Case #: 102007 Victim: Margaret Barziza Suspect: White or Hispanic male, shoulder length straight black hair, five foot eight inches tall and weighed about 180 pounds. The suspect was wearing a light blue short sleeved shirt and blue work pants. Location: 8810 Longpoint Date: March 20, 1982 at 8:00 PM
Synopsis:
The complainant in this incident was Margaret Barziza, a 77 year old woman. Mrs. Barziza was physically very frail and was no longer able to care for herself, so she was placed in the “Golden Age Nursing Home.” On this night, Mrs. Barziza was alone in her room when she was last seen by the staff at this nursing home. This was at around 7:30 PM. When she was again checked on at 8:00 PM, she was no longer in her room.
This staff member went to other employees of the nursing home to attempt to locate Mrs. Barziza. They all returned to her room to look for her. One of the employees looked out the window of the room that Mrs. Barziza was in. Outside of the window, the employee observed Mrs. Barziza on the ground, being sexually assaulted by a man.
The employee called out to the man to stop. Once the suspect heard the employee call out, he took off running. The suspect was described as a white or Hispanic male, shoulder length straight black hair, was five foot eight inches tall and weighed about 180 pounds. The suspect was wearing a light blue short sleeved shirt and blue work pants. According to witnesses, the clothing looked like a uniform that a workman might wear.
Investigation at the scene revealed that the suspect had walked along the length of the building, pulling off screens to check to see if the windows to the patient’s room were locked. The only unlocked window was the complainant’s room. It appeared that the suspect found the window open, and just pulled Mrs. Barziza out of her bed, and placed her on the ground. Once he had her on the ground, the suspect began to violently sexually assault Mrs. Barziza. The suspect also physically assaulted her, hitting her on the face and chest, causing her death.
Police were dispatched to the scene, but did not find the suspect. Later, when this case was publicized, a witness called the Homicide Division and stated that they had seen a man matching the suspect’s description coming out of a nearby wooded lot.
During the course of the investigation, suspects were developed, but no one was ever charged in this Capital Murder.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Houston Police Department’s Cold Case Unit at 713-308-3600 or E-mail us at Cold.CaseHPD@cityofhouston.net.
