MURDERED: Elizabeth Barraza

Elizabeth Barraza was 29 when she was gunned down in her driveway in Tomball, Texas, while setting up for a garage sale. The murder was so calculated and shocking, police were certain they'd catch her killer within hours. But years later, the case is still unsolved. And her family’s hoping that someone can help bring them the justice they've been desperately seeking.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Ashley Flowers?

  When you're out in nature, you learn to trust your instincts. You pay attention to the trail, your surroundings, and you stay alert to protect yourself from harm. But what if the biggest threat isn't the environment at all? On Park Predators, host Delia Diambra explores true crime cases that happen in national parks and remote wildernesses, the places we usually think of as safe and peaceful. Each episode reveals what happened and how much more there is beneath the surface. Listen to Park Predators now, wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, crime junkies. I'm your host, Ashley Flowers.

• 0:34Speaker 01

  And I'm Britt.

• 0:35Ashley Flowers?

  And the story I have for you, it is about the baffling murder of a young woman. It is the kind of case where, like, everything feels like it's going to fall into place at first with all of the pieces that they have. They literally have the murder on film. So investigators are super confident that they're going to catch their killer within hours. But six years have gone by, and it is still unsolved. And Britt, like, this is one where truly, when I say I have no idea what happened, I have no idea what happened because there is no theory that makes complete sense. And Nina and I, she's the reporter that worked on this, we were in my office, I mean, going round and round and round for literally like an hour, talking about theories and feelings.

• 1:20Ashley Flowers?

  And we were just losing our minds because we're trying to get the pieces to add up. But her family's hoping that someone, maybe somebody even listening or watching right now, can help bring them the justice that they have so desperately been seeking. This is the story of Elizabeth Barraza.

• 2:09Ashley Flowers?

  It's around 7:20 on the morning of Friday, January 25, 2019, when Bob and Rosemary Nelly wake up to their phones buzzing. And it's a notification from the alarm system on their daughter's home. Now, they know Elizabeth, Liz, as everyone calls her, is holding a garage sale that day. So at first, they think that she might have just accidentally set it off while she's like going in and out of the house or whatever. But when they call her to check, she doesn't answer the phone. And things get even more unsettling when the alarm company contacts them directly because they tried calling Liz and they can't get a hold of her either. So Rosemary gives them the go ahead to notify police and she and Bob throw on some clothes, jump in the car and head straight to Liz's home in Tomball, Texas, which is like 15 minutes away.

• 2:54Ashley Flowers?

  Bob told our reporter Nina that a lot of that morning is just a blur for him at this point, but he does remember speaking to their daughter's husband, Sergio Barraza, on the drive over. Now Sergio's not home as a crew chief for his father's flooring company. He'd already left for the day. But he tells them that he also got the alarm alert and when he checked their Nest doorbell camera, like the live feed for it, he saw police tape and cops like in the background. And he even, this is wild, he like used the speaker on the doorbell camera to try and talk to them, but like, what is going on? He did get someone's attention, but they wouldn't tell him what was happening. They just said that he needed to get home immediately.

• 3:38Ashley Flowers?

  So when Bob and Rosemary pull into Liz's neighborhood, it is like every parent's worst nightmare unfolding before their eyes. Their daughter's usually quiet street is swarming with emergency vehicles. First responders tell them that a young woman has just been airlifted to the hospital. And as they get closer, they realize that all the commotion and activity is centered around their daughter's house. And there is this trail of blood on the driveway, mixed in near items that she had set out for the garage sale. Now, initially, officers are tight lipped, but they tell Bob and Rosemary the most critical detail, and that is that it was Liz, their daughter, who's been shot.

• 4:19Speaker 01

  How did they set off her alarm if she was shot out by the driveway?

• 4:23Ashley Flowers?

  So, the police were actually the ones who set it off?

• 4:26Speaker 01

  Oh.

• 4:26Ashley Flowers?

  They were responding to 911 calls of gunshots in the neighborhood, and when they arrived, she was laying on the driveway near the garage, still breathing, but barely. She had like a faint pulse. That's where she was shot, and the alarm only went off when officers went through the unlocked door between the garage and the house

• 4:42Speaker 01

  Got it.

• 4:43Ashley Flowers?

  to like, secure the scene.

• 4:44Speaker 01

  Mm-hmm.

• 4:44Ashley Flowers?

  So, Bob and Rosemary are like, reeling. Liz is the most positive person they know. She's creative, she's kind, always helping others. She's a Harry Potter fanatic who spends her free time reading and dressing as Star Wars characters to visit sick kids. So like, in the immediate moment, they're like, who on earth would do this to our daughter? And this isn't a high-crime area either we're talking about. It is this nice, middle-class neighborhood. Drive-by shootings are not something that they deal with. So, before her parents can even begin to wrap their heads around this, Sergio pulls up, and police ask him to stay nearby for questioning. So while he waits there, along with his mom, who shows up to be with him, the Nellies rush to the trauma center to be with their daughter.

