(Velma Barfield in her prison cell. Picture credit: Fayobserver)
*Please be aware that I will be sharing some sensitive details in this post which will include discussion of childhood trauma and abuse as well as mental health issues. I will, as always, aim to be as sensitive as I can be with the details without taking away from the details of the case.*
Velma Barfield (born Margie Velma Bullard on the 29th of October 1932 in Eastover, North Carolina) was known not only as 'Death Row Granny' but also as the first woman to die from lethal injection in the United States. Those familiar with the history of death row cases and specifically executions will know Velma's story very well. On the outside she looked like she could be anyone's auntie or grandmother but behind the friendly and soft spoken persona was a psychopath who was reportedly suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder, with an alter ego that she referred to as 'Billy'.
As is not surprising especially with the diagnosis of Dissociative Identity Disorder, Velma's childhood was quite a difficult one at the hands of her father. My last post featured the Blanche Taylor Moore case which is quite similar to Velma's story as both came from similar backgrounds and committed similar crimes. Velma's father was physically abusive and there was nobody to go to for comfort, her mother allowed the physical and emotional abuse to continue and Velma had to continue to endure many years of suffering before she left home.
Determined to put her traumatic childhood behind her and begin a new life, she met and married a man named Thomas Burke. With Thomas Velma was eager to start a family and try to rebuild her life, they had two children together and it looked as though Velma had gotten the family life that she had always dreamed of, but soon cracks began to appear. When she began suffering terrible pain during her monthly cycle she contacted a Doctor and examinations were carried out that determined that Velma would be best to have a hysterectomy. It was a difficult situation for her to go through but she was in so much pain that she felt she had no choice. Nowadays in this type of situation there are a number of things that can be considered before having to commit to a full hysterectomy but times were different back then.
Going through the procedure and having the task of trying to heal her body, Velma assumed that all of her pain issues would be no more but for some reason she was still suffering and this led to sleepless nights and irritability. Thomas and Velma would have aggressive arguments and thought it would be best for Velma to try some sort of painkiller medication which seemed to help at first but she became addictive and this affected her personality too.
With all the stress that had been going on in the marriage, Thomas found himself addicted to alcohol. It was clear that the pair were not happy in the relationship. Anyone else would've just called it a day and got a divorce but that never happened because on the 4th of April 1969, tragedy struck (or shall we say....alleged tragedy struck). Velma took the children out for the day to run some errands, Thomas stayed at home. When Velma and the kids returned they were greeted with the horrific sight of their beloved family home in flames with the devastating knowledge that Thomas was trapped inside.
Everyone was heartbroken for Velma and the children, they'd lost both a husband and a father and people rallied around them to support them the best they could, especially Velma's mother Lillian. Velma and the children were able to find another home but under strange circumstances, that home also just happened to mysteriously end up in flames, luckily the kids and Velma were not harmed but it sure was a horrible 'coincidence'.
With the shocking trauma of having two homes burned down and the tragic loss of her husband, the father of her children, you would have thought that Velma would be taking some time for herself to try to come to terms with so much devastation in such a short space of time but no, she had another man on the scene the very next year.
The money that Velma had received on the insurances with the houses and of course the horrible loss of Thomas, was able to help her and the children get by, but in her personal life, she decided it was time to start dating again. With things moving so quick there were a few raised eyebrows but some people put it down to trauma and Velma just needing someone to lean on and some company. Things moved super fast with her new man, Jennings Barfield, it was a sort of 'blink and you'd miss it' sort of situation. Practically within a short space of time and meeting they were married and living together and it hadn't even been a year.
More tragedy fell on Velma's shoulders when Jennings suddenly passed away from a heart attack, they'd not even been married a year. It just seemed as though poor Velma could not catch a break.
With the devastating loss of two husbands and two homes, Velma must have been mentally and physically exhausted with all of the grief so it wasn't surprising that she took some time to live with her mother Lillian.
Lillian had become a rock to Velma despite the difficulties of the past when Velma felt that her mother didn't care about what was happening to her at the hands of her abusive father. Things seemed to be fine for a while and Velma and the children seemed to have gotten their spark back having Lillian around. But.....as you'll probably guess, things took another tragic turn when Lillian suddenly took very ill with some sort of mysterious illness. She managed to recover within days and everyone breathed a sigh of relief but the mysterious illness later returned and she was admitted into hospital where she sadly passed away on the 30th of December, 1974.
Whatever strange and tragic events that were happening around Velma in those years at least there was the positive knowledge that the children never came to harm although they were heartbroken at the sudden loss of both their father and grandmother.
Velma decided that she wanted to become a carer for elderly and vulnerable people. In 1976 she grew close to an elderly couple by the names of Dollie and Montgomery (Edwards) who saw her as like the daughter they never had. Velma would run errands for the couple, take them to Doctors appointments, cook and clean the house etc. It wasn't long before Montgomery suddenly fell ill and passed away, with his heartbroken devoted wife Dollie passing away a short time later of the exact same mysterious illness. It was clear that Velma was responsible for the deaths of this couple and no doubt the previous sudden deaths from years before.
Instead of alarm bells being raised, Velma continued going about her every day business and befriended another elderly couple, Rec and John Henry who met a similar fate to the Edwards couple. The last unfortunate soul to end up crossing paths with Venomous Velma (that's just a nickname I've given her, not an 'official' nickname) was Rowland Taylor and this relationship was a romantic one, not that romantic though because this poor chap ended up deceased within a year of meeting Velma and she stole quite a large sum of money from him. Rowland had passed away on the 3rd of February 1978 and this time people were not buying the 'tragic Velma' story, an autopsy was performed on Rowland and there it was in all it's glory, evidence of rat poison.
