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

[AmandaSkis]

Ok I just read that he did take one and passed. I'm not big on lie detector test results but his willingness to do one does count for something.

Who said Oscar took a polygraph? Was it Oscar who said that? Or did someone in LE say that?

 

[CrimeTheorist]

Who said Oscar took a polygraph? Was it Oscar who said that? Or did someone in LE say that?

I read it online. They said it was Sgt Ritchie during the Paula Zahn show where he said it. I haven't gone back and watched it to check though.

 

[DTPeke]

Does anyone know if Oscar did a polygraph test or was asked to do one?

Who said Oscar took a polygraph? Was it Oscar who said that? Or did someone in LE say that?

Ok I just read that he did take one and passed. I'm not big on lie detector test results but his willingness to do one does count for something

LE says it,

Sergio, his wife Amber, and his father Oscar all took polygraphs, we are told they all: PASSED.

Sources: True Crime Unsolved, Ritchie part 1, 55:00,

Nancy Grace, 38:00

also on Paula Zahn if you have the channel, I think season 25? A Fairy Tale Ruined

I see you found your answer leaving for others

 

[LinasK]

Ok I just read that he did take one and passed. I'm not big on lie detector test results but his willingness to do one does count for something.

Not really- there's a reason they aren't admissible in court- sociopaths can pass them with false positives, and innocent nervous people can fail them with false negatives. They are highly unreliable, so just because a person cooperates has no bearing on their guilt. A criminal may want to appear cooperative to throw police off their trail.

 

[the-professor]

Timestamp 10:40

TCU people seem to really want clarity on, and I don't know if you can help us with it or not, is what time
the signs would have gone up for that garage sale. If they went up the night before, if they went up that morning, it
seems like there seems to be a a perception that Sergio has had trouble either remembering or has changed that
story. Did you experience that at all in in talking with him or is there any light you can shed on that?

Sgt: Yeah, I've heard people talk about that and I can't I can't remember a time
where I've seen an interview with him because there's been a lot of different interviews that's been done with me, with the Nelly's, with Sergio. So, I can't say I've seen all of his interviews, but I know he's done a bunch that I haven't seen uh that other people have. But from if if I remember correctly, he told me that him and Liz did put out signs like the night before, right? It wasn't that morning because I watched that morning. Liz got up first and she went to Starbucks, got a coffee, came back, then Sergio got up, and then they kind of set up the garage sale together, and then he left and and headed uh to the Lowe's to go meet his father and his co-workers to head to a job.



Now we know about the Miami trip.

Timestamp 25:57 (OB's financials)
every week he would he was a lot of money was going in and out of his accounts but a lot of it was paying his
employees you know every Thursday or Friday whatever it was it was payday and so he was getting money out of the bank to pay his guys and usually it was around the same amount of money each each week there was one thing that the private investigator found that there was a large check that bounced that he had wrote to a woman and and it was for I'm trying to remember it was it was a large amount of money like $60,000 around there and but it had bounced, you know, it wasn't it wasn't cashed and uh myself and detective Wally Wyatt were able to track down that young woman and we interviewed her and that was when we went to Miami and we were able to to confirm she had nothing to do with with the murder and but it was just a box.

What I say all the time when I talk about this, it was a box that we had to check. We had to look into that because that check did bounce shortly. I can't remember if it was before or after the murder, but it was around the the time of the murder when that check did bounce. So, that was something that we definitely had to look into. And we did and were able to confirm that, you know, she and the check had nothing to do with with the murder of Liz Barraza.

Thank you for posting this insightful interview.

It is strange that Oscar wrote a check for around $60,000 to a woman that bounced. I don't expect this to be answered, but did he write a new check or pay her somehow? That seems like it could be an amount to keep someone quiet, but if the payment was never made, they likely would have spoken up. The sergeant also said he (Oscar) was paying for houses and cars (if I recall correctly) for other women, so maybe that's what it was for.

 

[Charlot123]

Ok I just read that he did take one and passed. I'm not big on lie detector test results but his willingness to do one does count for something.

MOO only. Many people are on medications that might, and will, alter the validity of polygraph tests, and the tester has zero right to order witholding these medications. So, people might agree to a polygraph knowing precisely this. Or more likely, they agree knowing the results are inadmissible in court. In general, polygraph might catch certain inconsistencies on a lucky day, but if people planned murder in cold blood, no surprise that they'll pass the test. IMHO, polygraph best measures the degree of neuroticism, but these people are not neurotic at all.

