TX TX - Elizabeth Barraza, 29, murdered setting up garage sale, Harris Co, Jan 2019 #6

[BlaiseFinlay]

Yep. The money is the trickier piece, unless planned over a very long period of time (allowing you to accumulate substantial cash without any unusual activity...like a hit man mattress savings account...), which I have to assume was not the case.

Here's a hypothetical, which is essentially a description of a type of money laundering.

Suspect A wants Liz dead, and wants a hit man to do it. Let's say the cost for an unprofessional hit is $10,000 (not a Cartel-level hit man, just a shady person with access to a gun who values cash more than a stranger's life. I really don't know the going rate).

Suspect B is the previously described hit man.
Suspect C is a co-conspirator who is close to Suspect A and willing to help. Suspect C knows Suspect B from having hired him previously for work. Or finds him through connections. This hypothetical works best if Suspect C has a business, but any individual can "hire" someone for an odd job around the house, so it's not essential.

Suspect B then submits false or, ideally, inflated invoices for work performed for Suspect C, ultimately invoicing Suspect C $10,000 more than Suspect B is owed for the work performed. Suspect C pays the invoice. You've now also conveniently laundered the money for Suspect B as well, decreasing their risk exposure in the process.*

Suspect A then repays Suspect C through another seemingly legitimate means, such as agreeing to receive a bad checks for any money owed up to $10k, informally agreeing to forgive up to $10k of any debt that Suspect C may owe Suspect A, or any other transaction that is on the surface normal for the type of relationship between Suspect A and C. Just as an example, I regularly take trips with a friend. Usually, we split the costs 50/50, though in the past I've paid 100% when I'm the one who really wants the trip and just want company. I could "pay" my friend $3k without leaving a suspicious paper trail by paying for 100% of a $6k trip we take together.

Detecting this type of payment scheme requires a far deeper analysis than just looking for a suspicious transfer from Suspect A's bank account, and if the scheme was concocted through in person conversations, it can really never be proven through documents. You need to get at Suspect A, B, or C through another means, then get them to take a deal in exchange for flipping on the other two suspects.

Might seem farfetched, but I can't think of any scenario in this case that isn't farfetched based on what we know.

(*To the extent the person won't have an unexplained deposit and won't be committing tax fraud, so fewer law enforcement agencies likely to be investigating. Obviously, adding such layers of complexity to a crime results in committing an additional crime in and of itself, and can create its own risks.)

 

[BlaiseFinlay]

I have responded to similar posts countless times in other threads.

Hitmen are usually total doofuses who will carry out the murder for very little money. It takes risk off the person seeking the hit, doesn't leave much of a paper trail, and can keep distance between the seeker and the hitman. The person seeking the hits are usually super cheap and don't think things through very well. There have been multiple instances of a hitman killing the wrong person. Mary Morris murders, Daniel Ott, and Don Johnston all come to mind (there was a woman on a true crime show named Jane Martin but I believe that was just a fantasized twist on Mary Morris case. If it wasn't then YIKES!).

There is also on case that took place in the 80s or so. A guy hired his Vietnam vet buddy to kill his estranged wife. He snuck into her house with a ski mask and knife, and when she saw him, she ran at him full speed. She was a very large woman and pinned him up against the wall. Then he fell down the stairs and died. Crazy! But goes to show common quality of "hitmen". The expensive ones found online are 99.99% cops.

But to answer your question about alternate payments. There was a plot where a woman got her boyfriend to kill her ex-husband by hiring a hitman of sorts. The boyfriend was a landlord, and offered free rent for life if one of his tenants carried out the hit. Guess what? The BF is in jail and the woman is running around totally free.

Mistaken identity remains a frustrating possibility.

 

[BlaiseFinlay]

I have responded to similar posts countless times in other threads.

