- Hi guys, how are you today? My name is Bailey Sarian
and today's Monday which means it's murder,
mystery and makeup Monday. (Bailey singing) Hi guys. Happy November. We made it. I changed up my background, but I don't know it feels
like it'll probably change to be quite honest with you I'm not a hundred percent sold on it yet. It is what it is right now. So new background, new piercing, new me, same shit though. If you are new here,
every Monday I sit down I talk about a true crime story that's been heavy on my noggin (clicks) and I do my makeup at the same time. I do my makeup just to keep me busy. It's not really even about the makeup but. (mumbling indistinctly) If you're ever curious as
to what product I'm using I do list the products down
below in the description box. So I would highly suggest you check it out 'cause it's listed. (chuckles) If you're interested in true
crime and you like makeup I would highly suggest you
hit that subscribe button. I upload every Monday. I also upload on Saturdays as well if you are curious about I don't know me as a person
or like makeup, I don't know. Who did we talk about last week? Oh, last week we talked
about (snaps finger) Joe. And Joe turned his victims'
meat into hamburgers or like sandwiches and stuff. This week we're going to talk
about Margie Velma Bellard. Margie. It's a name you don't
really hear that often. Right? Margie Velma Bellard. She was born October 29th, 1932. Oh so her birthday just passed. Happy birthday. (giggles) But yeah she was born, step
one, in South Carolina. And she was born to a poor family. They didn't really have much money. Her father, his name was Murphy and he was a continental tobacco farmer and apparently he was not a good person. He was physically abusive towards her, and also she had other siblings as well. I believe she had eight other siblings and their father was
just abusive and mean. Now, their mother, her name is Lillian. She never like intervened when he was being
abusive towards the kids. She really just kept her mouth shut and just watched it happen. Was Lillian being abused? Maybe, probably. But that's not a fact,
it's just an opinion. I'm really not sure. But I would probably say yes. So maybe she didn't step in
because she was too afraid. So Margie Velma Bellard. That's her legal name, but
she mainly went by Velma. So we're gonna call her Velma. Okay? Following? Cool. Okay. So growing up, Velma, wasn't
aware that her family was poor until she started attending school. She would constantly compare
herself to classmates, her clothes, her shoes,
her bookbag, lunch, I mean, she became aware that her situation wasn't
quote unquote normal. To wear the same thing every
day and to have dirty clothes and to have clothes with holes in them. But of course, because kids are mean, little assholes, they quickly reminded her
every day that she was poor and they would just make fun of her. Since her family wouldn't
buy her new clothes and stuff Velma decided to just steal money so then she can like afford to
get new clothes or something. She would check her father's. (indistinct) You know, his pants and stuff
to find any like loose change maybe just some money in there and then she would take it. Eventually, it got so bad that she actually ended up
stealing $80 from a neighbor. The neighbor saw her
do it, confronted her, and then told her father about it. Now of course stealing's bad and you should definitely
get in trouble for it but her father just beat
the crap out of her instead. And after that, she
never stole money again. Now in high school, Velma
started dating a young man and his name was Thomas
and they were, you know, high school sweethearts. And at the age of 17, they decided to drop out
of school and get married. Great idea. Yeah, this was in the fifties so it wasn't like, was it uncommon then? I don't know. I wasn't there. So the couple got
married and then in 1951, they had their first son
who was named Ronald Burke. Then three years later
in September of 1954 they had a daughter and her name was Kim. So Velma was actually
present in her kids' life. She was always attending
any type of school function, she participated in
different school events and just was, seemed to try to do like the opposite of what her
father and mother did to her. Velma ended up working at a
textile manufacturing business and then in 1964, she had
to have a hysterectomy due to like related complications. And she didn't really wanna do
it but like she had to do it so she got the surgery. And once she got the surgery like it caused severe back pain for her and also it led to bouts
of depression as well. Because she was having pain,
like the back pain and whatnot she was prescribed painkillers. And like so many people to this day, it led to her abusing the medication. A year after her surgery,
her husband Thomas ended up getting into a
really bad car accident. And I guess it left him
with a pretty bad concussion which then led him to struggle
with like severe migraines which if you have migraines, (sighs) that shit sucks. Now, Thomas, he was fine technically but like he was left with
these really bad migraines so in order to like cope with them, he turned to alcohol and also medication, and, you know, alcohol,
medication mixed together is not a good combo,
but that's what he did. What seemed to be like
their happy marriage it ended up just completely falling apart. They began to fight a lot
and Thomas just drank heavily but also Velma was still