• 5:29Ashley Flowers?

  They are clinging to hope the whole 40-minute drive over, praying that she's gonna pull through. But when they get to the hospital, the same one where Liz spent so many hours volunteering, doctors tell them that she's not gonna make it. She's been shot, point-blank, four times.

• 5:47Speaker 01

  Oh my god.

• 5:48Ashley Flowers?

  Once through the side of her neck, twice in the chest, and finally, once in the head. So while Liz is still technically alive, police know that it's gonna be a homicide case now. And while her parents grieve, the Harris County Sheriff's Office jumps in with Deputy Michael Ritchie at the helm. And as he and other investigators question Sergio, it quickly becomes clear to them that it actually hadn't been a typical morning for the couple, even before the shooting. So normally, Liz leaves for work by 6:00. 6:30, 6:45, but she had taken the day off for that garage sale she was doing, which she had prioritized to make some extra spending money for her and Sergio's trip to Disney and Universal Studios. They were supposed to leave for Florida that Sunday

• 6:33Ashley Flowers?

  to celebrate their upcoming fifth wedding anniversary. So between what Sergio tells investigators and what they're able to pull from the doorbell camera footage that he gives them, police know that Liz was up super early. She went to Starbucks at 6:08, and then the couple started setting up the sale in the driveway when she got back. And then Sergio left for work at exactly 6:48. Now Sergio says that he drove to a Lowe's about five miles away to meet his flooring crew. Everything was fine until he got that security alert on his phone. And he explains that on his way home, he like actually actively was like rewinding the doorbell footage, trying to find out what happened. And while he couldn't see the shooting itself, he could hear it. And

• 7:18Ashley Flowers?

  he shares the footage with investigators, too. Now, the sound quality isn't great, but what is audible is Liz greeting someone, and she's cheerful. She says, "Good morning." And there's this like muffled, brief exchange of words, followed by four deafening gunshots, and then Liz screams. And there has been endless speculation about what was said in that quick conversation, but even after detectives enhance the audio, all they can hear for sure is just Liz's "good morning," the shots, and the scream.

• 7:51Speaker 01

  But there's no visual of the shooter.

• 7:54Ashley Flowers?

  Well, not on the Barraza's camera, but a neighbor's security camera caught the entire thing. This is what is so wild and why I said this case is so frustrating. So as Deputy Ritchie reviews all of the footage that he can get his hands on, he cannot believe how brazen it was. So what he sees is there's this dark-colored pickup that pulls up at around 6:52 a.m. This is four minutes after Sergio left. The truck first passes Liz's house, then it like makes a U-turn, parks at the curb, and then the driver, who appeared to be alone in the vehicle, Leaves the vehicle running, walks over to where Liz was setting up. And it's so weird, they're wearing what looks like a disguise.

• 8:39Speaker 01

  What?

• 8:39Ashley Flowers?

  It's like this, um, you can't really see because it's, it's a, it's still dark outside. So like the footage is almost like night vision, kind of. But it's like a flowy coat or robe paired with what detectives call gogo style boots. Like I can't really see the boots. And then maybe this person has a really long hair or it might be a wig. And I'm saying like they, because like police can't even determine if this shooter is a man or a woman. The video quality, like I said, is super poor. Everything's cast in this like bluish gray tint. But this shooter approaches Liz. You can see them like have this exchange. It looks like they might even have shown her something. Like there's this moment where it looks like.

• 9:21Speaker 01

  Like a kind of a transaction?

• 9:22Ashley Flowers?

  Yeah. But police don't find anything like a note at the scene or something.

• 9:28Speaker 01

  Or pamphlet or anything.

• 9:29Ashley Flowers?

  And this person pulls out a gun and they shoot her three times. She collapsed and then they stood over her and that's when they like fired that final shot to her head. And then as soon as that final shot is fired, they run back to their truck and leave. The entire encounter is over in less than a minute.

• 9:46Speaker 01

  Which is a super short amount of time, but I'm thinking like people are leaving for work, taking like their dogs on walks. Did anyone see this happen?

• 9:53Ashley Flowers?

  No, like I said, it was still kind of dark out. Multiple people heard the gunshots. They're the ones who contacted 911. The first call actually came from a man who lived across the street. He had a clear view of the shooter's truck, which he's able to tell them is a Nissan Frontier that is almost certainly black. But this is what's really puzzling to investigators is that in less than two minutes after the neighbor called, while he was still on the phone with dispatch, there's this eerie moment where the truck drives back past the Barraza's house again. And like everything about this crime looks so professional and planned and deliberate. But this doubling back past the scene, this is the part that seems sloppy, like an amateur move

• 10:36Ashley Flowers?

  that like almost certainly would have gotten them caught, like. Given the right circumstances.

