Velma Barfield seemed like a sweet, God-fearing woman. In reality, she was a serial killer responsible for the deaths of as many as seven people, including three romantic partners and her own mother.
Bettmann/Getty ImagesVelma Barfield, the “Death Row Granny.”
“You know, it’s the saddest thing but it seems like everybody my mother ever gets close to dies,” Velma Barfield’s son Ronnie Burke once said, according to the Toronto Sun. “How could the good Lord allow this to happen to a faithful Christian like Velma Barfield?”
Indeed, misfortune seemed to follow Velma Barfield wherever she went. After she and her first husband, Thomas Burke, began having marriage troubles, their house in North Carolina mysteriously burst into flames in 1969 while Thomas was inside, killing him. Then, less than a year into her second marriage, Velma’s new husband suddenly fell ill and died of a heart attack.
Over the years, several people close to Velma would succumb to the same mysterious symptoms, including her own mother and three elderly patients she was hired to care for. As it turned out, Velma had been poisoning her loved ones with arsenic, often to conceal the fact that she’d been forging checks in their names to support her prescription drug addiction.
For years, she got away with these crimes, in large part because of her outward persona as a kindly grandmother and churchgoer. But when the authorities found arsenic in the remains of one of Velma’s lovers in 1978, they finally took a closer look at Velma Barfield — and unraveled a shocking case that would solidify her place in history as the “Death Row Granny.”
Velma Barfield’s First Husband — And Victim
The first person to die from getting too close to Velma Barfield was Thomas Burke, her first husband.
The pair had married when Velma was just 17. This was reportedly because Velma had been desperate to get away from home. For years, she’d been tormented by a father who, from the outside, seemed to be nothing more than a doting, loving man. But Velma would later claim her father sexually abused her when she was a child, and raped her when she was 13.
For Velma, marrying Thomas was a way out of a terrible situation. And, for a while, they lived a seemingly normal, happy life in North Carolina with their two children. But in the 1960s, Velma had a hysterectomy, developed back pain, and eventually became addicted to painkillers. Meanwhile, Thomas had started drinking heavily, and the two found themselves constantly at each other’s throats.
One day in 1969, Velma snuck out with the kids and left Thomas alone in their home. While she was out, the house caught fire, killing Thomas.
Her children were devastated — and as far as anyone could tell, Velma was, too. But Thomas’ death showed Velma that there was a simple way to fix her problems. And before long, her life was filled with tragedy after tragedy.
North Carolina Department of Safety/Wikimedia CommonsVelma Barfield murdered as many as seven people in the 1960s and 1970s.
The Sudden Deaths Of Jennings Barfield And Lillian Bullard
Just months after losing her first husband, Velma found love again. Her second husband was Jennings Barfield, a widower who had kids of his own. Tragically, he, too, would meet a mysterious end.
Soon after marrying, the couple began to argue over Velma’s prescription drug use. Their fights got so bad that Jennings began to pursue a divorce. But before he had the chance to leave his wife, he fell ill from a mysterious stomach virus. In 1971, less than a year after marrying Velma, Jennings Barfield died of heart failure.
Widowed a second time, Velma Barfield moved back in with her parents. Soon, she began forging checks in her mother’s name to support her drug habit.
Her father contracted lung cancer and died in 1972 — the one death Velma couldn’t have caused. Shortly after, her mother, Lillian Bullard, became mysteriously ill and died in 1974. Much like Jennings, her symptoms had included vomiting and stomach pain.
It would take years for anyone to make the connection between the deaths.
More People Fall Victim To The Death Row Granny
After Velma Barfield’s mother died, people began dropping like flies around her.
She took a caretaking job working for 94-year-old Montgomery Edwards and his 84-year-old wife, Dollie Edwards. Within two years, both of them fell ill and died.
Afterward, Velma took a job caring for another elderly couple, Record Lee and John Henry Lee. She began to forge checks in John Henry’s name, and in 1977, he fell ill and died of a heart attack.
To those around her, Velma Barfield seemed like a horribly unlucky woman. When she got engaged a third time to a man named Stuart Taylor, her loved ones hoped she might at least find comfort in her new companion. But soon, Taylor, too, would join Velma’s growing list of victims.
Bettmann/Getty ImagesVelma Barfield seemed like a sweet, unassuming lady who was prone to tragedy.
In the fall of 1977, shortly after Velma Barfield had moved in with Taylor, she started forging checks in his name. To keep him from finding out, she began poisoning his beer and tea.
