New details emerge in Carly Schaaf murder case; Lincoln teen's accessory charge stands (2024)

New details emerged this week in the criminal case against Danyl Barraza, the Lincoln teen accused of helping his older brother moveCarly Schaaf’s body from the lake where she initially was dumped in 2021 after she was killed.

At a hearing Tuesday, Lincoln Police Officer Jessica Drager, the lead investigator, testified that a confidential informant came forward last year alleging the younger Barraza "had something to do with Schaaf's death."

She said police originally thought Schaaf had gone to Joesef Barraza's apartment and was held there for a period of time before she died and he disposed of her body.

"But, later on, that didn't match up with our timeline," Drager said.

Schaaf had been stabbed. But an autopsy determined she died of a combination of an overdose of diphenhydramine, an antihistamine, and methamphetamine, as well as asphyxia by suffocation, according to court records.

An entomologist initially estimated Schaaf's time of death based on the insects at the scene. But she's now believed to have been killed about a week earlier, Drager said.

Drager said the CI told policeJoesef Barraza andhis then-girlfriend Rachel Pageler had used a flower delivery van to take Schaaf's body to the lake, corroborated by video taken outside their apartment and by text messages where Joesef Barraza had asked to borrow the van.

She said the CI said Schaaf's body originally had been submerged in the lake "and that Danyl assisted in pulling Carly out of the water and then moving her to where she was later located."

Drager said Schaaf had been wrapped with rope, which they used to pull her from the water.

She said the CI witnessed it, and cell tower records put the younger Barraza's phone in the area of the lake on May 24.

But Danyl Barraza's attorney, Trevin Preble, asked about the credibility of the CI. Had the person, who isn't being identified by prosecutors, lied to investigators?

Drager at first said the CI had withheld information, but upon further questioning she admitted the CI had outright lied early on in the investigation.

"Is there any evidence of my client's DNA at all in regards to this case?" Preble asked.

"No," Drager answered.

"You have the CI's testimony and a phone ping. Is there any other evidence that ties my client to these crimes?" he asked.

"No," she said.

But on redirect, Drager said that, though the CI had lied in the initial stages of the investigation, the informant ultimately came clean about everything.

And, she said, LPD never had a sample of Danyl Barraza's blood to compare to the evidence.

She also toldDeputy Lancaster County Attorney Amy Goodro about a text sent from his phone around the time of Schaaf's killing to his mother saying his brother wanted to know if she had a saw, suggesting further knowledge or involvement.

Drager said the CI told police Joesef Barraza initially was going to cut up Schaaf's body, though he ultimately didn't.

The gruesome exchange led members of Schaaf's family and friends in the courtroom to shudder and console each other.

At the end of the hearing, Preble argued that the state didn't have enough evidence to send the case against his client on to district court. Goodro argued they did.

Lancaster County Court Judge Thomas Zimmerman found the state had met its burden at this stage, and set Danyl Barraza for arraignment in district court next month.

In February, his brother pleaded not guilty in district court to the first-degree murder of Schaaf, plus three counts of first-degree sexual assault.

Investigators said they got a warrant and found photos and videos on his cellphone date-stamped June 1, 2021,two weeks after Schaaf went missing,that led them to Pawnee Lake.

Using a video as a guide, they searched a wooded area on June 10, 2021, and found her remains.

At a news conference announcing charges related to Schaaf’s killing, police said they believed that Joesef Barraza had kidnapped Schaaf and sexually assaulted her and two others and that his then-girlfriend Rachel Pageler had taken part in the kidnapping.

The state since has dropped the kidnapping charges.

And Pageler now is accused of being an accessory to the murder after it happened.