• 10:40Speaker 01

  Were they coming back to get something? Like, did they stop or was it just a drive by?

• 10:44Ashley Flowers?

  No, like, they didn't stop, they didn't get out, like, I don't know what the reason was. And unfortunately, again, this should have been a sloppy move, but for whatever reason, luck was on this shooter's side. Because no one gets a good look at their license plate number and none of the surveillance footage that they do get is clear enough to ID it. But still, in those early times, Deputy Ritchie is optimistic. They've got this video footage, plus constables were on the scene within minutes and they quickly put out a BOLO for a black Nissan Frontier.

• 11:14Speaker 01

  So whoever did this didn't get a big head start?

• 11:16Ashley Flowers?

  No, like, minutes tops from the time police arrived. But the real reason that Ritchie is so confident is that this seems way too methodical to be random. Like, this had to have been targeted.

• 11:31Speaker 01

  Feels pointed.

• 11:32Ashley Flowers?

  Right, like, take how the shooter approached. When they pulled up, the Barraza's house was to their left. So the driver's side door was already facing the driveway. The easiest move would have been to just stop right next to it, quick in, quick out. Instead, they make that U-turn. They turn around and park like farther down the street. That meant getting out, walking around the front of the truck to reach the driveway, then running back after the shooting. But the maneuvering kept them mostly hidden from the Barraza's Nest camera. So Deputy Ritchie thinks that they knew where that camera was and what that camera could see.

• 12:05Speaker 01

  And maybe they parked farther away because they had spotted that camera?

• 12:09Ashley Flowers?

  Maybe. But whoever did this, the real feeling they're getting is that they must know a lot about the Barraza's. I mean, on any other day, Liz would not have even been home, let alone outside alone. Now, investigators figure that Sergio is gonna give them a name. Like, who is the person that has a grudge against Liz who drives a black Nissan Frontier? Like, case closed. But that's not what happens. Sergio mentions there is one woman who Liz had a disagreement with. She is a member of a Star Wars fan group that they belong to. It's called the 501st Legion. But he insists that, like, whatever disagreement they had, like, it was petty drama, nothing that would ever- Lead to murder.

• 12:51Ashley Flowers?

  Actually, the first thing Sergio suggests is maybe this was some kind of robbery gone wrong. But police know that that doesn't track. Nothing had been taken. Liz had a hundred bucks in a lockbox for making change for the garage sale. That's still there untouched.

• 13:04Speaker 01

  So, obvious question, but what about Sergio?

• 13:07Ashley Flowers?

  You're right, it is obvious. And Deputy Ritchie isn't taking anything Sergio says at face value. He knows they have to start at square one. And square one is always the person closest to the victim.

• 13:21Ashley Flowers?

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• 14:04Ashley Flowers?

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• 15:24Ashley Flowers?

  The investigators ask about the couple's marriage, which according to Sergio is perfect. They've been together for years, just like living their best lives with their dogs and Diesel. No affairs, no serious issues. He tells them that he would never harm Liz. And detectives are confident that he didn't pull the trigger. I mean, even if they hadn't checked with the people that like he met up with at Lowe's, he doesn't even match the shooter's scene on camera. Like, he's way more heavyset than the person on the footage. But like, to be fair, they know that doesn't rule out his involvement. Now, in the moment, he's like cooperative, he's respectful, even when Deputy Ritchie tells him like, hey, nothing personal, but like, as the husband, you're probably the prime suspect. But he gives them access

• 16:06Ashley Flowers?

  to everything: the house, their electronics, his phone, Liz's phone, which she had with her. And according to an episode of On the Case with Paula Zahn, he even tells them about a life insurance policy that she had through her employer, which he would be the beneficiary of. Although, he says that he doesn't even think it's worth that much. But from the start, investigators think, even if he is so cooperative, like, there is something off about him? Like Sergio keeps saying how worried he was about Liz holding that garage sale alone, that he encouraged her to have someone with her, but she said she'd be fine. And that's actually why the alarm was set on the house to begin with, even though she was outside. He says that he had her set it on the door from the garage at the house. That way, if

• 16:50Ashley Flowers?

  anything went wrong, all she would have to do was run to the door and open it, and then help would be on the way.

• 16:55Speaker 01

  Hmm. I guess I'm trying to decide where the line is between like, Crime Junkie Paranoid and laying out all this groundwork to cover your tracks.

• 17:05Ashley Flowers?

  It's strange, yeah. Again, they're in-

• 17:09Ashley Flowers?

