TX TX - Elizabeth Barraza, 29, murdered setting up garage sale, Harris Co, Jan 2019 #7

[arielilane]

• Early Morning [06:48:00 AM] Sergio leaves the property to go to work, in a white panel van.
• Early Morning [Unknown] Liz’s parents are notified by her alarm company that the alarm has been triggered and they cannot reach Liz. We left immediately for her home.
• Early Morning [07:38:31 AM*] Sergio Barraza arrives back at the house and is detained by Law Enforcement for questioning.

Timeline above is not listed in chronological order as noted on Liz's parents' website:

Timeline

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whokilledlizbarraza.com

KHOU 11 exclusive: Elizabeth Barraza's husband speaks to Grace White about wife's 2019 death​

January 26, 2023

Timestamp 8:34
The first person I called was my dad. And because he was, I guess just answered and I just want.
I was like, dad, something happened to Liz, something, something happened. There's gunshots and he's like calm down,relax. We don't know what happened. Just get there and we'll be there soon because he was going to go, I guess, get the guys ready and then he was going to. He eventually came back over to the house with us.

And it I was, I'm sure I was driving like a maniac, trying to get to the house, you know? Finally made it there and. Like I said, there was police tape everywhere.

Um, during the drive there I had asked the police what's going on, like I threw my ring doorbell. I had asked them, hey, what's going on because I saw police officers walking by and they said to just come to the house. I asked them about Liz, asked him if she's OK and they were like, Sir, we just need you to come to the house.

KHOU 11 exclusive: Parents of Elizabeth Barraza talk about their daughter's death and investigation​

January 23, 2023

Timestamp 44:00
Liz’s parents were contacted by the alarm company- they were awoken by the call
They tried calling Liz and she didn’t pick up. They went to her house. SB called them and said he could see police tape but didn’t know if it was for his house or the neighbor’s house.

 

[Bounceycat]

If he heard gunshots over the doorbell camera within minutes of pulling out of the driveway, I still do not understand how it took him so long to get back and how he had the time to make calls, talk to police on the doorbell camera, etc. And did he even try to call Liz on his way back?

 

[lonewanderer]

If he heard gunshots over the doorbell camera within minutes of pulling out of the driveway, I still do not understand how it took him so long to get back and how he had the time to make calls, talk to police on the doorbell camera, etc. And did he even try to call Liz on his way back?

I am not sure he was watching the Ring doorbell if he was driving.

If he was watching the Ring doorbell while he was driving, that could be an entirely different discussion of paranoia and/or controlling behavior.

If I was reading it correctly, Sergio looked through the Ring doorbell to see what was happening after he got a call that something had happened to Liz.

 

[arielilane]

From video upthread: SB: "He eventually came back over to the house with us."

Curious of when did SB's dad "came back over" to the house?

Dont recall OB being at the house with SB?
"Came back over," was he there earlier?

When did his dad show up?

moo

 

[Charlot123]

Elizabeth had a decent life insurance policy (confirmed). Sergio remarried shortly after (confirmed). He also has a new house (confirmed).

I understand the remarrying thing could be cultural. In my culture, even though a lot of marriages are arranged and you can't call them "love" marriages, any husband would be hesitant to remarry so soon after even a divorce. Much less a murder of a spouse. JMO.

Statistically, though, SB is in the majority group.

Dating and remarriage over the first two years of widowhood - PubMed

In this study we examined the following: (1) frequencies of remarrying or becoming romantically involved for widows and widowers during the first 2 years of widowhood; (2) attitudes toward dating and remarriage among the recently widowed, and their evolution; (3) identifiable factors which...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Remarriage probability after widowhood: a retrospective method - PubMed

A technique was devised to estimate age specific remarriage probabilities for newly widowed persons utilizing North Carolina marriage certificates plus informatiom from the 1970 U. S. Census. Remarriage probabilities are very high for persons widowed before age 35. Remarriage probabilities...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Also, it seems that widowed women have a larger support network than men. Loneliness is a hard thing for guys. Men who had a good bond with a previous wife, tend to express interest in remarrying sooner.

In this case, we have two proverbial elephants in the room. That life insurance and the short time before S. leaving and the car moving to LB's house.

About the insurance: just to ask, would the absence of it sway people's opinion about SB's possible involvement? Just remove it - does he, his personality, his behavior point at the murderer?

About the time. It looks like a smoking gun, indeed. 3 minutes 40 seconds between SB's departure and the black Nissan moving back into the area. Looks darn suspicious. On the other hand, if someone hated Liz enough to kill her, but also hated SB, it was a great way to punish both. Think of how this suspicion is going to pester SB, all his life, his family and even kids. If someone wanted to set SB up, there was no better way than create such a short time lapse.