One day, the couple went to attend a Rex Humbard gospel meeting. In the middle of the service, Taylor started to experience extreme stomach pain. He excused himself so he could lie down in his truck. After the service, Velma offered to drive him home, stopping on occasion so he could vomit along the side of the road.
Taylor was later admitted to the hospital, where doctors told him his illness was likely gastritis caused by excessive drinking. He died just days later, on Feb. 3, 1978.
His death baffled those closest to him. Stuart Taylor had been only 56 years old, and otherwise healthy. A doctor suggested an autopsy.
Soon, the truth of Velma Barfield’s crimes would come to light.
“I Only Meant To Make Him Sick”
On the day of Stuart Taylor’s funeral, Velma Barfield’s friends and family came out to support her, remarking at how much heartache this kind, church-going woman had been forced to endure throughout her life.
But there was one family member who hadn’t bought Velma’s act.
Earlier that day, a woman claiming to be Velma’s sister called the police. Velma Barfield was a murderer, she had told them, and she had killed her own mother the same way she had killed Stuart Taylor.
At first, the police didn’t think much of this report — until Stuart Taylor’s autopsy came back. There was arsenic in his system.
Investigators started looking into every tragic death connected to Velma Barfield, and realized that most of them had apparently died from the same condition: gastroenteritis. Gastroenteritis can closely resemble arsenic poisoning, as symptoms include stomach pain, diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting. It would be very easy for medical experts to misinterpret a case of arsenic poisoning as the illness.
Investigators soon realized they had a serial killer on their hands.
When the police questioned Velma Barfield about the suspicious nature of Taylor’s death, she intially pretended to know nothing about it. But when her son, Ronnie Burke, confronted her about it, she broke down sobbing.
It was an accident, she told him, according to Death Sentence: The True Story of Velma Barfield’s Life, Crimes and Execution by Jerry Bledsoe. “I only meant to make him sick.”
The First Woman Executed In 22 Years
According to UNC University Libraries, Velma Barfield officially confessed to five of the murders: Stuart Taylor, her mother, Dolly and Montgomery Edwards, and John Henry Lee.
She continued to deny killing her former husbands, Thomas Burke and Jennings Barfield. However, Jennings’ body was eventually exhumed and found to contain arsenic. And years later, Crime Library reports, when her son Ronnie Burke asked her if she had killed his father, Thomas, she replied: “I’m sure I probably did.”
North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural ResourcesWhile Velma Barfield was only convicted of murdering her fiancé, Stuart Taylor, she is believed to have killed six others.
She was eventually convicted of Taylor’s murder, and in December 1978, she was sentenced to death. It was the first time since the death penalty had been reinstated in 1976 that an American woman would be sent to the execution chamber. Because of this, her case became a media frenzy.
Velma was soon dubbed the “Death Row Granny” because of her unassuming appearance. To many, it was shocking that such an innocent-looking woman could have killed as many as seven people.
While awaiting her execution, Velma Barfield became a devout born-again Christian, gaining the support of fellow Christians and death penalty opponents. A whole movement rose up to save her from capital punishment. Her psychiatrist tried to convince the judge that she had multiple personality disorder and should be spared.
The judge wouldn’t budge.
According to the Toronto Sun, Velma also spoke to the famous Reverend Billy Graham shortly before her scheduled execution, hoping he might be able to help her. While Graham declined to intervene, he reportedly sang her praises, telling her, “Velma, in a way I envy you, because you’re going to get to go to heaven before I do.”
On Nov. 2, 1984, the day Velma Barfield was scheduled to die by lethal injection, some 300 people gathered outside the prison walls to protest the death penalty. Across from them, a group of counter-protesters chanted, “Die, bitch! Die!”
Her last meal was a Coca-Cola and some Cheez Doodles. Afterward, Velma followed the guards into the execution chamber.
She wasn’t worried, she told her friends and family. “When I go into that gas chamber,” Velma Barfield said at the time, according to the New York Times, “it’s my gateway to heaven.”
As in the case of her many victims, it was poison that killed Velma Barfield that autumn day. Witnesses reported that she didn’t suffer in her final moments. She just seemed to relax as the toxic poison flowed through her veins.
For the first time since 1962, an American woman had faced capital punishment. She was 52 years old.
Outside, the people standing vigil put out their candles and softly sang Velma Barfield’s favorite hymn. Others cheered, celebrating the end of the Death Row Granny’s reign of terror.
After reading about Velma Barfield, learn about the worst female serial killers of the 20th century. Then, read about “Giggling Granny” Nannie Doss, who murdered about a dozen of her family members.
