TX - Elizabeth Barraza, 29, murdered setting up garage sale, Harris Co, Jan 2019 #4

[SnowAngels]

2 people would make an 18 hour drive much more manageable. AS theorized there were 2 people in the truck. Wonder who would have enough buy-in for this crime to possibly be there with suspect and support them as an accomplice (because that is essentially what they were, unless they were forced to be in the truck against their will, which I doubt).

 

[arielilane]

Just to further entertain this idea and line of thought. It’s an 18 hour drive from Miami to Houston (of course shorter if you fly). For the suspect to be there at 2 am Friday, they would have had to leave at the latest by 5 or 6 am Thursday morning IF they made the trip by car (assuming 2 hours add on or so for stops for food and fuel.)

I cannot recall- when did S and L start communicating the garage sale to family and friends? If by Wednesday night, that would have been enough time for a Miami-based POI to find out and have a window of time for trip prep. Just thinking….

Flying seems like an option, arriving in Houston Thurs evening? moo

 

[KindMind1ofA]

Flying seems like an option, arriving in Houston Thurs evening? moo

I just can't imagine being willing to leave the paper trail that flying would produce

 

[KindMind1ofA]

Also I'm not sure who the POI is, but it's possible they're in Miami now, but were living closer by in 2019

 

[santacruztodd]

No 24-hour casinos in Houston. Would need to drive an hour to Livingston TX or Louisiana which is couple of hours.

Waffle House, Walmart parking lot for a snooze, any number of truck stops could sleep in the car in and no one would be the wiser. I took a quick nap in a Bucc-ees parking lot once when I couldn’t drive any further. Also slept in a Walgreens parking lot once for a bit.

Can’t imagine a hotel would have been used as there would be receipts. Pay cash for gas for the drive, sleep in truck cab if needed.

I agree you drive by at 2AM for a location you have never been before if you have a tight timeline. I drive by places when I have important meetings before I head to hotel.

IMOO

So, perhaps we have a person from out of town, which supports the 2am drive by and the "here and gone" nature of the vehicle. Now we combine this other important facts:

1) The killer knew about the yard sale-not only that, they knew about what type of items would be there.
2) The killer knew enough ABOUT the sale that they could COMFORTABLY wear a disguise/cosplay getup to both disguise theirself AND put Liz at ease as they approached. This is important-if they wore a disguise and this was just a normal yard sale, Liz would have been alarmed to see a costumed person approaching her. She most-likely would have ran or screamed.

We also know that the POI specifically asked Liz about the stormtrooper helmet, lending more credence to the fact that this was an item the killer may have expected to see. For whatever reason, the killer asked how much THAT item was. He could have asked about any of the items-why that one? Was it simply the most prominent item (bright white in dim lighting) as the killer approached?

The killer had to be able to approach Liz at close range without alarming her. The yard sale provided the perfect opportunity for this, yet how did the killer know? Who had this information? It's almost like you had to be there sitting with Liz and Sergio as they planned the details of the sale. There is just too much going on for someone to be THAT lucky.

 

[Chelly]

So, perhaps we have a person from out of town, which supports the 2am drive by and the "here and gone" nature of the vehicle. Now we combine this other important facts:

1) The killer knew about the yard sale-not only that, they knew about what type of items would be there.
2) The killer knew enough ABOUT the sale that they could COMFORTABLY wear a disguise/cosplay getup to both disguise theirself AND put Liz at ease as they approached. This is important-if they wore a disguise and this was just a normal yard sale, Liz would have been alarmed to see a costumed person approaching her. She most-likely would have ran or screamed.

We also know that the POI specifically asked Liz about the stormtrooper helmet, lending more credence to the fact that this was an item the killer may have expected to see. For whatever reason, the killer asked how much THAT item was. He could have asked about any of the items-why that one? Was it simply the most prominent item (bright white in dim lighting) as the killer approached?

The killer had to be able to approach Liz at close range without alarming her. The yard sale provided the perfect opportunity for this, yet how did the killer know? Who had this information? It's almost like you had to be there sitting with Liz and Sergio as they planned the details of the sale. There is just too much going on for someone to be THAT lucky.

I like your analysis.

 

[ilovewings]

So, perhaps we have a person from out of town, which supports the 2am drive by and the "here and gone" nature of the vehicle. Now we combine this other important facts:

1) The killer knew about the yard sale-not only that, they knew about what type of items would be there.
2) The killer knew enough ABOUT the sale that they could COMFORTABLY wear a disguise/cosplay getup to both disguise theirself AND put Liz at ease as they approached. This is important-if they wore a disguise and this was just a normal yard sale, Liz would have been alarmed to see a costumed person approaching her. She most-likely would have ran or screamed.

We also know that the POI specifically asked Liz about the stormtrooper helmet, lending more credence to the fact that this was an item the killer may have expected to see. For whatever reason, the killer asked how much THAT item was. He could have asked about any of the items-why that one? Was it simply the most prominent item (bright white in dim lighting) as the killer approached?