Statistically, it is 45/55 chance that SB is involved. Nothing points directly at him. Remarrying soon, statistically, puts him into the majority group.

It is possible that SB is involved, but the crime has been planned too well to prove it. Equally likely, SB is innocent, but LB's one is a perfectly planned murder. The person has to be close enough to both SB and LB to know their plans, to be aware of the yard sale, and to know about the insurance. And probably, the person would have been suspected, because of proximity to the family, but everything has been artfully diverted towards framing SB. The person either hates SB or they don't care much about him. And somehow, they do benefit from LB's death.

I honestly think that it is situation nr. 2. But I think the police is stuck because 45/55 ratio is too close.

Theoretically, they have to split into two groups. One, deal with SB, his new marriage, his insurance, his family, and maybe, prior relationships.

Another one, with the complex situation minus SB. Liz's family and prior relationships, friends, job, that 501 legion. Maybe something will pop out. The way it is, two potential scenarios obscure one another.

I am slightly leaning towards it being not SB, specifically because of this tiny time-lapse. JMO.

 

[CrimeTheorist]

"get the guys ready and then he was going to. He eventually came back over to the house with us."

"get the guys ready"? Anyone know what was he talking about here? Also, "came back over to the house with us" wouldn't that mean SB was with someone else when he was driving back home?

 

[lonewanderer]

Statistically, though, SB is in the majority group.

Dating and remarriage over the first two years of widowhood - PubMed

In this study we examined the following: (1) frequencies of remarrying or becoming romantically involved for widows and widowers during the first 2 years of widowhood; (2) attitudes toward dating and remarriage among the recently widowed, and their evolution; (3) identifiable factors which...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Remarriage probability after widowhood: a retrospective method - PubMed

A technique was devised to estimate age specific remarriage probabilities for newly widowed persons utilizing North Carolina marriage certificates plus informatiom from the 1970 U. S. Census. Remarriage probabilities are very high for persons widowed before age 35. Remarriage probabilities...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Also, it seems that widowed women have a larger support network than men. Loneliness is a hard thing for guys. Men who had a good bond with a previous wife, tend to express interest in remarrying sooner.

In this case, we have two proverbial elephants in the room. That life insurance and the short time before S. leaving and the car moving to LB's house.

About the insurance: just to ask, would the absence of it sway people's opinion about SB's possible involvement? Just remove it - does he, his personality, his behavior point at the murderer?

About the time. It looks like a smoking gun, indeed. 3 minutes 40 seconds between SB's departure and the black Nissan moving back into the area. Looks darn suspicious. On the other hand, if someone hated Liz enough to kill her, but also hated SB, it was a great way to punish both. Think of how this suspicion is going to pester SB, all his life, his family and even kids. If someone wanted to set SB up, there was no better way than create such a short time lapse.

Statistically, it is 45/55 chance that SB is involved. Nothing points directly at him. Remarrying soon, statistically, puts him into the majority group.

It is possible that SB is involved, but the crime has been planned too well to prove it. Equally likely, SB is innocent, but LB's one is a perfectly planned murder. The person has to be close enough to both SB and LB to know their plans, to be aware of the yard sale, and to know about the insurance. And probably, the person would have been suspected, because of proximity to the family, but everything has been artfully diverted towards framing SB. The person either hates SB or they don't care much about him. And somehow, they do benefit from LB's death.

I honestly think that it is situation nr. 2. But I think the police is stuck because 45/55 ratio is too close.

Theoretically, they have to split into two groups. One, deal with SB, his new marriage, his insurance, his family, and maybe, prior relationships.

Another one, with the complex situation minus SB. Liz's family and prior relationships, friends, job, that 501 legion. Maybe something will pop out. The way it is, two potential scenarios obscure one another.

I am slightly leaning towards it being not SB, specifically because of this tiny time-lapse. JMO.

Sergio and Liz also did not have any children, and SB was mighty young when Liz was killed.

Its my understanding that SB now has a new wife and child, and if there was ever a time to push for payout, having a baby would be it. The point has been made before that SB cannot push for payout due to an ongoing investigation, but that has not stopped many (usually female) spouse murderers from openly discussing life insurance payouts before the murder and asking for the money the same day their spouse is killed.

As for SB not remarrying, I tend to compare SB with Brandon Bevers. I don't know Brandon's status now, but Brandon was older and had teen girls. Getting remarrying quickly in his case would raise some major eyebrows and not sit well with many people.

