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Velma Barfield

Also known as: Margie Velma Bullard, Death Row Granny

Active

1974–1978

Region

Robeson and Cumberland counties, North Carolina, USA

State

NC

Kind

Serial

Status

Executed

Victims

5

Velma Barfield poisoned people close to her with arsenic in southeastern North Carolina in the 1970s, including her mother, elderly people she was caring for in Lumberton, and her boyfriend, Stuart Taylor. After Taylor's death, a tip to Lumberton police led to her arrest, and she confessed to several killings. She was convicted of Taylor's murder in December 1978 and sentenced to death. On November 2, 1984, she was executed at Central Prison in Raleigh, the first woman executed in the United States after capital punishment resumed in 1976.

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Victims

We remember the people whose lives were taken.

• Lillie McMillian Bullard · December 1974

  Barfield's mother.

• Montgomery Edwards · January 1977

  An elderly man Barfield cared for in Lumberton.

• Dollie Edwards · February 1977

  An elderly woman Barfield cared for in Lumberton.

• John Henry Lee · June 1977

  An elderly man Barfield cared for.

• Rowland Stuart Taylor · February 1978

  Barfield's boyfriend.

Timeline of locations

1. 1969
   Parkton (Killer's residence, approximate area)

   Barfield lived in Parkton with her first husband for more than fifteen years, until his death in a house fire in 1969.

2. December 1974
   Fayetteville (Crime scene, approximate area)

   Barfield was living at her parents' home in Fayetteville when her mother became ill; she died in hospital in December 1974. Barfield later confessed to poisoning her.

3. 1977
   Lumberton (Crime scene, approximate area)

   Barfield worked as a caregiver for elderly people in Lumberton from 1976 and later lived with Stuart Taylor. She confessed to poisoning Montgomery and Dollie Edwards and John Henry Lee, and was convicted of poisoning Taylor.

4. 1978
   Lumberton police (Arrest, approximate area)

   Lumberton police were tipped off by a call from Barfield's sister after Taylor's death. Barfield was arrested and confessed.

5. November 2, 1984
   Central Prison, Raleigh (Prison)

   Barfield was executed by lethal injection here on November 2, 1984, aged 52.

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Sources

• Velma Barfield (Wikipedia)
• Barfield, Margie Velma (NCpedia)
• Velma Barfield (UNC Libraries exhibit, capital punishment in North Carolina)

Each location also lists its own sources in the data file.