- 3 months ago
- #velmabarfield
- #deathrow
- #northcarolina
In 1983, Velma Barfield was executed by lethal injection for the murder of her boyfriend. She also confessed to 6 other murders, even her own mother. She was the first to be executed since the reinstatement of capital punishment. Also the first person to die by lethal injection.
#velmabarfield #deathrow #NorthCarolina
#velmabarfield #deathrow #NorthCarolina
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LearningTranscript
00:00Hello and welcome to the Dark Mystery Lounge.
00:03Today we will take a look at the Velma Barfield case, aka Death Row Granny.
00:08This means we will get to travel up to North Carolina this time.
00:12After reading about Velma and how she grew up and what she went through, it made me feel
00:16a bit sorry for her.
00:18But then again, this could have been prevented.
00:20There's a lot to cover here, so let's get right into it.
00:23Velma Barfield was born Margie Velma Bullard in October 29, 1932, the second of nine children
00:37in rural South Carolina to Murphy and Lillian Bullard.
00:42Murphy was in the tobacco sales industry while Lillian stayed at home.
00:46She grew up very poor.
00:47The house was not paid for, had no running water, no electricity, or even a toilet for
00:53that matter.
00:54Due to the effects of the Great Depression, Velma's grandparents and aunt lived in the
00:59house as well.
01:00Her aunt Susan was disabled due to having survived polio.
01:04They moved to Fayetteville, North Carolina because Murphy got a better job as a logger
01:09at a sawmill.
01:10Also, they were able to move into a better house.
01:13The soon tragedy struck when Velma's grandparents passed away.
01:17Her dad was a hard worker, but he had a short temper and would beat Velma often.
01:22Velma was angry with her mother because she saw what was happening, but did nothing to
01:26stop it.
01:27Turns out, Lillian was being beaten as well, so she let the abuse happen out of fear.
01:32In 1939, Velma started her first day at school.
01:36She enjoyed school because she saw it as a break from her abusive home life.
01:40All that began to fade as other kids would bully her because of her ratty clothes and the
01:46food she brought for lunch.
01:47So she distanced herself from the other kids and ate alone during lunch.
01:51She also began another bad habit, stealing.
01:54So she could afford what the other kids had, so maybe she wouldn't be picked on as much.
01:59Things at home didn't get any better.
02:01Velma was forced to tend to the family farm and take care of her younger siblings.
02:06She felt like she was being treated as a slave and would be forced to come home early from
02:11school just to complete her chores.
02:13She was the only girl amongst her siblings.
02:15Her father would spoil her with gifts but sexually abuse her in return.
02:19She would sleep in the same bed with her parents until high school.
02:23At the age of 13 and in high school, joined the basketball team, but had to quit because
02:28her mother gave birth to twins and needed Velma to help take care of them.
02:33Also at this time is when Velma was being raped by her father.
02:37She soon fell in love with a boy at school named Thomas Burke, but her father wouldn't
02:42give them permission to date until she was 16.
02:45By 17 years old, Velma accepted a marriage proposal from Thomas and dropped out of high
02:51school during her junior year.
02:53Murphy didn't like this, so Thomas and Velma ran away to start a new life together.
02:58Thomas didn't want Velma to work and would rather she stay at home, while he supported
03:09them with working odd jobs.
03:11They moved around for a bit but then settled and parked in North Carolina, close to her
03:15parents.
03:16On December 15, 1951, Velma gave birth to her first child, Ronald Thomas, and on September
03:223, 1953, she gave birth to her daughter, Kim.
03:26The two were happy and seemed to have a perfect life with a perfect little family.
03:31She was a very good mother and insisted they grew up religious, so they would attend church
03:36regularly.
03:37Eventually, Velma began teaching Sunday school class.
03:41Thomas was struggling to make ends meet, so once the kids began school, she took a job
03:45at a textile plant, working nights to help out.
03:49Soon Thomas would land a job with Pepsi Cola Company as a delivery driver, and soon they were
03:54able to move to a nicer house.
03:55When Velma was in her 30s, she began to have health issues so severe that she ended up having
04:01a hysterectomy.
04:03She also suffered from chronic lower back pain.
04:05This is when her personality took a turn for the worst.
04:08She was depressed and angry all the time because she didn't feel like an adequate woman.
04:14This is when Thomas changed too.
04:16He began drinking and staying out late with his friends and fighting with Velma a lot.
04:20In 1965 and in 1967, Thomas got into drunk driving accidents and police arrested him.
04:28He lost his driver's license and his job.