I fully believe whoever shot Liz (SB involved or not) was monitoring her through her Ring doorbell and/or monitoring if Sergio's device was still connected to the network. I think that is how the shooter was able to know when to leave. This strongly indicates someone LB and SB knew very well was involved or given the information to log into the Ring doorbell or their network to monitor connectivity.

 

[AppleTreeGreen]

"get the guys ready and then he was going to. He eventually came back over to the house with us."

"get the guys ready"? Anyone know what was he talking about here? Also, "came back over to the house with us" wouldn't that mean SB was with someone else when he was driving back home?

IIRC, SB and one or more of his coworkers met at the Loews down Kuykendal Road that morning because they were working a new flooring project that day for their job and had to get equipment and stuff beforehand. IIRC, he was at the Loews with his coworker/s when he received the alert that the house’s alarm had gone off.

It sounded like his father was going to get the rest of his colleagues set up to continue the job while SB rushed back to the house to check on Liz and then he would leave too to check up on SB and Liz afterwards. I think SB’s mother also met up with him and OB at SB’s and Liz’s house as well.

Though in the original police video SB does say to the questioning officer and Liz’s father is that he wasn’t sure if father was coming to the house but he knew his mother was.

Also, something interesting SB somewhat pointed out is that the Liz’s killer did not appear to know her or her habits well enough to anticipate her coffee run, which she woke up very early to carry out, to Starbuck’s that morning. Perhaps this may explain why she wasn’t targeted during her trip to Starbuck’s and perhaps could indicate just how well her killer and any co-conspirators knew her JMO

 

[lonewanderer]

I admit my imagination is running a little wild right now, but....

What if the driver pulled over that morning after the shooting was in the truck the shooter was driving, but was not the shooter?

The bait and switch technique. One person (I strongly suspect a female) drives the truck and shoots Liz, then meets the accomplice (the male reported to be driving a vehicle that fit the description)and switches vehicles.

I have my doubts that this murder was this complex, but its a scenario that went through my mind. If someone got a glimpse of the shooter and could describe them, it would be best to swap out with someone that does not look like them at all to drive the vehicle way.

Just an idea. I don't have much reason to believe this would be the case, but it popped into my mind.

 

[fridaybaker]

I go back and forth on the timing with SB in the morning: On the one hand, it looks like so much of a coincidence that immediately after he left the truck pulls up and she's shot. On the other hand, he likely knew her enough to know that she was married. We know the killer did a drive-by of the house a few hours before. I just feel like it's likely he would know that he had to wait for the husband to leave before he killed her.

Today, I'm leaning toward the idea that the killer was simply up against two, very tight, time points -the first being that the husband needed to be "out of the way", and the second being that with every minute that went by, more people would be up and about, outside their houses, driving to work, walking the dog, etc.

Tomorrow, who knows. I could have an entirely different idea!

 

[lonewanderer]

I go back and forth on the timing with SB in the morning: On the one hand, it looks like so much of a coincidence that immediately after he left the truck pulls up and she's shot. On the other hand, he likely knew her enough to know that she was married. We know the killer did a drive-by of the house a few hours before. I just feel like it's likely he would know that he had to wait for the husband to leave before he killed her.

Today, I'm leaning toward the idea that the killer was simply up against two, very tight, time points -the first being that the husband needed to be "out of the way", and the second being that with every minute that went by, more people would be up and about, outside their houses, driving to work, walking the dog, etc.

Tomorrow, who knows. I could have an entirely different idea!

Why would it be so important for SB to not be there?

The shooter didn't have to overpower anyone or physically fight with them.

Did the shooter want to make sure SB was not harmed? Or did the shooter not want to risk chasing two different people with a gun? There could be many more reasons for this, but these are a few I thought of.

 

[fridaybaker]

Lonewanderer, I'm thinking that anytime one goes to kill, if they're only after one person, they'd probably want to isolate their target. Fewer "moving parts", so to speak. Fewer chances of witnesses. Your point is a good one, though, and one of the most aggravating aspects of this case to me is that there doesn't seem to be anything to support either view. It could be that the movements are coordinated among both parties, or.....not. Argh...

 

[ErinC]

Why would it be so important for SB to not be there?

The shooter didn't have to overpower anyone or physically fight with them.

Did the shooter want to make sure SB was not harmed? Or did the shooter not want to risk chasing two different people with a gun? There could be many more reasons for this, but these are a few I thought of.