  Pretty nice neighborhood too, which is like I keep taking into account. I don't think there was like a history of garage sale robberies or anything even remotely close, but Sergio like just tells police that they're just super cautious people. But that isn't the only thing that's raising red flags. His overall demeanor is odd to them, like sitting in a police car, listening to the doorbell camera audio with Deputy Richie. He almost seems calm, like the deputy is expecting some kind of reaction as they hear those like booming gunshots and they hear Liz scream. But Sergio's face is just blank. Now, some early police reports claim that Sergio never asked about Liz's condition, but that is actually not entirely accurate.

• 17:54Ashley Flowers?

  So he was talking to investigators from at least two different agencies. And while he might not have asked everyone, at some point, he definitely inquired about her status and whether he could go to the hospital. But when detectives finish questioning him and tell him he can leave, he doesn't. Deputy Richie watches as he kind of just lingers around. He's like talking to neighbors. He's checking out what the media is doing.

• 18:17Speaker 01

  Is he aware that Liz isn't going to make it?

• 18:20Ashley Flowers?

  I don't, I'm not sure what investigators have told him or like what updates he's getting from her family, but obviously he knows that she's shot and has been airlifted to the hospital.

• 18:29Speaker 01

  Right, like it's clearly a pretty serious injury.

• 18:32Ashley Flowers?

  Yeah, and his lack of urgency isn't what detectives expect in that situation. Now meanwhile, the Nellies are at the hospital trying to process what feels like a nightmare. Liz is registered under an alias in case the shooter is still after her, which is like such a weird like reality for them to be in. They have no idea what is going to happen next or what they're supposed to do next.

• 18:55Speaker 01

  Are they wondering where Sergio, their son-in-law is?

• 18:59Ashley Flowers?

  Not really, no, like everyone, I think everyone is just so focused on Liz and they know police needed to question him. Plus Bob and Rosemary trust him. They have never doubted that he loves their daughter. So when Sergio and his mom do finally get to the hospital, which is sometime that afternoon, he and Bob arrange one final act of generosity on Liz's behalf. They are going to donate her organs. And even in this devastating moment, they're thinking about how she can help others. So Liz is declared dead on Saturday, January 26th at 1:40 PM. But she is kept on life support for the next few days to preserve her organs. Her loved ones barely leave her side during that time. I mean, they're hardly sleeping or showering,

• 19:43Ashley Flowers?

  let alone thinking about the investigation. Now Deputy Ritchie does show them a censored version of the shooting footage, hoping that they'll recognize the killer or maybe the truck, which they don't. But after listening to the audio, they are convinced that Liz didn't know the shooter. Because they said if she did, she wouldn't have said like, "Good morning." She would have said like, "Good morning, so and so," like their name.

• 20:08Speaker 01

  And they're sure about that?

• 20:10Ashley Flowers?

  I think so. Yes, they are.

• 20:12Speaker 01

  I guess I'm trying to like, think of how I greet my friends or like my neighbors.

• 20:17Ashley Flowers?

  I don't, yeah, I don't say people's, I'm not like, "Good morning, Brad." I'm just like, "Hey, you." Like, you know what I mean?

• 20:21Speaker 01

  Yeah, like I would say like, "Good morning" to anyone walking down the street, I think.

• 20:25Ashley Flowers?

  Whether I knew them or not.

• 20:26Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 20:27Ashley Flowers?

  I kind of went back and forth. This is actually something I had Nina like, like, push on. But she said she talked to them and they are like adamant that whoever the shooter was, Liz did not know the shooter. So by this point, the shooting video is circulating in the media as well. And while it hasn't given police the big break that they thought it would, it is still a huge help. They might not be able to ID the killer, but they can start ruling people out. Like Liz was 5'2", and all things considered, detectives estimate that the killer was somewhere between 5'4" and 5'8". And they think they have an athletic build. Maybe they're like 140 to 175 pounds.

• 21:03Speaker 01

  Do they have a better sense of the shooter's gender?

• 21:05Ashley Flowers?

  No, it's not clear enough on the video for them to say. There's a lot of early speculation that it's a woman. Deputy Ritchie specifically thinks their mannerisms and gait appear kind of feminine, but he knows that doesn't necessarily mean anything. But while they're grappling with the uncertainty, They are getting clarity on other areas too. So like piecing together a timeline of the killer's movements from the area surveillance cameras. Now, it turns out that the frontier was in the Barraza's neighborhood hours before the shooting. At around like two in the morning. The investigator Richie says that it didn't pass by their house at that time.

• 21:41Speaker 01

  It was just in the neighborhood.

• 21:43Ashley Flowers?

  Yeah, and they can't see who's driving because the footage is too grainy. And without a plate number, they can't be 100% sure that it's the same frontier. But like, everything else matches. They're like pretty sure it was in the neighborhood at 2 a.m.

