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Braxton Johns

Professor Mark Johnson

CRIM-02-47412

14 May 2023

Death Row Granny

Velma Barfield was a woman of many names. Many knew her as a grandma, wife,

daughter, victim, fraud, home health nurse, a high school dropout, widower, and most

notoriously, the death row granny. This seemingly sweet grandmother had a good husband, two

wonderful children, and a decent job, but a dark past. Her story is a sad tale of how a medical

condition transformed into an overwhelming drug addiction not only ruining her life but ending

the lives of those around her.

Background

Barfield was born on October 29th, 1932 to a penniless farmer and his wife in rural South

Carolina. She was the eldest of 9 children, subsequently making her the easiest to target.

Throughout her adolescent years, her father would sexually and physically abuse her while her

mother did nothing to stop him (Noe). Barfield managed to escape at the age of 17 by dropping

out of high school and marrying her high school sweetheart, Thomas Burke. The couple

eventually had 2 children and lived a harmonious life until 1965 (Noe). That year, Thomas got in

a car accident which left him with severe brain trauma. He suffered from severe headaches and

other neurological impairments which left him too disabled to work. The dynamic of the family

shifted, and Velma was forced to get a job at a textile plant. During this period, Thomas morphed

into a severe alcoholic, using liquor to ease his pain. This led to the couple’s little disagreements

turning into full-blown and physically intense arguments. At the same time, Velma was
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struggling with medical issues of her own. She required an emergency hysterectomy due to

intense hemorrhaging which resulted in severe, chronic back pain. Velma began taking

painkillers and sedatives to help her with her continuous discomfort. This injury was arguably

the turning point in Velma Barfield’s life (“Velma Barfield”).

Summary of Murders

Following a vicious fight with her husband in 1969, Velma left him at home to go run

errands and get some fresh air. When she arrived home, the couple’s house had mysteriously

caught on fire. Thomas, who was drunk and unconscious, died of smoke inhalation. A few

months later that same house caught on fire again, burning to the ground. Velma, who had just

lost her husband and her house, gained not only Thomas Burke’s inheritance money but also

insurance money from the second fire (“Velma Margie Barfield #29”).

Homeless, a widow, and a drug addict, Velma and her children moved back in with her parents.

It was around this time that Velma met Jennings Barfield, also a widow. The two quickly fell in

love and married in 1970, only a few months after Thomas Burke’s death. Unfortunately,

Jennings Barfield passed away unexpectedly from heart complications in 1971 (“Velma

Barfield”).

A few years later in 1974, Velma found herself taking care of her aging mother Lillie

McMillian Bullard. Her father had long since passed away from lung cancer, so it was just the

two women in the house. In the summer of ‘74, Lillie began showing symptoms of a strange

stomach virus. She was taken to the hospital and recovered in a few days. Oddly enough in

December of that same year, the unexplainable stomach illness came back. Lillie was rushed to

the hospital and died less than 2 hours after being admitted. The doctors were baffled and were
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unable to figure out what killed her. Lillie Bullard was buried with no autopsy performed and no

diagnosis of death made (“Velma Margie Barfield #29”).

Velma’s difficult life was only getting worse. She was still heavily addicted to

prescription medications and was becoming desperate. In 1975 she served six months in prison

for writing seven fraudulent checks. After she served her time, Velma was hired as a home health

nurse for 84-year-old Dollie Edwards and her husband, 94-year-old Montgomery Edwards.

Around a year after Velma started caring for the Edwards’, Montgomery fell ill with another

mystery illness and died on January 29th, 1977 (“Velma Margie Barfield #29”). One month after

the death of her husband, Dollie Edwards started to experience some of the same symptoms as

Montgomery. Dollie had the same fate as her beloved spouse and passed away on March 1st,

1977. Preceding the death of her two patients, Velma was reassigned to 76-year-old Record Lee

and her husband John Henry. In an eerily similar way to Velma’s other patients, John Lee began

to experience excessive gastrointestinal pain. He battled vomiting and diarrhea for weeks until

his passing in June of 1977. Lee’s doctors ruled his cause of death as a “severe stomach virus,”

letting Velma get away with yet another murder (“Velma Barfield - Facing Controversy:

Struggling with Capital Punishment in NC”).

Velma quit her job as a home health nurse a few months later and moved in with her new

boyfriend, Stuart Taylor. Interestingly enough, Stuart Taylor was Dollie Edwards’ alcoholic

nephew. The two hit it off and began to seriously date. While Velma was moving into Taylor’s

home, he found some records in Velma’s belongings indicating she had been to prison. This

enraged him and he told her he wasn’t comfortable marrying her quite yet. The two decided to

stay together despite Velma’s past and lived a seemingly happy life. Velma and Stuart worked

past her criminal background and became devout Christians. At one of the weekly gospel
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meetings in 1978, Stuart Taylor fell ill and had to leave the meeting (Galloway). Velma drove

him home and put him to bed, telling him that it was most likely the flu. She attempted to nurse

him back to health for three days to no avail. He suffered intense stomach pain, horrible diarrhea,

and unceasing vomiting. Velma called Stuart’s children to tell them that their father was ill. He

was rushed to the hospital and pronounced dead on February 3rd, 1978. The doctor came into the

waiting room to tell Velma and Stuart’s family of his passing and suggested an autopsy. The

family, including Velma, agreed. After the wind of Stuart’s death got out, the local police

department received a call from a distressed woman. The woman - who turned out to be Velma’s

sister - frantically told the authorities that Stuart’s death was not an accident and that all of

Velma’s partners have died mysteriously. Her sister pleaded with the police to arrest Velma and

put a stop to her. Once the autopsy came back and showed arsenic in Stuart’s system, the police

did just that. On March 13th, 1978 the police arrested Velma for the death of Stuart Taylor. That

same day, Velma attempted suicide via drug overdose but was ultimately unsuccessful. She was

brought to jail and underwent weeks of psychological evaluation which found her competent to

stand trial (Galloway).

