MURDERED: Elizabeth Barraza

25:22Although it's not clear when she finalized the date or like requested the time off from work. I mean, it's not like a garage sale is a secret, though. That's kind of the whole point. I mean, surely someone mentioned it or heard about it in passing in the past month. But it's still like a pretty small group of people. Like, even more so now that they've ruled out her co-workers. You know what I mean? Like, at least when you post on Facebook Marketplace or something, like, your suspect pool becomes, like, it's the whole internet. But that didn't happen here. So we're working with, like, a very small, very specific group of people.

25:55And why were they holding it on a Friday? Wouldn't a Saturday make more sense? Apparently that's, like, how it's done around there. Her dad, Bob, says that Friday is, like, when the serious garage sale. Like, the day. Yeah, and Liz planned to, like, run the sale through Saturday before they left. They were going to leave on Sunday. So, like, that's just how it works down there. And there's not some, like, garage sale spree killer out there at the time, right? No. Like, I don't think I've heard of any similar cases to this. No. And again and again, police keep coming back to one thing. Based on everything they know, Liz was the target.

26:27This doesn't feel random. It wasn't like it was going to be her or someone else that day. It was about her and only her. So they look back at the person closest to her, Sergio. Now, they learned that he and Liz were college sweethearts who bonded over shared interests like traveling and dressing up for Star Wars events and Renaissance fairs. They married in February of 2014, bought their house a couple of years later. And truly, detectives comb through their stuff, their phones, their bank records. They are looking for anything that might connect Sergio to the crime. A strange call or text around the time of the shooting.

27:08Unexplained financial transactions. But there is nothing. Yeah, but everyone knows that police checked phone records. Like, what if he used a burner? I mean, did they use, like, one of those cell tower dumps that they do where they just get everything? They wanted to, but investigator Richie says that the DA's office wouldn't authorize it. When you're talking about, I think what you're talking about is a cell phone dump. So those are actually pretty controversial because phone companies are basically turning over data on every single device that pinged a specific tower during a set of time. So it becomes like a privacy thing.

27:40Yeah, a wide area, even phones that like weren't being used. And they've become the subject of a lot of legal battles. So long story short is if Sergio did have a burner phone, we might never know. Right. And I do want to add like a little caveat about their finances. So Sergio is an independent contractor for his dad's business. So he has to handle his own taxes. The Barazas have a financial advisor, but Liz managed their shared accounts. Sergio just kind of like handed over his paycheck each week. And the only separate accounts that they had were very like low limit credit cards used to buy each other gifts.

28:15Which is all that to say, yes, the bank records are clean. I don't know if that like proves everything. I mean, if you're hiring someone to kill your spouse, you're probably not paying them from your checking account. I would assume, your joint checking account. Right, but it wouldn't necessarily have to be like a fortune that we're talking about. And we've heard stories about hit men working for pennies, practically nothing. Well, here's what I can tell you. So the longer the case drags on without finding the shooter, the more convinced everyone is that it was a professional hit, to your point.

28:44Like, it doesn't have to be a lot, and they're sure someone was hired to do this. And while police can't connect Sergio directly to it, he is still the obvious suspect for this. But Sergio keeps cooperating. He takes and passes a polygraph like anything police want, he gives them. But when you think about everything that had to line up, like just so perfectly for all of this to happen this way. Well, yes. And there were some inconsistencies in his story. Like at first he told police that he and Liz put up the garage sale signs the morning of the shooting. Then later he changes, says it was the night before, which would have been Thursday, January 24th, which might not mean anything.

29:28But I'm still curious about it because I haven't spotted pictures of these signs in any of the news coverage. And in all of our reporting, we haven't actually found anyone who saw the signs. Even Deputy Ritchie. Deputy Ritchie hasn't even seen them. But I also don't know if police looked for them. Like with everything going on, it probably wasn't a high priority. So again, maybe it's nothing. Still, if anyone listening has seen them, like, our DMs are open. But honestly, the whole sign thing is pretty minor compared to what investigators learn about Liz's life insurance. So remember how Sergio told detectives that Liz had a policy, it was through her work.

30:07But it wasn't that much money or anything. Right. Yeah. Well, it turns out me and Sergio have different ideas about, like, what not a whole lot means. Because that policy is actually worth a quarter of a million dollars. What? Yeah. And since Liz was murdered, a double indemnity clause doubles that payout to half a million dollars. And like you said, since when is half a million dollars not that much? I know. Which feels like all the red flags we need. But hang on, because this is where, like, I don't know, this might not be the smoking gun. I think it would be in every, like, husband did it case, right?