• 21:56Speaker 01

  Which makes even less sense. If we're working off the theory that they knew she'd be outside and timed it to when like Sergio might be leaving, then why even get there that early? Why would you be waiting around at 2 a.m.? If they're already there, why not attack when she goes out to get Starbucks at like 6 o'clock?

• 22:14Ashley Flowers?

  It's not, I don't think they think that the person was sitting there from like 2 to 7, or at least that's like maybe not in the same spot. The camera only catches them from what I understand briefly at around 2. But then after that, we don't know where the truck goes or what they're doing.

• 22:29Speaker 01

  If it's even there in the neighborhood at all.

• 22:31Ashley Flowers?

  Were they lying in wait off camera? Maybe did they leave and then come back? What we do know for sure is that they're back at around 6:48 a.m. Literally right as Sergio was leaving for work.

• 22:43Speaker 01

  So there's a chance that they came by at 2 to scope the area out.

• 22:48Ashley Flowers?

  Maybe, but even that doesn't totally make sense because like they didn't actually, or apparently.

• 22:55Speaker 01

  They weren't by the house at 2. They were just like in the neighborhood.

• 22:59Ashley Flowers?

  Right, because like the Barraza's camera doesn't pick them up. So if they're scoping out the house, they're scoping the house outside of.

• 23:06Speaker 01

  Where the house actually is.

• 23:07Ashley Flowers?

  Camera view, which, which to me would mean that you already know about the house or that there's a camera.

• 23:12Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 23:12Ashley Flowers?

  I don't know.

• 23:13Speaker 01

  It feels like pre-scoped.

• 23:14Ashley Flowers?

  Right, but maybe they were just getting a feel for the neighborhood or like how they're gonna.

• 23:19Speaker 01

  Like escape route situation.

• 23:21Ashley Flowers?

  Yeah. Anyways, when they returned later that morning, the driver briefly rolled into the parking lot of a preschool near the entrance of the Brazos subdivision. Then they pulled out and headed toward their street. But instead of turning right toward their house, they make that left, hit a U-turn, stop the truck, and then cut the lights. Now, from where they parked, it seems like they knew Sergio's van would pass them almost. Like about four minutes after he left, that's when the killer makes their move. And I know this is a lot to visualize, so we are gonna have maps and stuff on the blog posts along with links to the videos that I've been talking about, which various news sites have already shared. So the whole point is, the whole thing seems carefully planned.

• 24:06Ashley Flowers?

  Even the murder weapon, which they haven't found, points to that. So there were no shell casings at the scene, suggesting that the killer used a revolver, likely a 38 caliber, based on the bullets that they recovered. And revolvers keep their shell casings inside, which would be a smart choice for anyone who wants to avoid like leaving evidence behind or having to take the time to clean up evidence they left behind. So someone went to a lot of trouble to kill Liz and to get away with it. But now, police need to figure out why. Because the why should lead them to the who.

• 24:43Ashley Flowers?

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• 25:27Ashley Flowers?

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• 26:54Ashley Flowers?

  As detectives delve into Liz's world, there is one major focus, and that's the 501st Legion, that Star Wars group. This isn't some casual fan club. It requires a serious commitment from members who dress as Star Wars villains while doing charity work, which makes them think kind of about the strange disguise that the shooter wore. Maybe that unusual flowy costume and those boots could have been part of a stormtrooper uniform, maybe? Like, I actually have, it's so hard to see, but I have like a screenshot. And I think it's actually better, like, in motion.

• 27:30Speaker 01

  In the video, yeah.

• 27:31Ashley Flowers?

  Yeah, because you can see, I've heard Princess Leia somewhere as well, but you can like see how it flows out.

• 27:36Speaker 01

  You described it as like a robe.

• 27:38Ashley Flowers?

  I thought it was like a house robe.

• 27:39Speaker 01

  Yeah, like a long coat that's like kind of billowing out or could billow out. And then there's definitely like, okay, go-go boots or, now that you mention it, stormtrooper boots would.

• 27:49Ashley Flowers?

  That's what they think.

• 27:49Speaker 01

  Make sense.

• 27:50Ashley Flowers?

  I don't know. And listen, even though like most of what this group is about is. Charity. Anytime you have a large, passionate group of people, drama feels a little inevitable. And Liz's local squadron was no exception. Investigators hear about personality clashes, rivalries, arguments.

• 28:08Speaker 01

  And what about the woman that Sergio had mentioned earlier? Especially since there's a chance the shooter might be female.

• 28:14Ashley Flowers?

  They check her out, but after interviewing her, they're convinced that she's not involved. And actually, after looking at all of them in this group, they don't think Liz's killer was on the group's roster. And by the way, none of them drive a Frontier. So at that point, the investigators turn their attention to another big part of Liz's life, her job. Now, she is a data reporter at the Rosen Group, which is this company that inspects oil and gas pipelines. So she worked at the Houston branch with a small, close-knit team. And it doesn't take investigators long to clear all of them, too. Liz was the only one who was out of office that Friday. And when they map out her colleagues' addresses and times that they showed up for work, it

• 28:57Ashley Flowers?

  is clear that none of them could have killed her. And again, no Frontiers in the mix.

