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

[x_files]

Has anyone looked into whether this is the same perp as in the Missy Bevers case? The body shape.. the randomness.. the hours..

at this point why not? You never know.. both take place in Texas correct?

 

[JaneGaGa]

As for motives, disagree this was someone she knew or who knew her. As with Bevers it was one of two motives:

1. A random killing by a deeply disturbed person
2. A hit

I’m leaning more toward 1 though. This person enjoys chasing his/her prey a little - feeling powerful and taking lives.

 

[Cryptic]

Are these trading cards of significant value? Can more than one person have the same costume approved? If she was selling cosplay stuff I can see her mentioning the garage sale to her legion.

Very good questions. I have no idea about the cards or the costume approvals. But... there does seem to be a storm trooper type helmet amongst the items for sale.

Earlier, we had a member who had extensively participated in cosplay- but in another genre. I wish she (feminine writing vibes) were still here. She might know about the cards and costume approval / multiple wearers.

 

[lonewanderer]

Adding with bevers and Barraza the shooter has an affinity for Nissans and disguises

I’m struck by the similarities and the gender confusion in both.

I don't think they are related at all, and I do not believe Liz's killer is in disguise. I think Liz's shooter is a woman, a mother, and is in the 501st Legion with a particular tie to the Star Wars Jawa character. I think she is dressed like she is performing a morning activity such as walking the dog.

If you are looking for more similarites to Liz's case, check out Mo Wilson and Kaitlyn Armstrong. A woman, in Texas, is shot point blank at her home multiple times, with a fatal shot when she's on the ground. The shooter is caught on Ring doorbell camera circling the neighborhood and going back around to look at the victim. There is more too it, but MUCH more similar than Missy's.

 

[lonewanderer]

Are these trading cards of significant value? Can more than one person have the same costume approved? If she was selling cosplay stuff I can see her mentioning the garage sale to her legion.

ETA: do we know what time her garage sale was advertised for? Perhaps she was setting up extra early to attract the before work/ just dropped the kids off to school crowd.

Yes.

Liz was approved for Jawa very shortly before her death.

The mother in the 501st Legion who I think may have had a problem with has many approved costumes, with Jawa being her biggest claim to fame.

 

[Charlot123]

Although there are plenty of people who question the disguise in both cases.

I agree, though. Very interesting. Also, both done early morning, before light (or just getting light). And, both in Texas. Both victims women.

Works at a Nissan dealer?

Nissan is a brilliant idea

 

[JaneGaGa]

Lonewanderer, perhaps you are right but are those cases within three hours distance wise, same make of car (but diff model), seemingly disguised, female targets, and during weird hours?

 

[Charlot123]

Detectives, narrow down your search to someone who owns both cars I know it’s a long shot but feels interesting enough to look into. You ready for my next guess? Check the Walmart parking lots that aren’t far from both locations to see if the person was spending the night there.

If the dealership is possible, I'd rather think the person could have spent the night at work. Especially in a snowy or rainy weather in TX. There are jobs that are connected with paperwork processing so "I shall stay later to finish paperwork, it is a long drive" is a good explanation.

 

[lonewanderer]

Lonewanderer, perhaps you are right but are those cases within three hours distance wise, same make of car (but diff model), seemingly disguised, female targets, and during weird hours?

They have some things in common, sure.

Texas, early morning, CCTV footage, discussions of social media posts advertising where they would be alone at that time.

Liz's killer drove to her house, was reckless with being seen that way, shot her in her driveway point blank with no regard for who may have been around. I don't think Liz's killer is in costume. I think she is dressed like someone Liz's age who would be doing a pre-ready routine like walking the dog.

Missy's killer carefully hid their transportation from cameras and lurked in a church alone, with a ridiculous SWAT getup. This person waddled around slowly and showed no signs of urgency. Liz's killer got up to her quickly and sprinted away the second (I believe its a "she") was done shooting her. Missy's killer had all kinds of tools on them, and Liz's killer simply confronted Liz with something and shot her.

While there is some core similarities, I don't think they are much too similar after the surface level details are discussed.

If you are looking for something closer to Missy's case, check out Sheila Warren who dressed as a clown to kill her love interest, or Lisa Nowak, who had a ridiculous amount of things like pepper spray, wigs, trench coats, gloves, and drove cross country to stalk her love rival in disguise, in an airport.

If you want closer comparisons to Liz, read up on Mo Wilson and Kaitlyn Armstrong. Armstrong followed Mo on a biking app, shot her point blank at her home and put fatal shots in her while she was on the ground, like Liz. She then circled around and was caught on Ring camera multiple times. All this was in Texas, too.