Hitmen are usually total doofuses who will carry out the murder for very little money. It takes risk off the person seeking the hit, doesn't leave much of a paper trail, and can keep distance between the seeker and the hitman. The person seeking the hits are usually super cheap and don't think things through very well. There have been multiple instances of a hitman killing the wrong person. Mary Morris murders, Daniel Ott, and Don Johnston all come to mind (there was a woman on a true crime show named Jane Martin but I believe that was just a fantasized twist on Mary Morris case. If it wasn't then YIKES!).

There is also on case that took place in the 80s or so. A guy hired his Vietnam vet buddy to kill his estranged wife. He snuck into her house with a ski mask and knife, and when she saw him, she ran at him full speed. She was a very large woman and pinned him up against the wall. Then he fell down the stairs and died. Crazy! But goes to show common quality of "hitmen". The expensive ones found online are 99.99% cops.

But to answer your question about alternate payments. There was a plot where a woman got her boyfriend to kill her ex-husband by hiring a hitman of sorts. The boyfriend was a landlord, and offered free rent for life if one of his tenants carried out the hit. Guess what? The BF is in jail and the woman is running around totally free.

I've read before that example you mentioned (probably in another of your posts), and that's exactly what got me thinking of what a possible scenario could be! Because I had been stuck on this piece of the puzzle. I outlined one possible scenario that was deleted for not being victim friendly, but I reframed it in a way that speaks in general terms without referencing anybody in particular and reposted it.

Not saying it's my leading theory, but a possibility. Nothing really rises above possibility in my eyes in this case.

 

[lonewanderer]

Mistaken identity remains a frustrating possibility.

In this case? I have my doubts. They walked right up to her face, at her house.

I am zoned in on a particular person who may have had motive to kill Liz.

 

[BlaiseFinlay]

In this case? I have my doubts. They walked right up to her face, at her house.

I am zoned in on a particular person who may have had motive to kill Liz.

I too think it's unlikely.

I personally put less weight on the person named by the husband in his initial police interviews, because I suspect the question was more "Can you tell us everyone who has had a disagreement [or similar] with Liz?". I don't think he was expressing an opinion on the likelihood that person actually killed Liz, but I've done no research into them.

 

[lonewanderer]

I too think it's unlikely.

I personally put less weight on the person named by the husband in his initial police interviews, because I suspect the question was more "Can you tell us everyone who has had a disagreement [or similar] with Liz?". I don't think he was expressing an opinion on the likelihood that person actually killed Liz, but I've done no research into them.

I have.

There is some substance there.

 

[NoSpoonFeeding]

I was actually linking that section of the site because it goes into detail about why women often prefer .380 guns in general and then on that page it continues to pistols and then links to the article about .380 revolvers at the bottom.

I could just link an article that is more straightforward.

Low-Pro Holsters - Product Lines - HOLSTERS

tacticafashion.com

That article is about semi autos also, as shown in the picture, the back arrow at the bottom of the page is an article that includes a comment about a revolver, but it is not a 380, it is a 38, they are not the same thing.
In any case, the gun used was a revolver, we do not know for a fact anything more than that, except the detective said the recovered round was small to medium, so maybe 380. Saying ammo is 380 and saying a gun is a model 380 is two different things, saying the size is small to medium is far too vague to assume the gun or the ammo was "380".

 

[10ofRods]

In this case? I have my doubts. They walked right up to her face, at her house.

I am zoned in on a particular person who may have had motive to kill Liz.

I agree. No one plants 3 bullets in someone's face/head without knowing who it is. Not a crazy person. Not a total stranger.

IMO, this is someone known to the Barrazas. If it is true that SB had no idea who it was, then it is part of her separate life in the Star Wars Cosplay world.

That would be very rare.

iMO.