 

[Charlot123]

If Sergio doesn't lie and even took money from his own bank account to pay for the employees of his father OS because of bounced checks, then he would IMO do also all sorts of monetary shenanigans to please his father/employer. I am convinced of it!
I don't know, why Sergio named his own father as a suspect, but I think, Sergio was so involved in the scams, that he had no choice but to keep quiet and downplay his early suspicions.

Does it make sense, when the $60.000 (for a mistress?) , which didn't pay out because of a bounced check, would be a part of Liz' life insurance, half of it maybe? I've forgotten the sum. That Sergio can't request the payout, isn't his guilt (thank godness for Sergio?), but the result of an unresolved murder case. His father has to live with that and has to calm his girlfriend until the insurance is flowing. Maybe.

Who knows, what OS told his girlfriend (and btw. also his wife)? Maybe he only blamed his daughter-in-law, praised his "suffering" son Sergio and said, all would be okay without this wife on Sergio's side. "No desire for children, only a dog, the regiment in the house including the income of both spouses" - and so on and so forth. These men are very good at telling lies. (I imagine, I know.) - Maybe, there are criminals in the background of this lady in Miami or where ever and LE didn't find the connection yet?

All MOO and my speculation.

I sort of agree with it. Also, Miami is a huge, outdoorsy city where one could make friendships. Probably, of any type.

What is complicated in a situation like this is that Oscar owns a business where some transactions can be made in cash. And in effect, checks may bounce not because he spent money on women but because he is taking more payments from his clients in cash, and for a certain reason. Another thing, no one counts how many women OB had or how much money he spent. A woman saying, "he treated me like a king" is enough to assume that aging Oscar spent all the money on different women and hence, his checks bounced. That he couId have spent half or more on a different kind of payment can be easily hidden between "womanizing expenses".

Again, the chance of Sergio being involved is about 50%, but no one being cleared, we can discuss them all. He did an interesting thing. He had a person and a name ready after Liz was killed and gave the police that name. Some time is spent checking that person whose alibi clears. Then when that thread dries out, he throws his father under the bus. It is a pattern, isn't it?

(Reminds me of another murder, when an intimate partner immediately mentions the name of a woman, the police follows the lead, that woman has the alibi, so valuable time is lost. Curious how certain people have the name ready. It is not a proof of guilt but a peculiar trait. Very different from the behavior of Colin Strickland in Mo Wilson's case - on getting the news, he is shocked, but being innocent, he doesn't throw police the names to follow. Rather, the opposite. He hopes that no one he knows is involved).

 

[FromGermany1]

I honestly think that Oscar's affairs may not be bringing us closer to the murder.

So Sergio's mom found condoms in husband's trucks.

It immediately tells me that Oscar controls the house, that he is unafraid of big consequences should it happen. His wife is not going to leave him.

Also, his son and daughter-in-law are not going to stop talking to him because financially, they depend on him.

So for Oscar to organize killing of his daughter-in-law because of own infidelity is senseless. In this situation, he holds the strings to the purse.

Unless he knew about Liz's life insurance... But then, it is killing for the money, not out of anger. Different principles apply.

Oscar was just the FIL. Who's to foretell that the son would get the money, cash it out and will share a portion with the dad? As opposing to "abscond with it without sharing"? If you don't ever discuss it with the son previously, you can't rely on any money.

Could there be an element of co-conspiracy? But in this case, the conspirators have to absolutely trust one another.

However, this situation raises a few questions and is not impossible.

First, a trip to another city and withdrawal of money may have little to do with a woman. What else did he do in a city? Whom else did he meet? Perhaps small prior withdrawals were meant to be to accumulate a sum for a payment? Not to spend on women?

I think that the financial situation of Oscar before and after the murder needs to be checked.

If he is a person who constantly traveled, then that trip didn't stand out. But if it was something that stood out, his movements in that city are interesting. A woman might be a cover up.

Lastly, was Oscar the only one who used his truck or could someone close occasionally borrow it?

I remember, that allegedly Sergio's mum was ready for divorce and had already lived with Liz and Sergio in their home. When that occurred, I don't know. Shortly before the murder or not so shortly?

IF it is true, then OS' live was going to fall apart. Like we know, many men aren't ready for divorce and aren't willing to divide their assets. Maybe, OS also had other plans than a divorce. Mistresses and enough money (through manipulations here and there) maybe were his goal, staying with his "old" wife for the usual comfort. Maybe, OS needed his wife even in his company, as an cheap office worker/accountant and wasn't willing to let her go.

