0:00

This is a rogue media

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network podcast. Do you ever have

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a story that you just can't

0:07

get out of your head?

0:09

One that you play the

0:11

details of over and over

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with your friends. Well, you've

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come to the right place.

0:18

I'm Claire. And I'm Susan.

0:20

And this is just as

0:22

pending. A weekly true crime

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podcast where we discuss tantalizing

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crimes with more questions and

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answers. Hey

0:32

everyone, welcome back to Justice

0:34

Pending, the podcast where we

0:36

dive into unsolved cases, legal

0:38

twists, and the mysteries that

0:40

keep us up at night. I'm Claire. And

0:43

I'm Susan, and today we're talking about

0:45

a case that is as baffling as

0:47

it is tragic. The murder of Elizabeth,

0:49

she went by Liz, Veraza, a 29

0:52

year old woman who was gunned down

0:54

in her driveway while setting up for

0:56

a garage sale. Yeah, this case

0:58

really has everything a killer

1:00

caught on camera a clear

1:02

getaway vehicle and yet six

1:05

years later no arrests and

1:07

Susan the more you dig

1:09

into this case the more frustrating

1:11

it gets. Oh 100% it's one

1:13

of those cases where you think

1:15

this should have been solved by

1:17

now, but here we are still

1:20

asking the same questions. Let's

1:22

break it down. Okay. Let's go

1:24

back to the morning of January

1:26

25th, 2019. Liz was in the

1:29

driveway of her home in Tomville,

1:31

Texas, setting up for a garage

1:33

sale. And this just wasn't

1:35

any garage sale. She and her

1:37

husband Sergio were about to celebrate

1:40

their fifth wedding anniversary with a

1:42

trip to Orlando. It's actually gonna

1:44

be Harry Potter World. She had

1:47

already packed her griffin door suitcase

1:49

and she was hoping to make

1:51

some extra cash for souvenirs. A

1:54

fan relatable and who doesn't want

1:56

extra spending money for a vacation.

1:58

Exactly. So it was. 652 a.m.

2:00

when a black Nissan frontier crew

2:03

crab truck pulls up in front

2:05

of her house. Oh, which by the

2:07

way has never been found. They've

2:10

never found the vehicle. Yeah,

2:12

and that's wild to me.

2:14

The killer gets out of

2:16

the truck and walks up

2:18

to Liz. Surveillance video shows

2:20

them exchanging a few words.

2:22

Some people have said they

2:24

think they can make out

2:26

her saying good morning and

2:28

then bam. four shots. Oof, one

2:31

to the neck, two to the

2:33

chest, and the final shot

2:35

execution style to the face.

2:38

It's absolutely brutal. And

2:40

then as if that's not

2:42

chilling enough, the shooter comes

2:44

back moments later and drives

2:46

past the house again. That,

2:48

ugh, kind of makes it

2:50

feel personal, right? Like they're

2:53

checking, ugh. Yeah. And it's

2:55

also like so methodical. And,

2:57

you know, crazy. It stands

2:59

out that this wasn't a robbery.

3:01

Nothing was taken. Here she is

3:04

setting up for the garage sale

3:06

and they don't touch anything. They

3:08

just kill her and flee and

3:10

then make one last lap to

3:12

make sure that she's down. The killer

3:15

used a revolver which actually

3:17

doesn't leave shell casings

3:20

behind. Oof, feels like that

3:22

the killer premeditated that like

3:24

really thought this out. And

3:26

where's the husband and all

3:28

this? Where's Sergio? So he had

3:30

just left for work and you

3:33

can, they had a doorbell camera

3:35

so you can actually see him

3:37

leave and then just minutes

3:39

later, the vehicle drives past

3:41

the house and that's when it

3:43

goes down. So it really seems

3:45

like the killer was watching the

3:48

house waiting for Liz to be alone.

3:50

And it just doesn't make any

3:52

sense. She was a completely

3:54

normal person who didn't have any

3:57

known enemies. She was not living

3:59

something. kind of double life. I

4:01

mean, at this point, people have

4:03

done a deep dive on Elizabeth

4:05

Baraza and no one has

4:08

found anything untoward. She was

4:10

just like a loving person. She

4:12

loved Harry Potter. She loved

4:14

Star Wars. She contributed to

4:16

tons of charities. She was

4:18

beloved and she had so

4:20

many friends and it just

4:22

really doesn't make sense. I

4:25

people have wondered is a

4:27

case of mistaken identity. Um,

4:29

that, you know, that this,

4:31

she actually wasn't the intended

4:33

target. Obviously, the person who

4:35

killed her thought that they were

4:38

killing the right person, you know,

4:40

intentionally killed her. It was no

4:42

accident. But did they think

4:44

that she was someone else? Right.

