1 00:00:01,563 --> 00:00:03,963 Fred dinenage (narrates): In February 1978, 2 00:00:04,003 --> 00:00:08,723 56-year-old Stuart Taylor suffered a slow and painful death. 3 00:00:08,763 --> 00:00:11,643 With the consent of his family and partner, 4 00:00:11,683 --> 00:00:13,723 doctors performed an autopsy 5 00:00:13,763 --> 00:00:16,883 to find out what had led to the sudden downturn 6 00:00:16,923 --> 00:00:18,443 in his health. 7 00:00:18,483 --> 00:00:20,523 They decided to do that in that case 8 00:00:20,563 --> 00:00:24,483 simply because of his reaction and found out 9 00:00:24,523 --> 00:00:26,763 that he had been poisoned with arsenic. 10 00:00:28,483 --> 00:00:31,443 Stuart had been targeted by his partner, 11 00:00:31,483 --> 00:00:34,763 45-year-old grandmother, velma barfield. 12 00:00:35,843 --> 00:00:38,083 The kindly looking churchgoer 13 00:00:38,123 --> 00:00:40,803 had been leading a secret double life, 14 00:00:40,843 --> 00:00:44,323 funding a drug addiction by stealing from others 15 00:00:44,363 --> 00:00:46,563 before killing them. 16 00:00:46,603 --> 00:00:48,683 Barfield is a chameleon. 17 00:00:48,723 --> 00:00:51,603 She simply blends into her surroundings 18 00:00:51,643 --> 00:00:54,643 so much so that nobody ever suspects 19 00:00:54,683 --> 00:00:58,043 that she's defrauding the people that she's caring for. 20 00:00:58,083 --> 00:01:00,243 She is this good Christian woman. 21 00:01:00,283 --> 00:01:02,483 And nobody would ever think that she's capable 22 00:01:02,523 --> 00:01:04,683 of the things that are going on. 23 00:01:04,723 --> 00:01:06,643 The murder of Stuart Taylor 24 00:01:06,683 --> 00:01:09,643 would expose barfield's life of crime. 25 00:01:09,683 --> 00:01:12,843 She had poisoned and killed five people, 26 00:01:12,883 --> 00:01:14,963 including her own mother. 27 00:01:15,003 --> 00:01:18,523 This is a serial killer who knows no bounds 28 00:01:18,563 --> 00:01:21,643 and also is perfectly happy to do 29 00:01:21,683 --> 00:01:24,283 whatever it needs to sustain the image 30 00:01:24,323 --> 00:01:26,643 that she wants to project of herself. 31 00:01:26,683 --> 00:01:29,523 Velma barfield had been unmasked 32 00:01:29,563 --> 00:01:32,483 as one of the world's most evil killers. 33 00:01:32,523 --> 00:01:35,523 (Theme music) 34 00:01:54,523 --> 00:01:57,043 In November 1984, 35 00:01:57,083 --> 00:02:02,243 52-year-old velma barfield was executed via lethal injection 36 00:02:02,283 --> 00:02:04,723 in Raleigh, north Carolina. 37 00:02:04,763 --> 00:02:07,963 Years earlier the so called 'death row granny' 38 00:02:08,003 --> 00:02:10,803 had confessed to killing four people, 39 00:02:10,843 --> 00:02:13,723 but evidence linked her to at least five, 40 00:02:13,763 --> 00:02:16,203 one of whom was her own mother. 41 00:02:18,203 --> 00:02:21,443 Journalist Dennis Patterson visited the killer 42 00:02:21,483 --> 00:02:24,163 while she awaited her fate on death row. 43 00:02:26,483 --> 00:02:28,003 When you sat down to talk to her, 44 00:02:28,043 --> 00:02:29,723 she's very quiet, 45 00:02:29,763 --> 00:02:34,043 and very soft spoken and very sincere, 46 00:02:34,083 --> 00:02:38,203 and you could almost believe she was a victim of something. 47 00:02:39,603 --> 00:02:42,323 She would talk about being ready to meet god 48 00:02:42,363 --> 00:02:44,603 and that she had tried to help others. 49 00:02:44,643 --> 00:02:45,723 And I believed her. 50 00:02:45,763 --> 00:02:47,963 It wasn't a question of whether 51 00:02:48,003 --> 00:02:50,843 I thought she was not telling the truth. 52 00:02:50,883 --> 00:02:52,963 It's just it didn't make up for the crime. 53 00:02:54,763 --> 00:02:59,403 Dennis went on to witness barfield's execution first-hand. 54 00:02:59,443 --> 00:03:00,643 He had followed the story 55 00:03:00,683 --> 00:03:03,483 since her arrest for the murder of her partner, 56 00:03:03,523 --> 00:03:06,763 Stuart Taylor in 1978. 57 00:03:06,803 --> 00:03:09,483 Barfield had poisoned him, slowly. 58 00:03:10,803 --> 00:03:12,643 How do you make their cereal in the morning 59 00:03:12,683 --> 00:03:16,363 and put in the cereal and the milk and the rat poison, 60 00:03:16,403 --> 00:03:18,683 and then sit there across the table from them 61 00:03:18,723 --> 00:03:21,163 and eat your cereal, watch them eat theirs, 62 00:03:21,203 --> 00:03:24,963 and it not guilt you right to the limit 63 00:03:25,003 --> 00:03:29,563 that you're watching yourself kill somebody? 64 00:03:29,603 --> 00:03:31,523 I can't get my mind around that. 65 00:03:36,843 --> 00:03:38,603 This killer's story 66 00:03:38,643 --> 00:03:42,643 begins in cumberland county, north Carolina. 67 00:03:42,683 --> 00:03:44,363 Margie velma bullard 68 00:03:44,403 --> 00:03:48,643 was born on the October 29, 1932. 69 00:03:48,683 --> 00:03:52,003 The eldest girl in a family of nine children, 70 00:03:52,043 --> 00:03:55,203 life was difficult from the outset. 71 00:03:55,243 --> 00:03:58,003 Barfield's childhood was peppered with tragedy. 72 00:03:58,043 --> 00:04:00,683 Some of her siblings died in infancy, 73 00:04:00,723 --> 00:04:05,083 another sibling was quite disfigured because of polio. 74 00:04:05,123 --> 00:04:09,003 So, all of these things would have had an impact on her. 75 00:04:09,043 --> 00:04:12,163 This was not the idyllic American childhood. 76 00:04:12,203 --> 00:04:15,123 These were the years after the great depression. 77 00:04:15,163 --> 00:04:17,883 The family were literally dirt, poor. 78 00:04:17,923 --> 00:04:22,003 The house had no electric heating, no hot water. 79 00:04:22,043 --> 00:04:25,523 It was a really tough existence. 80 00:04:25,563 --> 00:04:27,323 She felt a sense of shame, 81 00:04:27,363 --> 00:04:29,603 because her family weren't very well-to-do. 82 00:04:29,643 --> 00:04:32,363 The children at school would make fun of her clothes 83 00:04:32,403 --> 00:04:35,443 and the kind of foods that she took in to eat for lunch. 84 00:04:35,483 --> 00:04:37,643 I think that shame cemented itself, 85 00:04:37,683 --> 00:04:40,403 and I think it impacted on the woman she'd become. 86 00:04:42,363 --> 00:04:43,563 Growing up, 87 00:04:43,603 --> 00:04:46,643 barfield tried to avoid being on the wrong side 88 00:04:46,683 --> 00:04:48,643 of her hot-tempered father, 89 00:04:48,683 --> 00:04:51,643 whom she feared throughout her young life. 90 00:04:52,763 --> 00:04:54,603 Looking at barfield's parents, 91 00:04:54,643 --> 00:04:58,323 her father was very dominant and very patriarchal. 92 00:04:58,363 --> 00:05:00,883 And her mother was incredibly submissive, 93 00:05:00,923 --> 00:05:04,523 so, she comes from this very traditional setup. 94 00:05:04,563 --> 00:05:07,003 And, when we look at her father's behaviour, 95 00:05:07,043 --> 00:05:09,203 he seems to be quite abusive. 96 00:05:09,243 --> 00:05:13,523 In terms of the control that he has over the family unit. 97 00:05:13,563 --> 00:05:15,283 And barfield's mother 98 00:05:15,323 --> 00:05:18,563 feels like she's constantly treading on eggshells the whole time 99 00:05:18,603 --> 00:05:20,883 trying not to upset her husband. 100 00:05:20,923 --> 00:05:24,003 And barfield becomes quite frustrated at her mother, 101 00:05:24,043 --> 00:05:25,483 when she sees how submissive 102 00:05:25,523 --> 00:05:28,603 she's being and that she's not standing up for herself. 103 00:05:29,763 --> 00:05:33,283 I think she thought her mother should have done better, 104 00:05:33,323 --> 00:05:35,923 that she should have fought back, 105 00:05:35,963 --> 00:05:37,723 protected her children more 106 00:05:37,763 --> 00:05:40,923 against this violent man with a bad temper 107 00:05:40,963 --> 00:05:42,163 who did what he wanted. 108 00:05:43,563 --> 00:05:46,163 Barfield found church to be a refuge 109 00:05:46,203 --> 00:05:48,123 from her wretched home life. 110 00:05:48,163 --> 00:05:50,123 And in 1948, 111 00:05:50,163 --> 00:05:54,083 the 16-year-old found another possible escape route 112 00:05:54,123 --> 00:05:56,643 from her tyrannical father. 