04:31He sunk into a depression and began to beat his son often.
04:35One night, Thomas threatened to kill Ronald with a knife, and due to the stress, Velma passed
04:40out on the floor.
04:41She had to be hospitalized for a week.
04:43During that time, she was prescribed various medications.
04:47Librium and Valium were her drug of choice, and soon became addicted to them.
04:51She began doctor shopping, getting her meds from different doctors.
04:55On April 21st, 1969, while the children were at school and Velma was supposedly at the laundromat,
05:07the house caught fire.
05:08Thomas was passed out drunk with a lit cigarette.
05:11It fell, and he died from smoke inhalation.
05:14Velma and the kids tried to keep their spirits high.
05:17Ronald graduated from high school, but soon after moving into their new house, it too caught
05:22fire, so they were forced to stay with Velma's parents while she waited for the insurance
05:27payout.
05:34Soon after Thomas' death, she was introduced to Jennings Barfield by a co-worker.
05:40Jennings' wife died around the same time as Thomas.
05:42In less than a year after meeting, they got married on August 23rd, 1970.
05:48Not only did she become his wife, but his caretaker as well.
05:51He suffered from diabetes and emphysema.
05:54Velma moved with him to Fayetteville, North Carolina, along with his daughter Nancy.
06:00Only two months later, still addicted to pills, she had her first overdose.
06:04She was hospitalized for a week.
06:06Jennings is the one that found her barely alive.
06:09He started having doubts about marrying her and even told his family about his concerns.
06:14The two separated for a little while.
06:16Velma swore she would quit, so they got back together.
06:19But just three months later, she had yet another overdose.
06:23Velma was depressed that Jennings was unhappy with her and didn't want to be together anymore.
06:28So on March 21st, 1971, she poisoned him with arsenic.
06:33He had trouble breathing already.
06:34The arsenic just made it worse, along with vomiting and diarrhea.
06:39On March 22nd, 1971, Jennings died.
06:42But his death was ruled as heart failure.
06:45At the end of 1971, Velma had her third overdose, which almost killed her, spending three weeks
06:54in the ICU.
06:56She lost her job and her house.
06:58Surprisingly, the house mysteriously caught fire.
07:00So Velma and Kim went to live with Velma's parents again.
07:04The following year, in 1972, her father passed away and Velma became even more depressed, which
07:10meant taking more of her drug of choice.
07:12By now, she was seeing three different doctors just to get her fix.
07:16In March of 1972, she was finally busted for forging prescriptions.
07:21She pled guilty, so the judge gave her a suspended sentence.
07:25Velma began stealing and forging checks from her mother.
07:28And in 1974, she took out a $1,000 loan using her mother's name and using her mother's house
07:35as collateral.
07:36A month later, she took out another $1,000 loan in her mother's name, along with writing
07:42five bad checks that were attached to a closed bank account from her ex-husband, Jennings
07:47Barfield.
07:48Scared that her mother would find out what Velma was up to, she soon bought rat poison.
07:53She began feeding it to her in the summer of 1994, but rushed her to the hospital when
07:58she showed symptoms of stomach cramps, vomiting, diarrhea.
08:02She recovered a few days later.
08:04Around Christmas time in the same year, Velma began slipping poison to her mother again,
08:10and again displaying the same symptoms.
08:12So she took her to the hospital once again, but this time she wouldn't make it.
08:17On December 30th, 1974, Lillian died in the hospital only hours after being admitted.
08:24They performed an autopsy and found nothing.
08:27On a side note, in the same year, Velma was dating a man that died in a mysterious car accident
08:33and left her as the sole beneficiary of his life insurance policy, which she received $5,000.
08:40Seems odd, but okay.
08:47In 1975, while living with her daughter and son-in-law, Velma finally was confronted by
08:54the police for bouncing those checks.
08:56She wasn't able to pay the debt and attempted to commit suicide by overdose.
09:01She fell and broke her collarbone.
09:03As soon as she was released from the hospital, she was arrested and convicted of seven counts
09:08of writing bad checks and sentenced to six months in prison.
09:12She was released after serving three months for good behavior.
09:15Kim called her doctors and told them not to prescribe her any more of her meds because
09:21of her forging bad checks.
09:22In 1976, Velma got a job as a live-in caretaker for a couple named Montgomery and Dolly Edwards.
09:30Montgomery was blind and both legs were amputated.
09:33His wife couldn't care for him due to having poor health herself, but she was unhappy with
09:39Velma believing that she was slacking on her job.
09:41On January 29, 1977, Montgomery died.
