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

[Breezymcdreamypants]

so I'm from Texas, I've seen people questioning why she would have a garage sale in January saying it would be to cold, and honestly garage sales in Texas happen pretty much year round, they are very popular in March and April for "spring cleaning" but there are a lot of people who have started doing theirs earlier in the year for a couple reasons 1) Christmas debt is a mf 2) whenever March comes in alot of places there will be entire subdivisions having a massive garage sale, alot of introverts and younger people as a whole have started to try to do their sale before all of their neighbors because of the amount of competing sales happening everywhere, seriously I live in bum nowhere and on my street alone the first week of March last year 14 out of 16 houses were having a yard/garage sale, it was insane so I totally think garage sale in January is a great idea, tomball is near Houston so the humidity and heat from the Gulf makes it warm almost year round, I think the assassin was someone who had beef with the husband and shot her to make him suffer, whether it's an ex gf brother or a high school rival I don't think they targeted her because of anything she did I think they did it to get at the husband for whatever reason, she might've at the last second recognized who it was but I think the calm demeanor was due to her not having beef with the killer, also just a thought the Louisiana border is less than 2 hours from tomball and Mexico is about 6-8 I'm pretty sure so rental probably was from Louisiana then they headed for the border, just my 2 cents

 

[ilovewings]

Correction:

January 25, 2025, marks six years since the brutal cold-blooded execution of Liz Barraza in her own driveway.

6 long years! hard to believe and as far as we know, they are no further along in understanding who murdered her---since the murder occurred: it breaks my heart.

 

[fridaybaker]

Are we any closer here? It's been years, and I often see bits of info and insights here on the thread that I find interesting and hopeful, but I don't any real progress in this case? Am I off-base?

 

[ErinC]

Are we any closer here? It's been years, and I often see bits of info and insights here on the thread that I find interesting and hopeful, but I don't any real progress in this case? Am I off-base?

Not really. IMO when this happens it often is because LE knows, or has a pretty good idea, what happened but can't get enough proof/evidence to make an arrest. I absolutely don't mean this to be directed at anyone in the case, because I have exactly 0 idea what could have happened, but I suspect LE knows at least something.

 

[dm799]

Not really. IMO when this happens it often is because LE knows, or has a pretty good idea, what happened but can't get enough proof/evidence to make an arrest. I absolutely don't mean this to be directed at anyone in the case, because I have exactly 0 idea what could have happened, but I suspect LE knows at least something.

Possible, but equally could mean they don't have any idea.

 

[Angelcat13]

Welcome to Websleuths. The truck was and continues to be a very important clue in the case. However, if it was rented anywhere near Tomball, Texas, I think police would have checked that out. I think you bring up an interesting idea. Getting the list of everyone who rented a Nissan Frontier Pro-4X over the previous 2 weeks might reveal something if one of the names on the list is someone Elizabeth Barraza knows personally or from her work. However, simply renting or owning a Nissan Frontier Pro-4X truck does not prove anything. We still do not even know if the murderer in this case was a man or a woman.

Another interesting detail I saw about the Nissan Frontier Pro-4X truck had to do with the headlights. It seemed like the brights were on when the truck was driving around the neighborhood that morning before the murder. That may suggest someone who needs glasses or has poorer eyesight because they are older.

I wonder if having the headlights high beams on could have been done to “blind” a witness (person or camera) so they would be less likely to identify the driver, license plate (if they had a front license plate) and/or any specific details about the vehicle.

Also, someone previously in this thread wondered if the vehicle may be sitting in a garage/storage so it wouldn’t be noticed out in public. If so, I think most people would not continue to pay to renew the registration and insurance, so I wonder if the police have checked motor vehicle and insurance records to see if any vehicles matching this vehicle did not have the registration and/or insurance after the murder.

