TX - Elizabeth Barraza, 29, murdered setting up garage sale, Harris County, Jan 2019 #2

[OverTheRhine]

The Delphi murders made me lose a lot of confidence in LEs abilities to clean up audio and video.

The FBI, Disney and NASA worked on the Delphi video. The audio is fine. You can easily make out the words we are given. You can't create something that isn't there from a digital video. There's only so much you can do with low resolution video. It all boils down to pixels. The video taken of BG was taken roughly 70 feet away. Local PD in this case should have no problem outsourcing audio and video experts to clean up the footage.

 

[bears10]

The FBI, Disney and NASA worked on the Delphi video. The audio is fine. You can easily make out the words we are given. You can't create something that isn't there from a digital video. There's only so much you can do with low resolution video. It all boils down to pixels. The video taken of BG was taken roughly 70 feet away. Local PD in this case should have no problem outsourcing audio and video experts to clean up the footage.

I do hope so

 

[acehard]

It depends on the brand, plan, and settings. I pay for a ring subscription and I have my cameras set to record when they sense motion. You can have them set to record at certain intervals as well. I have indoor Wyze cameras that record clips when they sense motion, but I don’t pay for a plan so I don’t know what the paid plans offer.

The reason I was asking is, do they record every car that passes by on the street? Wont there be a delay to start recording after sensing motion?

 

[bears10]

The reason I was asking is, do they record every car that passes by on the street? Wont there be a delay to start recording after sensing motion?

Hard wired ring devices have a feature called “pre roll” which actually records a few seconds before the motion. I’m not sure if other brands have a similar feature.

Pre-Roll and Advanced Pre-Roll - Understanding the Difference

 

[nao]

I have not looked at map but the truck always came by clock wise..on other side of road from their house. So LE should be able to figure which way it entered neighborhood... Moo

 

[acehard]

Hard wired ring devices have a feature called “pre roll” which actually records a few seconds before the motion. I’m not sure if other brands have a similar feature.

Pre-Roll and Advanced Pre-Roll - Understanding the Difference

Thank you. So only the newer/better models have this technology and you have to pay extra for the subscription to get anything useful to recognize a passing vehicle. I would assume most people wont have this. Most people want to see who is at their door/packages etc. IMO

 

[Locomule]

The door cam footage begins before the killer first drives by and seems to run continuously until they leave whereas every copy I find of the video from across the street seems to show the truck drive by, then cuts to just before the now parked killer walks up to Elizabeth. Does anyone know why that footage is always cut or even better a link to an uncut version if such exists?

 

[bears10]

Thank you. So only the newer/better models have this technology and you have to pay extra for the subscription to get anything useful to recognize a passing vehicle. I would assume most people wont have this. Most people want to see who is at their door/packages etc. IMO

A lot of people pay for ring subscriptions, especially if they have cameras, IME. Subscriptions aren’t expensive for what you get.

 

[bears10]

The door cam footage begins before the killer first drives by and seems to run continuously until they leave whereas every copy I find of the video from across the street seems to show the truck drive by, then cuts to just before the now parked killer walks up to Elizabeth. Does anyone know why that footage is always cut or even better a link to an uncut version if such exists?

The device may only record for X amounts of seconds after sensing motion.

 

[sl222]

IMO whatever the killer said was planned for the sake of the Ring recorder. I think everything was planned. Liz had a yearly garage sale, like many people do since in subdivisions like this; you are allowed one garage sale per year. The logical place to put the signs that morning would have been on Kuykendahl and the entrance street into the subdivision. Thousands of people would have seen the signs, but at that hour, almost no one would be driving up to the sale (before 7am) *unless* it had been advertised on a place like Craigslist.

IMO a possibility: The owner of the truck never knew it was taken in the first place. The truck could have been on a car lot of some kind - there are hundreds of places with old cars - auto graveyards, repair shops in the boonies, etc. The truck was only needed from midnight the night before to 8am.

I also would like to know if Liz was on her phone just before this. It looked to me somewhat like she was on a phone call and possibly was gesturing, so if that's true, that caused me to think she was not happy with who she was talking to. (pure speculation here) The police know way more than we do, no doubt.

Nextdoor and similar places are very active so I am sure that almost everyone in that subdivision knows about this. Not to mention that since this happened, several homes nearby Liz's home have been sold by the owners who lived there at that time.

P.S. The killer wouldn't have to turn around in someone's driveway because this street ends in a cul de sac.

 

[JnRyan]

IMO a possibility: The owner of the truck never knew it was taken in the first place. The truck could have been on a car lot of some kind - there are hundreds of places with old cars - auto graveyards, repair shops in the boonies, etc. The truck was only needed from midnight the night before to 8am.

