'Garage Sale Murder': How a doorbell camera captured Texas woman's murder
Elizabeth Barraza got up at dawn on Jan. 25, 2019, eager to set up a garage sale outside her home in Tomball, Texas. Minutes after saying goodbye to her husband as he left for work, Barraza was shot four times at close range in a devastating murder that was captured on her doorbell camera.
She died the following day.
Law enforcement believes that the shooting was carefully planned: the shooter arrived at a time they likely knew Barraza, known as Liz, would be alone outside and managed to avoid being clearly visible on camera.
The shooter didn't steal anything from the garage sale, creating uncertainty around the motive. Making matters more complicated, Liz had taken out a $500,000 life insurance policy and did not have any clear enemies, according to her family.
The fifth episode of "Somebody Knows Something," "Garage Sale Murder," premieres Monday, Aug. 31 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Freeform, and streams the next day on Disney+ and Hulu.
Host Kara Robinson Chamberlain, a true crime influencer, kidnapping survivor and former law enforcement officer, investigated the killing that has baffled Liz's family, friends and the community for seven years.
Liz's parents, Bob and Rosemary Nuelle, became concerned when they got an alert that her house alarm had gone off and neither they nor her husband Sergio Barraza could reach her. When they got to the hospital, Liz was almost unrecognizable.
"Somebody wanted her dead," Rosemary Nuelle told Chamberlain. "I don't know why. And it makes me angry."
After Sergio arrived at the scene, law enforcement focused on him as the potential shooter. Sergio told Chamberlain that he was stunned when he arrived at his home and recalled being "frozen there" in the back of a cop car, making investigators suspicious of his lack of visible emotion.
"In this case, I still have not ruled out Sergio, because everybody is still a suspect," Sgt. Michael Ritchie, of the Harris County Sheriff's Office, said. "But there was no evidence at all of any type of infidelity or any type of problems ... in their marriage. And Sergio's always answered my questions."
Sergio has denied having anything to do with his wife's murder.
Sergio and Liz were both members of the 501st Legion, a charity and costuming group celebrating Star Wars. The couple joined the group when they met in college and loved building their costumes and working community events.
"We worked with Make-A-Wish to grant wishes for kids," Sergio told Chamberlain. "Liz would see the joy we would give these kids and all these families, and she loved how it would make them feel."
After interviewing numerous friends and everyone in Liz's life, police identified Sergio's father, Oscar Barraza, as someone whom Liz might have had issues with. According to Sergeant Richie, Liz was upset with him after Sergio's latest check from working with his father bounced.
"That had really upset her and Sergio and Liz had talked about possibly confronting Oscar," Sergeant Richie said. "So possibly Liz did confront Oscar by himself, and if she was confronting him, he would benefit from her being out of the picture ... But the problem is it's all circumstantial."
According to authorities, Oscar passed a polygraph. Police say he is still considered a suspect. He did not respond to requests for comment.
Sergeant Ritchie told Chamberlain that they may be close to solving the case.
"We do have an ace up our sleeve," Sergeant Richie said. "We do have some evidence that is not public and is not known ... I'm that one phone call away."
Bob Nuelle lost his battle with cancer on May 10, 2026, while Rosemary Nuelle continues to fight for justice for her daughter.
"Day after day of knowing how much you are hurting all of us, not just Bob and I, but all our family, her friends, we're all in so much pain," Rosemary said.
For additional reporting and discussion about the cases, join us live on the "Somebody Knows Something" YouTube Channel.
If you have any information about this case, please call the Harris County Sheriff's Office at 713-222-TIPS.