 

[Cryptic]

So I don't go to yard sales, but I know how other bulk sales are organized. Usually it is Friday 12-evening, all Saturday and 1/2 Sunday.

Yard sales targeting "pickers" in big cities with re sale intent tend to start very early on Friday.

A certain number of pickers come from rural areas. I have met some that drive from small towns in Arkansas or Mississippi to DFW to buy furniture and home decor for their "brick and mortar" store back home.

Whether in state or out of state, pickers will usually blitz a very large number of nicer yard sales, estate sales, better thrift stores over the weekend. They start very early on Friday to visit as many sites as possible.

Meanwhile, yard salers catering to pickers know that they start early on Friday. They also know that the right picker can buy pretty much everything they have at once.

So.... an early Friday opening increases the possibility of an early sell out. And... an early sell out can mean closure on Friday afternoon, leaving the rest of the weekend free.

 

[glassheater]

Yard sales targeting "pickers" in big cities with re sale intent tend to start very early on Friday.

A certain number of pickers come from rural areas. I have met some that drive from small towns in Arkansas or Mississippi to DFW to buy furniture and home decor for their "brick and mortar" store back home.

Whether in state or out of state, pickers will usually blitz a very large number nicer yard sales, estate sales, better thrift stores over the weekend. They start very early on Friday to visit as many sites as possible.

Meanwhile, yard salers catering to pickers know that they start early. They also know that the right picker can buy pretty much everything they have at once.

So.... an early Friday opening increases the possibility of an early sell out. And... an early sell out can mean closure on Friday afternoon, leaving the rest of the weekend free.

Very interesting. I wonder if that’s who she was targeting. However I thought there would have been much more and earlier advertisement to attract such a crowd.

 

[Cryptic]

Very interesting. I wonder if that’s who she was targeting. However I thought there would have been much more and earlier advertisement to attract such a crowd.

I think you have a very good point.

But... she may of advertised, but not primarily via signs. Garage salers with pickers in mind usually advertise of specialty websites that pickers review.

Pickers need to move fast, so they usually dont spend alot of time looking for random garage sales- unless its say, a nice area where a random sale might have something interesting re sale wise.

So, its possible that the victim advertised early on "pro / serious" garage sale websites- then stuck up signs the day of to catch casual buyers for the extra stuff.

I guess the questions are: Did the victim approach garage sales in the picker focused way? Or, was she a casual seller? I am thinking "casual seller" . Unless.... she had a relative large amount of higher end cosplay gear to sell.

 

[MntnHiker]

It is very common where I live (in the Midwest) to have garage sales on Friday-Sat or even Th-Fri-Sat. Most sales begin by 8 AM even on weekdays and sometimes, serious garage sale folks show up 30-60 min earlier than the stated opening time.

I don't find the Friday sale odd but it is a bit unorthodox perhaps to not advertise anywhere except by physical signs. If you don't want to pay for a newspaper ad, most people at least post on Next Door, Craigslist, FB Marketplace, or the like. Is it possible she ended up doing that and just didn't mention it to her parents or husband so they weren't aware? Not in a nefarious way, just thinking last minute "I guess I should probably also post this somewhere online" so she just did it without mentioning it? Of course, I'm sure LE could have found that online posting if they looked.

I'm also curious if other garage sales were happening in her subdivision that day. If so, she may have gotten enough traffic just from other people stopping by advertised sales nearby and then seeing her signs/passing her driveway.

 

[Kittybunny]

Yes.

Liz was approved for Jawa very shortly before her death.

The mother in the 501st Legion who I think may have had a problem with has many approved costumes, with Jawa being her biggest claim to fame.

I've been very reluctant to seriously consider the cosplay motivation theory (usually because they often are justified by comments about cosplayers being weirdos and somehow capable of murder, which is so far out of the realm of most nerdy people I know who enjoy this sort of thing that it's almost offensive to me) but your theory is well thought out and very plausible. And, of course, unhinged, jealous people exist in all kinds of hobbies, just look at Kaitlyn Armstrong, as you've brought up.

I've been 100 per cent centered on this being a very close to home murder, but you make a very compelling case. Given that Sergio mentioned her, though, you would think that law-enforcement had completely checked out this person that you suspect. I hadn't envisioned somebody like that being able to cover their tracks so thoroughly but then again, sometimes people get lucky.

Regardless of who is responsible Always hopeful for justice for Liz! May the Force prevail!

 

[charminglane]

Is a permit required for a garage sale there?
Possibly a city employee selling a permit unknowingly tells someone else where the sales are, addresses...