 

[CrimeTheorist]

so I'm from Texas, I've seen people questioning why she would have a garage sale in January saying it would be to cold, and honestly garage sales in Texas happen pretty much year round, they are very popular in March and April for "spring cleaning" but there are a lot of people who have started doing theirs earlier in the year for a couple reasons 1) Christmas debt is a mf 2) whenever March comes in alot of places there will be entire subdivisions having a massive garage sale, alot of introverts and younger people as a whole have started to try to do their sale before all of their neighbors because of the amount of competing sales happening everywhere, seriously I live in bum nowhere and on my street alone the first week of March last year 14 out of 16 houses were having a yard/garage sale, it was insane so I totally think garage sale in January is a great idea, tomball is near Houston so the humidity and heat from the Gulf makes it warm almost year round, I think the assassin was someone who had beef with the husband and shot her to make him suffer, whether it's an ex gf brother or a high school rival I don't think they targeted her because of anything she did I think they did it to get at the husband for whatever reason, she might've at the last second recognized who it was but I think the calm demeanor was due to her not having beef with the killer, also just a thought the Louisiana border is less than 2 hours from tomball and Mexico is about 6-8 I'm pretty sure so rental probably was from Louisiana then they headed for the border, just my 2 cents

Would you say you see people setting up for garage sales before 7am in January? I understand being out there early during certain months of the year but the sun doesn't come up there until around 7:15 am that time of year.

 

[no greed]

Would you say you see people setting up for garage sales before 7am in January? I understand being out there early during certain months of the year but the sun doesn't come up there until around 7:15 am that time of year.

As a Texan from central TX area, and one who enjoyed going to garage sales15 years ago, the pre dawn setup is very common. As someone above mentioned, the January date of the sale is a slower period for these sales, but they take place from January until mid November. Very few during the Thanksgiving to New Years period.

 

[MntnHiker]

Welcome to Websleuths. The truck was and continues to be a very important clue in the case. However, if it was rented anywhere near Tomball, Texas, I think police would have checked that out. I think you bring up an interesting idea. Getting the list of everyone who rented a Nissan Frontier Pro-4X over the previous 2 weeks might reveal something if one of the names on the list is someone Elizabeth Barraza knows personally or from her work. However, simply renting or owning a Nissan Frontier Pro-4X truck does not prove anything. We still do not even know if the murderer in this case was a man or a woman.

Another interesting detail I saw about the Nissan Frontier Pro-4X truck had to do with the headlights. It seemed like the brights were on when the truck was driving around the neighborhood that morning before the murder. That may suggest someone who needs glasses or has poorer eyesight because they are older.

BBM. I know my car has a setting (can be turned off but was on by default when I bought my vehicle) where headlights automatically go to bright when the environment is dark enough and then will go off bright when another car comes. When I drive through my neighborhood at night, it's dark enough that it automatically turns on my brights until another car comes along.

 

[somequestions]

Without knowing a motive or what the killer said to Elizabeth Barraza this is a difficult case to speculate about. I can only guess and speculate about the conversation between Elizabeth Barraza and her killer as the only clear words you hear on the Nest doorbell video are Elizabeth Barraza saying "Good Morning". If the killer handed something to Elizabeth Barraza before shooting her, then that might provide a motive. But only LE knows what that might be. Did the killer actually hand something(a note or picture) to her?

I have a few major questions about this case:

1. Why is the killer driving around the Princeton Place neighborhood at 2am before the crime? Did they need to figure out the exit points from the neighborhood after the murder? Did the killer really go off-road onto the grass to leave the neighborhood at the end of a cul-de-sac on Sandusky Drive after the murder? It seems like that would take some planning to know how to leave the neighborhood that way.

2. Why would someone pick 2 am to drive around the neighborhood? There is no proof the killer knew they would be on surveillance tape and simply driving around a neighborhood during the day is not suspicious. Did this person have sleep problems? Maybe the killer knew the murder was going to take place while it was still partially dark outside and wanted to see the streets from that perspective?

3. This question has been asked many times. Why did the killer not commit the murder when Elizabeth Barraza left to go to Starbucks at 6:08 am or commit the murder when she came back from Starbucks at 6:16am? I do not know the Starbucks Elizabeth Barraza visited that morning, but the closest one is south of where she lived at the intersection of Hollywick Drive and Kuykendahl Road. I think the answer is that the killer and their truck were not in the neighborhood at that time.

About the only guess I can come up with is that the killer might not be a co-worker if on that Friday they were expected to show up to work at the same time as Elizabeth Barraza. According to what I read, the murder happened right around the time Elizabeth Barraza would already have left for work in her car. Getting rid of the costume(if the killer was wearing a costume) and the Nissan Frontier Pro-4X truck before going to work would probably be difficult to do if it was someone she worked with who was supposed to show up on time to work at around the same time as her.