113 00:05:56,683 --> 00:06:00,683 Barfield meets Thomas Burke as part of the baseball games 114 00:06:00,723 --> 00:06:02,843 that her father used to organise. 115 00:06:02,883 --> 00:06:04,963 He was involved in these too. 116 00:06:05,003 --> 00:06:07,923 And when barfield's father finds out 117 00:06:07,963 --> 00:06:11,283 that she has this relationship with Thomas Burke, 118 00:06:11,323 --> 00:06:12,723 he wants to put a stop to it. 119 00:06:12,763 --> 00:06:16,643 He doesn't want her dating before she's 16 years old 120 00:06:16,683 --> 00:06:19,003 but barfield is absolutely determined. 121 00:06:19,043 --> 00:06:23,083 And when she's 17, she does start dating him again. 122 00:06:23,123 --> 00:06:25,163 But there are some strict conditions on it, 123 00:06:25,203 --> 00:06:28,123 she's always got to go out and double date with another couple. 124 00:06:28,163 --> 00:06:30,763 She's always got to be home by 10pm. 125 00:06:30,803 --> 00:06:33,243 So, even though she's getting what she wants, 126 00:06:33,283 --> 00:06:36,003 there are still those restrictions on her. 127 00:06:36,043 --> 00:06:38,843 And I think that is part of what fuels her 128 00:06:38,883 --> 00:06:40,483 to want to get married so young. 129 00:06:40,523 --> 00:06:43,003 She wants out of this family unit. 130 00:06:43,043 --> 00:06:46,483 And she thinks that marriage is the pathway to independence. 131 00:06:47,683 --> 00:06:52,043 The two teenagers eloped in December 1949 132 00:06:52,083 --> 00:06:55,083 and went on to have two children together. 133 00:06:55,123 --> 00:06:58,763 But married life was far from ideal for barfield, 134 00:06:58,803 --> 00:07:00,643 her husband was a drinker, 135 00:07:00,683 --> 00:07:03,043 which went against her Christian beliefs. 136 00:07:03,083 --> 00:07:07,283 And in April 1969, tragedy struck. 137 00:07:08,883 --> 00:07:11,923 According to the legend, he's dead drunk, 138 00:07:11,963 --> 00:07:14,403 fallen asleep on the sofa 139 00:07:14,443 --> 00:07:18,363 and a cigarette has fallen onto the floor. 140 00:07:18,403 --> 00:07:19,643 Velma is out. 141 00:07:19,683 --> 00:07:21,683 The children are out at school. 142 00:07:21,723 --> 00:07:24,083 The house burns down 143 00:07:24,123 --> 00:07:27,803 and Thomas Burke loses his life in the fire. 144 00:07:30,923 --> 00:07:34,563 As the 1960s became the 1970s, 145 00:07:34,603 --> 00:07:39,043 velma barfield was widowed and hiding a growing addiction. 146 00:07:39,083 --> 00:07:41,163 Back in 1962, 147 00:07:41,203 --> 00:07:44,443 a hysterectomy had left her in constant pain 148 00:07:44,483 --> 00:07:46,923 and suffering from depression. 149 00:07:46,963 --> 00:07:49,283 What actually happens then 150 00:07:49,323 --> 00:07:54,043 is that her imbalance in personality seizes 151 00:07:54,083 --> 00:07:59,603 on prescription medicine as a way of easing the pain. 152 00:07:59,643 --> 00:08:01,523 And she goes from doctor to doctor 153 00:08:01,563 --> 00:08:04,323 to get different drugs at different times 154 00:08:04,363 --> 00:08:07,643 so that she can increase her own use. 155 00:08:07,683 --> 00:08:09,883 So, rather than become an alcoholic, 156 00:08:09,923 --> 00:08:13,563 she becomes effectively a drug addict. 157 00:08:13,603 --> 00:08:15,643 And I think for the first time in her life, 158 00:08:15,683 --> 00:08:18,083 she's found something that numbs her. 159 00:08:18,123 --> 00:08:21,603 That kind of takes away the pain and the depression 160 00:08:21,643 --> 00:08:25,003 and all of those issues over which she has no control. 161 00:08:25,043 --> 00:08:28,923 So, I think this is a problem which is just going to escalate. 162 00:08:28,963 --> 00:08:30,483 It's only going to get worse. 163 00:08:33,643 --> 00:08:37,003 Lees than ten years after losing her first husband, 164 00:08:37,043 --> 00:08:41,003 velma barfield's life had spiralled out of control. 165 00:08:41,043 --> 00:08:43,043 By march 1978 166 00:08:43,083 --> 00:08:46,363 she was working as a carer in lumberton, north Carolina 167 00:08:46,403 --> 00:08:49,843 and had begun to fund her painkiller addiction 168 00:08:49,883 --> 00:08:53,523 by stealing from the people she was meant to be protecting. 169 00:08:53,563 --> 00:08:57,563 And barfield was hiding an even bigger secret. 170 00:08:57,603 --> 00:09:00,203 I was covering, if I remember correctly, a meeting, 171 00:09:00,243 --> 00:09:03,323 government meeting in the courthouse of robeson county. 172 00:09:03,363 --> 00:09:06,843 And a law enforcement fellow that I knew pass me in the hallway 173 00:09:06,883 --> 00:09:10,043 and asked if I had checked the arrest sheets that evening. 174 00:09:10,083 --> 00:09:11,563 I said, "no, I hadn't." 175 00:09:11,603 --> 00:09:14,283 He said, "well, you might want to go by and check." 176 00:09:14,323 --> 00:09:15,763 And of course for a reporter 177 00:09:15,803 --> 00:09:17,963 that's always a sign that you ought to do 178 00:09:18,003 --> 00:09:20,763 what somebody suggests that you do. 179 00:09:20,803 --> 00:09:22,323 So, I went by and checked, 180 00:09:22,363 --> 00:09:24,763 and sure enough going down through the sheet, 181 00:09:24,803 --> 00:09:28,043 and here is this older woman 182 00:09:28,083 --> 00:09:30,563 who's been charged with first-degree murder. 183 00:09:32,763 --> 00:09:36,683 A post-mortem on 56-year-old Stuart Taylor 184 00:09:36,723 --> 00:09:40,123 revealed that his body had been riddled with arsenic. 185 00:09:40,163 --> 00:09:41,803 Investigators believed 186 00:09:41,843 --> 00:09:45,283 he had been poisoned by his partner, velma barfield. 187 00:09:46,403 --> 00:09:49,283 The investigation was very high profile. 188 00:09:49,323 --> 00:09:52,683 It was just so unusual having a woman 189 00:09:52,723 --> 00:09:55,003 with a sterling reputation, 190 00:09:55,043 --> 00:09:59,123 who worked for elderly patients, who was a regular church goer, 191 00:09:59,163 --> 00:10:01,923 wouldn't even work on the evenings or days 192 00:10:01,963 --> 00:10:05,683 that church was going on because of her religious beliefs. 193 00:10:05,723 --> 00:10:08,523 It was just a very unusual case. 194 00:10:08,563 --> 00:10:11,803 A deeper delve in barfield's backstory 195 00:10:11,843 --> 00:10:16,523 suggested that maybe Stuart Taylor wasn't her only victim. 196 00:10:16,563 --> 00:10:18,763 So, I started getting calls from people saying, 197 00:10:18,803 --> 00:10:21,363 "she's been associated with a number of deaths 198 00:10:21,403 --> 00:10:23,523 "that are sort of unusual." 199 00:10:23,563 --> 00:10:25,883 I know one fellow had said she had at least one, 200 00:10:25,923 --> 00:10:29,763 two husbands had died under unusual circumstances. 201 00:10:29,803 --> 00:10:33,323 Her mother had passed away sort of unexpectedly. 202 00:10:33,363 --> 00:10:36,283 As the rumour mill continued to turn, 203 00:10:36,323 --> 00:10:40,563 barfield had more secrets to reveal to detectives. 204 00:10:40,603 --> 00:10:42,283 After she's charged, 205 00:10:42,323 --> 00:10:44,403 velma surprises the authorities 206 00:10:44,443 --> 00:10:46,803 by confessing to three other killings, 207 00:10:46,843 --> 00:10:48,643 her mother, 208 00:10:48,683 --> 00:10:51,243 dollie Edwards and John Henry Lee. 209 00:10:52,763 --> 00:10:57,723 And that sort just cemented it to the investigators that, 210 00:10:57,763 --> 00:10:59,923 "yeah, we're dealing with somebody here, who's... 211 00:10:59,963 --> 00:11:04,483 "This is not a one-off, a, you know, personal situation. 212 00:11:04,523 --> 00:11:05,603 "This is... 213 00:11:05,643 --> 00:11:08,243 "This is a practise that's been going on." 214 00:11:10,203 --> 00:11:14,123 Velma barfield's confessions had stunned detectives. 215 00:11:14,163 --> 00:11:17,323 She had admitted to killing her mother, her partner 216 00:11:17,363 --> 00:11:21,443 and two of the vulnerable people she was meant to be looking after. 