09:45A little over a month later, Dolly experienced symptoms of, you guessed it, stomach cramps,
09:51vomiting, and diarrhea.
09:52March 1, 1977, Dolly died a day after being released from the hospital.
09:58Soon after the deaths of her former employers, she soon worked for yet another elderly couple
10:07named John and Record Henry.
10:09Record had a broken leg and was unable to care for her husband.
10:13Soon after, Velma began forging checks again and Record found one that she knew she didn't sign.
10:19So she had John call the cops, but it ultimately went nowhere because they couldn't prove who
10:25wrote the checks.
10:26Velma began forging checks under John's name instead, and to keep him from finding out,
10:32she poisoned him with arsenic.
10:34John was hospitalized after having symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea.
10:38He was sent home after a few days.
10:40The doctors said it was a virus.
10:42Even their children were grateful that Velma was there to help their father.
10:46On June 4, 1977, John died from his symptoms.
10:50Doctors ruled that he died from a heart attack.
10:56Shortly after John's death, Velma would move in with her boyfriend, Stuart Taylor.
11:03He thought that she was a good and honest Christian woman, and the two got along great,
11:08even though Stuart was an alcoholic.
11:10He soon found out that she had spent time in prison, and so Velma began to forge checks.
11:15In order to keep him from finding out about this, she started putting arsenic in his beer and tea.
11:21He began having stomach cramps, vomiting, and diarrhea.
11:25Velma had a neighbor call for an ambulance.
11:28An hour after being in the hospital, on February 3, 1978, Stuart died.
11:33Puzzled by how he died, doctors suggested an autopsy be performed.
11:44Velma and her son Ronald attended the funeral for Stuart.
11:47Ronald said to Alice, Stuart's daughter,
11:50You know, it's the saddest thing.
11:52It seems like anyone my mother ever gets close to dies.
11:55How can the good Lord allow this to happen to a good Christian woman like Velma Barfield?
12:01Soon there was a mysterious call that came into the Lumberton Police Department
12:05of a woman in distress, but then hung up.
12:08Thinking it was just a prank call, the policemen who answered just forgot about it.
12:14Later that day, the same woman called again,
12:16saying that she knew Velma Barfield killed her husband and other people.
12:21The officer pressed her further for more proof,
12:23but the woman on the other end couldn't give specific details.
12:27She cried, and the officer asked,
12:29How does she know all of this information?
12:32The woman claims to be Velma's sister.
12:35Officer Phillips called the Lumberton Hospital and asked if anyone had died recently.
12:40After confirming that Stuart Taylor died,
12:43they also told him that they were waiting on the medical examiner to finish the autopsy.
12:49In March, Stuart Taylor's autopsy results came in.
12:53He died from gastroenteritis.
12:55Dr. Bob Andrews, who performed the autopsy,
12:58took a liver sample and sent it for further analysis to the chief medical examiner
13:03because it's not normal for a healthy man to die from something like that.
13:08While on the phone with the chief medical examiner, Paige Hudson,
13:11after receiving the sample,
13:13he described how Velma brought him in and explained the symptoms he had.
13:18Dr. Hudson asked,
13:19Where did she get the arsenic from, Bob?
13:22They ran the right tests,
13:23and sure enough, Stuart was found to have arsenic in the system.
13:32On March 10, 1978,
13:34Velma was brought in for questioning,
13:37which lasted for three hours.
13:39Three days after questioning,
13:40on March 13, 1978,
13:42Velma tried to commit suicide by overdose.
13:45Ronald was there to help her,
13:47and on the same day,
13:48she made a detailed confession
13:50and was arrested for first-degree murder.
13:52In November 1978,
13:54the trial began.
13:55Although she confessed to the murders of her mother,
13:58Montgomery Edwards,
13:59Dolly Edwards,
14:00and John Henry,
14:01she was tried and convicted only for the murder of Stuart Taylor.
14:06She claimed that she just wanted to make them sick
14:08so she could steal from them.
14:10She sealed her fate by having angry outbursts
14:12and a nasty demeanor in court.
14:15The trial only lasted a week.
14:17The jury found Velma guilty
14:18and sentenced her to death by lethal injection.
14:21She stayed at the Women's Correctional Prison
14:23for almost six years.
14:25Then she was sent to Central Prison
14:26in Raleigh, North Carolina.
14:28She was the only one on death row,
14:30living right across the hall from the death chamber.
14:33Now that she was clean from drugs,
14:35she became a born-again Christian.
14:37She had many visitors
14:38like popular evangelist Billy Graham
14:42and his wife Ruth and daughter Anne.
