they knew about the garage sale and Liz saying "hey I won't be in Friday because I am having a garage sale" but then again, a co-worker being the killer would also have to know Sergio's schedule.

 

[Ajs1004]

Posted this theory on Reddit but I'd like to post it here too:

To me, it's clear Liz was targeted, it was NOT random. For what, and by whom, I couldn't tell you.

Someone somehow knew that Sergio would be leaving around a certain time that morning and knew that they could strike very soon after he did. How they knew that I think is one of the big clues to this case. To me, this is likely someone close enough to know about the garage sale and what time it would be starting.
At the same time. Another scenario, what if the killer didn't know about the garage sale. What if they would have gone there planning to knock on the front door and would have shot Liz as soon as she answered, and instead found her outside setting up for the sale. I think this is less likely because Liz was safety conscious, and probably wouldn't have opened the door for someone suspicious, not to mention, they would have had to walk up to the porch right in front of the camera (assuming that they knew about the camera), so this again brings me back to the garage sale. Two possibilities here- 1) someone knew about the pending garage sale thru Liz or Sergio directly or 2) They happened to see the sign from the night before and decided to take advantage of it, which still wouldn't explain how they knew Sergio would be leaving at the time he did, so to me, this is someone that knew of the garage sale directly thru Liz and Sergio. They didn't post about the garage sale on social media, so that can be ruled out. If you gather a list of everyone who had advance knowledge of the sale, the killer is either one of those people, or was given the details by one of those people (whether or not they knew or didn't know what they planned to do to Liz. It could have been someone who casually mentioned it to someone else and inadvertently set the wheels in motion)

So, Compile a list of people that had knowledge of both the garage sale happening & Sergio's schedule, and the killer is going to be associated with that list.

I forget, what time did Liz typically leave for work? If she was normally gone by 7am, then that implies even more knowledge, that the person didn't randomly choose that day when Liz happened to be off and by some lucky break catch Liz outside. Furthermore, Liz got the day off in advance, so co-workers could be suspect if they knew about the garage sale and Liz saying "hey I won't be in Friday because I am having a garage sale" but then again, a co-worker being the killer would also have to know Sergio's schedule.

The killer was wearing some kind of disguise to cover their identity and they went so far that nobody is even sure if they are male or female. So it seems unlikely that they would take the risk and just ring the doorbell.

 

[morf13]

The killer was wearing some kind of disguise to cover their identity and they went so far that nobody is even sure if they are male or female. So it seems unlikely that they would take the risk and just ring the doorbell.

True, and the disguise could also be in case they were caught by surveillance and not to fool Liz about their identity.
Along those lines, if the killer went to those extremes to hide their identity from surveillance, would they risk driving their own truck to the crime scene? Probably not. I am willing to bet that the truck they drove was either rented, borrowed, or stolen.

 

[ErinC]

The longer this drags on, the more I am feeling shades of Jayme Closs. By that, I mean that it was an attack targeted at Liz, but in the sense that it was carried out by some demented individual who had no true connection to her, instead having come across her in passing- coffee shop, picking up the mail, whatever mundane thing. The creature- I no longer type its name- who kidnapped Jayme had absolutely no connection to her other than in his mind, so there was no connection for police to be able to make. Jayme was able to rescue herself, which IMO is the only reason we ever found out what had happened- there was just nothing FOR LE to put together. Since Liz obviously cannot speak for herself, it is going to be a lot harder, nigh impossible, for LE to assemble any puzzle pieces if I'm right. IMO MOO