217 00:11:21,483 --> 00:11:23,883 Investigators were only just beginning 218 00:11:23,923 --> 00:11:26,723 to scratch the surface on the deathly past 219 00:11:26,763 --> 00:11:28,563 of the 45-year-old, 220 00:11:28,603 --> 00:11:31,963 a life of fraud, lies and murder. 221 00:11:33,363 --> 00:11:38,083 In march 1978, 45-year-old velma barfield 222 00:11:38,123 --> 00:11:41,803 was charged with the murder of her partner Stuart Taylor, 223 00:11:41,843 --> 00:11:45,603 but her life of crime had begun eight years previously. 224 00:11:47,283 --> 00:11:49,363 In August 1970, 225 00:11:49,403 --> 00:11:52,843 she married the man whose name she would take on in the future, 226 00:11:52,883 --> 00:11:54,603 Jennings barfield. 227 00:11:54,643 --> 00:11:58,083 Jennings suffered from emphysema and diabetes 228 00:11:58,123 --> 00:12:01,523 and his new wife effectively became his carer too. 229 00:12:04,203 --> 00:12:06,563 During her marriage to Jennings barfield, 230 00:12:06,603 --> 00:12:09,883 it could best be described as a tempestuous relationship. 231 00:12:09,923 --> 00:12:12,083 She was still overdosing on drugs. 232 00:12:12,123 --> 00:12:15,363 He would take her to hospital, they were going to divorce, 233 00:12:15,403 --> 00:12:18,963 and then, how convenient, he dies. 234 00:12:19,003 --> 00:12:21,323 In April 1971, 235 00:12:21,363 --> 00:12:24,323 after less than a year of marriage to his wife, 236 00:12:24,363 --> 00:12:30,083 54-year-old Jennings barfield developed a sudden illness and died. 237 00:12:30,123 --> 00:12:32,603 No-one pays very much attention. 238 00:12:32,643 --> 00:12:37,003 He had been ill for a long time. It was obviously natural causes. 239 00:12:37,043 --> 00:12:42,043 And velma is just now a widow, in fact now twice widowed. 240 00:12:42,083 --> 00:12:43,843 Later that same year, 241 00:12:43,883 --> 00:12:47,803 39-year-old velma barfield's prescription drug addiction 242 00:12:47,843 --> 00:12:50,003 was reeling out of control. 243 00:12:50,043 --> 00:12:54,083 She lost her job, her home and not long after 244 00:12:54,123 --> 00:12:58,083 the man who had made her childhood so traumatic. 245 00:12:58,123 --> 00:13:03,203 Her father Murphy dies of lung cancer in 1972. 246 00:13:03,243 --> 00:13:08,563 And before long velma moves back in with her mother Lillie. 247 00:13:08,603 --> 00:13:10,683 They have a very combative relationship 248 00:13:10,723 --> 00:13:12,723 to put it politely. 249 00:13:12,763 --> 00:13:16,283 Barfield always had a very antagonistic relationship 250 00:13:16,323 --> 00:13:17,883 with her mother Lillie 251 00:13:17,923 --> 00:13:19,763 because she felt like that she was put upon. 252 00:13:19,803 --> 00:13:22,563 She felt that Lillie was making demands of her, 253 00:13:22,603 --> 00:13:24,259 that she should be running around for her, 254 00:13:24,283 --> 00:13:26,683 doing chores, looking after her. 255 00:13:26,723 --> 00:13:28,923 And there's a particular period of time 256 00:13:28,963 --> 00:13:31,123 in 1974, 257 00:13:31,163 --> 00:13:34,203 where that had indeed been going on. 258 00:13:34,243 --> 00:13:38,323 And it's at this time that Lillie becomes quite ill. 259 00:13:38,363 --> 00:13:40,443 She develops really bad stomach cramps. 260 00:13:40,483 --> 00:13:43,163 She's vomiting, she has diarrhoea. 261 00:13:43,203 --> 00:13:45,523 She's very, very unwell indeed. 262 00:13:45,563 --> 00:13:48,043 And barfield takes her to hospital. 263 00:13:48,083 --> 00:13:49,843 And she spends a few days in hospital 264 00:13:49,883 --> 00:13:51,363 and then she's discharged, 265 00:13:51,403 --> 00:13:53,523 and that seems to be the end of the matter. 266 00:13:55,403 --> 00:13:57,483 As a way of funding her addiction, 267 00:13:57,523 --> 00:14:00,083 barfield began to forge her mother's signature 268 00:14:00,123 --> 00:14:01,843 on loan applications. 269 00:14:01,883 --> 00:14:04,243 And by late 1974, 270 00:14:04,283 --> 00:14:07,963 she had successfully racked up $2,000 worth of debt 271 00:14:08,003 --> 00:14:10,403 in the name of Lillie bullard. 272 00:14:10,443 --> 00:14:12,923 Her mother is a perfect Mark. 273 00:14:12,963 --> 00:14:15,483 She could take out a loan on something 274 00:14:15,523 --> 00:14:18,843 that her mother owns, whether it's a house or a car. 275 00:14:18,883 --> 00:14:20,603 And she wants to cover up 276 00:14:20,643 --> 00:14:23,683 that the stealing to sustain the drug addiction. 277 00:14:23,723 --> 00:14:26,643 You have a woman literally in a spiral of addiction. 278 00:14:28,083 --> 00:14:31,803 Then certainly out of the blue, something a bit strange happens. 279 00:14:31,843 --> 00:14:34,043 Barfield's mother receives a letter 280 00:14:34,083 --> 00:14:37,963 saying that she has a car loan that is overdue. 281 00:14:38,003 --> 00:14:39,763 And the car is going to be repossessed 282 00:14:39,803 --> 00:14:41,803 if she doesn't pay the loan off. 283 00:14:41,843 --> 00:14:43,723 And she thinks, "well, this is nonsense, 284 00:14:43,763 --> 00:14:46,203 "it's surely some kind of admin error. 285 00:14:46,243 --> 00:14:49,963 "I haven't taken out a car loan." 286 00:14:50,003 --> 00:14:53,323 When her mother discovers or gets letters 287 00:14:53,363 --> 00:14:55,163 saying that she owes money 288 00:14:55,203 --> 00:14:57,003 or that they're going to reclaim the house 289 00:14:57,043 --> 00:14:58,603 or they're going to reclaim the car. 290 00:14:58,643 --> 00:14:59,763 Velma is determined 291 00:14:59,803 --> 00:15:01,963 that should never come to the surface. 292 00:15:02,003 --> 00:15:07,123 Soon after the letter arrived, Lillie bullard fell ill once more. 293 00:15:07,163 --> 00:15:10,203 But this time, she wouldn't recover. 294 00:15:10,243 --> 00:15:13,963 She again becomes very ill with similar symptoms to the ones 295 00:15:14,003 --> 00:15:15,923 that she had before. 296 00:15:15,963 --> 00:15:18,083 She complains of terrible problems, 297 00:15:18,123 --> 00:15:20,683 awful pain, terrible diarrhoea. 298 00:15:20,723 --> 00:15:22,483 She's in a terrible state. 299 00:15:22,523 --> 00:15:26,803 She gets taken to hospital and dies on the December 30, 1974. 300 00:15:29,923 --> 00:15:33,403 Lillie bullard officially died of a heart attack, 301 00:15:33,443 --> 00:15:34,563 but in truth 302 00:15:34,603 --> 00:15:38,643 she had become the second victim of velma barfield. 303 00:15:38,683 --> 00:15:41,363 The 40-year-old prescription drug addict 304 00:15:41,403 --> 00:15:44,683 had poisoned her second husband Jennings barfield 305 00:15:44,723 --> 00:15:47,563 with arsenic in 1971. 306 00:15:47,603 --> 00:15:51,003 And now, she done the same to her own mother. 307 00:15:51,043 --> 00:15:53,963 But nobody had any idea. 308 00:15:54,003 --> 00:15:57,803 What's really interesting about the arsenic 309 00:15:57,843 --> 00:16:01,483 is that while it's an effective poison, 310 00:16:01,523 --> 00:16:03,283 it's something that most people think 311 00:16:03,323 --> 00:16:06,763 only really exists in old Agatha christie novels. 312 00:16:06,803 --> 00:16:08,563 It's not something that's at the forefront 313 00:16:08,603 --> 00:16:10,203 of the average pathologist's mind. 314 00:16:11,563 --> 00:16:15,003 Barfield continued to fund her addiction with crime. 315 00:16:15,043 --> 00:16:19,203 After five cheques forged in her dead husband's name bounced, 316 00:16:19,243 --> 00:16:21,763 she attempted to take her own life. 317 00:16:21,803 --> 00:16:23,603 But she was unsuccessful 318 00:16:23,643 --> 00:16:26,363 and investigators soon caught up with her. 319 00:16:27,763 --> 00:16:29,163 Barfield goes to prison. 320 00:16:29,203 --> 00:16:33,723 She's sentenced to six months for a series of bad checks. 321 00:16:33,763 --> 00:16:35,963 But she doesn't serve that full six months sentence, 322 00:16:36,003 --> 00:16:39,683 she's released after three on the grounds of good behaviour. 