14:45Plus a prison minister visited her often.
14:47She was given the nickname
14:49Death Row Granny
14:50and Mama Margie from other inmates.
14:57Velma had a few stays of execution
14:59and after trying to appeal,
15:01Governor Jim Hunt rejected Velma's request for clemency.
15:05Before she was set to be executed,
15:08her son Ronald asked her,
15:10Did you do it?
15:11Did you kill him?
15:12Referring to his father, Thomas Burke,
15:14which she responded with,
15:16I'm sure I probably did.
15:17She believed she put a lit cigarette
15:19or a match at the end of the bed
15:21and closed the door.
15:23This is the first time she ever admitted
15:25to killing her first husband
15:26and she admitted to killing
15:28Jennings Barfield as well.
15:30On November 2nd, 1984,
15:32Velma had a visitor.
15:33Billy Graham's daughter Anne.
15:35She told her,
15:36Don't think of it as an execution chamber.
15:38Think of it as a gateway to heaven.
15:40Billy Graham got to have a phone call with her
15:44and told her,
15:45Velma, in a way I envy you
15:47because you're going to get to heaven before I do.
15:50For her last meal,
15:51she requested a bag of cheese doodles and a Coke.
15:54And while in her cell,
15:55she took her final communion.
15:57She then put on an adult diaper
15:59underneath her approved pajamas
16:01and robe she was going to wear.
16:04At 2 a.m.,
16:05she was then escorted to the death chamber
16:08where they strapped her down to the gurney.
16:10She was asked if she had any last words.
16:13She said,
16:13I know that everybody has gone through a lot of pain,
16:16all the families connected,
16:18and I am sorry.
16:19And I want to thank everybody
16:21who have been supporting me all these six years.
16:24There were two lines into Velma's IV,
16:27but three executioners.
16:29One of their thumbs would press upon a plunger
16:32that was connected to a dummy
16:34so no one knew for certain
16:36that he or she had taken a life.
16:39Velma was told,
16:40please start counting backwards from 100.
16:43So she did.
16:44100,
16:4599,
16:4698,
16:47her voice slurred into silence.
16:49Then she began to snore.
16:50Her breathing got lighter and lighter
16:52with each breath.
16:54Then her skin turned an ashen gray.
16:56The monitor connected to her heart
16:58showed a flat line.
16:59At 2.15 a.m.,
17:01Velma Barfield was pronounced dead.
17:03Velma was buried in a small,
17:05rural North Carolina cemetery
17:07near her first husband, Thomas Burke.
17:15Velma was the first woman to be executed
17:17since capital punishment
17:19was reestablished in 1976.
17:21Also the first woman to be executed
17:23by lethal injection.
17:25At first glance,
17:26looking at this short, chubby old lady,
17:28you couldn't possibly believe
17:30what she was capable of.
17:31It seems like a deadly cycle
17:33of being addicted to pills,
17:35needing money to get said pills.
17:37Forge checks to do so
17:39and kill the person
17:40before they find out.
17:41If Velma had a better way
17:43to manage her pain
17:44than to just keep pushing pills,
17:46none of this would have happened.
17:48Plain and simple.
17:49She could have had a different route,
17:51becoming a grandmother,
17:52being surrounded by grandchildren,
17:54and living out her life in peace.
17:56But it seems that her path
17:57went from dark to pitch black
17:59after each kill.
18:00And I believe she would have
18:01just continued until
18:03either the drugs killed her,
18:04or until she got caught.
18:06Either way,
18:07that's the story
18:07of the death row granny,
18:09Velma Barfield.
18:13Oh, what a case, I tell you.
18:15What a case indeed.
18:17Velma is one of those ladies
18:18that just had the worst life.
18:20The things her parents did to her
18:22is just awful.
18:24And if these dang doctors
18:25would be more careful
18:26about the meds they hand out
18:27to patients to manage their pain,
18:30this kind of thing
18:31wouldn't have happened.
18:32I think by her taking
18:33these pain meds,
18:34not only did it help her
18:36escape her physical pain,
18:38but also helped her
18:39escape her past traumas
18:41as well.
18:42Running away from all the pain,
18:44but wound up in the worst
18:45situation possible.
18:46So what did you think
18:47about this case?
18:48Let me know in the comments
18:50down below,
18:50and let me know
18:51who you want me to cover next.
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19:02Thank you for hanging out
19:03with me in the Dark Mystery Lounge.
19:05This is Phoenix,
19:06signing out.
19:07Have a good evening,
19:08and stay safe.
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