TX - Elizabeth Barraza, 29, murdered setting up garage sale, Harris County, Jan 2019 #2

[JnRyan]

Do we know what time the vehicle drove through the neighborhood the night before? When they were presumably casing the house?

Any chance it could be something as horribly random as road rage taken too far ? Car follows her home, comes back next day to confront driver ?

Interesting theory. I can see that happening.

 

[Curiousobserver]

Interesting theory. I can see that happening.

Been following the case since day 1- I have always thought this was some sort of random, rage-type incident. With such a good ID of the car, LE could have easily screened everyone with any slight connection to her for their registration information. This has to be a person with no discernable connection; for example someone who thought she side-swiped their car in a parking lot and followed her home. It's a good theory.

 

[sl222]

Been following the case since day 1- I have always thought this was some sort of random, rage-type incident. With such a good ID of the car, LE could have easily screened everyone with any slight connection to her for their registration information. This has to be a person with no discernable connection; for example someone who thought she side-swiped their car in a parking lot and followed her home. It's a good theory.

With all due respect, and strange things do happen, but I don't think that's the answer to this. Most rage incidents don't happen after someone has had time to calm down. The killer(s) here planned this out, knew she would be in her yard that day, watched the husband leave, and they also cased the place the night before, probably to make sure they knew the way out of the neighborhood. IMO this was planned out for a long time and someone wanted her out of the way for 1 or 2 of the most likely reasons. A person or persons who were very cold-blooded and methodical. Also they had to get a truck that wouldn't be traced. If it were stranger rage, how many people would take a chance with all the Ring doorbells and cameras at the businesses on the main street they had to enter and exit from? This was a long-range plan in my opinion. And eventually the killers are going to be caught and exposed.

 

[CocoChanel]

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[Betty P]

With all due respect, and strange things do happen, but I don't think that's the answer to this. Most rage incidents don't happen after someone has had time to calm down. The killer(s) here planned this out, knew she would be in her yard that day, watched the husband leave, and they also cased the place the night before, probably to make sure they knew the way out of the neighborhood. IMO this was planned out for a long time and someone wanted her out of the way for 1 or 2 of the most likely reasons. A person or persons who were very cold-blooded and methodical. Also they had to get a truck that wouldn't be traced. If it were stranger rage, how many people would take a chance with all the Ring doorbells and cameras at the businesses on the main street they had to enter and exit from? This was a long-range plan in my opinion. And eventually the killers are going to be caught and exposed.

Agree, in particular its the casing of the home the previous night that eliminates random strangers. It was very much premeditated by someone who had information about Elizabeth's schedule known only to a small group of people.

 

[Curiousobserver]

Agree, in particular its the casing of the home the previous night that eliminates random strangers. It was very much premeditated by someone who had information about Elizabeth's schedule known only to a small group of people.

I hope they solve it and we get to find out.

 

[borndem]

MOD NOTE:
Unless/until someone has been named by LE as a suspect/POI, they may NOT be discussed in speculative manner according to the Websleuths’ TOS we all agreed to when we joined. Please remember that, AND that replying to TOS violating posts are also TOS violations and requires removal.

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Backacha, @CocoChanel for all your efforts to try to keep us all doing things right here and staying out of trouble.
We can get carried away sometimes (!).

THANKS MUCH
CocoChanel !!​

 

[borndem]

Agree, in particular its the casing of the home the previous night that eliminates random strangers. It was very much premeditated by someone who had information about Elizabeth's schedule known only to a small group of people.

I agree as well.
And I want to know WHY. Grrrrrr.
I understand why the perp would want to check things out and be sure of a good entrance and getaway. A big risk, IMO, but, but, but it has worked so far...
Arrggghh, will this one ever get solved? Hoping we're close. Godspeed to LE and those others who help.

Elizabeth and her family, friends, and her neighborhood need to see justice done and to feel safe again.
And we here at WS wanna see justice done and fears abated too.

 

[JnRyan]

This news clip has probably been posted before. In it Elizabeth's father states that he believes she did not know her killer.

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So many things go through my mind. She didn't know her killer, so could this have been an aftermath of a road rage incident or from some other Star Wars player who perceived some slight from Elizabeth? However, it was dark and if this person was wearing a disguise - such as a wig - maybe Elizabeth didn't immediately recognize them as someone she knew? It was mentioned earlier that the truck was seen the evening before, so they likely would have seen the signs for the garage sale with the address. If they cased the place the night before could they have cased it much earlier, say in the morning and noted what time her husband normally left? If LE is looking for a black truck earlier, this killer could have been there days earlier in another vehicle and LE probably wouldn't know though. So maybe the killer knew what time he usually left and apparently knew enough about them to know they didn't have any children?