323 00:16:42,403 --> 00:16:45,403 In November 1975, 324 00:16:45,443 --> 00:16:47,523 barfield was out of prison 325 00:16:47,563 --> 00:16:50,003 and had found a new career for herself. 326 00:16:50,043 --> 00:16:52,723 She was hired as a live-in caretaker 327 00:16:52,763 --> 00:16:56,483 for 93-year-old Montgomery Edwards. 328 00:16:56,523 --> 00:16:59,923 Montgomery was very disabled, indeed he was bedridden, 329 00:16:59,963 --> 00:17:01,203 he had sight problems. 330 00:17:01,243 --> 00:17:03,683 He was a diabetic, he was an amputee. 331 00:17:03,723 --> 00:17:06,203 His wife dollie was slightly more mobile 332 00:17:06,243 --> 00:17:07,923 but they needed help nonetheless. 333 00:17:07,963 --> 00:17:11,883 So, barfield takes on a job looking after them. 334 00:17:11,923 --> 00:17:13,403 She essentially moves in. 335 00:17:13,443 --> 00:17:16,403 She... she gets involved in their care. 336 00:17:16,443 --> 00:17:21,443 In January 1977, Montgomery Edwards passed away. 337 00:17:21,483 --> 00:17:24,243 But barfield continued to live in the house 338 00:17:24,283 --> 00:17:28,443 with Montgomery's 85-year-old wife dollie. 339 00:17:28,483 --> 00:17:31,403 Dollie was somebody who was quite meticulous 340 00:17:31,443 --> 00:17:34,323 and she wanted a good service from barfield 341 00:17:34,363 --> 00:17:36,523 for the money that she was paying her. 342 00:17:36,563 --> 00:17:37,803 And she picked up on the fact 343 00:17:37,843 --> 00:17:41,283 that barfield could sometimes be a bit lazy, a bit sloppy. 344 00:17:41,323 --> 00:17:43,763 And dollie was quite a direct person 345 00:17:43,803 --> 00:17:45,763 and she would tell barfield about this. 346 00:17:45,803 --> 00:17:47,563 And barfield did not like this, 347 00:17:47,603 --> 00:17:51,323 whatsoever because this compromised her feelings of control 348 00:17:51,363 --> 00:17:53,283 within this household. 349 00:17:53,323 --> 00:17:56,363 So, in the end dollie, for the same reason 350 00:17:56,403 --> 00:17:58,803 as her mother has got to go, 351 00:17:58,843 --> 00:18:02,363 otherwise she may well blow the whistle on velma. 352 00:18:02,403 --> 00:18:05,083 Be it for money or just out of spite, 353 00:18:05,123 --> 00:18:09,963 barfield began to poison dollie in February 1977. 354 00:18:10,003 --> 00:18:14,603 When dollie became incredibly unwell with vomiting and diarrhoea, 355 00:18:14,643 --> 00:18:17,643 she told her stepson, "I think it's the flu." 356 00:18:17,683 --> 00:18:19,603 And she did look like she had flu, 357 00:18:19,643 --> 00:18:22,283 she was very weak, she was very pale. 358 00:18:22,323 --> 00:18:25,683 But barfield was quite keen to go to the hospital with her 359 00:18:25,723 --> 00:18:27,803 when she was admitted. 360 00:18:27,843 --> 00:18:29,883 Barfield is a constant presence here, 361 00:18:29,923 --> 00:18:34,003 whenever she seems to be around, dollie's health seems to decline. 362 00:18:34,043 --> 00:18:36,603 And that's no coincidence. 363 00:18:36,643 --> 00:18:39,683 Once again, she's a lady in her 80s. 364 00:18:39,723 --> 00:18:41,483 She's just lost her husband. 365 00:18:41,523 --> 00:18:43,843 Well, it doesn't look unnatural to anyone. 366 00:18:43,883 --> 00:18:46,603 And the fact that the single thread through all these deaths 367 00:18:46,643 --> 00:18:49,483 is velma barfield is well... 368 00:18:50,523 --> 00:18:51,883 Coincidence. 369 00:18:51,923 --> 00:18:56,443 In fact, velma barfield has murdered dollie Edwards. 370 00:18:56,483 --> 00:18:59,283 Once again velma barfield 371 00:18:59,323 --> 00:19:02,283 has taken the ultimate action of killing someone 372 00:19:02,323 --> 00:19:05,883 who might just reveal her own difficulties. 373 00:19:07,403 --> 00:19:11,403 Barfield preys on the weak, and the old and the innocent. 374 00:19:11,443 --> 00:19:13,883 And this tells me that she is a predator. 375 00:19:13,923 --> 00:19:16,363 She looks out for people's vulnerabilities 376 00:19:16,403 --> 00:19:18,323 and she exploits them. 377 00:19:18,363 --> 00:19:21,403 She lives a very parasitic kind of lifestyle. 378 00:19:21,443 --> 00:19:24,003 So, she will take what she wants from people 379 00:19:24,043 --> 00:19:25,763 and then she will move on. 380 00:19:25,803 --> 00:19:27,563 And it takes a certain kind of person 381 00:19:27,603 --> 00:19:29,843 to be able to do this time and time again. 382 00:19:29,883 --> 00:19:31,643 It takes somebody with no compassion, 383 00:19:31,683 --> 00:19:33,283 somebody with no empathy, 384 00:19:33,323 --> 00:19:35,763 somebody who is only looking out for themselves. 385 00:19:37,523 --> 00:19:41,443 Once again velma barfield's crimes went undetected. 386 00:19:41,483 --> 00:19:46,003 She had now claimed three victims and people were none the wiser. 387 00:19:46,043 --> 00:19:49,043 Just a month after the death of dollie Edwards, 388 00:19:49,083 --> 00:19:50,843 barfield found another couple 389 00:19:50,883 --> 00:19:54,483 to live with and care for, John and record Lee. 390 00:19:55,643 --> 00:19:58,803 They reached quite a nice amicable arrangement 391 00:19:58,843 --> 00:20:02,883 whereby barfield would have time off on particular days of the week. 392 00:20:02,923 --> 00:20:04,323 So, she could go to church 393 00:20:04,363 --> 00:20:05,763 and she could engage in the things 394 00:20:05,803 --> 00:20:07,363 that she wanted to do 395 00:20:07,403 --> 00:20:11,163 because she very much came across as this nice Christian woman. 396 00:20:11,203 --> 00:20:14,523 Just days after moving in with the elderly couple, 397 00:20:14,563 --> 00:20:18,123 barfield forged a cheque for $50. 398 00:20:18,163 --> 00:20:20,803 There's this mysterious check that emerges 399 00:20:20,843 --> 00:20:23,003 that apparently record has signed. 400 00:20:23,043 --> 00:20:26,363 And she has no recollection of signing this check whatsoever. 401 00:20:26,403 --> 00:20:29,483 So, her husband John calls the police in. 402 00:20:29,523 --> 00:20:31,243 But the case doesn't go anywhere, 403 00:20:31,283 --> 00:20:32,963 because they don't know anybody 404 00:20:33,003 --> 00:20:35,323 who could possibly have done this to them. 405 00:20:35,363 --> 00:20:38,763 And the last suspect on the list is this good Christian woman, 406 00:20:38,803 --> 00:20:40,923 who's come to care for them. 407 00:20:40,963 --> 00:20:43,523 By embezzling such small amounts, 408 00:20:43,563 --> 00:20:48,003 barfield was able to keep her thefts under the radar. 409 00:20:48,043 --> 00:20:50,043 It was just a few dollars here and there. 410 00:20:50,083 --> 00:20:51,723 And when they went back and checked, 411 00:20:51,763 --> 00:20:56,643 they came across $100, $200 checks 412 00:20:56,683 --> 00:20:59,443 that had been written that obviously hadn't been signed 413 00:20:59,483 --> 00:21:00,603 by the person. 414 00:21:02,043 --> 00:21:03,283 She's taking little bits, 415 00:21:03,323 --> 00:21:05,283 because that gives her a little kick. 416 00:21:05,323 --> 00:21:07,963 It makes her feel that she's the one that's in control 417 00:21:08,003 --> 00:21:09,283 in these households. 418 00:21:09,323 --> 00:21:12,403 And that control is something that she's become addicted to. 419 00:21:12,443 --> 00:21:15,643 So, she's not gonna just take a load of money and then disappear, 420 00:21:15,683 --> 00:21:18,323 because then her control and her power is gone. 421 00:21:18,363 --> 00:21:20,403 And that is something that she's addicted to 422 00:21:20,443 --> 00:21:21,523 at this point in time. 423 00:21:22,723 --> 00:21:25,363 Concerned that the lees were on to her, 424 00:21:25,403 --> 00:21:29,923 barfield dealt with the situation just as she'd done previously. 