The shooter may not have been completely certain they wouldn't have a fight on their hands. So many moving pieces had to go exactly right- what if at the last second Sergio realized he'd forgotten his coffee and had to go back inside and get it? what if Liz ran inside for something and got delayed? etc- that I have to think they at least entertained the possibility of having a physical fight on their hands. That leads me down a side tangent of wondering if the person knew Liz well enough to at least have some idea of how she'd respond to such a situation, but we have so little evidence either way in that direction.

 

[lonewanderer]

Lonewanderer, I'm thinking that anytime one goes to kill, if they're only after one person, they'd probably want to isolate their target. Fewer "moving parts", so to speak. Fewer chances of witnesses. Your point is a good one, though, and one of the most aggravating aspects of this case to me is that there doesn't seem to be anything to support either view. It could be that the movements are coordinated among both parties, or.....not. Argh...

The shooter may not have been completely certain they wouldn't have a fight on their hands. So many moving pieces had to go exactly right- what if at the last second Sergio realized he'd forgotten his coffee and had to go back inside and get it? what if Liz ran inside for something and got delayed? etc- that I have to think they at least entertained the possibility of having a physical fight on their hands. That leads me down a side tangent of wondering if the person knew Liz well enough to at least have some idea of how she'd respond to such a situation, but we have so little evidence either way in that direction.

I believe it’s most likely that the Barraza house was being monitored through the Ring or other connectivity app.

To know the information for that, they would have to know SB and Liz mighty, mighty well.

I think the shooter knew them well, and I think they extended their left hand to show Liz something before shooting her.

Liz takes a HUGE step back (I think she saw the gun) but leans in to get a better look and is shot right as she is leaning in.

To me, this suggests that whatever the shooter was showing Liz was familiar to Liz and/or extremely interesting to her (Liz).

I really wish we had got to see Lizs reaction first. Like throwing up her hands “Whoah! That’s not me!” Or rolling her eyes “this crap again? Really?” Or making a face like “ok, wait. I can explain. It was just a one time thing…”

The body language may have told us more, or may have just confused us more.

 

[Charlot123]

I believe it’s most likely that the Barraza house was being monitored through the Ring or other connectivity app.

To know the information for that, they would have to know SB and Liz mighty, mighty well.

I think the shooter knew them well, and I think they extended their left hand to show Liz something before shooting her.

Liz takes a HUGE step back (I think she saw the gun) but leans in to get a better look and is shot right as she is leaning in.

To me, this suggests that whatever the shooter was showing Liz was familiar to Liz and/or extremely interesting to her (Liz).

I really wish we had got to see Lizs reaction first. Like throwing up her hands “Whoah! That’s not me!” Or rolling her eyes “this crap again? Really?” Or making a face like “ok, wait. I can explain. It was just a one time thing…”

The body language may have told us more, or may have just confused us more.

Another type of the personality, totally different from the one I suspect (“a planner”), could be someone “jealous and impulsive”, like Reagan Anderson. Such a person doesn’t see the reality, “he fell out of love with me”, she will blame another woman, any woman. The person who is insanely, paranoidly jealous, would be monitoring all texts and communications of her BF, for a long time, collecting information about any potential rival. This is why I wonder if, indeed, shortly before Liz, there was another murder - not quite in the neighborhood, maybe 100-200 miles away, and seemingly unrelated to Liz? That person was probably a member of some online group that Liz was in, and probably, did not exchange any specific messages with Liz, or perhaps his style was sending messages to all women in the group. All it takes is a person like Reagan A. The chance of it being successful is less, but sometimes very impulsive, angry people may succeed because they are so fast.

 

[lonewanderer]

Another type of the personality, totally different from the one I suspect (“a planner”), could be someone “jealous and impulsive”, like Reagan Anderson. Such a person doesn’t see the reality, “he fell out of love with me”, she will blame another woman, any woman. The person who is insanely, paranoidly jealous, would be monitoring all texts and communications of her BF, for a long time, collecting information about any potential rival. This is why I wonder if, indeed, shortly before Liz, there was another murder - not quite in the neighborhood, maybe 100-200 miles away, and seemingly unrelated to Liz? That person was probably a member of some online group that Liz was in, and probably, did not exchange any specific messages with Liz, or perhaps his style was sending messages to all women in the group. All it takes is a person like Reagan A. The chance of it being successful is less, but sometimes very impulsive, angry people may succeed because they are so fast.

There is a case of an older woman being shot in her driveway not too long after Liz. Let me dig that one up again.

Reagan A I think a lot of Kaitlyn Armstrong when comparing cases with Liz.