like abusing her medication so it's just a hot mess. So then in April, 1969 the two get into a pretty heated argument. Not sure what the argument was about or it doesn't really matter, I guess but this was like the
last straw for Velma. She was like, "You know
what, F this I'm out." So she took her kids, her two
kids and she packed a bag, and then she left the home. So Thomas did what he always did. And he picked up the bottle and decided to solve the
argument by getting drunk. And Thomas would normally
drink until he passed out. So Velma's plan was to go back to like her her mom and dad's
house and go live with them. And so she left the house
and that's where she went. That night while Thomas was
passed out on the floor, the house randomly caught fire. It's unclear exactly what caused the fire but it caught fire. And sadly Thomas ended up passing away because he was drunk and he
was passed out on the floor. Smoke inhalation happened
and he ended up dying. The fire happened, like
she got word of it. Yes, she was really sad, but the fire only happened like in the room that Thomas was in. So either maybe he like
knocked something over or he left something on
and it sparked a fire. So when they put out the fire like the house was still good, just the room where he
died had some damage to it. Velma decided that she
would just keep the house and then move back in with the kids. Since she really didn't
wanna live with her parents. So a few months after the fire
and the death of her husband her and the children are
just living in the home. Right? And the worst happens. Her house catches fire again, again. But this time, Velma made
sure to get the house insured. This time like it couldn't be saved. Nothing could be saved. So they were unable to
continue living in the home. And then they decided once
again that her and the children, they would move in with Velma's mother while they waited for
the insurance payout. Not even after a year
of her husband's death, Velma started dating somebody new which, you know, that's fine. I don't know why we put
so much emphasis sometimes on people moving on quickly. Because I mean, (mumbling) whatever. So she was dating this guy his name was Jenning Barfield. Jenning Barfield, sounds very studious. But she is dating him, they met at like a church, church group, started dating whatever. Then after some time, she ends up now marrying Jenning Barfield and she moves in with him. Jenning, he was 16 years older than Velma. He was a diabetic, he had emphysema and he had also heart disease. Now at this time, Velma was
still abusing the medication. She was still taking pills. This actually became a big
problem in the new relationship because she was an addict
and she needed help. They start bickering,
they were always fighting, the two were actually in
talks to get a divorce. So things are just not working
out too well for Velma. Before the two of them could
go through with their divorce Jenning, her new husband,
died of heart complications in 1971. At this point, Velma decided
to stay with the children inside of the home that
she shared with Jenning instead of moving back out. So at 39, Velma was now
or had been widowed twice, and she had just sent her son Ronald off to join the military. Not long after, Velma got news that her father was diagnosed with lung cancer. And then for the third
time, I'm not kidding you Velma's home that she
once shared with Jenning caught on fire. Yep. The house was unlivable so she went to live with
her parents once again and not even a week after
she moved in her father died. It seems like Velma over
here has some very bad luck. I mean, what the hell? Right? I don't even know how
she's still going on. I would have a full
blown mental breakdown. So even like her family and
stuff is just watching from afar and they're like, Velma
is just going through it. And I'm laughing because I'm not sure. So we move forward. Velma is living with her mom, remember? Lillian, her mom, and Velma
did not get along at all. Lillian did not like that Velma was addicted to pills pretty much, and she didn't like who Velma had become. They argued almost daily
about Velma's addiction. It was just constant
bickering between the two. So then the summer of
1974 Lillian, Velma's mom was hospitalized with severe
stomach pains and illness. Doctors could not figure out what was the cause of her illness, but it was ongoing testing that would hopefully help and like find a diagnosis pretty much. So at this time it was again, 1974, Velma started dating
and seeing somebody new. So they started dating,
they really liked each other and Velma made plans to move in with him. But sadly, (laughs) a few months of dating and this poor man, he dies in a fatal car accident. I'm laughing because what did she do? Velma? Like what the heck, what is going on? You know, it's just like a
series of unfortunate events. I mean, it just seems
like if you date Velma you're probably gonna die. So then Velma's mom, remember she was sick in the hospital whatnot, she was released and she
seemed to be doing better, but then in December of 1974, Lillian, her illness
seemed to just kind of take a turn for the worse and she ended up getting really sick. Same thing. She had like stomach
pains, she had nausea, was just not feeling well. So they go to the hospital and two hours upon
arriving at the hospital, Lillian, she ends up dying. Doctors were unable to diagnose what caused Lillian's illness and no autopsy was performed at that time. So after Lillian had passed
away, Velma shortly after, is arrested for writing several bad checks which were written in