425 00:21:29,963 --> 00:21:32,723 She began to poison 80-year-old John. 426 00:21:34,483 --> 00:21:38,523 That same way of thinking is in velma's mind. 427 00:21:38,563 --> 00:21:41,243 These two are in danger of revealing me 428 00:21:41,283 --> 00:21:42,323 for what I truly am. 429 00:21:43,403 --> 00:21:48,563 And so, John Henry Lee, I'm afraid she decides has to die. 430 00:21:48,603 --> 00:21:51,403 In an attempt to cover up her crimes, 431 00:21:51,443 --> 00:21:55,123 velma barfield had once again taken a life. 432 00:21:55,163 --> 00:21:57,083 But official records stated 433 00:21:57,123 --> 00:22:00,323 that John Lee had died of a heart attack. 434 00:22:00,363 --> 00:22:02,363 It's so calculating, 435 00:22:02,403 --> 00:22:06,523 so scheming, so ruthless 436 00:22:06,563 --> 00:22:08,963 that it almost takes my breath away. 437 00:22:09,003 --> 00:22:12,443 She doesn't hesitate for a moment. 438 00:22:12,483 --> 00:22:16,243 And yet there's still this cycle, this spiral going on in her life. 439 00:22:16,283 --> 00:22:19,243 She's still grappling with her own demons. 440 00:22:19,283 --> 00:22:23,643 And yet she chooses to solve the demons by killing, 441 00:22:23,683 --> 00:22:26,803 not by admitting it, not by saying anything to anyone, 442 00:22:26,843 --> 00:22:32,363 but just sustaining this corrupt agonising lifestyle 443 00:22:32,403 --> 00:22:34,163 by her actions. 444 00:22:34,203 --> 00:22:36,843 Barfield was stuck in a vicious circle 445 00:22:36,883 --> 00:22:39,203 of addiction, theft and murder 446 00:22:39,243 --> 00:22:41,403 and she was getting away with it. 447 00:22:41,443 --> 00:22:45,843 By October 1977, she had killed four people, 448 00:22:45,883 --> 00:22:50,043 but her next potential victim would be a step too far. 449 00:22:50,083 --> 00:22:54,243 Velma barfield's life of crime was about to be exposed. 450 00:22:57,163 --> 00:23:00,003 By the Autumn of 1977, 451 00:23:00,043 --> 00:23:02,763 velma barfield had killed four people 452 00:23:02,803 --> 00:23:04,483 including her own mother 453 00:23:04,523 --> 00:23:07,803 in an attempt to cover up her fraudulent crimes. 454 00:23:07,843 --> 00:23:11,083 The 44-year-old was addicted to painkillers 455 00:23:11,123 --> 00:23:14,643 and theft was the only way to pay for her habit. 456 00:23:14,683 --> 00:23:15,723 In October, 457 00:23:15,763 --> 00:23:19,163 barfield began dating a man named Stuart Taylor. 458 00:23:22,563 --> 00:23:24,643 When we look at Stuart Taylor's background, 459 00:23:24,683 --> 00:23:26,683 he'd had quite a turbulent time. 460 00:23:26,723 --> 00:23:28,963 So, his first wife had died, 461 00:23:29,003 --> 00:23:31,203 he'd been married another couple of times after that. 462 00:23:31,243 --> 00:23:33,603 And those relationships hadn't worked out. 463 00:23:33,643 --> 00:23:35,883 I think this was a guy who wanted 464 00:23:35,923 --> 00:23:39,443 that long term, committed, stable relationship. 465 00:23:39,483 --> 00:23:42,843 And I think barfield really sensed that in him 466 00:23:42,883 --> 00:23:45,683 and she saw here another vulnerability 467 00:23:45,723 --> 00:23:46,803 that she could prey on. 468 00:23:48,163 --> 00:23:49,843 Velma decides that 469 00:23:49,883 --> 00:23:52,803 this is the perfect relationship for her. 470 00:23:52,843 --> 00:23:56,963 Yet again, a Mark, someone be taken advantage of, 471 00:23:57,003 --> 00:23:59,123 someone who can look after her 472 00:23:59,163 --> 00:24:02,363 while she sustains this outrageous, 473 00:24:02,403 --> 00:24:06,763 but secret life of drug addiction and stealing. 474 00:24:08,883 --> 00:24:13,243 56-year-old Stuart had no idea he was getting involved 475 00:24:13,283 --> 00:24:15,763 with an active serial killer. 476 00:24:15,803 --> 00:24:18,403 From all accounts, Stuart Taylor was a very kind, 477 00:24:18,443 --> 00:24:20,483 nice, genuine man. 478 00:24:20,523 --> 00:24:23,283 But he got together with barfield, 479 00:24:23,323 --> 00:24:27,563 and her version of the relationship would be very different indeed. 480 00:24:27,603 --> 00:24:30,283 She was a magnet for drama. 481 00:24:30,323 --> 00:24:34,043 And when that drama wasn't present, she would create it. 482 00:24:34,083 --> 00:24:36,123 Nothing could have been more dramatic 483 00:24:36,163 --> 00:24:37,363 than barfield's plot 484 00:24:37,403 --> 00:24:40,083 to make Stuart Taylor fall for her. 485 00:24:40,123 --> 00:24:43,683 She staged an attack on herself. 486 00:24:43,723 --> 00:24:45,483 Police are called, a man's broken in, 487 00:24:45,523 --> 00:24:47,643 she's tied up, she's been attacked. 488 00:24:47,683 --> 00:24:51,243 And of course, Stuart Taylor not realising 489 00:24:51,283 --> 00:24:54,283 that this is an incredible piece of manipulation, 490 00:24:54,323 --> 00:24:56,083 falls for it and says, "oh. 491 00:24:56,123 --> 00:24:58,083 "Well, I want to protect you. 492 00:24:58,123 --> 00:25:00,163 "You can come and live with me in my house." 493 00:25:00,203 --> 00:25:01,843 It wouldn't take long 494 00:25:01,883 --> 00:25:05,163 before barfield was up to her old tricks again. 495 00:25:05,203 --> 00:25:07,803 In November 1977, 496 00:25:07,843 --> 00:25:11,243 she began forging cheques in Stuart Taylor's name. 497 00:25:12,403 --> 00:25:15,443 Barfield writes some checks from Stuart's account 498 00:25:15,483 --> 00:25:17,723 and they're for quite small sums of money. 499 00:25:17,763 --> 00:25:19,683 She uses one to pay a bill, 500 00:25:19,723 --> 00:25:23,083 she uses another one for some prescription drugs. 501 00:25:23,123 --> 00:25:26,323 And she's taking this money because she feels entitled to it. 502 00:25:26,363 --> 00:25:30,163 She feels that she has this man under her control now. 503 00:25:30,203 --> 00:25:32,523 And this is a pattern that we've seen before with her. 504 00:25:32,563 --> 00:25:35,763 She would just take what she feels is owed to her. 505 00:25:35,803 --> 00:25:40,203 This time however, barfield was caught in the act. 506 00:25:40,243 --> 00:25:44,243 Stuart had come across this check that he knew he didn't write 507 00:25:44,283 --> 00:25:46,563 and with her forged signature to it. 508 00:25:46,603 --> 00:25:49,723 And had told her better not happen again 509 00:25:49,763 --> 00:25:51,643 or he would turn her into the police. 510 00:25:51,683 --> 00:25:55,043 He wasn't going to have her stealing money from him. 511 00:25:55,083 --> 00:25:57,243 Sensing the game might be up, 512 00:25:57,283 --> 00:26:00,083 instead of walking away from Stuart Taylor, 513 00:26:00,123 --> 00:26:03,763 barfield instead decided he had to be silenced. 514 00:26:05,003 --> 00:26:08,083 And so, in February 1978, 515 00:26:08,123 --> 00:26:11,643 she starts to poison Stuart Taylor. 516 00:26:11,683 --> 00:26:14,963 She uses arsenic and rat poison. 517 00:26:15,003 --> 00:26:19,883 Taylor starts complaining of all kinds of pain and difficulty. 518 00:26:19,923 --> 00:26:23,163 And he's not an old man. It's not like John Henry Lee. 519 00:26:23,203 --> 00:26:25,643 He's comparatively young. He's not even 60. 520 00:26:30,483 --> 00:26:32,883 Just as she'd done before, 521 00:26:32,923 --> 00:26:37,763 barfield began lacing Stuart's food with the deadly poison. 522 00:26:37,803 --> 00:26:41,803 Poisoning requires close access to your victims. 523 00:26:41,843 --> 00:26:44,803 It requires you to be in a relationship with them, 524 00:26:44,843 --> 00:26:47,163 it requires that regular contact. 525 00:26:47,203 --> 00:26:50,403 But it's also quite a remote form of murder. 526 00:26:50,443 --> 00:26:53,963 So, it's not one that involves a huge amount of physical violence. 527 00:26:54,003 --> 00:26:57,683 And women on the whole are generally weaker than men. 528 00:26:57,723 --> 00:26:59,963 So, it is quite an advantageous method 529 00:27:00,003 --> 00:27:01,843 for a female multiple murderer. 530 00:27:03,603 --> 00:27:05,883 In February 1978, 531 00:27:05,923 --> 00:27:09,923 Stuart Taylor and velma barfield attended a gospel meeting, 532 00:27:09,963 --> 00:27:14,003 but the 45-year-old's intentions were far from holy. 533 00:27:14,043 --> 00:27:15,443 When they get to the event, 534 00:27:15,483 --> 00:27:18,563 Stuart starts feeling incredibly unwell. 