• 29:02Speaker 01

  So what about her actual work? Like, could she have found out about something she wasn't supposed to?

• 29:08Ashley Flowers?

  Deputy Ritchie considers that, but he says that her job duties were like really straightforward. She literally just like took data from robots that inspect pipelines and then turned in reports. So like, there is nothing he can see that would make her a target. The thing that seemed to maybe make her a target, or I should say like, an easy target on that particular day, was the garage sale. And I have to believe, like so many people I've seen like talk about this on the internet, that that is the key to everything. Because it turns out that almost no one knew she was having it that day. The only people in Liz and Sergio's life that they told about the garage sale were some family members and her coworkers. They didn't post anything online.

• 29:51Ashley Flowers?

  Sergio says that they only put up two signs, neither of which even listed the address. But this, it wasn't a last-minute thing either, I should say. So it was Liz's idea, and her mom, Rosemary, told us that she had been talking about it for at least a month, although it's not Clear when she finalized the date or like requested the time off from work?

• 30:09Speaker 01

  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

• 30:17Ashley Flowers?

  Probably.

• 30:17Speaker 01

  Passing in the past months.

• 30:19Ashley Flowers?

  But it's still like a pretty small group of people, like even more so now that they've ruled out her coworkers. You know what I mean? Like, at least when you post on Facebook Marketplace or something, like your suspect pool becomes like

• 30:30Speaker 01

  It's huge.

• 30:30Ashley Flowers?

  It's the whole internet, right? But that didn't happen here. So we're working with a very small, very specific group of people.

• 30:38Speaker 01

  And why were they holding it on a Friday? Wouldn't a Saturday make more sense?

• 30:42Ashley Flowers?

  Apparently that's like how it's done around there. Her dad Bob says that Friday is like when the serious garage sale.

• 30:48Speaker 01

  The day.

• 30:48Ashley Flowers?

  Yeah. And Liz planned to like run the sale through Saturday before they left. They were gonna leave on Sunday. So like, that's just how it works down there.

• 30:56Speaker 01

  And there's not some like garage sale spree killer out there at the time, right?

• 30:59Ashley Flowers?

  No.

• 31:00Speaker 01

  I don't think I've heard of any similar cases to this.

• 31:03Ashley Flowers?

  No. And again and again, police keep coming back to one thing. Based on everything they know, Liz was the target. This doesn't feel random. It wasn't like it was gonna 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.

• 31:47Ashley Flowers?

  A strange call or text around the time of the shooting, unexplained financial transactions. But there is nothing.

• 31:55Speaker 01

  Yep, 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?

• 32:04Ashley Flowers?

  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.

• 32:11Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 32:12Ashley Flowers?

  Those are actually pretty controversial because phone companies are based Basically turning over data on every single device that pinged a specific tower during a set of time.

• 32:21Speaker 01

  So it becomes like a privacy thing.

• 32:22Ashley Flowers?

  Yeah, 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.

• 32:35Speaker 01

  Right.

• 32:36Ashley Flowers?

  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 Brazos 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. Which 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.

• 33:09Speaker 01

  Right, but it wouldn't necessarily have to be like a fortune that we're talking about. And we've heard stories about shit men working for pennies, practically nothing.

• 33:18Ashley Flowers?

  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, like 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.

• 33:44Speaker 01

  But I mean, when you think about everything that had to line up, like just so perfectly for all of this to happen this way.

• 33:53Ashley Flowers?

  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, but 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.

• 34:22Speaker 01

  Even Deputy Ritchie.

• 34:24Ashley Flowers?

  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.

• 34:39Ashley Flowers?

  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.

• 34:50Speaker 01

  But it wasn't that much money or anything?

• 34:51Ashley Flowers?

  Right.

• 34:52Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 34:52Ashley Flowers?

  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.

• 35:01Speaker 01

  What?

• 35:01Ashley Flowers?

  Yeah, and since Liz was murdered, a double indemnity clause doubles that payout to half a million dollars.

• 35:09Speaker 01

  And like you said, since when is half a million dollars not that much?

• 35:14Ashley Flowers?

  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? So, 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

• 35:58Ashley Flowers?

  me about my investigation, I will make it very clear that I do not want that money released until this case is solved."

• 36:05Speaker 01

  But even just knowing about the policy could be enough of a motive, even if you never actually get the money.

• 36:12Ashley Flowers?

  True.

• 36:13Speaker 01

  And you still haven't mentioned anyone else who knew Liz's schedule and had something to gain from her death, just him.

• 36:20Ashley Flowers?

  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.