30:42So the weird part is, by all accounts, Sergio genuinely didn't seem to know how much the policy was worth. Liz got the policy when she started working at Rosen back in 2014. And it was actually her dad, not Sergio, who encouraged her to get all of the coverage that her company offered. Bob thought it was like too good of a deal to pass up. But either way, whether he knew about it, whether he didn't know about it, like all the things, Deputy Ritchie like warned Sergio. He's like, don't even think about trying to go collect that money because when the insurance company calls me and like asks me about my investigation, I will make it very clear that I do not want that money released until this case is solved.

31:22But even just knowing about the policy could be enough of a motive, even if you never actually get the money. True. And you still haven't mentioned anyone else who knew Liz's schedule and had something to gain from her death. Just him. Just him. Yeah. But here is the big problem with like Sergio as the mastermind theory. Every single person detectives talk to, friends, family, coworkers, everyone tells them that he and Liz were really happy together. Like normally when you dig, right, you've got the life insurance policy and the timing is so weird. There's something. Yeah, someone says like, oh, I thought this was weird that they did.

32:03They seem to have this in their relationship. She mentioned this one time. There's nothing. There is like Deputy Ritchie, he digs and digs. He doesn't find anything to suggest like anything funky going on in texts, in emails. He goes through all of it. There is no hint of an affair. There is no fights, nothing. And look, like who couldn't use an extra half a million dollars to make life easier? but it's not like the couple was in major debt or anything like that. Like normally you'll see, okay, like the money was demoted. That's not the case here. They lived within their means. He didn't need that money to get out of a bind or to start over.

32:39But there was someone else very close to Sergio who was apparently in a significant financial bind. That is Sergio's 57-year-old father, Oscar. Now, you see, Sergio's mom had recently discovered that Oscar was cheating with multiple women. And that was bad enough. But then they learned that he was also spending a lot of money on these girlfriends, like to the point where his finances were suffering. One of Sergio's paychecks that he had gotten bounced recently. And while they weren't hurting for money, Liz was like understandably upset by this. And according to that Paula Zahn episode, Oscar blames Sergio's bounce check on just like an accounting error.

33:22He tells investigators that his finances are totally straight. Everything's good. But county court records show that around this time, Oscar was hit with several lawsuits for unpaid taxes. And in divorce filings, Sergio's mom said that he gave over$20 ,000 to three different women. And hang on. Did Liz confront Oscar about any of this? it feels like she's kind of removed from all of this financial stuff. She kind of was. So this, again, this is where, like, it doesn't totally add up. Like, because from what Sergio tells police, she never confronted Oscar about this. Sergio says that he and Liz decided basically to stay out of it.

34:00And after all, I mean, he still worked for his dad. Well, and it's not even like his dad would have gotten the money when Liz died. I don't see how it helps him. The only thing that investigators have theorized is like, Well, what if Oscar knew about Liz's life insurance and then he thought Sergio might invest the payout into the family business? Okay, but if we're supposed to believe that Sergio didn't even know the amount of the policy, he likely didn't know it was going to double if she was murdered. How the heck would Oscar have known? That's what I'm saying. It doesn't make sense because police can't find any proof that Oscar did know about the life insurance.

34:38It's still a possible theory. But it seems so far-fetched. I know. Now, it's clear to them, same thing with Sergio. It's, like, clear to them that the surveillance footage doesn't show Oscar. He isn't the shooter. But then they have the same question, right? Like, did Oscar have someone orchestrate this thing? It becomes like Oscar is the mastermind theory. Is Sergio suspicious of his dad at all? Maybe. So on the Paul is on episode, Sergio implies that he was the one who first suggested his dad's potential connection. Yeah, but investigator Richie says that the suspicion started when Oscar lied to police and tried to downplay the affair.

35:16So I don't know. I don't know where Sergio's suspicion started. But at any rate, like his son, Oscar is cooperative. He passes a polygraph. And when detectives go through his phone and bank records, they can't find anything linking him to Liz's murder. So while Oscar has made some questionable decisions with his life, like there is no evidence that he plotted to have his daughter-in-law killed. And so a couple of weeks into their investigation, police aren't much further than they were when they started. They've ruled people out, but they're not any closer to arresting anyone. And that seems impossible in a case that feels like it should be so straightforward.

35:58Like they need something more. They need something solid to go on. So they decide they're going to go ask the public for help. And on Wednesday, February 6th, investigators and Crime Stoppers join Liz's loved ones for this big press conference to announce a$20 ,000 reward for information. And Bob, followed by Sergio, make heartbreaking pleas to the public. We believe that someone can help guide law enforcement to the perpetrator responsible for this atrocity. And if you are that person, please come forward. Houston Crime Stoppers will preserve your anonymity, and they are offering a reward for information that leads to the filing of felony charges or arrest of the suspect in this case.