The killer had to be able to approach Liz at close range without alarming her. The yard sale provided the perfect opportunity for this, yet how did the killer know? Who had this information? It's almost like you had to be there sitting with Liz and Sergio as they planned the details of the sale. There is just too much going on for someone to be THAT lucky.

how do we know that the POI specifically asked Liz about the storm trooper helmet? is that a fact or a rumor?

 

[Ajs1004]

No 24-hour casinos in Houston. Would need to drive an hour to Livingston TX or Louisiana which is couple of hours.

Waffle House, Walmart parking lot for a snooze, any number of truck stops could sleep in the car in and no one would be the wiser. I took a quick nap in a Bucc-ees parking lot once when I couldn’t drive any further. Also slept in a Walgreens parking lot once for a bit.

Can’t imagine a hotel would have been used as there would be receipts. Pay cash for gas for the drive, sleep in truck cab if needed.

I agree you drive by at 2AM for a location you have never been before if you have a tight timeline. I drive by places when I have important meetings before I head to hotel.

IMOO

There are 24 hour casinos in Houston but they aren’t legal just rooms with slot machines and stuff.

 

[santacruztodd]

No 24-hour casinos in Houston. Would need to drive an hour to Livingston TX or Louisiana which is couple of hours.

Waffle House, Walmart parking lot for a snooze, any number of truck stops could sleep in the car in and no one would be the wiser. I took a quick nap in a Bucc-ees parking lot once when I couldn’t drive any further. Also slept in a Walgreens parking lot once for a bit.

Can’t imagine a hotel would have been used as there would be receipts. Pay cash for gas for the drive, sleep in truck cab if needed.

I agree you drive by at 2AM for a location you have never been before if you have a tight timeline. I drive by places when I have important meetings before I head to hotel.

IMOO

So, perhaps we have a person from out of town, which supports the 2am drive by and the "here and gone" nature of the vehicle. Now we combine this other important facts:

1) The killer knew about the yard sale-not only that, they knew about what type of items would be there.
2) The killer knew enough ABOUT the sale that they could COMFORTABLY wear a disguise/cosplay getup to both disguise theirself AND put Liz at ease as they approached. This is important-if they wore a disguise and this was just a normal yard sale, Liz would have been alarmed to see a costumed person approaching her. She most-likely would have ran or screamed.

We also know that the POI specifically asked Liz about the stormtrooper helmet, lending more credence to the fact that this was an item the killer may have expected to see. For whatever reason, the killer asked how much THAT item was. He could have asked about any of the items-why that one? Was it simply the most prominent item (bright white in dim lighting) as the killer approached?

The killer had to be able to approach Liz at close range without alarming her. The yard sale provided the perfect opportunity for this, yet how did the killer know? Who had this information? It's almost like you had to be there sitting with Liz and Sergio as they planned the details of the sale. There is just too much going on for someone to be THAT lucky.

how do we know that the POI specifically asked Liz about the storm trooper helmet? is that a fact or a rumor?

This was part of the audio analysis from Arrin Stoner’s video.

 

[PawneeDew]

So, perhaps we have a person from out of town, which supports the 2am drive by and the "here and gone" nature of the vehicle. Now we combine this other important facts:

1) The killer knew about the yard sale-not only that, they knew about what type of items would be there.
2) The killer knew enough ABOUT the sale that they could COMFORTABLY wear a disguise/cosplay getup to both disguise theirself AND put Liz at ease as they approached. This is important-if they wore a disguise and this was just a normal yard sale, Liz would have been alarmed to see a costumed person approaching her. She most-likely would have ran or screamed.

We also know that the POI specifically asked Liz about the stormtrooper helmet, lending more credence to the fact that this was an item the killer may have expected to see. For whatever reason, the killer asked how much THAT item was. He could have asked about any of the items-why that one? Was it simply the most prominent item (bright white in dim lighting) as the killer approached?

The killer had to be able to approach Liz at close range without alarming her. The yard sale provided the perfect opportunity for this, yet how did the killer know? Who had this information? It's almost like you had to be there sitting with Liz and Sergio as they planned the details of the sale. There is just too much going on for someone to be THAT lucky.

This was part of the audio analysis from Arrin Stoner’s video.

Is the audio in that enhanced at all, tho?

 

[iamnotagolem]

I think we should be cautious taking any theory about what is said as fact, the truth is other than Liz saying “good morning” nothing else is discernible. There are plenty of theories by people who have “enhanced and analyzed” the audio, but it feels a lot more like people hear what they want to hear.

 

[ilovewings]

So, perhaps we have a person from out of town, which supports the 2am drive by and the "here and gone" nature of the vehicle. Now we combine this other important facts:

1) The killer knew about the yard sale-not only that, they knew about what type of items would be there.
2) The killer knew enough ABOUT the sale that they could COMFORTABLY wear a disguise/cosplay getup to both disguise theirself AND put Liz at ease as they approached. This is important-if they wore a disguise and this was just a normal yard sale, Liz would have been alarmed to see a costumed person approaching her. She most-likely would have ran or screamed.

