Customer Reviews

Death Sentence: The True Story of Velma Barfield's Life, Crimes, and Punishment

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This engrossing account of Margie Velma Barfield is unusual in the areas it highlights -- the emotional horror that the family and friends of the murderer and her victims experience; the chilling process of deliberately taking a human life via an artifically contrived legal system; the questionable truth of the condemned's redemption. Not many true-crime books focus on these aspects of a capital case and Bledsoe does a fantastic job of presenting a very nuanced account of the Barfield case.

Barfield's guilt was established without a shadow of a doubt very early in the investigation of the death of her lover, Stuart Taylor. Since there's obviously no drama inherent in an open and shut case of this nature, most true crime accounts would immediately shift focus to the question of what drove the murderer to commit his or her crimes.

Bledsoe spares us the usual arm-chair psychology. Instead, he carefully explains the tortuous appeals process and the politics underlying the literally life-and-death decisions that lie at the end of that process. I am a proponent of the death penalty, but I am also firmly convinced that the state owes those people accused of a capital crime an adequate defense. Otherwise, the death penalty becomes an arbitrary punishment imposed on defendants who lack the financial resources to pay for competent legal representation.

Margie Velma Barfield was unquestionably guilty of the crime which led to her execution at Central Prison in Raleigh. She is also unquestionably guilty of destroying the lives of everyone around her. And I believe she was unquestionably sane enough to know that what she was doing was wrong.

What remains in question, however, is whether the State of North Carolina, in its zeal to punish her, adequately guarded her constitutional rights. Bledsoe does an outstanding job of raising precisely this issue and has the good grace to let us decide for ourselves.

Jerry Bledsoe is probably one of the best true crime writers in the United States. His work is always well-crafted. This book, while lacking some of the powerful narrative of his other work, is an important read for those of us who want to make sure the death penalty does not degenerate into state-sponsored vengeance disguised as justice.

As an avid true crime reader for many, many years, Bledsoe's compelling story of Velma Barfield's crimes, trial and the wrenching days and hours before execution, was one of the best I've ever read. Never has a true crime story had me in tears. As an proponent of the death penalty, I was very moved by Bledsoe's moving account of the countdown to execution. It is written so vividly, one feels they are there, experiencing the various emotions displayed by Velma's family, prison staff, friends, etc. This is a must for true crime readers!

In 1984, Velma Barfield was the first woman executed by a state in the United States in over two decades. What led Velma into using arsenic to kill four people over a decade? Jerry Bledsoe explores Velma's background, the impact of her conviction on her children, and insight into the key characters that were involved in her trial such as her attorneys and the prosecuting attorney. The second part of this true life story is Velma's finding God as she awaits her execution.

This true life crime story is an incredible accomplishment by Jerry Bledsoe because the author provides a wider examination than normally found with these type of books. Mr. Bledsoe goes beyond just Velma by delving into the motivations of her attorneys and the prosecutor, and the impact on Velma's family. By doing this, the talented writer makes the book seem more complete than most legal thrillers and leaves readers pondering the merits of the death penalty in a way rarely seen on the printed page. This reviewer will go second hand booking in order to read Mr. Bledsoe's previous true crime stories (BITTER BLOOD, BLOOD GAMES, and BEFORE HE WAKES) as well as his fictional work (THE ANGEL DOLLS) because if they are half as good DEATH SENTENCE, they are masterpieces.

This book was great from start to finish. I have read almost every true crime book out but this is the only one that ever made me cry. The story of Velma Barfield's children nad the pain imposed upon them is heartwrentching. The story of her life is interesting and haunting. I have many mixed feelings about capital punishment now that I have read what it does to those left behind. This book will keep you up long into the night. I can not wait until Jerry Bledsoe's next work!

Jerry Bledsoe is a great author and his other books are knockouts but I have struggled through this twice and it is all still lost on me. If anyone deserves the death penalty, would it not be a serial killer who poisoned their own mother and admitted to all of it? Why is Velma Barfield held in a higher esteem because of her sex and age? I have no sympathy for her rampant prescription abuse, how she forged checks to pay for it all, and how she lastly poisoned with arsenic those she stole from to cover it all up. This book is interesting for a bit but really he would have been better off writing about someone else. The book is just kind of boring and the "World's Deadliest Prosecutor" is made out to be a bigger criminal than the filth he tries to jail. I just didn't care for the tone and the way the good guys are made out to be bloody head hunters for just doing their job.