 

[arielilane]

It could've been postponed, but according to Liz's mom, Liz and Sergio had spent the days before putting up posters for it around the neighborhood. I find this interesting and would like to know if she has ever done this in the past (this referring to the posters OR the garage sale I suppose)

I wonder about this, because whoever showed up had to be "ready" to kill whomever was there, OR had steady updates on Liz from a very close source, and the fact they waited until she was alone with a very CLOSE timeline leads me to feel the second choice is more likely myself.

iirc, two signs were posted but can't recall if night before or that morning when signs were placed. I've heard a few different stories of when the signs were actually posted. Garage sale was not posted on social media and a few close people to the Barraza's knew about the sale, so it really would not have been a big deal to postpone the garage sale. However, these are my thoughts and for some reason the garage sale was supposed to happen. idk. moo

 

[arielilane]

This is very hard to gauge, as everyone is different. I wouldn't be out there on my own in a million years in the still, dark of early morning. I wouldn't think Liz, would either, considering how cautious she apparently was, as you mentioned above. Maybe, though, it's a different sort of "cautious"? Maybe Liz (and others her age) feel very secure with technology in place, such as cell phones, home alarms, etc.

The whole set up stinks. For Liz that is. Supposedly, the funds weren't even needed for the Orlando trip. Something tells me the killer got a heads up about the garage sale and took that opportunity to kill Liz. Why? Time will tell. Justice is coming. Someone wanted Liz dead. Someone desperate enough to (imo) make previous attempts to kill Liz. Someone raging ... time is running out. moo

 

[arielilane]

Someone dressed up as a female to appear as if they're female and cowardly killed an innocent young woman. The disguise is coming off. moo

 

[Otterplop]

Someone dressed up as a female to appear as if they're female and cowardly killed an innocent young woman. The disguise is coming off. moo

I apologize for being off-topic, but what does “moo” stand for? I keep seeing it and feel embarrassed to ask

 

[Sjöberg]

IMO, this is someone known to the Barrazas. If it is true that SB had no idea who it was, then it is part of her separate life in the Star Wars Cosplay world.

I would add, that not only from the Cosplay world. It is unlikely that SB would recognize all her colleagues (for example my partner has seen only two of them and only on photos) or, say, people from her gym or "creepy dude from the library" etc.

Additionally, I am not ruling out that the person could "originate" from pre-SB years. They had only been married for 5 years. Is it known how long were they together before getting married? Scorned exes and stalkery types can easily stay active for 10+ years. Just to illustrate, I have a "fun" example of a stalker that I just had one coffee with (!) in ~2011 - he wrote me last year. It had been 6-7 years since he last tried to reach me, the previous one was after he randomly glimpsed me on the street. My husband has never even seen him and I would not worry my parents with telling them about such things - I think most "good girls" would not.

MOO. Just adding angles.

 

[Sjöberg]

I apologize for being off-topic, but what does “moo” stand for? I keep seeing it and feel embarrassed to ask

A more cute way to say IMO - in my opinion. MOO is my own opinion. With an added cute cow reference!

 

[digworms]

The killer's route through the neighborhood intrigues me as well...why approach Liz's home heading west on Cedar Walk? Why not approach from the west heading east on Cedar Walk? You would be facing the direction you want to go for a quicker escape from the neighborhood and save yourself from making an awkward attention-drawing 3-point turn. My guess is they needed to see if Liz was outside and heading west provided a better viewing angle of her driveway than travelling east.
If Liz was not visible from the street as they drove by at 6:52 am, what would the killer have done?..Circle the neighborhood until she came outside, risking even more neighborhood activity the later it got?..go to her front door?..come back on Saturday?

 

[NoSpoonFeeding]

IMO, this is someone known to the Barrazas. If it is true that SB had no idea who it was, then it is part of her separate life in the Star Wars Cosplay world.

SB and EB both belonged to Legion 501 and both did volunteer work at hospitals, community events, etc, by appearing in realistic costumes to attract donors for an organization that is partnered with Make A Wish.
She did not have a separate "cosplay world", they spent a lot of time volunteering at the same hospital where she died, as noted by her husband.

Costumes vs. Cosplay- Know The Difference!