535 00:27:18,603 --> 00:27:22,763 He's got terrible stomach pains. He starts feeling really nauseous. 536 00:27:22,803 --> 00:27:24,603 So, what happens then 537 00:27:24,643 --> 00:27:28,083 is that barfield has to drive them home in the car. 538 00:27:28,123 --> 00:27:29,123 And the whole time, 539 00:27:29,163 --> 00:27:31,923 Stuart is becoming increasingly unwell. 540 00:27:31,963 --> 00:27:33,883 And when they get home, 541 00:27:33,923 --> 00:27:36,683 one of Stuart's friends actually calls for an ambulance, 542 00:27:36,723 --> 00:27:40,003 because they're so concerned at how unwell he is. 543 00:27:40,043 --> 00:27:41,403 And he goes to hospital, 544 00:27:41,443 --> 00:27:45,203 but unfortunately he dies not long afterwards. 545 00:27:45,243 --> 00:27:47,523 Just like barfield's other victims, 546 00:27:47,563 --> 00:27:50,683 there was no obvious sign of foul play. 547 00:27:50,723 --> 00:27:52,203 But unlike the others, 548 00:27:52,243 --> 00:27:56,883 Stuart Taylor was just 56 years old when he died. 549 00:27:56,923 --> 00:27:58,363 It was thought that 550 00:27:58,403 --> 00:28:01,323 it was likely he died of gastroenteritis, 551 00:28:01,363 --> 00:28:05,323 but alarm bells during this time because he's a young person. 552 00:28:05,363 --> 00:28:07,723 You don't expect a young man 553 00:28:07,763 --> 00:28:09,643 to succumb to that sort of problem in the way 554 00:28:09,683 --> 00:28:13,883 that somebody who's older with other health problems might. 555 00:28:13,923 --> 00:28:17,563 Doctors asked Stuart's family if they'd like an autopsy 556 00:28:17,603 --> 00:28:20,923 to find out the underlying reason for his death. 557 00:28:20,963 --> 00:28:23,123 They all agreed it was a good idea, 558 00:28:23,163 --> 00:28:27,083 including his partner velma barfield. 559 00:28:27,123 --> 00:28:29,523 And this would appear to be a really bizarre thing to say, 560 00:28:29,563 --> 00:28:32,123 because clearly she knows how he died. 561 00:28:32,163 --> 00:28:35,563 But her performance as the grieving girlfriend 562 00:28:35,603 --> 00:28:38,603 is the most important thing to her at this point in time. 563 00:28:38,643 --> 00:28:40,563 She has to maintain this facade. 564 00:28:40,603 --> 00:28:43,003 So, if she was the one saying, "no. 565 00:28:43,043 --> 00:28:46,483 "I think an autopsy is a bad idea," that would raise suspicion. 566 00:28:46,523 --> 00:28:48,683 So, while she's going along with it, 567 00:28:48,723 --> 00:28:49,803 there is still the chance 568 00:28:49,843 --> 00:28:52,323 that she could get away with his murder. 569 00:28:52,363 --> 00:28:53,963 I think that velma believed 570 00:28:54,003 --> 00:28:55,723 that she could probably tough it out, 571 00:28:55,763 --> 00:28:59,883 that she could probably say, "fine, conduct an autopsy. 572 00:28:59,923 --> 00:29:01,963 "I'm perfectly innocent." 573 00:29:02,003 --> 00:29:05,363 While the family awaited the results of the autopsy, 574 00:29:05,403 --> 00:29:08,203 the funeral for Stuart Taylor took place. 575 00:29:08,243 --> 00:29:11,643 And front and centre was his grieving partner. 576 00:29:13,483 --> 00:29:16,763 They treated her very much as another family member, 577 00:29:16,803 --> 00:29:19,283 a grieving family member over the death 578 00:29:19,323 --> 00:29:22,523 to the point that at the funeral, 579 00:29:22,563 --> 00:29:26,603 the family invited velma to ride in the family car 580 00:29:26,643 --> 00:29:28,443 to the grave site. 581 00:29:28,483 --> 00:29:32,243 She seems to be at the heart of this family. 582 00:29:32,283 --> 00:29:33,643 And that's where she wants to be 583 00:29:33,683 --> 00:29:35,523 because that's where she's in control. 584 00:29:35,563 --> 00:29:37,803 That's when she's finding out information 585 00:29:37,843 --> 00:29:41,163 that the family might know about him, about his death. 586 00:29:41,203 --> 00:29:43,883 And it is that need for power, that need to be dominant, 587 00:29:43,923 --> 00:29:46,323 and that need to be right in the middle of everything. 588 00:29:46,363 --> 00:29:47,363 I think the worst thing 589 00:29:47,403 --> 00:29:49,003 that she could do at this point in time 590 00:29:49,043 --> 00:29:51,443 is to distance herself from this family. 591 00:29:51,483 --> 00:29:53,283 Because then, that cuts off her knowledge, 592 00:29:53,323 --> 00:29:55,123 that cuts off her information. 593 00:29:55,163 --> 00:29:57,763 And that is what she's thriving on. 594 00:29:57,803 --> 00:30:01,203 I never could quite get my mind around that as a reporter, 595 00:30:01,243 --> 00:30:02,963 because that to me is the sort of thing 596 00:30:03,003 --> 00:30:04,683 that's awfully cold 597 00:30:04,723 --> 00:30:07,443 to be able to sit with people and grieve with people 598 00:30:07,483 --> 00:30:09,603 when you know in the back of your mind 599 00:30:09,643 --> 00:30:11,643 that you're the reason they're grieving. 600 00:30:11,683 --> 00:30:13,883 I'm not sure I could do that. 601 00:30:13,923 --> 00:30:16,883 On march 6, 1978, 602 00:30:16,923 --> 00:30:20,723 the pathologist who carried out the autopsy on Stuart Taylor 603 00:30:20,763 --> 00:30:22,803 revealed his findings. 604 00:30:22,843 --> 00:30:26,043 The autopsy reveals 605 00:30:26,083 --> 00:30:29,363 that Stuart Taylor has been given arsenic, 606 00:30:29,403 --> 00:30:33,923 and attention turns for the first time in this case 607 00:30:33,963 --> 00:30:35,283 to velma barfield. 608 00:30:39,963 --> 00:30:42,763 I talked to people who were in the emergency room 609 00:30:42,803 --> 00:30:44,523 when Stuart Taylor died. 610 00:30:44,563 --> 00:30:47,843 And the pathologist I had talked to said, 611 00:30:47,883 --> 00:30:53,043 "this is a particularly painful and gruesome way to die." 612 00:30:53,083 --> 00:30:56,883 It's not neat, clean poison where you go to sleep 613 00:30:56,923 --> 00:30:59,283 and you just don't wake up again. 614 00:30:59,323 --> 00:31:02,963 This is eating away your insides slowly 615 00:31:03,003 --> 00:31:05,043 and nothing you can do about it. 616 00:31:05,083 --> 00:31:08,803 And he died screaming for his life. 617 00:31:08,843 --> 00:31:12,683 Four days later, on march 10, 1978, 618 00:31:12,723 --> 00:31:15,283 velma barfield was brought in for questioning 619 00:31:15,323 --> 00:31:18,043 by the robeson county sheriff's department. 620 00:31:18,083 --> 00:31:20,683 She would never be free again. 621 00:31:20,723 --> 00:31:24,883 Velma is charged with the murder of Stuart Taylor, 622 00:31:24,923 --> 00:31:26,483 first-degree murder. 623 00:31:26,523 --> 00:31:29,123 The evidence is compelling. There's no doubt about it. 624 00:31:30,443 --> 00:31:33,803 Barfield confessed her crimes to detectives 625 00:31:33,843 --> 00:31:36,923 and was sent off for a psychiatric evaluation 626 00:31:36,963 --> 00:31:40,243 to see if she was fit to stand trial. 627 00:31:40,283 --> 00:31:44,563 A court order led to the exhumation of the bodies of John Lee, 628 00:31:44,603 --> 00:31:47,323 dollie Edwards and Lillie bullard. 629 00:31:47,363 --> 00:31:51,683 All three were found to contain traces of arsenic. 630 00:31:51,723 --> 00:31:56,283 Arsenic will stay in your system for a very long time indeed. 631 00:31:56,323 --> 00:32:00,283 It will be incorporated into hair and nails as they grow 632 00:32:00,323 --> 00:32:01,963 and it won't disappear 633 00:32:02,003 --> 00:32:05,363 until that hair is cut or that nail is clipped. 634 00:32:06,523 --> 00:32:08,563 Here is a woman who is, 635 00:32:08,603 --> 00:32:12,203 I think one of the coldest hearted killers 636 00:32:12,243 --> 00:32:14,963 I've ever really looked at. 637 00:32:15,003 --> 00:32:16,803 She has ice in her veins. 638 00:32:16,843 --> 00:32:20,683 She is concerned about no-one but herself. 639 00:32:20,723 --> 00:32:25,563 She is fierce and fiercely protective of herself. 