IF Liz supported her m-i-l in the filing for divorce, then OS had an extra problem and a reason (in his eyes) to be angry about Liz. Because Liz even told her co-workers about the intimate marital problems of her in-laws (not only the money things), I can very well imagine, that Liz indeed supported her m-i-l with all her heart. Probably it corresponded entirely to her moral sensibilities, to help Sergio's mother in this situation. I imagine, some heated arguments took place between Liz and Sergio's father (plus her husband Sergio, as it would be normal). "Your father does that and that and your mother is suffering a lot! AND all the missing money and the money problems, we as the children are paying the price for!" Such sentences or similar were certainly spoken out by Liz. Sergio would have been in a big dilemma within this constellation. Pro father and against mother and Liz? Pro mother and Liz and against father? Not easy to decide as someone, who depends on the father and boss.

MOO

 

[Kittybunny]

I remember, that allegedly Sergio's mum was ready for divorce and had already lived with Liz and Sergio in their home. When that occurred, I don't know. Shortly before the murder or not so shortly?

IF it is true, then OS' live was going to fall apart. Like we know, many men aren't ready for divorce and aren't willing to divide their assets. Maybe, OS also had other plans than a divorce. Mistresses and enough money (through manipulations here and there) maybe were his goal, staying with his "old" wife for the usual comfort. Maybe, OS needed his wife even in his company, as an cheap office worker/accountant and wasn't willing to let her go.

IF Liz supported her m-i-l in the filing for divorce, then OS had an extra problem and a reason (in his eyes) to be angry about Liz. Because Liz even told her co-workers about the intimate marital problems of her in-laws (not only the money things), I can very well imagine, that Liz indeed supported her m-i-l with all her heart. Probably it corresponded entirely to her moral sensibilities, to help Sergio's mother in this situation. I imagine, some heated arguments took place between Liz and Sergio's father (plus her husband Sergio, as it would be normal). "Your father does that and that and your mother is suffering a lot! AND all the missing money and the money problems, we as the children are paying the price for!" Such sentences or similar were certainly spoken out by Liz. Sergio would have been in a big dilemma within this constellation. Pro father and against mother and Liz? Pro mother and Liz and against father? Not easy to decide as someone, who depends on the father and boss.

MOO

Right there with you on this theory of motive. As for means, someone with a wide network of acquaintances, be they day laborers, girlfriends/mistresses and all their extended sons, brothers, whatever, could have easily found someone on the fringes of that network to convince with the promise of a payday from the life insurance policy.

And unlike many others, there is no stupid text messaging because it was planned in person.

 

[DTPeke]

MOO only. Many people are on medications that might, and will, alter the validity of polygraph tests, and the tester has zero right to order witholding these medications. So, people might agree to a polygraph knowing precisely this. Or more likely, they agree knowing the results are inadmissible in court. In general, polygraph might catch certain inconsistencies on a lucky day, but if people planned murder in cold blood, no surprise that they'll pass the test. IMHO, polygraph best measures the degree of neuroticism, but these people are not neurotic at all.

Yes, and I wonder if someone has already shown no emotion hearing his wife shot, concerning enough for LE to mention on national tv, how that lack of emotion could skew results?

It is said by Sergio Amber was asked to quell public perception/rumors. I do not believe that was the reason for his. IMO

 

[arielilane]

Thank you for posting this insightful interview.

It is strange that Oscar wrote a check for around $60,000 to a woman that bounced. I don't expect this to be answered, but did he write a new check or pay her somehow? That seems like it could be an amount to keep someone quiet, but if the payment was never made, they likely would have spoken up. The sergeant also said he (Oscar) was paying for houses and cars (if I recall correctly) for other women, so maybe that's what it was for.

You're welcome. This guy is so very bad with money, this we know! Id like to know too if the $60K was repaid. Maybe in cash? That's a large sum of money. Id think they would want their funds. jmo

I agree with your sentiments.

In addition, OB was buying for family members, too. Why? I can understand helping out family, but if you dont have the money, it gets to be ridiculous. Red flags. jmo

 

[arielilane]

What's interesting to me is not to forget about the two prior incidents:

-- Break-in at apartment, prior to home purchase- I believe it happened in 2016
-- A gunshot being fired into Liz's workplace prior to her murder on January 25, 2019

Are these incidents related to the murder; and did someone want Liz Barraza dead for a while before actually killing her?
In my amateur opinion- yes.


