Genene Jones was a nurse who got off on the excitement of creating Code Blue medical emergencies. Genene played life-and-death games by injecting numerous babies with life-threatening drugs, putting them in mortal peril and then putting herself forward as the heroine when the babies pulled through. Unfortunately, many did not. Finally caught and convicted, she was sentenced to 159 years in prison. No one knows for certain how many babies perished at her hands as many of the records were destroyed. It is thought, however, that Genene may have murdered almost fifty infants dating back to the beginning of her nursing career in 1978.
What is particularly terrifying about this case, is the hospital that suspected her of harming the children, gave her a glowing reference to continue her killing spree else where.
Genene Jones is due for release on parole in 2017.
Margie Velma Barfield was born on October 29, 1932. She was a serial killer, convicted of one murder, admitted to four and is suspected of two more. She was the first woman in the United States to be executed after the 1976 resumption of capital punishment and the first since 1962. She was also the first woman to be executed by lethal injection.
Velma Barfield was born in rural South Carolina, but grew up near Fayetteville, North Carolina. Her father reportedly was abusive and she resented her mother who did not stop the beatings. She escaped by marrying Thomas Burke in 1949. The couple had two children and were reportedly happy until Barfield had a hysterectomy and developed back pain. These events led to a behavioral change in Barfield and an eventual drug addiction.
Thomas Burke began to drink and Barfield's complaints turned into bitter arguments. On April 4, 1969, after Burke had passed out, Barfield and the children left the house, returning to find the home burned and Burke dead. Only a few months later, her home burned once again, this time with a reward of insurance money.
In 1970, Barfield married a widower, Jennings Barfield. Less than a year after their marriage, Jennings died on March 22 1971 from heart complications, leaving Velma a widow once again.
In 1974, Barfield's mother, Lillian Bullard, showed symptoms of intense diarrhea, vomiting and nausea, only to fully recover a few days later. During the Christmas season of the same year, Lillian experienced the same illness as earlier that year, resulting in her death only hours after arriving at the hospital on December 30, 1974.
In 1976, Barfield began caring for the elderly, working for Montgomery and Dollie Edwards. Montgomery fell ill and died on January 29, 1977. A little over a month after the death of her husband, Dollie experienced identical symptoms to that of Velma's mother and she too died (March 1, 1977), a death to which Barfield later confessed.
The following year, 1977, Barfield took another caretaking job, this time for 76-year old Record Lee, who had broken her leg. On June 4, 1977, Lee's husband, John Henry, began experiencing racking pains in his stomach and chest along with vomiting and diarrhea. He died soon afterward and Barfield later confessed to his murder.
Another victim was Rowland Stuart Taylor, Barfield's boyfriend and a relative of Dollie Edwards. Fearing he had discovered she had been forging checks on his account, she mixed an arsenic-based rat poison into his beer and tea. He died on February 3, 1978, while she was trying to "nurse" him back to health; an autopsy found arsenic in Taylor's system. After her arrest, the body of Jennings Barfield was exhumed and found to have traces of arsenic, a murder that Barfield denied having committed. Although she subsequently confessed to the murders of Lillian Bullard, Dollie Edwards, and John Henry Lee,she was tried and convicted only for the murder of Taylor.
Prison and execution
During her stay on death row, Barfield became a devout born again Christian.
Her last few years were spent ministering to prisoners, for which she received praise from Billy Graham. was executed on November 2, 1984 at Central Prison in Raleigh, North Carolina. She released a statement before the execution, stating "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 all these six years." Barfield declined a last meal, having instead a bag of Cheez Doodles and a 12-ounce can of Coca-Cola.
Barfield was buried in a small rural North Carolina cemetery, near her first husband, Thomas Burke.
To learn more about Velma Barfield buy my new book.
If you've read the book. Do you want to answer these questions?
1. So was Velma Barfield a cold killer or a loving mother and grandma, whose life spiraled out of control through her addiction to prescription drugs. Drugs that befuddled her brain and confused her thinking and behavior?
2. Did her execution achieve anything?
3. Should she not have been allowed to live the rest of her life in prison where she was contributing by helping others?
4. If we believe taking a life is immoral, should we allow governments to do the same in our name?
Interview with Velma Barfield shortly before her execution.