• 36:41Speaker 01

  There's someone that, yeah, someone says like, "Oh, I thought this was weird that they did, they seem to have this in their relationship." She mentioned this one. Time.

• 36:49Ashley Flowers?

  There's nothing. There is like Deputy Richie, 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 the motive. 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. But there was someone else very close to Sergio who was apparently in a significant financial bind.

• 37:30Ashley Flowers?

  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 bounced check on just like an accounting error. He tells investigators that his finances are like totally straight. Everything's good. But county court records show that around this time, Oscar was hit with several lawsuits for unpaid taxes.

• 38:15Ashley Flowers?

  And in divorce filings, Sergio's mom said that he gave over $20,000 to three different women.

• 38:22Speaker 01

  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.

• 38:31Ashley Flowers?

  She kind of was. So this, again, this is where like it doesn't totally add up. Like, cause from what Sergio tells police, she never confronted Oscar about this. Sergio says that he and Liz decided basically to stay out of it. And after all, I mean, he still worked for his dad, like.

• 38:45Speaker 01

  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.

• 38:50Ashley Flowers?

  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.

• 39:02Speaker 01

  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?

• 39:14Ashley Flowers?

  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. It's still a possible theory.

• 39:23Speaker 01

  But it seems so farfetched.

• 39:25Ashley Flowers?

  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?

• 39:39Speaker 01

  It becomes like Oscar is the mastermind theory. Is Sergio suspicious of his dad at all?

• 39:45Ashley Flowers?

  Maybe. So on the Polizan 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. So I don't know, I don't know where Sergio's suspicions 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.

• 40:30Ashley Flowers?

  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. Like, 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.

• 41:05Speaker 02

  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 a suspect in this case.

• 41:28Speaker 02

  We 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.

• 41:39Speaker 03

  I don't understand how someone could do this to her. She didn't deserve to pass away like this. Why someone could be so monstrous to commit and act like this, dude? My innocent wife, I just, I just really can't understand. I had to, 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 you.

• 42:15Speaker 01

  So it seems like Liz's family is standing by Sergio.

• 42:18Ashley Flowers?

  Oh, yeah, I mean, he's actually been living with the Nellis since the shooting. So 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 gonna be the break they so desperately need.

• 43:04Ashley Flowers?

  Let's face it, if student loans are slowing down your financial goals, it might be time for a smarter strategy. That's where today's sponsor SoFi comes in. SoFi is helping you tackle student debt by refinancing your loans with flexible monthly payments that fit your budget. We're talking about the potential to lower your interest rate, reduce your monthly payment, or even pay off your loan sooner, depending on the term you choose. You can also consolidate your student loans into one simple monthly payment, so you could save more each month and work towards achieving your long-term financial ambitions. SoFi offers competitive fixed and variable rates and no origination fees, prepayment fees, or late fees required. It takes just two minutes to check your rate with SoFi, and they have already helped over 500,000 members refinance more than $50 billion in student loans.

• 43:48Ashley Flowers?

  Visit sofi.com/crimejunkie to see how much you can save. That's sofi.com/crimejunkie and start making smarter money moves with SoFi. SoFi's student loans are originated by SoFi Bank, N.A., member FDIC. Additional terms and conditions apply. NMLS 696891.

• 44:08Speaker 01

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• 44:52Speaker 01

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• 45:15Ashley Flowers?

  When 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.

• 45:26Speaker 01

  Of course.

• 45:26Ashley Flowers?

  And guess what the most popular color is?

• 45:28Speaker 01

  Of course, it's gotta be black.

• 45:29Ashley Flowers?

  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.

• 45:44Speaker 01

  Great.

• 45:45Ashley Flowers?

  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.

• 45:55Speaker 01

  So they have to check every single one manually?

• 46:00Ashley Flowers?

  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.

• 46:18Speaker 01

  Right.

• 46:19Ashley Flowers?

  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. And 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.

• 46:45Speaker 01

  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?

• 46:56Ashley Flowers?

  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.

• 47:06Speaker 01

  And I was honestly about to say something similar about the truck. I mean, maybe it was stolen or borrowed from a friend.

• 47:12Ashley Flowers?

  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 before anyone even knew. 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 Barraza.

• 47:55Ashley Flowers?

  And 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 gonna 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's.

• 48:24Speaker 01

  All the activity.

• 48:25Ashley Flowers?

  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. Hope 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.

• 49:08Ashley Flowers?

  The other thing they start thinking is like, what if they turned around because they were trying to avoid running into police?

• 49:14Speaker 01

  Oh.

• 49:15Ashley Flowers?

  Yeah, a resident's 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.

• 49:26Speaker 01

  Couldn't have just vanished though.

• 49:28Ashley Flowers?

  No, the, um, they think that maybe it went off-roading, like jumped the curb, like at the end of this.