Cosplay. The parents usually hate it, some people love it, but what is it? And why is it different from wearing a costume? Cosplay is defined as “the practice of dressing up as a character from a movie, book, or video game”. For example, if you’ve heard of the charity group called the 501st...

sjhexpress.com

Sergio Barraza Creates Art Inspired by Science Fiction and Fantasy

Interview with Sergio Barraza (SEB Studios), a multimedia artist whose artwork is mainly focused in stylized art.

momgeek.com

 

[arielilane]

I too think it's unlikely.

I personally put less weight on the person named by the husband in his initial police interviews, because I suspect the question was more "Can you tell us everyone who has had a disagreement [or similar] with Liz?". I don't think he was expressing an opinion on the likelihood that person actually killed Liz, but I've done no research into them.

Amazed he came up with someone so quickly. Video footage posted up thread (and at parents' site) it was mentioned a group in cosplay and then quickly named a she in cosplay. Then publicly in Paula Zahn video (also linked at parents' website) named his dad - so I dont know what is going on - would that be shock, deflection? moo

Website is linked in my signature.

 

[arielilane]

Here it’s clarified in dash cam footage by Sergio…not sure how he knows at this point without seeing the neighbor footage yet. He points though.

I’ll look for a map view; I think I have one.

EDITED TO ADD AERIAL VIEW FROM DATELINE

This link has good footage of the truck turning and parking before killing her in cold blood: Surveillance video shows moments before woman shot outside her home in TomballI

As you can see it is BY THE BLACK CAR NEAR THE DRIVEWAY WHERE THE RED CAR IS but CLOSER TO NEIGHBORS DRIVE across street, Liz's vehicle is the one to the left in front of her house. She has star wars stickers on it.

Note to self to not have identifying stickers on my car; makes you easy to follow

View attachment 468828

Bringing video footage forward for reference. First video.

 

[arielilane]

Liz's parents arrived to the Barraza home before the husband.

Why is a husband not getting to his wife asap? Why the delay? Doesn’t appear LE held him back… or did they? So much inconsistency.

Linked at who killedlizbarra.com:

MR= Michael Ritchie (Detective who is now a Sgt.)

Verbiage from Paula Zahn A Fairy Tale Ruined
10/30/2022 - On the Case with Paula Zahn - A Fairy Tale Ruined (Discover ID) NOTE you may need to link to your cable provider.

Paula: Did he seem to be in a hurry to get to the hospital to check on Liz?
MR: No, when I released him he’s still kind of stuck around talked with neighbors and with media. If that was me and my wife was shot barely alive I would be getting to the hospital as soon as I could.

• Morning [Approximately 9:15 AM] (New Details) Liz’s brother Robert and his wife Amanda arrive at Memorial Hermann while she is in the Emergency Room. Bob and Rosemary meet up with Robert and Amanda with a doctor for a briefing in a private waiting room.
• Early Morning [Unknown] After she is transferred to the Shock Trauma ICU (STICU) the Precinct 4 Constable guards her room until Harris County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Investigator Alfred Vera (Homicide) arrives to take overwatch.
• Morning [Unknown] While in the Shock Trauma ICU Liz is maintained on life support while tests are conducted by the trauma department staff.
• Afternoon Sergio and his mother arrive at the STICU.
• Afternoon Sergio and Liz’s dad speak with LifeGift about organ donation options. The donation is set up.

Timeline

 

[arielilane]

Is he able to review Nest footage while driving back to his home and also speak with LE (below is error as report notes Ring) through Nest cam while asking about what happened. Shock and the not knowing? jmo



Case Supplemental Report occurred 01/25/2019 (as seen in Aarin Stoner video)

"While walking back to the front of the home I could hear a male voice from the homes Ring Door Bell Camera system.
The male identified himself as the homeowner, which he kept asking if his wife was okay. I advised the male that he needed to return home and I would provide him with more details. "




@7:37 mark of linked video footage