It is sort of amazing how a case can have audio and video and yet remain unsolved with no solution in sight. Like the Missy Bever's case, sometimes you need more than video if it does not appear that there is any sort of connection between the victim and the murderer. It does not appear any personal connection has been found in either case. Maybe this is finally the year the murder case of Elizabeth Barraza gets solved.

 

[charminglane]

Without knowing a motive or what the killer said to Elizabeth Barraza this is a difficult case to speculate about. I can only guess and speculate about the conversation between Elizabeth Barraza and her killer as the only clear words you hear on the Nest doorbell video are Elizabeth Barraza saying "Good Morning". If the killer handed something to Elizabeth Barraza before shooting her, then that might provide a motive. But only LE knows what that might be. Did the killer actually hand something(a note or picture) to her?

I have a few major questions about this case:

1. Why is the killer driving around the Princeton Place neighborhood at 2am before the crime? Did they need to figure out the exit points from the neighborhood after the murder? Did the killer really go off-road onto the grass to leave the neighborhood at the end of a cul-de-sac on Sandusky Drive after the murder? It seems like that would take some planning to know how to leave the neighborhood that way.

2. Why would someone pick 2 am to drive around the neighborhood? There is no proof the killer knew they would be on surveillance tape and simply driving around a neighborhood during the day is not suspicious. Did this person have sleep problems? Maybe the killer knew the murder was going to take place while it was still partially dark outside and wanted to see the streets from that perspective?

3. This question has been asked many times. Why did the killer not commit the murder when Elizabeth Barraza left to go to Starbucks at 6:08 am or commit the murder when she came back from Starbucks at 6:16am? I do not know the Starbucks Elizabeth Barraza visited that morning, but the closest one is south of where she lived at the intersection of Hollywick Drive and Kuykendahl Road. I think the answer is that the killer and their truck were not in the neighborhood at that time.

About the only guess I can come up with is that the killer might not be a co-worker if on that Friday they were expected to show up to work at the same time as Elizabeth Barraza. According to what I read, the murder happened right around the time Elizabeth Barraza would already have left for work in her car. Getting rid of the costume(if the killer was wearing a costume) and the Nissan Frontier Pro-4X truck before going to work would probably be difficult to do if it was someone she worked with who was supposed to show up on time to work at around the same time as her.

It is sort of amazing how a case can have audio and video and yet remain unsolved with no solution in sight. Like the Missy Bever's case, sometimes you need more than video if it does not appear that there is any sort of connection between the victim and the murderer. It does not appear any personal connection has been found in either case. Maybe this is finally the year the murder case of Elizabeth Barraza gets solved.

Why would someone pick 2 am to drive around the neighborhood?

That's when bars close. Liquid courage?

 

[Breezymcdreamypants]

Would you say you see people setting up for garage sales before 7am in January? I understand being out there early during certain months of the year but the sun doesn't come up there until around 7:15 am that time of year

so where I live it's usually at least bright enough to get around outside without a light on by 645-650, im a few hours from tomball but I could definitely start doing outside things by 7 easily and I live out in the country without street lights or traffic, tomball is a pretty large suburb with street lights, school busses, normal traffic of any suburb which would make it much easier to do things outside by 7, the lights from the Houston metro area are EXTREMELY BRIGHT like 24/7, even in the suburbs it's pretty damn bright, not to mention everyone in the suburbs usually have to have outside security lights as required by their HOA, tomball isn't some tiny town in hickville it's a rather large suburb of Houston which is the biggest city in the 2nd largest state by population and land mass so I'd say yeah there are plenty of early morning people doing things at 7 even in January

 

[Breezymcdreamypants]

Why would someone pick 2 am to drive around the neighborhood?