640 00:32:26,683 --> 00:32:29,523 Barfield is one of these female multiple murderers, 641 00:32:29,563 --> 00:32:32,323 who will create a dynamic of care 642 00:32:32,363 --> 00:32:35,003 and of nurturing and of looking after people. 643 00:32:35,043 --> 00:32:37,243 And then, will completely destroy that. 644 00:32:37,283 --> 00:32:40,083 She will use that position of trust to kill 645 00:32:40,123 --> 00:32:42,163 the people who are within her care. 646 00:32:42,203 --> 00:32:45,163 And the fact that she does this time and time and time again 647 00:32:45,203 --> 00:32:49,163 shows that she is addicted to those feelings of power. 648 00:32:49,203 --> 00:32:51,083 The 45-year-old killer 649 00:32:51,123 --> 00:32:54,283 didn't confess to the murder of her second husband 650 00:32:54,323 --> 00:32:56,043 Jennings barfield. 651 00:32:56,083 --> 00:33:00,083 But after his body was exhumed in may 1978, 652 00:33:00,123 --> 00:33:04,203 it too indicated that arsenic was present. 653 00:33:04,243 --> 00:33:07,363 The facade barfield has created for herself 654 00:33:07,403 --> 00:33:09,523 is beginning to fall apart. 655 00:33:09,563 --> 00:33:14,203 She is revealed for what she has always been, 656 00:33:14,243 --> 00:33:16,763 which is a ruthless merciless killer. 657 00:33:18,243 --> 00:33:23,683 Psychiatric evaluations ruled that barfield was fit to stand trial 658 00:33:23,723 --> 00:33:26,363 for the first-degree premeditated murder 659 00:33:26,403 --> 00:33:28,003 of Stuart Taylor, 660 00:33:28,043 --> 00:33:31,483 a guilty verdict could lead to a death sentence. 661 00:33:31,523 --> 00:33:34,363 The tables had turned for velma barfield, 662 00:33:34,403 --> 00:33:37,923 suddenly it was her life that was on the line. 663 00:33:37,963 --> 00:33:39,963 (Dramatic music) 664 00:33:41,643 --> 00:33:44,163 In November 1978, 665 00:33:44,203 --> 00:33:47,283 46-year-old velma barfield was on trial 666 00:33:47,323 --> 00:33:50,483 for the murder of her partner, Stuart Taylor. 667 00:33:50,523 --> 00:33:51,843 If found guilty, 668 00:33:51,883 --> 00:33:54,963 a death sentence would be a real possibility, 669 00:33:55,003 --> 00:33:58,803 especially considering the formidable district attorney 670 00:33:58,843 --> 00:33:59,923 she was up against. 671 00:34:01,083 --> 00:34:05,043 The fellow who was the prosecutor Joe Freeman britt, at the time, 672 00:34:05,083 --> 00:34:07,683 was listed in the guinness book of world records 673 00:34:07,723 --> 00:34:09,643 as the deadliest da. 674 00:34:09,683 --> 00:34:12,243 He had put more people in the death chamber 675 00:34:12,283 --> 00:34:15,763 than any other prosecutor in the world at that point. 676 00:34:16,843 --> 00:34:19,883 Barfield's defence was somewhat bizarre. 677 00:34:19,923 --> 00:34:23,363 Although only on trial for the murder of Stuart Taylor, 678 00:34:23,403 --> 00:34:26,923 she openly admitted to killing three other people, 679 00:34:26,963 --> 00:34:31,883 John Lee, dollie Edwards and her own mother Lillie bullard. 680 00:34:31,923 --> 00:34:34,563 Barfield claimed that all their deaths were 681 00:34:34,603 --> 00:34:36,883 an unfortunate accident. 682 00:34:36,923 --> 00:34:41,083 At trial, she all but confessed on the stand 683 00:34:41,123 --> 00:34:44,403 about how she didn't really mean to kill these people. 684 00:34:44,443 --> 00:34:46,003 She just meant to make them sick. 685 00:34:46,043 --> 00:34:49,443 Well, you know, that's pretty close. 686 00:34:49,483 --> 00:34:53,363 I don't know much closer you could get to saying, "I did it," 687 00:34:53,403 --> 00:34:55,003 without saying I did it. 688 00:34:56,163 --> 00:34:58,763 I have never been swayed by that argument 689 00:34:58,803 --> 00:35:01,363 and neither was the jury. 690 00:35:01,403 --> 00:35:03,723 She wasn't trying to make them ill, 691 00:35:03,763 --> 00:35:06,403 she was trying to kill them and she succeeded. 692 00:35:06,443 --> 00:35:10,563 This is the work of a heartless, wicked woman. 693 00:35:13,203 --> 00:35:16,363 On the December 2, 1978, 694 00:35:16,403 --> 00:35:20,803 velma barfield was found guilty of the murder of Stuart Taylor. 695 00:35:20,843 --> 00:35:24,083 She has never been tried for the murder of her mother 696 00:35:24,123 --> 00:35:27,483 or of the people she was paid to take look after. 697 00:35:27,523 --> 00:35:31,203 The guilt factor for the families was horrible, 698 00:35:31,243 --> 00:35:34,163 because they had gone out and hired this woman. 699 00:35:34,203 --> 00:35:38,243 And some of them I know, I talked to them years later 700 00:35:38,283 --> 00:35:40,763 and they'd say, "if I had not hired her, 701 00:35:40,803 --> 00:35:44,363 "I don't know how much longer my mother might've lived." 702 00:35:44,403 --> 00:35:46,563 And it was just an unknown for them. 703 00:35:46,603 --> 00:35:48,883 And even getting a conviction, 704 00:35:48,923 --> 00:35:50,683 I'm not sure that would have relieved 705 00:35:50,723 --> 00:35:52,683 that kind of guilt. 706 00:35:52,723 --> 00:35:55,123 The judge recommended the death sentence 707 00:35:55,163 --> 00:35:56,723 for velma barfield 708 00:35:56,763 --> 00:35:59,483 and the jury rapidly agreed. 709 00:35:59,523 --> 00:36:01,763 And it took the jury very little time, 710 00:36:01,803 --> 00:36:03,483 a couple of hours, if I remember right. 711 00:36:03,523 --> 00:36:06,043 They came back and sent her to the death chamber. 712 00:36:07,443 --> 00:36:10,083 Capital punishment had been reintroduced 713 00:36:10,123 --> 00:36:13,003 in the us in 1976. 714 00:36:13,043 --> 00:36:15,683 Barfield was in line to be the first woman 715 00:36:15,723 --> 00:36:18,123 to be executed in decades. 716 00:36:20,483 --> 00:36:23,683 The woman the press had dubbed 'the death row granny' 717 00:36:23,723 --> 00:36:26,363 awaited her fate at the north Carolina 718 00:36:26,403 --> 00:36:28,803 correctional institution for women 719 00:36:28,843 --> 00:36:32,203 under the watchful eye of warden, jennie Lancaster. 720 00:36:33,523 --> 00:36:36,403 You're responsible for everything that happens. 721 00:36:36,443 --> 00:36:38,323 The buck stops with the warden. 722 00:36:38,363 --> 00:36:39,643 So, needless to say, 723 00:36:39,683 --> 00:36:43,803 the idea of even having the possibility of an execution 724 00:36:43,843 --> 00:36:47,003 of the first female inmate in the United States 725 00:36:47,043 --> 00:36:50,963 in almost 40 years was pretty overwhelming, 726 00:36:51,003 --> 00:36:53,683 but it was also unheard of at that point 727 00:36:53,723 --> 00:36:55,883 for any state in the United States. 728 00:36:55,923 --> 00:36:58,843 And that's the position north Carolina was in. 729 00:36:58,883 --> 00:37:00,643 While on death row, 730 00:37:00,683 --> 00:37:03,883 barfield reconnected with her Christian faith 731 00:37:03,923 --> 00:37:07,403 and presented herself as a model prisoner. 732 00:37:07,443 --> 00:37:09,843 During the years that barfield is in prison, 733 00:37:09,883 --> 00:37:12,403 she seems to do a complete 180. 734 00:37:12,443 --> 00:37:15,083 So, she becomes the prison grandmother. 735 00:37:15,123 --> 00:37:18,283 She is the inmate who others go to for advice. 736 00:37:18,323 --> 00:37:20,323 She mentors the young women 737 00:37:20,363 --> 00:37:23,003 who find themselves in prison with her. 738 00:37:23,043 --> 00:37:25,843 So, it appears that she's completely reformed. 739 00:37:26,923 --> 00:37:30,243 She's been involved in christianity throughout her life, 740 00:37:30,283 --> 00:37:34,683 but now it serves a very real purpose. 741 00:37:34,723 --> 00:37:37,443 She wishes to try and convince the authorities 742 00:37:37,483 --> 00:37:40,203 that she should not face the death penalty 743 00:37:40,243 --> 00:37:42,603 and the way she chooses to do so 744 00:37:42,643 --> 00:37:46,003 is to present herself as, "oh, I've discovered my sins. 745 00:37:46,043 --> 00:37:47,403 "I am a new woman, 746 00:37:47,443 --> 00:37:50,363 "and I should not face the ultimate penalty." 