Jenning Barfield's name which was her second husband. When police came to arrest her she had a full blown mental breakdown, and honestly, if I were her I would have had one long time ago. Police still arrest her and at that time they
would not take her to jail until she was taken to a mental hospital to receive treatment, and then
once they deemed her as okay then they would take her to jail. So she stayed there for a few weeks and then was taken to jail and she received six month jail sentence, but she ended up being
released after four months due to good behavior. So then in 1976, Velma secured
a job as a home health nurse for an elderly couple. Ninety-four-year-old Montgomery Edwards and his 84-year-old wife, Dolly, and her duties were pretty
much to take care of them, help them out. And then about a year
later in January of 1977, Montgomery Edwards died. And only a few weeks later
in late February of 1977, Dolly was also dead. Both of them had seemed
to develop a just a weird, a strange stomach virus. There really wasn't much
to it with Montgomery. You know, he was 94 so it was like, anything could really take him out. So they really didn't like look deeply into what caused their deaths. Velma then was reassigned to care for a second elderly couple, John Henry and his wife Record Lee. Great name. Record? Great name. Record. But that's not the point. Record needed assistance
because she broke her leg. So she's not, she was like
really sick or anything she just simply broke her leg
and needed like extra help. John was just getting older and
he also needed help as well. Velma is watching the
couple and (chuckles) it's not funny, but it's like, how did nobody catch on
to this weird pattern happening in Velma's life? But I guess if you don't ask about, yeah, I don't know. I don't know. Anyways. So on June 4th, 1977, John
Henry Lee went to the hospital with severe stomach pains and his doctors diagnosed it
as just severe stomach virus but not long after going to the doctors, he ended up, you guessed it, dying. Now, it seemed to Velma's friends and even like her relatives that she was just a
very, very unlucky lady. They don't question it,
they just feel bad for her. Velma is the definition of suspish. And nobody seemed to really
catch on, which is just weird. So then Velma started dating another guy and his name was Stewart, Stewart Taylor, and she had met him at a church meeting like one of her previous
boyfriends as well. She also started to move
things into his place in 1977. When she's moving stuff into his place, Stewart is helping her unpack and he comes across a
bunch of like letters that Velma had received
when she was in prison. This, for good reason,
kind of alarmed Stewart and he was questioning Velma, "Like when did you go to jail? I didn't know you went to jail." And it caused an argument
because he felt like Velma was hiding something
like this double life this secret life that
he had no idea about. And they got in a pretty heated argument and Stewart was expressing
to Velma that maybe you know, he was having second thoughts but they still ended up
continuing the relationship. So some time goes on and
then Stewart realized that some of his checks from
his checkbook were missing. He asked Velma like, "Hey,
have you seen my checks? Because they're missing. Like, I haven't done anything with them." And he finds out that Velma had been forging checks in his name and they obviously get
into an argument over it. Okay? Because what the heck is
she buying with this stuff? I don't even know. I couldn't, I don't know what she was buying with this stuff, but she was buying stuff. They get into a heated argument, whatever. So that night they still attend their like their church service together, and while sitting at service together Stewart starts to complain
of stomach pains and nausea. So he like turns to Velma and he's like, "I don't feel too hot." Then that couple just decide to leave. Now when they get home, Stewart his stomach pains
and stuff got worse and worse so then they decide to
head to the hospital. Velma, she calls Stewart's family and lets them know like what's going on. He's not feeling too well,
he's in the hospital. You should come down. They were able to come down,
but then Stewart ends up dying. So, we've got a lot of
deaths happening here. Then police get a call. Bling bling bling hello, it's somebody calling in
attempt to tip them off about Velma. This caller insists
that she's Velma sister and that Velma had killed Stewart Taylor in the same way that she
had killed her mother. Now, I don't know why but not much came from
this little tip off. Luckily, Stewart, his
family got an autopsy report to find out what happened. And guess what was on the autopsy report? What could it be? They find something very suspish. Stewart didn't just die
of like a stomach pain or food poisoning or anything no, no, no, no, no, no, no. They see that he died because
he had arsenic in his system. He had a lethal amount
of arsenic in his body and that was his cause of
death, arsenic poisoning. So now police are taking this tip off call a little bit more seriously and they bring Velma into the station. Velma is saying, "No,
no, you got it all wrong. I didn't do anything." And then Velma's son was there. Remember her son? Okay. So he came back home and
he was staying with Velma and her son came with her down to be questioned
at the police station. So then they're questioning Velma, "Did you have anything to do with this? We got a tip, blah, blah, blah." And Velma is swearing, "No, I didn't have
