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

[Megnut]

That's novel and intriguing!

It's really something to think about, including and expanding to other possibilities, such as mistaken identity.

Recently, KA was convicted of murder, murdering a friend of her not-quite boyfriend. She murdered someone he'd had a fling with but was maintaining a limited, careful, boundaried, platonic with her. No affair, no sex. Killed. Her. Over. A. Dinner.

Maybe someone  mistakenly thought EB was a threat, when she wasn't! Such as this idea, that someone used her likeness.

Mayve, whatever this person said to EB or showed EB, meant absolutely nothing to EB, had no idea who the party was or parties were. Not just an innocent victim, one with no connecting whatsoever.

Jmo

 

[fridaybaker]

Thanks for bringing it up. Thought LB''s murder had a lot of similarities to the murder of MW who was murdered at her friend's apartment.

Makes you wonder if LB's killer practiced at the shooting range and also if LB had been stalked prior to the murder? Was this a love triangle situation? moo

I think love triangle is a big possibility here, simply because it’s such a common occurrence.

 

[lonewanderer]

It's really something to think about, including and expanding to other possibilities, such as mistaken identity.

Recently, KA was convicted of murder, murdering a friend of her not-quite boyfriend. She murdered someone he'd had a fling with but was maintaining a limited, careful, boundaried, platonic with her. No affair, no sex. Killed. Her. Over. A. Dinner.

Maybe someone  mistakenly thought EB was a threat, when she wasn't! Such as this idea, that someone used her likeness.

Mayve, whatever this person said to EB or showed EB, meant absolutely nothing to EB, had no idea who the party was or parties were. Not just an innocent victim, one with no connecting whatsoever.

Jmo

In the expansion of the catfish theory (i have a couple of others besides this), Liz's pics were being used on something like Snapchat (another really bad app for location sharing). My biggest problem with that is imagining Liz having any dirty pics out there that she would share, then have reshared for catfishing. So, one other branch of this theory has someone using Liz's pics on something like Tinder, or using her name, face, and likeness in a false way to indicate she had a radical point of view that someone might take major offense to.

I personally think the most likely person that shot Liz was a female, and also a member of the 501st Legion. I just don't know the why and parts of the how.

 

[Megnut]

In the expansion of the catfish theory (i have a couple of others besides this), Liz's pics were being used on something like Snapchat (another really bad app for location sharing). My biggest problem with that is imagining Liz having any dirty pics out there that she would share, then have reshared for catfishing. So, one other branch of this theory has someone using Liz's pics on something like Tinder, or using her name, face, and likeness in a false way to indicate she had a radical point of view that someone might take major offense to.

I personally think the most likely person that shot Liz was a female, and also a member of the 501st Legion. I just don't know the why and parts of the how.

They don't need to be sexy photos to be co-opted.

Some rando catfisher in who-knows-where could've used her images and hooked a lonely widow in any-state-USA, swindling him out of thousands... an angry adult child could've reverse-image searched and discovered the photos' address... and, unaware of how catfishing works, believed the person in the photo stole (for instance) her father's life savings.

Perhaps the shooter showed EB a photo of her father (in my catfishing scenario). Photo would've meant nothing to EB, completely unaware....

I wonder if LE did a reverse Google search.... to see if EB's likeness was used without her permission or knowledge. It happens, though it's usually gendered opposite.

Does open up other possibilities worth considering.

JMO

 

[Ladyotm]

That is possible, but I think the shooters car was way out of range for that.

There is a number of ways they could have tracked Sergio's location or movements. They could have been using a location sharing app. In Mo Wilson's murder by Kaitlyn Armstrong, unnervingly similar to this case, Kaitlyn was able to track Mo on a biking app that planned her routes and realtime location. At a large convention with many cosplayers and/or volunteers, something similar may have been used between groups of people to reconvene.

Two really clever ways I think Sergio could have been tracked; the Ring camera and/or a nannycam planted by the shooter. I also think it would have been extremely clever to have accessed their Wi-Fi mesh and watched for when Sergio's device disappeared from being connected to the network.

