Velma Barfield

First woman to be executed by lethal injection, and the first woman to be executed in the USA since 1962. Among the witnesses to the execution were AP reporter Dennis Patterson; Alice Taylor Storms, daughter of Barfield's last victim Stuart Taylor; Barfield's attorney Jimmie Little; and Barfield's son Ronnie Burke.

Velma dropped out high school in her junior year. She eloped with her first husband at the age of 17 and settled down in Paxton. In 1964 her husband was injured in a car crash and lost his job. He began to drink heavily eventually becoming an alcoholic. Velma had him committed to Dorothea Dix Hospital in Raleigh. Meanwhile she worked at a local mill and took prescription tranquilizers for 'peace of mind'.

Her husband 'mysteriously' burned to death in his bed in 1969 while smoking. Her second husband died within 6 months of their marriage. Velma was hospitalized 4 times for drug overdoses. Yet she still remained dutifully religious amd taught Sunday school at the Pentecostal church. Velma began to incur debts and wrote hot checks to cover them.

In 1974 she killed her own mother, Lillie, with insecticide so that she could fake her signature on a $1,000 loan. She poisoned two of her employers and a lover over the next few years. The relatives of her lover did not belive that he could have just died from 'acute gastroenteritis' and so a full autopsy was performed. It was found that he had been poisoned with arsenic which could mimic acute gastroenteritis. Autopsies on her 2nd husband revealed the same. Velma Barfield confessed to her crimes. In court the jury deliberated for an hour and found her guilty of first degree murder.