36:45We are here to seek justice for Liz. We are Liz's family. We never imagined a life without her. We still can't, and we never will. I don't understand how someone could do this to her she didn't deserve to pass away like this why someone would be so monstrous to commit and act like this my innocent wife I just really can't understand I had to trade our fifth anniversary for her funeral I ask if anybody knows anything please come forward please come forward We need justice for Liz. I need justice for Liz. I love Liz. So it seems like Liz's family is standing by Sergio. Oh, yeah. I mean, he's actually been living with the Nellies since the shooting.

37:41So they're still, like, presenting as one unit. They're still close. And standing next to her family, her parents and Sergio, Deputy Ritchie feels the weight of their pain and the mounting frustration of unanswered questions. But what keeps him optimistic is that they already do have a critical piece of the puzzle. Information about the shooter's truck. A Nissan Frontier is what's considered a mid-sized pickup. And in Texas, where big full-size pickups dominate, he figures that it should stick out like a sore thumb. So they pour their efforts into tracking this car down, hoping that this is going to be the brake they so desperately need.

38:23When Deputy Ritchie gets the registration records for Harris County, which includes Houston and the surrounding areas, he finds out that there are over 1 ,000 frontiers. Of course. And guess what the most popular color is? Of course. It's got to be black. Yes. And ultimately, they do narrow it down a bit more thanks to Nissan. They have the salesman who recognizes the specific style. So it's a four-door Pro 4X crew cab that was made from like 2013 to 2019. Unfortunately, the registration database only lists the basics. So it doesn't specifically say if like someone has a Pro 4X or whatever, like two-door, four-door or what.

39:03So they have to check every single one manually? Not quite. So what they decide to do is they actually go and use a license plate reader system to sift through the database, highlighting potential matches and then using photos to eliminate trucks that clearly don't fit. But they also can't just go knocking on the door of every dark-colored but probably Black Frontier owner in Texas. Instead, they look for trucks caught on the plate reader camera near the crime scene that morning. But even that doesn't lead anywhere. Like, for instance, there's a Black Frontier that police stopped nearby right after the shooting, but it didn't have the same decals as the killer's truck.

39:43And then they can't, like those aren't things that can just be like removed on a whim. Plus the driver was an older Hispanic man whose body type didn't even match the shooter. So like they quickly rule that one out. Can they narrow it down by looking at like other connections, trying to triangulate people who own a frontier or a dark colored frontier and a 38 revolver? Well, no, because it's Texas. Like there's no state level registration requirements for firearms. And honestly, if I had to guess, I don't even know that the killer would use a legally registered gun for this. And I was honestly about to say something similar about the truck.

40:17I mean, maybe it was stolen or borrowed from a friend. Well, police look into that, like, or at least the stolen. There weren't any reports of stolen frontiers or even, like, stolen license plates from frontiers, like, during that whole time. But it is still possible. Or, like, they used a fake plate or maybe they borrowed a plate and then put it back for anyone even new. There are just like too many maybes for detectives to draw any real conclusions. But speaking of the truck, so the one thing they hone in on, remember the strange doubling back that the shooter did? Well, surveillance footage shows that after shooting Liz, this person drove all the way to the main entrance of the subdivision, nearly a good quarter of a mile away before making a U-turn and then driving back past the Barrazas.

41:03And again, initially, nobody knew what that was about, like, because they didn't get out, they didn't stop, whatever. So it gets Deputy Ritchie wondering if maybe someone like called the shooter, like the person who's pulling the strings and told them to go back and make sure she was dead. So he gets this idea. He's like, I'm going to try geofencing, which is completely different than like the cell tower dump we were talking about. Geofencing, like you literally get a very specific area for a very specific time and it'll tell you like what. All the activity. Yeah. Yeah. So he puts a digital perimeter around the Brazos' house and he gets a warrant for Google location data from every device in that zone around that time of the shooting.

41:43Hope being that if a device moved in and out of the geofence at the right time, that could lead to the shooter. So detectives wait and they wait. And finally, around May or June of 2020, they get the results. But it's another disappointment because the only device with unusual movement belonged to first responders. So the killer, at least they're thinking, probably didn't even bring a phone with them. Though there could be another simple explanation for why they came back by the Barraza house. The other thing they start thinking is like, what if they turned around because they were trying to avoid running into police?