4:46

Oh, yeah. So let's talk about the

4:49

investigation. Liz's murder was

4:51

caught on multiple security

4:54

cameras. And despite that,

4:56

the killer hasn't been

4:58

identified. Yeah, and this is

5:00

where it gets weird. Investigators

5:02

believe the suspect was disguised

5:04

like maybe wearing a wig or

5:06

somehow making themselves appear shorter or

5:09

bulkier than the person actually was.

5:11

Yeah, so the surveillance video, you

5:14

know, people always wish that this

5:16

surveillance video was like as high

5:18

tech and high quality as you

5:21

see in the movies where they

5:23

can zoom in and get facial

5:25

recognition, but it's not like that.

5:28

So this is. you know, doorbell

5:30

cameras that they're using. The Baraza

5:33

family doorbell camera as well as

5:35

neighbors, you know, that were angled

5:37

to be able to see the

5:39

house. And you just really cannot

5:41

make out who this shooter is.

5:43

And the outline is blurry, but

5:45

it looks like they're wearing a

5:48

costume. almost. And so the

5:50

truck is really the best

5:52

clue that they have, you

5:54

know, this black truck. It

5:56

has a pro four by

5:58

four sticker and you know,

6:00

they really thought by releasing this

6:02

video of this truck that they

6:04

would be able to get a lead

6:06

on who the suspect could be. And,

6:09

you know, Tomball is a suburb of

6:11

Houston. So this is a huge area,

6:13

a huge city, right? And the idea

6:16

that they're looking for a black truck,

6:18

oof, gosh. I mean, you know, trucks,

6:20

there must be. You know, Houston, Texas,

6:22

this, this is truck town. Yeah, yeah.

6:24

But like, that's where, I mean, that

6:27

kind of is the part that gets

6:29

me, like, you're telling me in five

6:31

years or however long, like, however

6:33

long people were searching for this

6:35

truck, no one recognized it, nobody

6:37

found it, nobody recognized even

6:40

letters on the license plate?

6:42

Yeah, unfortunately, you know, it's

6:44

it's a lot like some other cases

6:46

that we've covered, you know, including the

6:49

CBvers. The CBvers case just keeps coming

6:51

back to us. But the idea that

6:53

the surveillance video wouldn't be able

6:55

to capture the license plate, you

6:57

know, it's a real problem. License

7:00

plate readers on traffic cameras are

7:02

really the only kinds of cameras

7:04

that are strong enough to read.

7:06

what those letters are. And that's

7:08

by design, right? They're put there

7:11

to catch people who are running

7:13

red lights and to use in

7:15

law enforcement investigations. But these storebell

7:18

cameras, these ring cameras,

7:20

you know, whatever other brand it might

7:22

be, this is not high death, you know,

7:24

and it's a ring, you heard it here,

7:26

make a high deaf cameras, we can start

7:29

solving some crimes. Right? It's an issue. Well,

7:31

a big part of the problem, you know,

7:33

they might. advertise that they're

7:35

HD cameras, but you have to be right

7:38

up next to it. So the idea that

7:40

they could get it from across the street,

7:42

it's just not possible at this point.

7:44

So, you know, the license plate reader

7:46

cameras, they're going right past, you

7:49

know, they know right where the

7:51

car's gonna be and they can

7:53

position it. These doorbell cameras are

7:55

this wide angle lens trying to

7:57

catch everything and, you know, they

7:59

just don't have anything. identifiable on the

8:01

truck that has resulted. I'm sure they

8:03

got plenty of tips, but it

8:05

hasn't resulted in anyone coming in

8:08

that has been classified as a

8:10

suspect. Like as far as the

8:12

public knows, as far as I'm aware,

8:14

there's never even been a named

8:16

suspect in this case. Okay, well,

8:18

let's talk about the thing we have

8:20

to talk about, right? The husband. So

8:22

we have no suspects, but we

8:24

do have to address this because

8:26

it's always the first question that

8:28

comes to mind. What about Liz's

8:30

husband Sergio? You've told me he

8:33

wasn't home, he left, but he

8:35

also wasn't home and he left, so.