It's difficult to tell from the angle but with the truck parked it appear as if the killer exits the driver side of the truck and walks behind the truck. So only one person involved? IF this person wore a disguise, then they wanted to eliminate chances of being discovered. That makes me wonder if they used a revolver to avoid leaving empty shell casings behind.

Elizabeth's job was as a data recorder for a pipeline inspection company. Probably not likely, but I wonder about the possibility this was connected to her job.

 

[Curiousobserver]

I know everyone already has their side of this and I respect everyone's perspective. I don't know what the heck happened.

I just think the fact that the person made no attempt to hide who they were (I know some see a wig and a costume in that video, many of us do not)

Allowed their car to be seen multiple times, seemingly didn't care at all (yes they could have borrowed a car or dumped it right away, but this harder to hide than I think most appreciate)

Walked up and was clearly (at least to me) not recognized

Was greeted by the victim in a pretty generic way (muffled audio of that video is available)

Handed something to the victim, as if to remind her or show her why they were there

This tells me they didn't know each other and nobody with any connection to her owns a car like that (or they would be under arrest).

I am leaning toward the crazy/enraged stranger versions of this story.

I think they might have been driving by looking for a time when she was outside and they just got lucky that day. They may have done that a dozen times before

 

[sl222]

The shooting happened on Friday morning during rush hour minutes before 7am, on a school morning with busses everywhere. You have elementary, middle, high school and special needs busses all over the place. I used to live in the area, and most students take the bus. Unlike the Houston school district, everyone gets bus service right at their house (unless things have changed). Traffic on a work day at 7am is not a traffic situation you want to get stuck in although I don't know exactly how congested it is right there at that exact time, or what direction the shooter took on Kuykendahl, but the shooter had to go on Kuykendahl because that's the only way to leave the subdivision. If they went north, that would be less traffic. If they went south, that's headed into more rush hour and congestion the further you go, and more school districts and schools with more busses.

If you get behind a bus in a neighborhood, you can't go around them by law and no one does of course. You can usually set your watch by the busses on your street, expect 3 or 4 busses on that street around that time of day, so I would really like to know what the regular bus times were on that day on that street and the others that had to be driven on to exit that subdivision. It's not a straight shot out of the subdivision.

There are fewer garage sales in the cold months like January also. You don't see a LOT of garage sales, and especially not in that month. You might see a few if you're driving on Kuykendahl. Liz and her husband put the signs out that morning. They didn't post the garage sale anywhere, not on Craigslist or to their friends. You'd see most garage sales on Saturday but as we've mentioned here, some on Thursdays and Fridays.

The house is a couple of blocks from Kuykendahl Road, a main road that goes from The Woodlands all the way to I-45 close to the airport, so it's used by a LOT of people and it's also lined with businesses, apartments, and neighborhoods. The house is way out in suburbia with a lot of traffic driving fast towards Houston, or some the opposite direction.

This is just some of the reason I think that a lot of planning went into this. The timing and the truck being a big part of this. Also any communication on cell phones had to be kept from being discovered if that's possible.

It's worth looking at every little thing in this case from the get-go. It was strange in every way and very suspicious in every way. One or more people thought they would "benefit" from Liz's being out of the picture. Part of one theory of mine - based on my own research diving deep several times - is that this person reached the frustration point and could no longer stand having Liz "in the way." This person was crazy enough to risk everything but also thinks they got away with it. This person is not a rocket scientist, so they didn't get away with it. No one knew about this person, perhaps not even the police. The person was not in the circle of friends or Star Wars. This person could be described as obsessed in terms of being willing to do anything to get what they wanted with no regard for Liz's right to live. That is one theory and it may be part or all of the truth of what happened. That person could have acted alone or could have been acting as one of two people who carried out this murder. It's a very bizarre crime but that was done on purpose as well, with the blatant day-time shooting and cover-up clothes.

 

[Betty P]

The shooting happened on Friday morning during rush hour minutes before 7am, on a school morning with busses everywhere. You have elementary, middle, high school and special needs busses all over the place. I used to live in the area, and most students take the bus. Unlike the Houston school district, everyone gets bus service right at their house (unless things have changed). Traffic on a work day at 7am is not a traffic situation you want to get stuck in although I don't know exactly how congested it is right there at that exact time, or what direction the shooter took on Kuykendahl, but the shooter had to go on Kuykendahl because that's the only way to leave the subdivision. If they went north, that would be less traffic. If they went south, that's headed into more rush hour and congestion the further you go, and more school districts and schools with more busses.

If you get behind a bus in a neighborhood, you can't go around them by law and no one does of course. You can usually set your watch by the busses on your street, expect 3 or 4 busses on that street around that time of day, so I would really like to know what the regular bus times were on that day on that street and the others that had to be driven on to exit that subdivision. It's not a straight shot out of the subdivision.