42:22Oh. Yeah, a resident security camera caught the truck heading toward a dead-end cul-de-sac right after the shooting. And that is the last anyone sees the truck. It doesn't turn around. It doesn't come back. It couldn't have just vanished, though. No. They think that maybe it went off-roading, like jumped the curb, like at the end of this cul-de-sac. And just tore out through. Yeah. There's like this green belt area that gets you to the main road. And they're thinking that maybe they went far enough away where law enforcement, Because if you think about it, like I told you, law enforcement is there within like minutes.

42:55So if they're coming in the main entrance, which they probably would have used, like they can't get out without passing them. Yeah, they might have seen them. They turn around and they like hightail it out of there. And this feels like a no brainer, but I assume they checked everyone in the neighborhood, like especially in that specific cul-de-sac. So Investigator Richie says that they went house to house. By the way, I don't think that theory was part of the initial police investigation, though. Like Liz's parents learned, and I'm talking about like them jumping the... Yeah, the off-roading. Yeah.

43:25Liz's parents learned that through a YouTuber named Aaron Stoner who analyzes cold cases. And so while this might not be the breakthrough that catches their daughter's killer, it at least matters to Bob and Rosemary. Like in the face of so much uncertainty, any clarity that like they can be brought brings them comfort. But it doesn't bring them answers. And life without Liz is a constant struggle. Sergio never goes back to the house that they shared. Bob helps him sell it. He stays with the Nellies for nearly a year, though eventually he does get a new place. He does start dating again. And for Bob and Rosemary, it's like that moment is bittersweet.

44:03Like it's hard to see him moving on, but they are happy for him. I mean, they know it's what Liz would have wanted. The public, however, has like a very different reaction. Like it's always the people not closest to everyone who has like the strongest feelings. because when Sergio posts something online about being engaged again, police are like flooded with tips. Rumors start swirling that he and his fiancee Amber were having an affair before Liz was murdered, that Amber was somehow involved. Sergio denies it all. He and Amber went to the same high school, but like so did thousands of other students and they insist they didn't know each other at the time.

44:40He tells KHOU11 reporter Grace White that they ended up meeting on a dating app in 2020, which was after her murder. Now investigators don't just dismiss the gossip outright. By now, Michael Ritchie has been promoted to sergeant. He's transferred to another division, but he is still working the case. He like goes so far as to like dig through old high school yearbooks after hearing like maybe there's a photo of Sergio and Amber together. He comes up empty. Amber even ends up taking a polygraph, which she passes. So while no one has been completely cleared, Sergeant Ritchie is confident that Amber had nothing to do with Liz's murder.

45:17I mean, this is just kind of what happens, right? Like, the longer a case stays unsolved, the more room there is for speculation and misinformation and rumors and gossip. And it's not even just because of social media that these stories are spinning. So the constable's office accidentally released incorrect information early on, which just, like, added to the confusion of everything. And that's why Bob and Rosemary created their own website. who killed Liz Barraza dot com. It gives them a chance to set the record straight, keep Liz's story alive. But they know a website alone isn't going to get them justice.

45:52Someone out there has to know something. Maybe they just need a little incentive. So on the third anniversary of Liz's murder, they announced that the reward is now up to$50 ,000, thanks in large part to a community fundraiser. And they're not the only ones who refuse to give up. When Sergeant Ritchie transfers back to homicide in early 2023, he takes over as lead investigator again. He's grown close to the Nellies in all this time and he wants to get them answers. But he warns Bob and Rosemary that learning the truth about who's behind her murder is going to devastate them. That sounds like something you would say if you knew who did it and knew that that person was close to them.

46:37That's what I thought, too. But he told us it wasn't about a specific suspect. It's more like he's been trying to prepare them from the start that whatever happened, whoever did this, it was probably someone close to them. It goes back to the original theory, right? Like someone targeted her, someone who knew she'd be out there that day. It feels very targeted. Right. Do her parents have any theories? They're really careful not to point fingers. They are confident and police agree that this wasn't the work of just one person. They think that there was a shooter, and then there was someone who put the shooter up to it.

47:11But figuring out who those people are and why is enough to drive anyone up a wall. Like I said, Nina and I sat in my office spiraling. When I first decided we were going to cover this case, I had heard about it. Like, I knew the story, and I was like, this has to be one where when you talk to detectives, when you talk to the family— We're just missing a piece of it that's not in the recording right now. Right. Like, oh, we just can't say this thing out loud. let me be the one to assure you as a crime junkie, there is not something that I'm not telling you out loud. You turned over every rock and this is it.