8:37

Right. I mean, statistically, law

8:40

enforcement does start by looking

8:42

at the spouse and Sergio

8:44

has definitely been under the

8:46

microscope. So, you know, when

8:48

a murder is committed, it

8:50

starts out with the smallest

8:52

circle of contact who could

8:54

potentially be responsible. And it

8:56

starts out, you know, the

8:58

immediate. intimate partner of this

9:00

person. So it's a spouse,

9:02

it's a boyfriend or girlfriend,

9:04

you know, it's a roommate,

9:06

it's whoever has the closest

9:08

proximity to them, and then

9:10

it expands out as they rule

9:12

these people out. So it's,

9:14

it definitely started with Sergio,

9:16

you know, crime stoppers has

9:19

even increased the reward to

9:21

$50,000 for information, but

9:23

still nothing. Wow. And yes,

9:25

Sergio, he's always maintained his

9:28

innocence. He's been fully cooperative

9:30

with the police. He took

9:32

a polygraph. Yeah, he will

9:34

talk to anyone and everyone

9:36

about this case and still,

9:38

you know, has never changed

9:40

his story about being innocent,

9:42

having nothing to do with

9:44

this. It's not anything that

9:47

he seems to shy away from.

9:49

A lot of times you do

9:51

not see the spouse take a

9:53

polygraph, you know, in the Ashrow

9:55

case. His wife, Leslie, refused to

9:57

take a polygraph. There are lots of

9:59

cases. the Jennifer Harris unsolved murder.

10:01

You know, her ex-husband, Rob, refused

10:04

to take a polygraph. So a

10:06

lot of times, people won't take

10:08

that extra step, but Sergio did.

10:10

And you know, let's not forget,

10:13

he wasn't even home. So, you

10:15

know, he had left for work

10:17

minutes before the shooting and the

10:19

killer arrived almost immediately after. Yeah,

10:22

the timing's tight, especially if they

10:24

do not own that same vehicle.

10:26

Right, and if this was a

10:28

murder for hire situation, like that's

10:31

precision. And the fact that he

10:33

wouldn't break down, ever change his

10:35

story, ever slip up and say

10:37

anything in the many interviews that

10:40

he's done, both with the police

10:42

department and with the media. You

10:44

know, that's. that's incredible the idea

10:46

that he could be you know

10:49

this super criminal i think that's

10:51

that's really been ruled out i

10:53

i don't often say that you

10:55

know it couldn't be the husband

10:58

but in this case it does

11:00

seem pretty far-fetched that you know

11:02

history of violence and they had

11:04

no marital disputes that anyone knew

11:07

of correct as far as anyone

11:09

knew they were very happily married

11:11

about to go on this fifth

11:13

anniversary trip to Harry Potter World

11:16

and everybody, you know, just had

11:18

good things to say about them.

11:20

Wow. You know, I think one

11:22

of the reasons people sort of

11:25

are still questioning him, Sergio, is

11:27

because he did remarry within two

11:29

years of his first wife's murder.

11:31

Yes, which, you know, I get

11:33

it that. That's fast, but grief

11:36

is complicated. And remarriage alone doesn't

11:38

make someone a murderer. You know,

11:40

these were young people. They were,

11:42

you know, in their, their 20s.

11:45

And so the idea that he

11:47

wouldn't remarry like ever seems unrealistic.

11:49

And, you know, you meet someone

11:51

when you meet him. And so

11:54

he has talked about that. He

11:56

even gave an interview with a

11:58

local news station about. you know,

12:00

his new marriage, which I'm like

12:03

above and beyond Sergio, like you're

12:05

willing to see. Yeah, you know,

12:07

so he talked about how he

12:09

met, you know, his new wife

12:12

and she had recently lost a

12:14

family member and so like they

12:16

bonded over that and, you know,

12:18

it is like two years and,

12:21

you know, it's not two weeks.

12:23

So I give him credit for.

12:25

coming forward with it for sharing,

12:27

you know, being an open book.

12:30

And she even took a polygraph.

12:32

Sergio's new wife took a polygraph.

12:34

So they, they really aren't hiding

12:36

anything. And these polygraphs, you know,

12:39

they're not admissible in court because

12:41

they are so stressful. And the

12:43

way a polygraph reads is it

12:45

just has indications of stress. And

12:48

that's what it uses to say

12:50

that you're lying. So if you're

12:52

just overly anxious about the fact

12:54

that you're being interviewed about an

12:57

unsolved murder, you could actually fail

12:59

a polygraph. And while that wouldn't

13:01

be admissible in court, it would

13:03

cause the police to continue to

13:06

look at you and to use

13:08

that, you know, as probable cause,

13:10

you know, in some cases to

13:12

get a warrant maybe or to

13:15

continue to keep you on, you

13:17

know, a suspect list. And so

13:19

that hasn't happened here. So the

13:21

fact that... these two people have

13:24

been able to withstand all the

13:26

scrutiny, you know, that, I give

13:28

them a lot of credit for

13:30

that, that stands out to me.