There are fewer garage sales in the cold months like January also. You don't see a LOT of garage sales, and especially not in that month. You might see a few if you're driving on Kuykendahl. Liz and her husband put the signs out that morning. They didn't post the garage sale anywhere, not on Craigslist or to their friends. You'd see most garage sales on Saturday but as we've mentioned here, some on Thursdays and Fridays.

The house is a couple of blocks from Kuykendahl Road, a main road that goes from The Woodlands all the way to I-45 close to the airport, so it's used by a LOT of people and it's also lined with businesses, apartments, and neighborhoods. The house is way out in suburbia with a lot of traffic driving fast towards Houston, or some the opposite direction.

This is just some of the reason I think that a lot of planning went into this. The timing and the truck being a big part of this. Also any communication on cell phones had to be kept from being discovered if that's possible.

It's worth looking at every little thing in this case from the get-go. It was strange in every way and very suspicious in every way. One or more people thought they would "benefit" from Liz's being out of the picture. Part of one theory of mine - based on my own research diving deep several times - is that this person reached the frustration point and could no longer stand having Liz "in the way." This person was crazy enough to risk everything but also thinks they got away with it. This person is not a rocket scientist, so they didn't get away with it. No one knew about this person, perhaps not even the police. The person was not in the circle of friends or Star Wars. This person could be described as obsessed in terms of being willing to do anything to get what they wanted with no regard for Liz's right to live. That is one theory and it may be part or all of the truth of what happened. That person could have acted alone or could have been acting as one of two people who carried out this murder. It's a very bizarre crime but that was done on purpose as well, with the blatant day-time shooting and cover-up clothes.

Yes, the killer showed cold, deadly rage towards Liz. Stalking, planning and overkill seem to indicate someone who had been stewing, building rage for some time. Driving around a second time to make sure she was dead was also revealing. Gloating, enjoying their "accomplishment". They may have wanted to make sure she was dead, but it also sounds like a little like a victory lap. JMO.

 

[Curiousobserver]

Yes, the killer showed cold, deadly rage towards Liz. Stalking, planning and overkill seem to indicate someone who had been stewing, building rage for some time. Driving around a second time to make sure she was dead was also revealing. Gloating, enjoying their "accomplishment". They may have wanted to make sure she was dead, but it also sounds like a little like a victory lap. JMO.

Absolutely no regard to if they got caught- like they had nothing to loose.

They had just fired a gun in the early morning in a populated neighborhood, had no idea who saw them, and then pulled back around...

 

[sl222]

The killer was certainly "lucky" that the garage sale was not advertised until signs were put out on the street (presumably Kuykendahl Rd.) just before Liz opened, because if it had been put on Craigslist or on their neighborhood social media, there could have been some bargain shoppers waiting there in Liz's yard even before her start time. That happens a lot. Even more likely on a Thursday or Friday when there are fewer sales to choose from.

 

[MimosaMornings]

The killer was certainly "lucky" that the garage sale was not advertised until signs were put out on the street (presumably Kuykendahl Rd.) just before Liz opened, because if it had been put on Craigslist or on their neighborhood social media, there could have been some bargain shoppers waiting there in Liz's yard even before her start time. That happens a lot. Even more likely on a Thursday or Friday when there are fewer sales to choose from.

Yeah, if it had been listed on CL, estatesales.net or even the neighborhood NextDoor app - there would have been “early birds” waiting.

 

[borndem]

And whoever-did-it is still out there, just walking around, and probably feeling pretty smart.
Dammit. Grrrrrr.

 

[Yesiamapirate]

Do we know what was handed/shown to EB?

 

[sl222]

The last I heard, the police had not revealed this to anyone, including family. The neighbors were first on the scene, but I don't know if they saw the note (or whatever it was) or not. Whatever it was, would the police assume the intent was to lead them in the wrong direction or at least not in the right direction?

 

[sl222]

And as we all know, Liz and her husband were supposed to take an anniversary trip to Disneyworld a couple of days after the shooting happened. Could be coincidence, or could add to the motivation of a romantically-obsessed shooter (or planner who enlisted someone else to carry out the murder), and it also adds to the theatrical factor which is hard to ignore in this crime with the get-up and broad-daylight driveway shooting, and whatever was handed to Liz.

Adding: Well, it wasn't broad daylight, the street lights were still on, it wasn't daylight yet.

 

[ZZ Topps]

I think the biggest things in play here, as some mentioned, is timing. They just HAPPENED to come by MINUTES after the husband left for work? And it just HAPPENED to be right before school buses came out? And it just so HAPPENED that they "stumbled" upon Liz being outside on the driveway so they wouldn't have to approach the door and be in view of the Ring camera? And they just so HAPPENED to be comfortable enough to know no one else was around thereby making them feel comfortable enough to drive by again minutes later to confirm the job was done. I don't know.....seems like way too many coincidences to me. This was done by someone (or some people) that knew the innermost details surrounding that day.