47:43This is it. And nothing makes sense. So in a world where nothing makes sense, what her parents have done is they've tried to focus on things that give them a sense of purpose, like the impact of Liz's final gift. The recipients of her organs had spent a combined 22 years on transplant lists before receiving her heart, her liver, kidneys, and corneas. And her best friend started the Liz Library, which donates Harry Potter books, like the sets of them, to children's hospitals in her honor. And Bob and Rosemary are channeling their energy into supporting other parents of homicide victims as well.

48:21Are they still in touch with Sergio at all? They're not as much as they used to be, but I mean, he joined them for another press conference on the fifth anniversary of Liz's murder. They also reached out to him on our behalf to see if he would speak with us. He told them that he would think about it, but then we never heard back. And I get it. Like, he's got a new life now. He's got a new wife. He recently became a dad. He doesn't work for his father anymore. He still, from what I can tell, doesn't know if Oscar was involved in Liz's death and that, I would imagine, like, put a big wedge between them.

48:52And did he ever end up collecting on that life insurance policy? No. He told Grace White that he doesn't need it. But the reality also has to be that he knows investigators would, like, fight to keep that money from being released still. And they can't just keep it away forever, though, can they? I mean, they can ask the insurance company to deny payment. They can't block it indefinitely without a court order. And since Sergio hasn't been charged with anything, like, he could push for that money if he wanted to. I think the insurance company would probably have to pay up eventually, like, if he started that fight.

49:28But he would have to be the one to start that process. And that won't look good. Yeah, I don't think he will. Like, he knows a lot of people believe that he's responsible for Liz's death. And he, I think he thinks trying to claim that money would, like, just add fuel to that fire. And again, like, the life insurance is just one piece of a larger puzzle. One that the internet sleuths have been trying to solve since the day Liz was murdered. And if you go down these online rabbit holes, which, believe me, I have, you will find every scenario under the sun. But there are a couple that I've seen pop up, like, a couple times that's worth hitting on.

50:03One is that the shooter might have had access to the Barraza's Nest doorbell camera system and, like, could have been monitoring their movements in real time. Like, they were hacked? Maybe. Or there was speculation maybe that Sergio and Liz might have had a public URL enabled on their camera, meaning that anyone with the link could view the live stream. But, like, Liz's parents were adamant that's just not something she would do. And as for whether Liz or Sergio gave the login to anyone, like, I highly doubt it since, I mean, Bob and Rosemary didn't have it and we know how security conscious they were.

50:32Yeah, like, if it wasn't them, who else would they have given it to? Right. But then if someone did have it or hacked it or whatever, like, that would have left a digital footprint. And that kind of data might be able to connect to a specific person or device or location or whatever. But it doesn't seem like police accessed those records, although I don't know why they left that out. Is there a reason people are saying this is a possibility? Like, to me, I feel like we know this person is waiting specifically for Sergio to leave. They don't need the camera. You don't need the camera because this is like part of their routine.

51:04I think we're all just grasping at straws, grasping at anything, because I'm telling you, nothing makes sense. And the timing is so precise. So another theory is that Liz's murder was a gang initiation. Like someone had to commit a random act of violence to prove themselves. But I'm not buying that. This this doesn't feel random. I know. Nothing about this feels random. And I think this this one only started at least in part because I think that at one point it was noted that the Texas anti-gang unit got involved with the investigation. But specialized units often help with complex cases like they have resources, expertise that local departments don't have.

51:46So, like, I don't read much into it. Like, if anything, I don't know. What's clear, though, is that this case has never truly gone cold. The sheriff's office has worked with the Texas Rangers. They've worked with the FBI. They are following leads across the country, even into Mexico at one point. No one has been completely ruled out as a suspect, including Sergio and Oscar. But investigators have looked at them from every angle. And as of right now, they have hit a wall. So Sergeant Ritchie is challenging himself to think differently, to reconsider every assumption. But no matter how he approaches it, he keeps circling back to the same core questions.

52:26Who knew about the garage sale? Who had motive to kill Liz? And who could fit the description of the shooter? Liz's loved ones have spent six years searching for those answers. They need our crime junkies' help. If you know anything about what happened to Liz, please call the Houston Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS. The$50 ,000 reward is still on the table, and it can be collected anonymously. You can also contact the Harris County Sheriff's Office at 713-274-9100.

53:13you can find all the source material for this episode on our website crimejunkiepodcast.com and you can follow us on instagram at crimejunkiepodcast we'll be back next week with a brand new episode and be sure to check out our youtube channel we'll be posting this as a video in the coming weeks

54:00Crime Junkie is an Audio Chuck production. So, what do you think, Chuck? Do you approve? Mm-hmm.