 

[glassheater]

I've been very reluctant to seriously consider the cosplay motivation theory (usually because they often are justified by comments about cosplayers being weirdos and somehow capable of murder, which is so far out of the realm of most nerdy people I know who enjoy this sort of thing that it's almost offensive to me) but your theory is well thought out and very plausible. And, of course, unhinged, jealous people exist in all kinds of hobbies, just look at Kaitlyn Armstrong, as you've brought up.

I've been 100 per cent centered on this being a very close to home murder, but you make a very compelling case. Given that Sergio mentioned her, though, you would think that law-enforcement had completely checked out this person that you suspect. I hadn't envisioned somebody like that being able to cover their tracks so thoroughly but then again, sometimes people get lucky.

Regardless of who is responsible Always hopeful for justice for Liz! May the Force prevail!

I echo your sentiments. I'm not fully convinced it was SB ordering a hit but I thought perhaps a love triangle but there has never been any confirmation of one to my knowledge. His behavior did seem odd and I know he moved on fast. But I personally know of a spouse of a murdered victim who remarried quick. However, he couldn't cope with the trauma of the loss and ended up taking his own life a couple years later. It humbled me and made me realize one can assume they'll deal with trauma a certain way but unless we are in those awful shoes, we don't really know.

 

[glassheater]

Yes.

Liz was approved for Jawa very shortly before her death.

The mother in the 501st Legion who I think may have had a problem with has many approved costumes, with Jawa being her biggest claim to fame.

I googled searched trading cards 501st legion and wow, I didn't realize how popular the trading cards are! I took a dive in their reddit page and learned their costumes cost 1000s.There seems to be a significant investment in time and money to get approval for a trading card. I wonder if the perp held up a trading card to Liz.

 

[Marzipan]

My latest theory:
A woman saw something online (like a chat, a forum message, or instant message) and printed a copy for "proof" of wrongdoing.
She confronts Elizabeth with the "proof" and asks if she is the "username" in the message. Elizabeth reacts and the shooter killed her.
I'm going back to this being an emotional vendetta instead of stealing an item of value.
Most likely she thought Elizabeth's message was infuriating in some way. Such an emotional response makes me ponder if she thought Elizabeth was flirty with her husband and became jealous.

All IMO

Good thought, but I just don't see how there was time for Liz to even register what was on the page. (If it was a page. I think we really don't know what it is.)
To me it looks like the shooter shows her something with one hand to distract her, and immediately pulls out the gun and shoots. It gives the shooter a second or so to reach into his/her coat, and that much less time for Liz to become a moving target.
They way I see it, the shooting happens immediately after Liz looks at the "paper" or item, and there isn't even time for anything to register -for her to take in and comprehend what she's looking at.

Agree, and that’s what has long (since I learned of this case) see it as a straight-up assassination, business-like as if for hire. But other people see indications of it being personal. I don’t think until tonight I’ve seriously considered a jealousy vendetta, or even that the killer had become unhinged over anything work or legion related. But suddenly I am seeing the possibility as some of you are sort of drawing a picture.
I do not know the identity of the woman Sergio is said to have suspected; possibly it could be her, but there could instead be someone he did not even know about.

 

[Bounceycat]

It is very common where I live (in the Midwest) to have garage sales on Friday-Sat or even Th-Fri-Sat. Most sales begin by 8 AM even on weekdays and sometimes, serious garage sale folks show up 30-60 min earlier than the stated opening time.

You bring up a good point - early birds. I've never had a garage sale without MULTIPLE early birds showing up as I was setting up ahead of time. The crime happened at 6:52am, and I'm assuming the garage sale was set to start at 8am? It doesn't say on the timeline on her parents' website. But that means the shooter was cutting it very very close with possible early birds showing up unexpectedly.

 

[fridaybaker]

You bring up a good point - early birds. I've never had a garage sale without MULTIPLE early birds showing up as I was setting up ahead of time. The crime happened at 6:52am, and I'm assuming the garage sale was set to start at 8am? It doesn't say on the timeline on her parents' website. But that means the shooter was cutting it very very close with possible early birds showing up unexpectedly.

Well, also, just cutting it close in general. Most houses have people up and about on a weekday by 7 or so. Both Sergio and Liz normally left for work around that time. I have to believe that they weren’t the only ones.

I do think the killer had a very short time frame to get in, get the job done, and get out. I think there was major pre-planning. Maybe drive-bys in a different vehicle. I’m struck by how intentional everything is. Killer walks right up to Liz, shoots without flinching, runs back to the truck. There is no hesitation at any point. I think this person has rehearsed this many times, and is comfortable with a gun. From what I remember, it was a one-hand hold?