The game was up for Velma and she was arrested and charged with murder. Surprisingly when questioned about the mysterious deaths of people close to her in the past she didn't hold back. Velma confessed to everything and this was acknowledged that she was indeed responsible for the murders. She had confessed to poisoning everyone including Rowland, her previous two husbands and her mother. She was convicted of Rowland's murder and sentenced to death. Due to the full confession of all murders and the abundance of evidence that she was responsible for the death of Rowland, it was decided that exhuming the other victims would not be necessary.
Velma did appeal and when that was obviously thrown out she gave up and accepted her fate. As the years went on (Velma also served her sentence in the very same prison facility as Blanche Taylor Moore), Velma opened up about her past and despite knowing there was no way she'd be released from prison and that her fate was decided, she apparently demonstrated great remorse for all that she had done. She turned to Christianity and fully devoted herself to helping other prisoners and her reputation for being a shoulder to cry on and a great support to others became well known. Even the guards of the prison took a liking to Velma which may sound bizarre to us but some people believed that she truly turned her life around in prison because of finding faith and getting the much needed psychological help that she should have received many years before.
It was clear that Velma was either a genius at manipulating people or she was genuinely sorry for what she had done. As I mentioned earlier she was diagnosed with a mental illness and one can believe that she either faked this illness or that she genuinely was psychologically ill. The motive for the murders she could not explain because to her these murders were carried out by her alter ego who she called 'Billy'. It is not uncommon for abused children to develop psychological illness as a result of past trauma. It's not uncommon for abused children to invent 'imaginary friends' or suffer some sort of episode where they believe they are someone else. Velma did suffer terribly at the hands of her father when she was a child and the fact that her mother didn't intervene would have no doubt left her with feelings of betrayal and abandonment.
I'm not down-playing what Velma did because innocent people lost their lives and she caused her own children trauma due to her heartless actions, but her ability to develop fully was disturbed as a child causing her to have a split personality. She had difficulty feeling love because her parents did not demonstrate love to her, so she grew up cold.
With so much time in prison and professionals there to listen, Velma's past was put under the microscope and she faced a lot of things and reportedly tried to make good in some sort of way by helping others.
With endless appeals, some prisoners who are 100% guilty will try to play the system whilst they serve their time on death row, resulting on many of them dying before any sort of execution is served. The appeals prolong time and can take years. Velma's time for her sentence to be completed was fast approaching and that date was to be the 2nd of November, 1984.
Taking everything into consideration, Velma's case was watched closely by human rights campaigners as well as fellow prisoners who claimed that she was like a grandmother to them. Due to the fact that she had been considered a model prisoner and her mental health difficulties there were people who believed that she did not deserve to be put to death, they thought it more appropriate that her sentence be changed to life imprisonment. Velma was aware of the support she had both inside and outside of the prison but no matter what other people's opinions of her situation may have been, the fact is that she took lives, not one, not two but reportedly as many as seven whilst also benefiting financially from those deaths.
On the 2nd of November 1984, Velma was dressed in pink pyjamas and blue slippers as she was walked towards the room where she was to be given the lethal injection. She was 52 years old. Just hours before she had refused the option of a 'last meal' and instead opted for a soda and a packet of 'Cheeze Doodlez' (which I think is the American version of the UK's cheesy Wotsits). This option combined with the fact that she was dressed in pink pyjamas gives (in my opinion) a very child-like vibe to the whole situation as disturbing as it was.
Sixteen people were reportedly present at Velma's last moments and before the deadly drug was administered, Velma was given the chance to have some final words, she said:
''I know that everybody has gone through a lot of pain, all the families connected, and I am sorry, and I want to thank everybody who have been supporting me these past six years,''
Velma had reportedly told friends, family members and supporters that she was prepared to meet her maker with as much degree of dignity as the system would allow. She said that she also saw her execution as her ''Gateway to heaven.''
Just hours before her scheduled execution, during and afterwards, there were protests both inside and outside of the prison. Some people were satisfied at what they saw as justice being done and other people were upset because they believed that she didn't deserve to be executed.
When Velma was officially declared deceased, her body was taken straight away to a nearby hospital where some of her organs were removed as it was her wish to have them donated to those who were on the transplant register as well as medical science. The rest of her remains were prepared for burial in Fayetteville.
In a lot of death row cases, convicted murderers are often buried elsewhere in unmarked graves but in another strange twist and some may say, quite disturbing, Velma was buried in Parkton Cemetery near her first husband Thomas Burke as arranged by her son. Velma had kept in regular contact with her children whilst she was serving her sentence.
RIP to the victims of Velma Barfield.
Further Reading & Sources:
- Velma Barfield: Article | Fayetteville Observer
- The Death Row Granny | Book by Jack Smith
- The Big Book of Serial Killers | Book by Jack Rosewood & Rebecca Lo
- Velma Barfield: Article | The New York Times
- Lethal Injection | Wikipedia
So, what are your thoughts on this disturbing and interesting case? Some unusual details included, do you think it's possible that people can turn their lives around serving their sentences or do you think it is all an act in an attempt at a change a sentence or possible early release? Do you believe that Velma was psychologically ill or was it all just pure manipulation? A strange story indeed and I appreciate you taking the time to come through through this case with me all the way to the end.
I would love to hear your thoughts either below or by email: jocaledoniankitty@gmail.com
In the meantime, as always, I hope to see you on my Socials.
Stay safe, until next time x
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