Link to one of my prior post:

TX Post in thread 'TX - Elizabeth Barraza, 29, murdered setting up garage sale, Harris Co, Jan 2019 #6'

Dec 7, 2023

I’ve posted about this previously and will repost:

There was two prior attempts to kill Liz:

1. The third floor apartment she and S lived at prior to purchasing home was broken into. Curious if LB alone at the time of break-in?
2. A gunshot being fired into LB’s workplace not long before she was murdered. Curious if this incident showed her as the target at that time?
3. And finally, Liz is alone on her driveway setting up for a garage sale, and is shot dead in cold-blood.

Who wanted Liz dead?

Moo

• arielilane

• 
• 
• 

 

[sunspun]

I have no trouble believing that Sergio's father might have liked to have Liz out of the way so that Sergio could collect the insurance money, even if Sergio's father never thought he personally would stand to get any of the money. If Liz dies, Sergio benefits financially, but his father knows Sergio would never do anything to hurt Liz, so maybe he thinks he's doing his son a favor. And I can think of some "side benefits" that Sergio's father might have seen for himself to come out of it as well.

 

[FromGermany1]

What's interesting to me is not to forget about the two prior incidents:

-- Break-in at apartment, prior to home purchase- I believe in it happened in 2016
-- A gunshot being fired into Liz's workplace prior to her murder on January 25, 2019

Are these related; and did someone want Liz Barraza dead for a while before actually killing her?
In my amateur opinion- yes.


Link to one of my prior post:

TX Post in thread 'TX - Elizabeth Barraza, 29, murdered setting up garage sale, Harris Co, Jan 2019 #6'

Dec 7, 2023

I’ve posted about this previously and will repost:

There was two prior attempts to kill Liz:

1. The third floor apartment she and S lived at prior to purchasing home was broken into. Curious if LB alone at the time of break-in?
2. A gunshot being fired into LB’s workplace not long before she was murdered. Curious if this incident showed her as the target at that time?
3. And finally, Liz is alone on her driveway setting up for a garage sale, and is shot dead in cold-blood.

Who wanted Liz dead?

Moo

• arielilane

• 
• 
• 

IF at all, who wanted Liz dead already in 2016, 2 years into their marriage? The connection Sergio/Sergio's father/money/parents' possible divorce would be rather questionable then. Idk, which theory might be right or at least in the right direction. See me confused again.

 

[FromGermany1]

You're welcome. This guy is so very bad with money, this we know! Id like to know too if the $60K was repaid. Maybe in cash? That's a large sum of money. Id think they would want their funds. jmo

I agree with your sentiments.

In addition, OB was buying for family members, too. Why? I can understand helping out family, but if you dont have the money, it gets to be ridiculous. Red flags. jmo

Money laundering via family/friends/mistresses? (I don't have any knowledge!) But I would assume, that Tax authorities or the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) aren't inactive over the years?

 

[Megnut]

Right there with you on this theory of motive. As for means, someone with a wide network of acquaintances, be they day laborers, girlfriends/mistresses and all their extended sons, brothers, whatever, could have easily found someone on the fringes of that network to convince with the promise of a payday from the life insurance policy.

And unlike many others, there is no stupid text messaging because it was planned in person.

And flipped, that creates quite a sphere of influence from which someone who had never even met Liz to get the impression perhaps that SB was leeching money from his father and that was impacting a stream of money another person thought was due him, her, his mother, her mother.

If SB were to come into a live insurance windfall, it would stop any perceived or real flow of money out of his father's pocket. Someone may have perceived the father to have deep pockets. More money remaining in his pockets, the thinking might have been, the more money he'd have for anyone he was helping financially, shall we say.

In my scenario, Liz becomes not a living, vibrant person who deserves to be alive, but a 'meal ticket' for someone who thinks of her only and coldly as a source of income.

Another thread but cheating wife convinces her former bf/friend that she's a victim of domestic abuse (she wasn't, she wanted his life insurance). He drives across STATES to murder her husband. He was caught, they were both sentenced, but my thought is something like this -- someone who THINKS they have a whole story, murder a target (even at the behest) (even without anyone else involved or aware) because they've reasoned themselves to there.

Just another possibility.