So now, could it possibly be a cable/internet installer? They not only would be able to access Liz's network info, but surrounding homes as well.

 

[lonewanderer]

So now, could it possibly be a cable/internet installer? They not only would be able to access Liz's network info, but surrounding homes as well.

When I was a cable installer, I had no access to the homes around the home I was installing for, and wouldn't really have a good excuse to ask for neighbors information. It was all controlled centrally at a call-in activation center.

Now, I was able to access my home's Wi-Fi extender mesh network from outside my home, where I could track what devices were on the network and were not on the network. If someone had the Deco app with the network name and password, they could do it too, but they may have had to be in the house connected to it first.

 

[fridaybaker]

I know that there are all kinds of situations that happen in real life, so the catfishing using Liz’s photo is possible. I just don’t see it as probable.

I can’t get over the idea that we’re looking to far afield. I think the answer lies, most likely, in love interest related, work-related, or 501 Legion related.

 

[lonewanderer]

They don't need to be sexy photos to be co-opted.

Some rando catfisher in who-knows-where could've used her images and hooked a lonely widow in any-state-USA, swindling him out of thousands... an angry adult child could've reverse-image searched and discovered the photos' address... and, unaware of how catfishing works, believed the person in the photo stole (for instance) her father's life savings.

Perhaps the shooter showed EB a photo of her father (in my catfishing scenario). Photo would've meant nothing to EB, completely unaware....

I wonder if LE did a reverse Google search.... to see if EB's likeness was used without her permission or knowledge. It happens, though it's usually gendered opposite.

Does open up other possibilities worth considering.

JMO

Another thing that I don't think is completely impossible is that Liz may have actually had some pictures out there, possibly with Sergio's knowledge.

Cosplaying, "nerd culture", and related themes often overlap in the Venn Diagram of kink/BDSM scence.

The reason I am bringing this up is because Sergio initially seemed like he knew someone who had a problem with Liz, but then backed off of it quickly. Could he have been trying to save face for his now deceased wife?

 

[fridaybaker]

Lonewanderer, interesting thought there. Am I remembering correctly that LE looked at a person named by Sergio early on? Would this have been her? (I think it was a “her”.)

 

[lonewanderer]

Lonewanderer, interesting thought there. Am I remembering correctly that LE looked at a person named by Sergio early on? Would this have been her? (I think it was a “her”.)

Yes, and the "her" is a 501st Legion member.

This person is who I believe is most likely shooting Liz in that video.

 

[katydid23]

Catfishing is a real thing---but usually a catfish picks very beautiful, alluring photos. I am not sure AB's pix would be the first chosen for that process. JMO

 

[lonewanderer]

Catfishing is a real thing---but usually a catfish picks very beautiful, alluring photos. I am not sure AB's pix would be the first chosen for that process. JMO

A clever catfish is not an obvious one.

Instead of using some Instagram models revealing pics, Liz's could have been used to really make someone think the profile was not fake.

I agree with you though, her pics would be quite unusual to use for catfishing.

 

[I am not Sherlock H.]

New to this thread… so I could be way behind in some thoughts.

Two key aspects: that date and that time.

I am no garage sale expert, but Friday wouldn’t seem an ideal day to some? And with such a short time before the Sunday (I think) vacation trip. Seems odd why that day was chosen to start, Friday and Saturday. (Saturday and Sunday are typically used by many.) And if heading on an extended vacation, a two day garage sale would not be high on my list before departure.

Some others viewing this case wonder if maybe this couple bought storage locker contents and sold them? Any research on that? If so, a disgruntled prior owner could have been unhappy.

On the happenstance that the husband had just left the scene almost simultaneously with the killing unfolding: if this was targeted, the way the killer approached (grainy video) the victim - almost seems they would have proceeded with the plan whether or not the husband was present. And if that be the case, maybe his leaving was more of an alibi or avoidance consideration?
MOO

 

[Kermitskorner]

I am the host/researcher/writer of the podcast, and I have had close, extended conversations w/ Liz's parents since we released the podcast episode (and released a couple deep dive conversations with them since on my other podcast The Murder in My Family) Liz's parents said that we were just about spot on with all details but wanted to clarify a couple things. One was that Liz took off the day in advance, she didn't call in sick. The 2nd was that although they had previous garage sale(s), it wasn't an annual event, they just had them whenever they decided to

Sweet, Thank you for the response and your time reporting for these cases via podcasts!