• 49:33Speaker 01

  And just tore out through.

• 49:35Ashley Flowers?

  Yeah, like there's like this green belt area.

• 49:38Speaker 01

  Oh, okay.

• 49:39Ashley Flowers?

  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. So if they're coming in the main entrance, which they probably would have used, like.

• 49:50Speaker 01

  You can't get out without passing them.

• 49:52Ashley Flowers?

  Yeah, they might have seen them. They turn around and they like high tail it out of there.

• 49:56Speaker 01

  And this feels like a no brainer, but I assume they checked everyone in the neighborhood, like especially in that specific cul-de-sac.

• 50:03Ashley Flowers?

  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 the them jumping the.

• 50:15Speaker 01

  Yeah, the off-roading.

• 50:16Ashley Flowers?

  Yeah, Liz'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. Like 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.

• 51:01Ashley Flowers?

  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. Um, cause when Sergio posts something online about being engaged again, police are like flooded with tips. Rumors start swirling that he and his fiance 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. He tells KHOU 11 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. Now, Michael Ritchie has been promoted to sergeant.

• 51:46Ashley Flowers?

  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.

• 52:09Speaker 01

  I 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.

• 52:20Ashley Flowers?

  And it's not even just because of social media, like 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, whokilledlizbaraza.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. Someone 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.

• 53:03Ashley Flowers?

  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.

• 53:23Speaker 01

  That sounds like something you would say if you knew who did it and knew that that person was close to them.

• 53:29Ashley Flowers?

  That'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.

• 53:46Speaker 01

  It feels very targeted.

• 53:47Ashley Flowers?

  Right.

• 53:48Speaker 01

  Do her parents have any theories?

• 53:50Ashley Flowers?

  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. But 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.

• 54:22Speaker 01

  We're just missing a piece of it that's not in the recording right now.

• 54:25Ashley Flowers?

  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.

• 54:33Speaker 01

  You turned over every rock and this is it.

• 54:35Ashley Flowers?

  This 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.

• 55:13Speaker 01

  Are they still in touch with Sergio at all?

• 55:15Ashley Flowers?

  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's 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.

• 55:44Speaker 01

  And did he ever end up collecting on that life insurance policy?

• 55:48Ashley Flowers?

  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, so.

• 55:59Speaker 01

  And they can't just keep it away forever though, can they?

• 56:04Ashley Flowers?

  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. But he would have to be the one to start that process.

• 56:23Speaker 01

  And that won't look good.

• 56:24Ashley Flowers?

  I, 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. 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 just, it's worth hitting on. One 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.

• 57:02Speaker 01

  Like, they were hacked?

• 57:03Ashley Flowers?

  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 livestream. 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.

• 57:24Speaker 01

  Yeah, like, if it wasn't them, who else would they have given it to?

• 57:28Ashley Flowers?

  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.

• 57:44Speaker 01

  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, like-

• 57:53Ashley Flowers?

  They don't need the camera.

• 57:54Speaker 01

  You don't need the camera, because this is, like, part of their routine.

• 57:56Ashley Flowers?

  I 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

• 58:17Speaker 01

  I'm not buying that. This, this doesn't feel random.

• 58:20Ashley Flowers?

  I know.

• 58:21Speaker 01

  Nothing about this feels random.

• 58:22Ashley Flowers?

  And I, I think this, this one only started, at least in part, because I think that, um, 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. So 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 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

• 59:01Ashley Flowers?

  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. Who 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.

• 59:46Ashley Flowers?

  You can also contact the Harris County Sheriff's Office at 713-274-9100.

• 1:00:05Ashley Flowers?

  You can find all the source material for this episode on our website, crimejunkiepodcast.com.

• 1:00:11Speaker 01

  And you can follow us on Instagram at Crime Junkie Podcast.

• 1:00:14Ashley Flowers?

  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.

• 1:00:52Ashley Flowers?

  Crime Junkie is an AudioChuck production. So, what do you think Chuck? Do you approve?

• 1:01:02Speaker 04

  When the nights grow longer, the shadows start to stir. And that can only mean one thing. Full Body Chills is back. This season, step inside original tales where every doorway leads somewhere darker, every stranger carries a secret, and nothing is ever quite what it seems. Each story takes you somewhere new, but be careful. You never know what might follow you home. So gather around, listen close, and stream Full Body Chills wherever you get your podcasts.

• 1:01:33Speaker 01

  Growing up in a small town, I know how deeply a crime can shake a local community, and I know that what makes the headlines is rarely the full story. That's what Kylie Lowe explores on her show Dark Down East. She digs into cases from Maine and New England using original reporting, archival records, and conversations with the people who knew them best. Each episode takes you inside the communities these stories shaped, and the families who never stop searching for answers. Listen to Dark Down East wherever you get your podcasts.