That's when bars close. Liquid courage?

they probably didn't wanna be seen by anyone who might recognize them, I have this weird feeling the neighbors actually know the person who shot her but they don't realize that it was that person if that makes sense

 

[Breezymcdreamypants]

As a Texan from central TX area, and one who enjoyed going to garage sales15 years ago, the pre dawn setup is very common. As someone above mentioned, the January date of the sale is a slower period for these sales, but they take place from January until mid November. Very few during the Thanksgiving to New Years period.

exactly, me and my parents would have a fundraiser when I was in high school that was a combined all band yard sale where everyone brought their stuff and sold it as a band and it was always the 2nd to last Thursday in january through the weekend till Sunday, and it wasn't ever all that cold but maybe once it got down to 47 and we always were sitting outside by like 650-700 cuz the old people would stop by on their way to or from dairy Queen

 

[Taffy550]

To me this looked like a setup or a hit. I wonder if she was in the process of divorce, moving or a breakup of some kind. The video just looked personal. Almost as if someone knew she would be out that early in the morning. When the murder first happpened it on the new here for week, hard to believe its not solved. jmmo

 

[somequestions]

they probably didn't wanna be seen by anyone who might recognize them, I have this weird feeling the neighbors actually know the person who shot her but they don't realize that it was that person if that makes sense

I agree with you. In this case, it looks like it was a robbery gone wrong. I think people need to forget about the video in this case. Even her husband Sergio said he thought that at first it was a robbery gone wrong. We only think hitman in costume because we have the actual video of the murder.

In my opinion, I think the killer thought about possibly being identified but was ok with committing the crime as long as it was dark enough outside not to be identified. That could suggest someone who already looks out their window at 6:50am on a January morning and realizes it is hard to identify someone while it is still partially dark outside. I do not think they planned on actually being on surveillance video.

We only even think it could be a hitman because of the neighbor's surveillance video in this case. If the neighbors across the street who called 911 had not seen the person who shot Elizabeth Barraza or their truck, then when someone discovered Elizabeth it might appear as a robbery gone wrong. It might still have appeared as a robbery gone wrong.

That is the problem with both the Missy Bevers case and the Elizabeth Barraza case. In Missy Bever's case it could still be a burglary that was interrupted. In Elizabeth Barraza's case it could still be a hitman who dressed up in a costume and came by that morning to murder Elizabeth Barraza. It makes you wonder if sometimes criminals do not come up with these ideas to fool police and us, the people who look at the case.

 

[Charlot123]

Without knowing a motive or what the killer said to Elizabeth Barraza this is a difficult case to speculate about. I can only guess and speculate about the conversation between Elizabeth Barraza and her killer as the only clear words you hear on the Nest doorbell video are Elizabeth Barraza saying "Good Morning". If the killer handed something to Elizabeth Barraza before shooting her, then that might provide a motive. But only LE knows what that might be. Did the killer actually hand something(a note or picture) to her?

I have a few major questions about this case:

1. Why is the killer driving around the Princeton Place neighborhood at 2am before the crime? Did they need to figure out the exit points from the neighborhood after the murder? Did the killer really go off-road onto the grass to leave the neighborhood at the end of a cul-de-sac on Sandusky Drive after the murder? It seems like that would take some planning to know how to leave the neighborhood that way.

2. Why would someone pick 2 am to drive around the neighborhood? There is no proof the killer knew they would be on surveillance tape and simply driving around a neighborhood during the day is not suspicious. Did this person have sleep problems? Maybe the killer knew the murder was going to take place while it was still partially dark outside and wanted to see the streets from that perspective?

3. This question has been asked many times. Why did the killer not commit the murder when Elizabeth Barraza left to go to Starbucks at 6:08 am or commit the murder when she came back from Starbucks at 6:16am? I do not know the Starbucks Elizabeth Barraza visited that morning, but the closest one is south of where she lived at the intersection of Hollywick Drive and Kuykendahl Road. I think the answer is that the killer and their truck were not in the neighborhood at that time.

About the only guess I can come up with is that the killer might not be a co-worker if on that Friday they were expected to show up to work at the same time as Elizabeth Barraza. According to what I read, the murder happened right around the time Elizabeth Barraza would already have left for work in her car. Getting rid of the costume(if the killer was wearing a costume) and the Nissan Frontier Pro-4X truck before going to work would probably be difficult to do if it was someone she worked with who was supposed to show up on time to work at around the same time as her.

It is sort of amazing how a case can have audio and video and yet remain unsolved with no solution in sight. Like the Missy Bever's case, sometimes you need more than video if it does not appear that there is any sort of connection between the victim and the murderer. It does not appear any personal connection has been found in either case. Maybe this is finally the year the murder case of Elizabeth Barraza gets solved.