We also know that the POI specifically asked Liz about the stormtrooper helmet, lending more credence to the fact that this was an item the killer may have expected to see. For whatever reason, the killer asked how much THAT item was. He could have asked about any of the items-why that one? Was it simply the most prominent item (bright white in dim lighting) as the killer approached?

The killer had to be able to approach Liz at close range without alarming her. The yard sale provided the perfect opportunity for this, yet how did the killer know? Who had this information? It's almost like you had to be there sitting with Liz and Sergio as they planned the details of the sale. There is just too much going on for someone to be THAT lucky.

how do we know that the POI specifically asked Liz about the storm trooper helmet? is that a fact or a rumor?

I think we should be cautious taking any theory about what is said as fact, the truth is other than Liz saying “good morning” nothing else is discernible. There are plenty of theories by people who have “enhanced and analyzed” the audio, but it feels a lot more like people hear what they want to hear.

Totally agree- I have read different people making statements about what the killer allegedly said- and I am taking all of these statements with a grain of salt. I will believe it when the police state what the killer said.

 

[arielilane]

Thank you for giving Arrin Stoner credit for the work that he is doing. It's his theory which his videos are posted here on these threads. I felt the need to post that for what its worth.

 

[SnowAngels]

Below is an emerging theory I have, so MOO only. This theory is informed by the pieces of info and other speculation I’ve picked up from here and other sites. I will try to outline my theory without outright accusing anyone. Innocent until proven guilty.

L had a half million dollar life insurance policy at work, which I think may be the driving motivation in this crime. An individual close to S and L was experiencing financial problems, the financial problems impacted S as well. The insurance policy was seen as a solution to monetary issues swirling about. So perhaps someone close to S and L kicked this planned crime into gear. Could S have been aware somehow of idea swirling about?

POI in Florida was contacted, they were willing to do it for potential financial gain.

This is all I have so far, hopefully I explained it in a way that aligns with the rules of this site.

ETA: Crime was purposefully done before trip to FL for some reason individual who kicked off the crime had…financial in some way or for spite?

 

[iamnotagolem]

How would Sergio’s dad know Liz had a life insurance policy at work or how much it was worth? No one in my family knows how much life insurance we carry and certainly not employer based life insurance.

If Sergio’s dad was having money problems, I’d guess this wasn’t some new problem so at what point would her life insurance policy be discussed with him?

 

[SnowAngels]

I suggest you edit this post to avoid going against WS rules. We simply don’t know what information is known and shared between individuals close with each other.

 

[MntnHiker]

I am not ruling out that the killer knew about the garage sale ahead of time. However, I think this all still works if they didn't know about it. The cosplay get up (if that's indeed what it is they are wearing) could be because they knew of Liz's affiliation with the group. And it doubles as a disguise for CCTV.

If they did in fact refer to the storm trooper helmet in the audio, it could just be they were trying to disarm her/put her at ease while they approached her. If the helmet wasn't there, they may have referred to a different item and inquired about the price (again IF this is what is in the audio which we don't know for sure).

What would their plan have been if there was no garage sale? Maybe to accost her while leaving for work that morning. Since I think we established that the garage sale signs went up in the neighborhood the night before and we know the killer drove through at 2 AM, it really could have been a last minute change of plans when seeing her address on the garage sale signs.

Now, it's completely possible they knew about the sale and factored that in all along. But I do still think the plan could have been planned without the sale.

 

[KindMind1ofA]

I agree with all of your points - but one piece of data to add in, evidently (based on recent interviews), Liz would have left for work before the time of the murder if not for the garage sale... So the murderer was too late if they were hoping to catch Liz before she left for work.

 

[arielilane]

Below is an emerging theory I have, so MOO only. This theory is informed by the pieces of info and other speculation I’ve picked up from here and other sites. I will try to outline my theory without outright accusing anyone. Innocent until proven guilty.

L had a half million dollar life insurance policy at work, which I think may be the driving motivation in this crime. An individual close to S and L was experiencing financial problems, the financial problems impacted S as well. The insurance policy was seen as a solution to monetary issues swirling about. So perhaps someone close to S and L kicked this planned crime into gear. Could S have been aware somehow of idea swirling about?

POI in Florida was contacted, they were willing to do it for potential financial gain.

This is all I have so far, hopefully I explained it in a way that aligns with the rules of this site.

ETA: Crime was purposefully done before trip to FL for some reason individual who kicked off the crime had…financial in some way or for spite?

Thank you. Well done. I haven't been able to articulate this in order to stay within TOS. Additionally, someone was quick to do a go - fund - me shortly after the murder of Liz Barraza. moo

 

[arielilane]

This is in general terms. Typically most employers offer life insurance and the beneficiary is spouse. moo