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

[Cryptic]

Such neighbor was so enraged and had the right mix of intoxication and bravado to hatch a quick plan. They would try to stop the advertised garage sale before it got started by intimidation. Maybe that would make others in the neighborhood that had frequent sales fearful of continuing. I know this would be stretching logical actions, but we have found many bizarre reasons in many other crimes we have sleuthed.

I agree with you in that no motive should be ignored and that the possibility of a murder being linked to a garage sale dispute is real, but small.

But... I think a garage sale motive in this particular case could be diminished further by the following:

- Lack of a build up. Say, a fictional "Eric" who made numerous complaints to the city or police about garage sales violating zoning regulations etc. -and / or- "Eric" was seen tearing down signs before. Or, has been known to visit people setting up garage sales and "advise" them that they are just not worth the trouble etc.

- Liz was not an over the top garage saler that was running a second hand store in a residential neighborhood via hosting large three day "garage sales" every weekend with associated crowds and cars.

 

[Cryptic]

I can assure you that the members of her local 501st have spent as many hours as all of us have, and likely many more, sleuthing this murder. I am just at a complete loss that nobody has been able to make any connections that have led to an arrest here.

That is a very good point.

As a side note, however, the Star Wars cosplay / dress out galaxy is pretty large with 500(+) 501 members in Texas alone. If the possible motive galaxy expands to include members of other large Star Wars groups and say, unaffiliated fans that attend Star Wars fan conventions, the numbers go up further.

Even still it is a finite number of possible suspects in the Galaxy. And as you noted, evidently nobody from the larger Star Wars galaxy has been able to provide any meaningful information about a suspect / motive.

I used to be a supporter of a cosplay related motive. But.... now, the possibility looks more and more like a black hole.

 

[no greed]

I agree with you in that no motive should be ignored and that the possibility of a murder being linked to a garage sale dispute is real, but small.

But... I think a garage sale motive in this particular case could be diminished further by the following:

- Lack of a build up. Say, a fictional "Eric" who made numerous complaints to the city or police about garage sales violating zoning regulations etc. -and / or- "Eric" was seen tearing down signs before. Or, has been known to visit people setting up garage sales and "advise" them that they are just not worth the trouble etc.

- Liz was not an over the top garage saler that was running a second hand store in a residential neighborhood via hosting large three day "garage sales" every weekend with associated crowds and cars.

I agree that it is a very unlikely that the killer could have been motivated by a garage sale. Statistically such a scenario would be minuscule. I was just thinking outside of the box. It could explain an unknown Nissan Frontier in the neighborhood. I was wondering if it was a motive LE has investigated? I agree that Liz was not abusing the use of a garage sale. Has LE determined if there has been a neighborhood dispute that could have been a motivation. I know Ritchie has stated there were no text or email messages that hinted at hostilities. A neighbor who held grievances probably would not have communicated in that manner. I realize in most instances a spousal murder is usually a crime of passion from a family member. There are no strong indicators that is the case in Liz’s murder. Financial gain is often a trigger for murder. Again, in this case there is no obvious indication financial hardship or greed. Jealousy is often a factor in a spouses murder. All indications are that Liz and Sergio had a very open marriage without infidelity. This case is difficult to understand and solve do to no obvious triggers of anger toward Liz.

 

[Rosydecember]

I agree that it is a very unlikely that the killer could have been motivated by a garage sale. Statistically such a scenario would be minuscule. I was just thinking outside of the box. It could explain an unknown Nissan Frontier in the neighborhood.

SFBM — curious how this theory could explain an unknown Nissan frontier in the neighborhood? I would imagine that if anyone owned one in her neighborhood the rumor mill would be in full swing; however, it’s late here and my brain may be missing something

Always appreciate thinking of outside the box scenarios. Hoping this case will be solved.

 

[no greed]

SFBM — curious how this theory could explain an unknown Nissan frontier in the neighborhood? I would imagine that if anyone owned one in her neighborhood the rumor mill would be in full swing; however, it’s late here and my brain may be missing something

Always appreciate thinking of outside the box scenarios. Hoping this case will be solved.