JMO

 

[Sjöberg]

There is so little we know of other people in Liz's life.

From what I know, she married Sergio in 2014, after meeting him while in college at Sam Houston State University (so sometime 2009-2012). She was born in 1989, so while she was super young when she married (24), it is also unlikely that she never had any prior relationships whatsoever.

Liz had lived in Illinois, Missouri, Florida and Texas. That's a lot of locations. Not just a single town in each state, either. For example, we don't know, why she decided to transfer from SFA to SHSU.

There are so many possible locations, where a vibrant woman like Liz might have attracted someones attention. Despite the (recent to me) noting, that the car was (is it certain?) driving in the neighbourhood during the night before the murder without passing L&S home at all, I don't (yet) think that it was an opportunistic crime by a stranger. However, I think we are lacking the correct direction in our speculations and as we know so little we go aroung in circles. Angry people can stay angry for a long time. Seething and simmering.

 

[Charlot123]

I remember, that allegedly Sergio's mum was ready for divorce and had already lived with Liz and Sergio in their home. When that occurred, I don't know. Shortly before the murder or not so shortly?

IF it is true, then OS' live was going to fall apart. Like we know, many men aren't ready for divorce and aren't willing to divide their assets. Maybe, OS also had other plans than a divorce. Mistresses and enough money (through manipulations here and there) maybe were his goal, staying with his "old" wife for the usual comfort. Maybe, OS needed his wife even in his company, as an cheap office worker/accountant and wasn't willing to let her go.

IF Liz supported her m-i-l in the filing for divorce, then OS had an extra problem and a reason (in his eyes) to be angry about Liz. Because Liz even told her co-workers about the intimate marital problems of her in-laws (not only the money things), I can very well imagine, that Liz indeed supported her m-i-l with all her heart. Probably it corresponded entirely to her moral sensibilities, to help Sergio's mother in this situation. I imagine, some heated arguments took place between Liz and Sergio's father (plus her husband Sergio, as it would be normal). "Your father does that and that and your mother is suffering a lot! AND all the missing money and the money problems, we as the children are paying the price for!" Such sentences or similar were certainly spoken out by Liz. Sergio would have been in a big dilemma within this constellation. Pro father and against mother and Liz? Pro mother and Liz and against father? Not easy to decide as someone, who depends on the father and boss.

MOO

Does anyone remember when was SB's mom staying with Sergio and Liz?

Someone mentioned that she was there during the garage sale, but I never saw any mainstream media statement about it, either way.

Anyhow, finding out when SB's mom moved in with L@S and out appears pertinent.

 

[Charlot123]

IF at all, who wanted Liz dead already in 2016, 2 years into their marriage? The connection Sergio/Sergio's father/money/parents' possible divorce would be rather questionable then. Idk, which theory might be right or at least in the right direction. See me confused again.

That makes me wonder.

Do we know any other cases where a break-in would be later followed by the murder of the same person/in the same family?

My feeling is that one of the prior accidents is related to the murder and the other one is random.

Also, with the break-in, would the police have fingerprints/DNA?

How about the bullet in the office?

Let us assume that the break in was linked to the murder.

Is there any report about it? What was the date?

ETA: i didn't end up following Bryan K's trial but per the police, BK had been entering the Idaho house several times before?

Bryan Kohberger Prosecutor Says He'd Likely Been Inside Home Before Murders: 'Looking, Surveilling, Stalking'

Latah County Prosecuting Attorney Bill Thompson said Bryan Kohberger may have broken into his victims' home before the murders.

people.com

Maybe the break into the Bs' apartment was "a reconnaissance" but they soon moved away? If the cases are related?

 

[arielilane]

Woman gunned down while setting up for garage sale dies; suspect sought

Police need help.

Thread #1 Thread #2 Thread #3 Thread #4 Thread #5 Thread #6

Approved family website:
Who Killed Liz Barraza

Approved YouTube videos from family website (The following episodes ONLY):

Reference: Arrin Stoner's second video:

Liz Barraza Case: Incident Report + Bonus Footage​

Timestamp: 20:12

The truck did not drive-by the Barraza's house at 2 am. Video footage shows that around 2:00 am truck is on a different street/within the same neighborhood.


01/25/2019 = Friday (Modified 09/14/2025)

• Early Morning [Approximately 02:00 AM] Black Nissan Frontier observed on neighborhood cameras driving within sight of Liz’s house.

Timeline

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whokilledlizbarraza.com