747 00:37:52,763 --> 00:37:55,723 I hope that she indeed had a change 748 00:37:55,763 --> 00:37:59,003 and made a change in her life and a spiritual change, 749 00:37:59,043 --> 00:38:02,443 but any change that was made in prison 750 00:38:02,483 --> 00:38:06,123 really didn't make up for what she had done before that. 751 00:38:06,163 --> 00:38:10,683 It didn't countermand a jury who had convicted her and said, 752 00:38:10,723 --> 00:38:13,243 "this woman deserves to die." 753 00:38:13,283 --> 00:38:18,963 Due to appeals and legal wranglings, execution dates came and passed. 754 00:38:19,003 --> 00:38:23,163 Barfield's plight became infamous across the us. 755 00:38:23,203 --> 00:38:25,883 Here's a woman and a grandma, 756 00:38:25,923 --> 00:38:29,363 and it drew just worldwide, 757 00:38:29,403 --> 00:38:32,003 nationwide attention. 758 00:38:32,043 --> 00:38:36,283 A lot of the bigger city urban folks were of course 759 00:38:36,323 --> 00:38:38,003 so absolutely convinced 760 00:38:38,043 --> 00:38:40,363 that her death sentence would be commuted. 761 00:38:41,763 --> 00:38:46,683 By 1984, barfield's legal team were running out of road. 762 00:38:46,723 --> 00:38:49,203 As another proposed date loomed, 763 00:38:49,243 --> 00:38:51,403 the 51-year-old gave an interview 764 00:38:51,443 --> 00:38:54,563 from central prison in Raleigh, north Carolina, 765 00:38:54,603 --> 00:38:58,563 where she had been moved to in preparation for her execution. 766 00:39:00,603 --> 00:39:04,523 I'm sorry for the hurt that I've caused... 767 00:39:04,563 --> 00:39:05,643 So many people. 768 00:39:08,723 --> 00:39:13,003 Today, if it were possible, 769 00:39:13,043 --> 00:39:16,603 I wish that I could take every bit of hurt on myself. 770 00:39:18,443 --> 00:39:22,123 It is enough to send a shiver down your spine 771 00:39:22,163 --> 00:39:26,563 because she presents as though she's everybody's favourite granny. 772 00:39:26,603 --> 00:39:28,803 "Oh, I may... may have done dreadful things, 773 00:39:28,843 --> 00:39:31,603 "but I've seen the errors of my ways." 774 00:39:31,643 --> 00:39:33,763 I think velma told me once or twice, 775 00:39:33,803 --> 00:39:37,283 "I don't want to die, but I understand. 776 00:39:37,323 --> 00:39:38,403 "I am guilty." 777 00:39:39,523 --> 00:39:43,803 By late 1984, barfield was out of options. 778 00:39:43,843 --> 00:39:47,563 Her execution date was set for November 2, 779 00:39:47,603 --> 00:39:51,003 and journalist Dennis Patterson was in attendance. 780 00:39:52,043 --> 00:39:55,483 It is, I can tell you a very daunting feeling 781 00:39:55,523 --> 00:39:57,203 to walk into a room 782 00:39:57,243 --> 00:39:59,323 knowing full well that when you walk out 783 00:39:59,363 --> 00:40:01,403 somebody's going to be dead. 784 00:40:01,443 --> 00:40:03,403 You have to have a certain mindset 785 00:40:03,443 --> 00:40:08,563 and a professional view of things in order to be able to do that. 786 00:40:08,603 --> 00:40:13,323 It's not your everyday type of assignment for any reporter. 787 00:40:13,363 --> 00:40:14,563 Behind the scenes, 788 00:40:14,603 --> 00:40:19,803 warden jennie Lancaster tended to barfield's last requests. 789 00:40:19,843 --> 00:40:23,563 Dignity's important for both male and female inmates 790 00:40:23,603 --> 00:40:25,843 and dignity for her meant, 791 00:40:25,883 --> 00:40:29,043 and I had to get permission from the very top, 792 00:40:29,083 --> 00:40:30,683 some people laugh, 793 00:40:30,723 --> 00:40:33,563 but she wore her pink pyjamas and she wore a bra. 794 00:40:34,643 --> 00:40:37,403 She had a choice then in north Carolina 795 00:40:37,443 --> 00:40:41,723 of either cyanide gas or lethal injection, 796 00:40:41,763 --> 00:40:44,283 and she chose lethal injection. 797 00:40:44,323 --> 00:40:48,683 And so, when we're standing at the back of the witness room, 798 00:40:48,723 --> 00:40:52,323 and all of a sudden the curtains just pull open 799 00:40:52,363 --> 00:40:56,083 and she is there on a gurney with a sheet over her. 800 00:40:57,963 --> 00:40:59,723 Just after 2am, 801 00:40:59,763 --> 00:41:03,563 velma barfield became the first woman in us history 802 00:41:03,603 --> 00:41:06,323 to be executed via lethal injection. 803 00:41:07,563 --> 00:41:13,123 Our rule is there has to be five straight minutes uninterrupted 804 00:41:13,163 --> 00:41:15,123 have no heartbeat. 805 00:41:15,163 --> 00:41:16,163 Five. 806 00:41:16,203 --> 00:41:19,803 If it's four minutes and 55 seconds, 807 00:41:19,843 --> 00:41:22,043 you have to start the count again. 808 00:41:22,083 --> 00:41:24,643 There has to be no action of the heart 809 00:41:24,683 --> 00:41:26,763 for five straight minutes. 810 00:41:26,803 --> 00:41:31,723 There was no reaction or anything that you could tell. 811 00:41:31,763 --> 00:41:35,083 Just her breathing got slower and slower, 812 00:41:35,123 --> 00:41:39,163 and the sheets going up and down and then it just stopped. 813 00:41:39,203 --> 00:41:41,523 And the colour, what colour there was, 814 00:41:41,563 --> 00:41:46,643 drained slowly away from a pinkish to a grey. 815 00:41:46,683 --> 00:41:51,723 Once it's a flat line, then the medical professional says, 816 00:41:51,763 --> 00:41:53,443 "this is a flat line." 817 00:41:53,483 --> 00:41:56,483 The warden goes around to the witness room. 818 00:41:56,523 --> 00:42:00,123 They pull the curtain where the inmate is. 819 00:42:00,163 --> 00:42:04,043 The warden goes around and says, "the execution is over. 820 00:42:04,083 --> 00:42:06,963 "Ms barfield died at 2:15am." 821 00:42:11,483 --> 00:42:14,323 I can't say I would shed a single tear 822 00:42:14,363 --> 00:42:15,883 for velma barfield. 823 00:42:15,923 --> 00:42:18,883 I've always been reticent about the death penalty, 824 00:42:18,923 --> 00:42:22,203 but there is something about the sheer wickedness 825 00:42:22,243 --> 00:42:24,123 of these killings 826 00:42:24,163 --> 00:42:27,323 that literally leaves me speechless. 827 00:42:27,363 --> 00:42:29,043 A person died 828 00:42:29,083 --> 00:42:32,803 because of her actions and died horribly. 829 00:42:32,843 --> 00:42:36,163 And she paid the penalty for that. 830 00:42:36,203 --> 00:42:38,923 And that to me sounds like justice. 831 00:42:39,963 --> 00:42:44,003 Velma barfield, the so called 'death row granny', 832 00:42:44,043 --> 00:42:45,723 had been executed. 833 00:42:45,763 --> 00:42:48,123 She was 52 years old. 834 00:42:48,163 --> 00:42:52,283 The killer had paid the ultimate price for her crimes. 835 00:42:53,723 --> 00:42:57,963 What makes velma's crimes all the more chilling is that 836 00:42:58,003 --> 00:43:01,843 she pretended to be a carer when actually she was a killer. 837 00:43:01,883 --> 00:43:04,283 They weren't people she was looking after, 838 00:43:04,323 --> 00:43:06,203 they were her victims. 839 00:43:06,243 --> 00:43:08,483 So, here is an individual with no compassion, 840 00:43:08,523 --> 00:43:09,563 with no remorse. 841 00:43:10,723 --> 00:43:13,883 And had she not been caught, more people would have died. 842 00:43:15,723 --> 00:43:20,403 Barfield may have played the role of a godly grandmother behind bars, 843 00:43:20,443 --> 00:43:25,083 but she killed at least five people including her own flesh and blood 844 00:43:25,123 --> 00:43:27,683 to get what she wanted. 845 00:43:27,723 --> 00:43:30,843 She was a drug addict who could have asked for help, 846 00:43:30,883 --> 00:43:34,403 but instead she decided to cover up her own sins 847 00:43:34,443 --> 00:43:37,363 by eliminating the people around her, 848 00:43:37,403 --> 00:43:40,483 which confirms velma barfield's status 849 00:43:40,523 --> 00:43:43,883 as one of the world's most evil killers. 850 00:43:43,923 --> 00:43:46,923 Captioned by ai-media ai-media. 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