One explanation could be, they were not local or didn’t know the area too well. So to drive, to check, to plan escape routes from Liz’s house they knew how to, and Starbucks - either they didn’t know how to get away or didn’t know where the cameras were in that neighborhood.

Maybe this is why they can’t be found. There is no known connection between them and Liz.

 

[Sjöberg]

Timeline:
Ca 02:00 AM Black Nissan Frontier observed on neighborhood cameras driving by Liz’s house.
(06:08-06:16 - Liz drives to the local Starbucks and back to get a coffee)
06:47:50 AM The Nissan arrives and pulls into Princeton Place Drive from Kuykendahl Road and then drives into the Goddard School parking lot.
06:48:00 AM The Nissan leaves the Goddard School parking lot to conceal on a different street.
06:48:00 AM Sergio leaves the property to go to work, in a white panel van.
06:51:40 AM The Nissan comes back into view and heads towards the Barraza home.
06:52:12 AM The murderer does a 3-point turn on Cedar Walk, parks behind Liz’s car, and then exits walking towards the driveway where Liz is still setting up.
06:52:20 - 06:52:50 AM the murder
06:53:10 AM The killer runs back to the truck and leaves.
06:53:49 AM Neighbor calls 911: heard 4 gunshots, observed Nissan leave and return at 58 seconds
06:55:05 AM Nissan exits Princeton Place subdivision and then does a U- turn to reenter the neighborhood
06:55:08 AM The Nissan is captured on Liz's doorbell cam passing back by her house.
06:58:52 AM Police arrive to investigate and secure the scene.
[Unknown] The truck is tracked on several commercial cameras but is eventually lost in an area with no camera coverage.

Do we have a more detailed map of the cars movements, camera locations etc?

(photos of the house linked on an older thread)

A few thoughts on other than logistics:

• As for committing the murder outside, I am still not sure that was actually planned (or at least planned for that very purpose and long ahead), e.g. I am not sure that Liz being on the driveway was something that the murderer even knew, let alone connected to DNA aspects.
• As for the timing - I have seen it indicated and now confirmed by the released video, that the school bus passed the neighbourhood shortly before. Meaning, that not only is there a regular driver (with cameras, I suppose?) on route, but there are also kids being sent onto that bus somewhere further down the route, there are parents preping for their own leaving etc. It's not really the quiet time any more. The timing must have had it's reasons, but I feel like it might be that they were just waiting for S (or Liz) to leave to get her on her own before work/customers.
• Goddard school cameras not working - I honestly don't know how they could have known that the cameras are not working, but I also don't know who would pull in a school parking lot in a first place without thinking about the cameras, either. And why did the car leave the school parking lot and went elsewhere before going to Liz? Confusing.
• The car parking is also interesting. They could have parked a bit closer and gotten away a bit faster, imo. Were they really avoiding cameras (annoyingly, even from the neighbours camera, the parked car is covered by a tree)? Were they hiding from the straight view of the windows (not sure if it would work with the position)? Were they just staying far enough from her car as to pass it quickly easily? Was it just random and luck? Again, confusing.

 

[AppleTreeGreen]

One explanation could be, they were not local or didn’t know the area too well. So to drive, to check, to plan escape routes from Liz’s house they knew how to, and Starbucks - either they didn’t know how to get away or didn’t know where the cameras were in that neighborhood.

I agree or that was what theorizing too. I think the perp was scouting the neighborhood to plan their escape route and pick a few locations to conceal their vehicle beforehand.

I think too that the preplanned escape route might be the reason the perp does a U-Turn and drives back past the Barraza’s home. I think when they first took off in their vehicle after shooting Liz the adrenaline was pumping and they just drove without thinking. However, they could have realized very quickly that they were going the wrong away or not following the directions they, or perhaps an accomplice, had already mapped out and had just driven only a few hours before when plotting their escape before first responders arrived.

Goddard school cameras not working - I honestly don't know how they could have known that the cameras are not working, but I also don't know who would pull in a school parking lot in a first place without thinking about the cameras, either. And why did the car leave the school parking lot and went elsewhere before going to Liz? Confusing.

I wonder if they chose the Goddard school because it is at or close to the intersection where Princeton Place Drive and Kuykendahl intersect and from there the perp hoped to watch and wait inconspicuously for Sergio to pass by and thus confirm for themselves that he left for work and that Liz was home alone?

