Death Sentence

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

By: Jerry Bledsoe

Narrated by: Kevin Stillwell

Everybody knew Velma Barfield as the perfect wife and a loving grandmother. But there was something about her that nobody knew.... Velma Barfield had a secret life and a sick urge to kill.

©1998 Jerry Bledsoe (P)2015 ListenUp Production, LLC

Critic reviews

"Fast-paced...breathes new life into the true crime genre." ( Raleigh News & Observer)

"Bledsoe has written a detailed account of Barfield's troubled life and motives...holds the reader's interest with a true story that reads like a novel." ( Library Journal)

"Undertakes to answer the questions about the justice system and the motives that drive women to kill." ( Washington Post Book World)

Master Manipulator of All Time!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes and no. Yes because I simply cannot believe how Velma Barfield so manipulated everyone whilst incarcerated that the victims became almost by-products! Unbelievable! No because if you are not a religious person, you will feel as rankled as I.

What could Jerry Bledsoe have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

He could have lightened up on the "sainthood" of this murderer.

What does Kevin Stillwell bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The reading was fine.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

If it moved me, it moved me in a direction not intended by the author. It was the near vilification of the victims and their families!

Any additional comments?

By book's end the reader was supposed to be convinced that Velma was a saint. The horrible deaths she inflicted upon those she supposedly loved, all the while being righteous, was...really not important. What seemed important to the author was that she had "gotten religion" ... who on death row does not?To tell the truth I was outraged on behalf of the victims and their families. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. This woman was such a manipulator that she had sold even the defense attorneys on her sainthood. But since there were no drugs to be had, and no one to murder while in prison, what choice did she have? The only viable point is the knot on her head...studies are being done still, to this day, to prove that that area of the brain can cause this type of behavior. But the knot on her head was still there when she was in prison. I think the sickening amount of religious propaganda and the lack of attempting to be in the shoes of the victims and their families...well, I'd have to think 10 times before reading another book by this author. The writing was just fine, but it was not...by any means, without prejudice, in my opinion.What I did get from the book was that this woman was the master manipulator of all time.

Killer story

This is the well-written true story of a southern woman who became a serial killer. While giving the impression that she lived a normal, if financially challenged life, she managed to poison five people. These were people who depended on her to take care of them. Instead she fed rat poison to each causing their death. Her own mother was one of the victims.
Interesting and well narrated .

it was ok

it drugged on, hard getting through the last 5 ir si chapters.

Death penalty

Good story! Unbelievable how her children stood by her through all the years, but they should have allowed her to face her own consequences...had they left her in jail on her 1st check fraud, she would have had to get off drugs. It's called tough love!

She deserved the death penalty after her sentence...without all the expense of delays. I don't believe she should have had her choice of last meal or all the helpful instructions on how she would die...she did not permit those choices to her many many victims.

She was like a spoiled child when she was on drugs, needed a spank not a cover-up. What a sad life...all because of drugs & alcohol! Hard to believe her children would ever consider either after she was gone.

Great narrator

However, “Fayetteville” is pronounced with the accent on the first syllable and not the second.

great book

Velma showed a real Christain on death row. She touched some many in prison bring them to Christ.

Surprisingly Thought Provoking

I thought I was a staunch proponent of the death penalty. Surprised to find myself somewhat questioning the validity of that belief.

Kevin Stillwell is a masterful narrator. Mr. Bledsoe is an easy writer to follow and have read and listened to a number of his books. These two together are a winning combination.

Gripping

Couldn't wait to hear what was going to happen next in this tell all book.

EXCELLENT

An excellent look into the heart and soul of how a killer's actions and resulting punishment affects not just them and their victim, but their family, the victims families, their communities, the lawyers and even their jailors. No one is freed a certain amount of grief when a sweet grandmother decides she needs special individuals out of her way.
I loved this book and will definitely relisten in the future. But quite frankly what this woman put her children through their entire lives makes listening a little difficult at times and I have to stop and take a break.
Truly a great listen.

Another stunning job by Bledsoe/Stillwell.

I became so drawn into these peoples lives that I found myself choked up in the end. I was a fly in the wall in all of their lives.
Thank you both. It takes a STUNNING Author as well as a PHENOMENAL Narrator to really become invested in their lives. There is so much to say but I DO NOT want to ruin the "Fly on the wall" affect for someone else.