Jerry Bledsoe, one of my favorite true crime writers, wrote "Death Sentence", a book about Velma Barfield, who solved her pricey prescription medicine addiction by eliminating various people in her life. Underneath her seemingly caring and motherly ways lurked an evil woman who thought she could get away with murder. She tried it once, she tried it twice, and before you know it, a pattern emerged.

I enjoyed the book. It could also be called "Everything you've always wanted to know about Velma Barfield". It was a comprehensive and thorough read and I would recommend it. I hope her son and daughter are doing well. Velma caused a lot of upheaval in their lives.

The author accomplished the task of knitting together the life, crimes and death of an undistinguished (except for the timing of her execution) woman murderer. The facts are well-known and the outcome is history, but the author's talent in researching and telling the story make current crime and thriller fiction seem like comic books. Velma Barfield, as she wound her way through the judicial system toward her rendezvous with the execution chamber, developed contacts and friendships with many people - most of them either in religious, corrections, or legal endeavors. Some were well-known. It seems as if she had an affect on most of them. Bledsoe describes how this comes about and hints at the lasting impact. While this book leaves the impression of being against capital punishment, nowhere is there even a hint of exhortation on the subject. The compelling account of the last days and hours of Barfield's life and the impact on her children and attorneys says it all. Highly recommended.

Bledsoe is a true crime master who exemplifies the best of the genre. Original research, fluid storytelling and an eye for the telling detail. You can't do much better than this in the genre. But make no mistake, this is a sad, depressing story that you may wish you hadn't read. Whether you support the death penalty or not, it's hard to argue that death sentences weren't meant for multiple, intentional murderers like Velma Barfield. Barfield was clearly a drug addict with all the most unpleasant behaviors associated with addiction. When she was in a controlled, low-stress environment Barfield not only functioned, she flourished. When she was stressed or, less generously perhaps, not getting her way, look out. Velma had a nasty streak and didn't mind taking it out on 2 husbands, a fiancee, two elderly patients and her own mother. Not to mention an attempt on her daughter and son-in-law. The list of her crimes - murder, arson, DUI, theft, insurance fraud, forgery and others - is shocking.

It's also hard to reconcile with the image of the "death row grandmother", the born-again Christian who helped other prisoners. Except, of course, that prison is another controlled and (in Velma's case) a low-stress environment. One that kept the spotlight locked on Velma, a spotlight she loved. I felt compassion for Velma and her deprived childhood and troubled marriage but I'm still not convinced I buy her stories of being sexually abused by multiple relatives. Velma always seemed to deliver to the listener what they wanted to hear. Was this just another case of that? I honestly don't know. I do know that Velma was guilty of at least 6 murders and had she not gone to jail would have committed more.

Among the victims are Velma's children who showed a superhuman love and forgiveness for their mother. She lied to them, manipulated them, in one case poisoned them, used them, etc and they still loved her. I find it intriguing that Velma's spiraling out of control began not just with her husband joining the Jaycees and her hysterectomy but with her children entering their late teens. They were less dependent on her, less under her control. Sadly, Velma continued to manipulate them to the very end never fully taking responsibility for her crimes and thus leaving them feeling guilty that they "should have stopped her." Broken marriages, broken lives, they are Velma Barfield's last victims and Bledsoe tells their story with a compassion their mother was sadly incapable of.

This is a great book. I've been in favor of the death penalty for a long time but for the first time I've been given a reason to give my opinion some second thought. What a heartwrenching story. The tears were flowing as I read the last 50 pages.......

I really liked reading this book. It kept my interest throughout the whole story. I read it in just a few days, it told a very interesting story. I truly believe that Velma's problems were because of her life and what had happened to her. I thought seeing how it affected her family and portrayed them as victims was riveting. I really felt for her son and daughter and of course her victims families. After reading it I did not think of Velma as monster which most cold-blooded killers are but as a victim of life. Read it you won't be sorry!