anything to do with this. It wasn't me. I don't know. It could have been anybody,
maybe his ex wife." And then Velma's son intervenes. And he looks at her and he says, "Mom, did you have
anything to do with this?" And Velma felt like
she couldn't lie to him she needed to come clean
and tell the truth. Velma ends up confessing
to the murder of Taylor and Velma goes on to say that
she didn't wanna kill him. She only wanted to make
him sick, not kill him. So apparently Velma had put arsenic in his drink at some point. And that's what caused him to die. I mean, at least she confessed, right? At least we got that she was pretty easy. She was like, "Fine, I did it." So Velma is then first taken to the psychiatric ward within the prison. She was often threatening
to attempt suicide. And then Velma came to a point where she just accepted the
fact that she was in prison now. So then what do you do
when you're in prison? I'm not sure, but I hear
that you read a lot. And there are only certain books that you are allowed to read. I'm not sure how it works. I've never really looked into it but based off documentaries I've seen there's not much to choose from. Usually it's just like the
Bible and that's about it. So Velma starts reading the Bible and she comes forward and
says that she's found God and she's a new person now. So then on November 23rd, 1978 Velma's trial begins in North Carolina and she is standing trial for first degree murder of Stewart Taylor. But at this time she also admits to poisoning her mother Lillian, the two people she was taking
care of Dolly and John, and when questioned
about her first husband, she stands by the fact that she did not kill her first husband, that it was a tragic accident. She also goes on to say that she had nothing to do
with Jenning Barfield's death. So then on November 30th, 1978 one week after the trial began, Velma was found guilty of murder and was given the death penalty which not many women have been
sentenced the death penalty. So it was like a big deal. She was taken to the correctional center for women in North Carolina
and was placed on death row. So Velma's original execution
date was February 3rd of 1979 but she received a stay of execution. And this went on for years
where you can like fight it, you go to court, it gets put on hold then you again go to Supreme
court, it gets put on hold and they just keep going
back and forth for years. But women in the prison
began to refer to Velma as Mama Margie, because she
was much older than all of them and she was considered a mentor to many of the younger inmates. A mentor to what? I'm not sure. Then on November 1st, 1984 one day before her execution,
Velma writes letters to the families of each of her victims. In these letters, she writes
that she wanted to apologize and she asked for forgiveness and she passed off these letters
to a member of her church to then deliver them for her. Velma's last meal was
a bag of cheese doodles and two bottles of Coke. Fascinating. This is a side note. I don't think I've added
any side notes today. Go me. So, but this is one. I think there's a book out
there by a photographer. I'm not sure. But it's like pictures
of people on death row, their last meals, and it's really fascinating. I don't know why. I mean, obviously they
made a book about it, so I guess other people are
interested in it as well, but it's, I don't know. It just is interesting
to see what people pick. Cheese doodles and a
bottle, two bottles of Coke. Cheese doodles. She must've really liked cheese doodles. So now on November 2nd,
1980, (blowing lips) there's a fly. So then on November 2nd, 1984 Margie Velma Barfield was
executed by lethal injection which is a muscle relaxant intended to stop the
heart and your breathing. They said it was like a
peaceful and calm death. Not fair, but whatever. That's a whole 'nother debate. She was 52 years old at the time and was the first woman to be
executed in the United States since 1962. The letters, they were
attempted to be delivered but the families that Velma
wrote the letters for, they refused to accept the apology. Maybe they, you know,
they forgave her whatever. But at that time they wanted absolutely nothing to do with her. Velma requested to be buried
near her first husband, Thomas Burke. Like this one is a roller coaster. At first, when I was
reading it, I was like, "Oh my God, this lady
just has the worst luck." But I don't think it's luck, baby. I don't know. She didn't confess to
killing a couple of people and I think she's
responsible for all of them. From my understanding based
off of the some articles I read she would mainly put
arsenic in their drinks 'cause it was the easiest, and then it would cause stomach pains and then they would die. So that is a story of
Margie Velma Barfield. She was a crazy lady who, I
don't know what her deal was. She just enjoyed ending somebody's life? I don't know. What is that? Why is she like doing that? Control maybe? Hmm I don't know. What can we learn from this? Well, I think what we can
learn is do background checks. I don't know you guys. I don't have any advice. Anyways, lemme know your
thoughts down below. Lemme know what we can
learn from this really but I would love to hear your thoughts. Thank you so much for
hanging out with me today. I hope you have a
wonderful day ahead of you. Make good choices, be safe out there. Oh, also come by on
Wednesday on my Instagram. at 5:00 o'clock PM Pacific Standard Time so we can chat about this live. I'll be seeing you guys later. Bye.