13:33

Yeah, and it's, it sounds like

13:35

they met after the fact. So

13:37

it's correct, you know, it wasn't

13:39

like she was in the picture

13:42

and everyone's raising eyebrows. So, okay,

13:44

we'll let him off the hook

13:46

then. Yes. But I think, you

13:48

know, until the case is solved,

13:51

people are always going to have

13:53

questions, you know, they're going to

13:55

look at all the people in

13:57

her orbit. Yeah, and her family

14:00

is so dedicated to getting justice

14:02

for Liz, they, you know, they

14:04

have. a website who killed Elizabeth

14:06

Baraza and it's just full of

14:09

information about her about her life

14:11

you know it's really an incredible

14:13

tribute to her and they have

14:15

not given up hope you know

14:18

that this case will be solved.

14:20

Yeah and I think the Harris

14:22

County Sheriff's Office says that this

14:24

is not. a cold case. So

14:26

it's still an active investigation. And

14:29

they're still tracking down leads and

14:31

following tips and using whatever new

14:33

technology comes to light. So, you

14:35

know, maybe we will get answers

14:38

one day. Yeah, I really hope

14:40

so. I, you know, I think

14:42

that her family has been through

14:44

so much to have this violent

14:47

death of their loved one and

14:49

to have her taken so suddenly,

14:51

but they haven't, you know, given

14:53

up and they've kept her case

14:56

in the spotlight. hoping that someone

14:58

will come forward. Yeah, which is

15:00

exactly why we're talking about it

15:02

today on justice spending. It's a

15:05

perfect case for justice pending. Someone

15:07

out there, absolutely knows something. Yes.

15:09

And you know, if that's you,

15:11

crime stoppers is offering a $50,000

15:14

reward for tips leading to an

15:16

arrest. You can call 7132222 tips

15:18

if you have any information on

15:20

the Liz Baraza murder. All right,

15:23

so before we wrap up, Claire,

15:25

what's your gut feeling on this

15:27

one? So, you know, I do

15:29

think that this is a case

15:32

of, you know, a personal grudge.

15:34

I think someone wanted Liz debt.

15:36

Maybe it was a hit, maybe

15:38

it was someone who had their

15:41

own reasons, but I don't, you

15:43

know, I don't think it was

15:45

random. The only other scenario that

15:47

I have. gone over in my

15:50

head is that it was a

15:52

case of mistaken identity in that,

15:54

you know, they got the street

15:56

wrong. They got the location wrong.

15:59

because this was a garage sale

16:01

she's setting up for early in

16:03

the morning and not that many

16:05

people knew about it. It wasn't

16:08

like, you know, they had blasted

16:10

out some flyer all over, you

16:12

know, Houston. It was really, you

16:14

know, Sergio has said that it

16:17

was really just their neighbors, their

16:19

friends and family, some of her

16:21

coworkers that knew about it. And

16:23

so how would anyone know that,

16:26

you know, she was going to

16:28

be there? And obviously those people

16:30

have all been looked at her

16:32

neighbors, her co-workers, you know, the

16:35

police wondered, you know, okay, they

16:37

knew she was having this garage

16:39

sale and they looked for suspects

16:41

there and nothing panned out. So

16:44

to me, I think I'm split

16:46

between whether, you know, Liz had

16:48

wronged someone and they came after

16:50

her or that's the case of

16:53

mistaken identity. totally agree. And I

16:55

really think we all want to

16:57

know what was said in those

16:59

last six seconds before the shooting.

17:02

Yeah, that really could be the

17:04

key to everything, you know, it

17:06

could reveal a motive, it could

17:08

reveal some type of identifying information,

17:11

but for now, you know, we

17:13

don't, we don't know what was

17:15

said. So what do you all

17:17

think? If you have theories, let

17:20

us know. Yes, go to Justice

17:22

Pending. Click Contact us and send

17:24

us your thoughts on this case

17:26

and any of the other ones

17:28

we've covered. And if you enjoy

17:31

this episode, make sure that you

17:33

follow Justice Pending wherever you're listening

17:35

right now. Ride a review, give

17:37

us those five stars. We're always

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glad to hear from listeners and

17:42

we'll be back next week with

17:44

an all-new case. Until then, stay

17:46

safe, stay curious, and keep questioning

17:49

everything. Especially when there's a killer

17:51

on the loose. For sure. Justice

17:53

Pending is recorded in Dallas, Texas

17:55

for Rebel Studios. It's hosted by

17:58

me. Claire Santa Monica and

18:00

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