It is often assumed that because the killer knew of the garage sale they, or someone close to Liz, had knowledge of this garage sale. It was a very limited number of people that were aware of this Friday morning sale. They would also have to have access to the observed Nissan Frontier. So far this line of thinking has generated no known leads. In my hypothetical scenario a person who lived in Liz’s neighborhood had developed an unreasonable anger towards unregulated garage sales in their neighborhood. The Nissan Frontier was spotted at approximately 2AM the morning of Liz’s murder. I proposed that is about the time many bars close and that it is possible that someone in the neighborhood was being dropped off at home by a friend that was driving a Nissan Frontier. At that time the posters were out giving the date, time, and location of her sale. Perhaps a neighbor with an unhealthy attitude about garage sales was sufficiently inebriated and enraged to hatch a quick plan to go confront this person having the garage sale. Perhaps they just wanted to intimidate or disrupt the sale. Some action that would perhaps give pause to others in the neighborhood from choosing to hold a garage sale. What I am saying is the fact that the posters advertising the sale were out increases the number of people aware of the sale beyond just people that Liz or Sergio talked with. It opens scenarios totally unrelated to the immediate family. I am very aware that the statistical chances that this murder was done by someone not intimately know to, or hired by, is very slim. I am just saying that the fact that the sale was posted and advertised throughout the neighborhood brings in to play a much greater pool of suspects. Anyone who saw the sale advertising is a possible suspect. Is there anything that would make one of those people a “person of interest.”

 

[Curiousobserver]

Someone asked earlier about the possibility of LE and prosecutors using a grand jury to investigate Liz’s murder. IANAL, but grand juries can be a tool to gather evidence and encourage witnesses to talk. They’re conducted in secret. Their purpose is to determine if there’s enough evidence to bring charges against a suspect. Since it doesn’t determine guilt or innocence, witnesses are required to testify without a lawyer present and must answer questions. In many cases witnesses and their testimony are kept secret.

Under those circumstances, it might make it easier to persuade one witness to testify against another.

I’d also like to add that it’s great that the sergeant participated in these interviews. His discussions have been very helpful in understanding some of the finer points of this sad case. He seems very committed to solving Liz’s murder.

Just finished a 6 month stint as Grand Jury foreman. Not sharing anything that isn't in the handbook. The GJ really didn't investigate anything, we were presented with whatever evidence the DA wanted us to see, including testimony from witnesses. Witnesses who could face indictment always had their attorney present but also had to sign off on a document that basically said anything they say here could be used against them and no immunity is given etc... We could ask questions of the witnesses directly but really couldn't direct the investigation in the way and the DA would not let us see certain things like medical records or have access to mental health diagnosis or medications. The basic idea is that the grand jury is a check on prosecutor misconduct to make sure prosecutors don't use the office to harass suspects with trials and charges that have no evidence. At least in NYS, the GJ doesn't give a prosecutor or LE any more investigative tools than they would otherwise have except the questioning of witnesses by the GJ members might reveal things that were not known, but also might not be admissible in court.

 

[Betty P]

Here's a link to a web site describing the grand jury process in Texas. From what I've been able to research, in Texas, witnesses are not allowed to have an attorney present. They also testify under oath and are given some type of instructions.

Texas grand juries are also secret, meaning members, testimony, evidence, witnesses, etc. are not accessible to the news media or the general public. There are significant criminal penalties for anyone revealing this information.

Grand jury: where the community meets the law | Texas District & County Attorneys Association

It was a day like any other day. My messy desk gave the illusion that more work was being done than actually was, people were stopping by to talk, and emails were interrupting as they annoyingly do.

www.tdcaa.com

If the accused testifies, then Art. 20.17 controls the process. Along with providing the accused a written copy of the admonishments in Art. 20.17, similar to the Miranda warnings, the accused must be given an opportunity to consult with a lawyer if he so desires. Of course if he cannot afford a lawyer, he can ask the court to appoint one.
Before questioning starts, the accused must be told by the grand jury what he is suspected of and where and when it occurred. It seems best to just add this to the written admonishments the State must provide anyway under Art. 20.17. At no time is the defense attorney allowed in the grand jury room, though the accused should be allowed an opportunity to consult with the attorney during questioning if he desires. The attorney can wait in the hallway and the witness may step in and out of the grand jury room to consult. If that gets too tedious, the grand jury can certainly terminate the questioning and just vote based on what they have heard. That usually doesn’t go too well for the accused.

From what I'm reading, these rules apply if the witness has been accused of a crime. Of course, not all witnesses called before a grand jury are accused.

 

[flowershop]

The Detective Ritchie interview mentioned the scenario in which the shooting was part of a gang initiation. Do we know of any active gangs in this neighborhood? My guess is that no other shootings similar to this one have occurred in recent history in that neighborhood. I do not know for sure. JMO