 

[lonewanderer]

Another type of the personality, totally different from the one I suspect (“a planner”), could be someone “jealous and impulsive”, like Reagan Anderson. Such a person doesn’t see the reality, “he fell out of love with me”, she will blame another woman, any woman. The person who is insanely, paranoidly jealous, would be monitoring all texts and communications of her BF, for a long time, collecting information about any potential rival. This is why I wonder if, indeed, shortly before Liz, there was another murder - not quite in the neighborhood, maybe 100-200 miles away, and seemingly unrelated to Liz? That person was probably a member of some online group that Liz was in, and probably, did not exchange any specific messages with Liz, or perhaps his style was sending messages to all women in the group. All it takes is a person like Reagan A. The chance of it being successful is less, but sometimes very impulsive, angry people may succeed because they are so fast.

This was after Liz's shooting, but March 2019, a 52 year old Hispanic woman is shot in Houston:

Eleticia Rios Cano-Martinez:

TX - Eleticia Rios Cano Martinez, 52, grandmother, murdered in home driveway, Houston, 27 Feb 2019

Was Liz Hispanic? It may or may not make more similarities with this murder.

*** I think its noteworthy to mention that Kaitlyn Armstrong used a cycling app to monitor Mo Wilson's whereabouts and activities

 

[Charlot123]

There is a case of an older woman being shot in her driveway not too long after Liz. Let me dig that one up again.

Reagan A I think a lot of Kaitlyn Armstrong when comparing cases with Liz.

Kaitlyn A is a better-packaged version of Reagan A, but Kaitlyn seemed to be a long-term planner. She bought a gun and was practicing with her sister for quite a while, it seems.

Also, one wonders if Mo’s murder was triggered by the Big Eddie trip and CS lying like there was no tomorrow. Alternative version: had Mo skipped that travel to Austin in May, KA would still stalk and eventually kill her like she promised to the previous autumn, only later. I think it is highly possible. For some reason, KA had made up her opinion that Mo ruined it all between KA and CS.

And now imagine: Mo and CS don’t meet that evening, Mo wins her ride and leaves home the next day. KA continues quietly stalking her and kills her a year or two later. By that time, she and CS would not be an item, or alternatively, would be married. KA could have easily gotten away with murder, because a year or two later, no one would connect the dots.

 

[lonewanderer]

Kaitlyn A is a better-packaged version of Reagan A, but Kaitlyn seemed to be a long-term planner. She bought a gun and was practicing with her sister for quite a while, it seems.

Also, one wonders if Mo’s murder was triggered by the Big Eddie trip and CS lying like there was no tomorrow. Alternative version: had Mo skipped that travel to Austin in May, KA would still stalk and eventually kill her like she promised to that winter. I think it is highly possible. For some reason, KA had made up her opinion that Mo ruined it all between KA and CS.

And now imagine: Mo and CS don’t meet that evening, Mo wins her ride and leaves home the next day. KA continues quietly stalking her and kills her a year or two later. By that time, she and CS would not be an item, or alternatively, would be married. KA could have easily gotten away with murder, because a year or two later, no one would connect the dots.

I have always thought KA was a mix of compulsion and a planned hit, which I also think may be the case for Liz, too.

I say this because the vehicle was spotted very early that morning, well before the murder. This has made be believe this could be for a couple of reasons.

1) The shooter had a grudge with Liz and "borrowed" the truck at an opportune time. I suspect the truck belonged to someone visiting out of state, and one (I have a couple) theory is that the shooter borrowed the truck while the owner was sleeping. 2am-7am sound like prime times for this. Being back with the truck as late as 9am the shooter would have a pre-planned excuse for using it.

2) The shooter was from out of town and hired to kill Liz. In the Dan Markle case a similar thing happened, with two guys driving around scoping things out before shooting him in his driveway.

 

[Charlot123]

This was after Liz's shooting, but March 2019, a 52 year old Hispanic woman is shot in Houston:

Eleticia Rios Cano-Martinez:

TX - Eleticia Rios Cano Martinez, 52, grandmother, murdered in home driveway, Houston, 27 Feb 2019

Was Liz Hispanic? It may or may not make more similarities with this murder.

*** I think its noteworthy to mention that Kaitlyn Armstrong used a cycling app to monitor Mo Wilson's whereabouts and activities

I Googled - Nuelle appears to be a North Germanic surname. Maybe the connection is tangential.

I see more parallels between Ms. Martinez being a volunteer teacher’s aid in an elementary school and Liz performing in some hospitals for sick kids.

We really don’t know what guides people’s actions. Maybe a devastated, but not very stable parent suspected women of “jinxing” the kid? Who knows? If we remove the life insurance issue in LB’s case (a factor that could prompt a very logical person to kill), all other potential reasons seem emotion-based, at least, to me. Not every “planner” is stable.