What Happened?

Velma was convicted of murdering Stuart Taylor and eventually confessed to six

murderers in total. Barfield admitted that she had used a rat-based poison containing arsenic to

make her victims ill enough to steal from them. The police even exhumed her husband Jennings

Barfield to perform an autopsy which showed he also had arsenic in his system. She confessed

that she stole money from her mother, her husband, her boyfriend Stuart Taylor, and even her

patients to pay for her illicit drug use. If any of them started to question where the money was

going, she would mix the poison into their beer, tea, or other drink (“Velma Barfield - Facing
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Controversy: Struggling with Capital Punishment in NC”). Velma Barfield was convicted of

first-degree murder and was given the death sentence - thus becoming the death row granny.

While she was awaiting execution, Velma became sober and a born-again Christian for the last

time. It wasn’t until she was sober and spiritual that she showed remorse for her actions and even

apologized to the families for what she had done. Her attorneys even attempted to obtain a court

appeal based on her being impaired by years of drug abuse or even reason of insanity but were

consistently denied. Barfield declined to have a last meal but requested a cup of coffee and a bag

of Cheez-Doodles. Velma was executed by lethal injection in Raleigh, North Carolina, and was

pronounced dead at 2:15 am November 2nd, 1984. She was the first female murderer executed in

the United States since capital punishment was outlawed in 1976 (“Velma Barfield - Facing

Controversy: Struggling with Capital Punishment in NC”).

Thesis

So why did Velma do it? The theory that we discussed that best applies to her is the strain

theory. This sociological theory suggests that when an individual is unable to achieve culturally

valued goals it causes frustration, which can lead to deviant and often illegal behavior. Velma

was always chasing the money and support that culturally came from a husband. When her

husband stopped providing what she wanted, she would resort to murdering them then moving

on to her next victim.

What would happen today?

Undoubtedly, if Velma Barfield attempted her murders today she would be caught. There

are many systems in place to stop her from doing what she did. The first system is financial

safety. Nowadays, there are so many safety systems in place to ensure that one’s account is not

hacked. Additionally, online banking is now very popular. If any of her victims had an iPhone
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that could pull up their account information in a few clicks, they would know that they are

somehow losing money. Online banking apps also have features that can alert you when there is

a suspicious activity from your account. The second safety system is online medical records.

Velma abused prescription medications and went to multiple doctors to receive them. No doctor

would double prescribe possible addicting medications if another doctor already prescribed them.

Back then, patient charts were all on paper. What happened at your office stayed at your office.

This made it easy for Velma to see multiple doctors to get multiple prescriptions. By having

online medical records, doctors can share a patient’s history with only a few clicks of a button.

The patient’s medical history, prescriptions, procedures/surgeries, and even office visits are all

shared by every provider. This advancement has made it so that multiple doctors cannot

prescribe the same medication - a major factor in Velma’s case. The last reason that Velma

would have been caught is because of the advancements in medicine. When anyone is admitted

to the hospital, a full blood panel or urine sample is typically taken. They can see different levels

of chemicals in your blood down to how many blood cells you have. Medical professionals are

able to take a patient’s urine to see what chemicals the body has too much of. It is an astounding

invention that arguably could have saved Velma’s victims. If they had taken the common

laboratory tests that are taken today, they would have easily flagged that there were elevated

levels of arsenic. Likewise, hospitals are required to report each patient’s diagnosis. If there were

an unusual cluster of severe stomach illnesses popping up in the Carolinas, the health department

would have begun to investigate why it was happening.

To sum up, Velma Barfield’s spree was driven by money to support her drug abuse. In

the end, she was ultimately caught and given the justice that she deserved. This goes perfectly

along with the Strain Theory. Although her murders weren’t as obvious as Ted Bundy’s or
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Jeffrey Dahmer’s, Velma would have been caught today because of advancements in banking,

medical records, and medical technology.

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Works Cited

Galloway, Karl. “Velma Barfield the “Death Row Granny” | by NC Department of

Natural & Cultural Resources | Murder, Mystery, and Mayhem in the Old North State.”

Medium, 9 October 2019, https://medium.com/murder-mystery-and-mayhem-in-the-old-

north-state/velma-barfield-the-death-row-granny-fe8a913d9437.

Noe, Denise. “Velma Barfield.” Murderpedia,

https://murderpedia.org/female.B/b/barfield-velma.htm.

“Velma Barfield.” Crime Museum, https://www.crimemuseum.org/crime-library/serial-

killers/velma-barfield/.

“Velma Barfield · Facing Controversy: Struggling with Capital Punishment in NC · UNC

Libraries.” UNC Libraries, https://exhibits.lib.unc.edu/exhibits/show/capital-

punishment/biographies/barfield.

“Velma Margie Barfield #29.” Clark County Prosecuting Attorney,

http://www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/death/US/barfield029.htm.