I've thought about that. How could that happen? I needed a rental once and the only the vehicle they had available was a sub-compact and a pick-up. A rental agency where the person uses the vehicle between that night and before opening the next morning? I wonder how much agencies track mileage. A person out-of-town or out of the country and this killer is house sitting with access to the truck? A military member, active or reserve, deployed and this killer has custody of the truck? Ft. Hood and the installations around San Antonio are 3 hours away and NAS Corpus Christi is 4 hours. When I deployed twice I left my car with family over a thousand miles away and another time with a friend 6 hours away. Had my car been used in a crime I would not have known. The owner was in the hospital at the time? If this truck is back where it belongs and is hours away or even on the other side of Houston now it is out of sight and out of mind now with regard to an innocent owner. And a person wasn't killed in the truck and it wasn't used to move Elizabeth's body so forensic evidence is of little use. If LE does find a POI and say the POI's DNA is in the truck he (or she) simply states they've been in the truck several times. Any gunshot residue on the seat or carpet can be explained by frequently shooting at a friend's farm, at the gun range or hunting.

I can't believe we have yet another case where there is video or a photo and yet it is of little value in leading to the killer.

 

[spivey]

I can't believe we have yet another case where there is video or a photo and yet it is of little value in leading to the killer.

Worse yet, the video in these cases might end up aiding the killer if they are successful in their disguise. In video from two of the three most well-known cases from the past several years, there isn’t even a consensus on whether the killer is male or female.

For the sake of argument, let’s say a murder is caught on tape. The video leaves LE thinking that the murderer is female. If in fact the murderer is male, the’ve either manipulated the pool of suspects to exclude themselves, or at worst, doubled the pool of suspects to include males and females.

 

[Curiousobserver]

I've thought about that. How could that happen? I needed a rental once and the only the vehicle they had available was a sub-compact and a pick-up. A rental agency where the person uses the vehicle between that night and before opening the next morning? I wonder how much agencies track mileage. A person out-of-town or out of the country and this killer is house sitting with access to the truck? A military member, active or reserve, deployed and this killer has custody of the truck? Ft. Hood and the installations around San Antonio are 3 hours away and NAS Corpus Christi is 4 hours. When I deployed twice I left my car with family over a thousand miles away and another time with a friend 6 hours away. Had my car been used in a crime I would not have known. The owner was in the hospital at the time? If this truck is back where it belongs and is hours away or even on the other side of Houston now it is out of sight and out of mind now with regard to an innocent owner. And a person wasn't killed in the truck and it wasn't used to move Elizabeth's body so forensic evidence is of little use. If LE does find a POI and say the POI's DNA is in the truck he (or she) simply states they've been in the truck several times. Any gunshot residue on the seat or carpet can be explained by frequently shooting at a friend's farm, at the gun range or hunting.

I can't believe we have yet another case where there is video or a photo and yet it is of little value in leading to the killer.

The issue with the car is if someone or something got an image of the plate, there is almost no circumstance where it couldn't be linked to you. The owner would have had to have no knowledge at all that you had the truck.

If you worked for a rental, although it couldn't be linked to you, you could be linked to her from that pool of employees.

This one is really odd...

 

[Satchie]

The issue with the car is if someone or something got an image of the plate, there is almost no circumstance where it couldn't be linked to you. The owner would have had to have no knowledge at all that you had the truck.

If you worked for a rental, although it couldn't be linked to you, you could be linked to her from that pool of employees.

This one is really odd...

There are definitely instances of stolen plates. Mine were stolen once, I didn't notice since I didn't use my vehicle for a couple of days. LE found them somehow, and adopted a suspicious attitude when they questioned me, about whether I'd loaned them to anyone, but I'm a very innocuous person. I had to write and send in a signed statement. I have no idea whether they'd been used to commit a crime.

 

[acehard]

I read somewhere earlier that if it's a costume, it could be a 'Mon Mothma' or 'Leia Organa Solo' costume. Was there any discussion around this?

 

[Rollsballs]

I read somewhere earlier that if it's a costume, it could be a 'Mon Mothma' or 'Leia Organa Solo' costume. Was there any discussion around this?

IMO the Leia Organa one fits because of the color scheme

 

[acehard]

IMO the Leia Organa one fits because of the color scheme

The knee high dress and high boots also fit. It's just speculation

 

[Betty P]

The knee high dress and high boots also fit. It's just speculation

Its not exactly a current fashion, so that choice of short coat and knee boots is very unique. Specific, not your typical disguise.

 

[acehard]

A lot of people pay for ring subscriptions, especially if they have cameras, IME. Subscriptions aren’t expensive for what you get.

There are different price plans - you need the newer/expensive camera and pay a higher subscription price for the technology IIRC. In hindsight, it makes sense to pay the extra, but most people are not installing these to catch passing by cars. A basic camera/subscription is enough to see who is at the door/catch robbers.

 

[BINGOdinoDNA]

I read somewhere earlier that if it's a costume, it could be a 'Mon Mothma' or 'Leia Organa Solo' costume. Was there any discussion around this?

I don't remember who initially posted this, but they suggested a padme amidala costume. I always thought it was just an oversized sweater with tights and high boots until I saw this photo. MOO