 

[Kermitskorner]

What about the spotted Black vehicle entering and leaving the neighborhood? I don't think the car was ever matched to a person of interest every, did it just run dry? I know Sergio's family had a black truck in question but no definitive details. I can't seem to leave this case alone...

 

[Curiousobserver]

New to this thread… so I could be way behind in some thoughts.

Two key aspects: that date and that time.

I am no garage sale expert, but Friday wouldn’t seem an ideal day to some? And with such a short time before the Sunday (I think) vacation trip. Seems odd why that day was chosen to start, Friday and Saturday. (Saturday and Sunday are typically used by many.) And if heading on an extended vacation, a two day garage sale would not be high on my list before departure.

Some others viewing this case wonder if maybe this couple bought storage locker contents and sold them? Any research on that? If so, a disgruntled prior owner could have been unhappy.

On the happenstance that the husband had just left the scene almost simultaneously with the killing unfolding: if this was targeted, the way the killer approached (grainy video) the victim - almost seems they would have proceeded with the plan whether or not the husband was present. And if that be the case, maybe his leaving was more of an alibi or avoidance consideration?
MOO

I have thought about the timing a lot and what follows is just thinking out loud... one thing that bothers me about the killer "waiting" until the husband left as setting up an alibi for him is why time it so closely? Timing it almost simultaneous makes it look more suspicious, not less. If you wanted/needed an alibi, I would wait until Sergio was for-sure somewhere where he would be seen by multiple people and on cameras- like at Starbucks... The almost simultaneous movements to me seem like this person just wanted to be sure he wasn't there so they didn't have to deal with him, didn't want to hurt him, or so he didn't see them.

 

[iamnotagolem]

I have thought about the timing a lot and what follows is just thinking out loud... one thing that bothers me about the killer "waiting" until the husband left as setting up an alibi for him is why time it so closely? Timing it almost simultaneous makes it look more suspicious, not less. If you wanted/needed an alibi, I would wait until Sergio was for-sure somewhere where he would be seen by multiple people and on cameras- like at Starbucks... The almost simultaneous movements to me seem like this person just wanted to be sure he wasn't there so they didn't have to deal with him, didn't want to hurt him, or so he didn't see them.

I think the timing of killer arriving/SB leaving was to establish an alibi. Although I do agree it would have been better if he'd gone somewhere with cameras and stayed there until he was notified by LE. As it stands I think there was time for the black truck to meet SB, SB could hop in the truck so he could witness Liz getting killed, then the killer drove back out to drop SB at his van and the killer turned around and went back by the house to exit the neighborhood separately from SB. While that's probably not likely, I do think it's possible.

JMO

 

[arielilane]

Does the timing of the killing give SB an ironclad alibi?
He is leaving the neighborhood to meet other co-workers at a nearby Lowes, so is he seen on camera?
He also doesn’t witness the crime or the aftermath of the crime.
The timing about this crime is a huge red-flag - imo!

All moo, and there's more, however, that's all I recall right now. It's a maddening case.

 

[fridaybaker]

I have thought about the timing a lot and what follows is just thinking out loud... one thing that bothers me about the killer "waiting" until the husband left as setting up an alibi for him is why time it so closely? Timing it almost simultaneous makes it look more suspicious, not less. If you wanted/needed an alibi, I would wait until Sergio was for-sure somewhere where he would be seen by multiple people and on cameras- like at Starbucks... The almost simultaneous movements to me seem like this person just wanted to be sure he wasn't there so they didn't have to deal with him, didn't want to hurt him, or so he didn't see them.

Maybe because it would be fully light out if the killer waited any longer? Tight time schedule?

 

[glassheater]

Maybe because it would be fully light out if the killer waited any longer? Tight time schedule?

This are my thoughts as well. It was already pushing it timing wise for a work day and I’m surprised there weren’t people out walking their pets.