However, maybe it is possible that the perp picked the spot during their drive through the neighborhood hours before when it was still dark. Or perhaps they notice or see the cameras before but became aware of them in the daylight or they noticed the spot was a lot less discreet or the car stood much more than when it is light out? If so, they may have moved and picked a different spot from which they could both watch Sergio leave and conceal themselves while lowering their risk of attracting attention or being noticed any potential witnesses driving or walking by. In particular, I wonder if the perp was someone SB might recognize, especially if he got stuck at the stoplight and just incidentally had the time to notice and get a good look at the driver, and that concern or fear alone caused them to second guess using the Goddard parking lot?

It also seems, IMO, that the perp somehow knew that Sergio had yet to leave for work which is perhaps why they chose to conceal themselves first instead of driving by the house. If this is true I wonder how? If they in the instance they weren’t tracking SB’s car or phone remotely, did they happen to check or drive through the Lowe’s parking lot to check for his car since SB had to stop there before heading to his job? Or was an accomplice somehow able to monitor SB’s and LB’s movements or cars that morning so they could alert the perp when SB was heading to work? It does seem with the 2 AM drive by and the return concealing of vehicle around the same time SB left home, that the perp not only knew LB would be off from work and at home that Friday but also what time to expect SB to leave and what route he was going to take too.

JMO/Just my own theories or thoughts, could be wrong

 

[sunspun]

Timeline:
Ca 02:00 AM Black Nissan Frontier observed on neighborhood cameras driving by Liz’s house.
(06:08-06:16 - Liz drives to the local Starbucks and back to get a coffee)
06:47:50 AM The Nissan arrives and pulls into Princeton Place Drive from Kuykendahl Road and then drives into the Goddard School parking lot.
06:48:00 AM The Nissan leaves the Goddard School parking lot to conceal on a different street.
06:48:00 AM Sergio leaves the property to go to work, in a white panel van.
06:51:40 AM The Nissan comes back into view and heads towards the Barraza home.
06:52:12 AM The murderer does a 3-point turn on Cedar Walk, parks behind Liz’s car, and then exits walking towards the driveway where Liz is still setting up.
06:52:20 - 06:52:50 AM the murder
06:53:10 AM The killer runs back to the truck and leaves.
06:53:49 AM Neighbor calls 911: heard 4 gunshots, observed Nissan leave and return at 58 seconds
06:55:05 AM Nissan exits Princeton Place subdivision and then does a U- turn to reenter the neighborhood
06:55:08 AM The Nissan is captured on Liz's doorbell cam passing back by her house.
06:58:52 AM Police arrive to investigate and secure the scene.
[Unknown] The truck is tracked on several commercial cameras but is eventually lost in an area with no camera coverage.

Do we have a more detailed map of the cars movements, camera locations etc?

(photos of the house linked on an older thread)

A few thoughts on other than logistics:

• As for committing the murder outside, I am still not sure that was actually planned (or at least planned for that very purpose and long ahead), e.g. I am not sure that Liz being on the driveway was something that the murderer even knew, let alone connected to DNA aspects.
• As for the timing - I have seen it indicated and now confirmed by the released video, that the school bus passed the neighbourhood shortly before. Meaning, that not only is there a regular driver (with cameras, I suppose?) on route, but there are also kids being sent onto that bus somewhere further down the route, there are parents preping for their own leaving etc. It's not really the quiet time any more. The timing must have had it's reasons, but I feel like it might be that they were just waiting for S (or Liz) to leave to get her on her own before work/customers.
• Goddard school cameras not working - I honestly don't know how they could have known that the cameras are not working, but I also don't know who would pull in a school parking lot in a first place without thinking about the cameras, either. And why did the car leave the school parking lot and went elsewhere before going to Liz? Confusing.
• The car parking is also interesting. They could have parked a bit closer and gotten away a bit faster, imo. Were they really avoiding cameras (annoyingly, even from the neighbours camera, the parked car is covered by a tree)? Were they hiding from the straight view of the windows (not sure if it would work with the position)? Were they just staying far enough from her car as to pass it quickly easily? Was it just random and luck? Again, confusing.

Great job on the timeline!

I can't get over the fact that the perp took off for the house at exactly the same minute that Sergio leaves the house.