was considerable support and sympathy for the young widow and her three children. Janie was so appreciative of the support she received from the church members that she bequeathed 10% of the insurance money from Marvin’s death to the church.
Tragedy struck again a year later when Janie’s thirteen -year-old son Marvin, Jr., appeared to have inherited the same liver disease that had afflicted his father. He, too, collapsed suffering from severe cramps shortly after having eaten one of his mother’s home cooked meals and died. Yet again, the church community was a tower of strength for Janie in this family tragedy, and Janie thankful to the church for their support, once again gave 10% of the insurance money to the church congregation.
However , just a few months later, Janie’s sixteen-year-old son Lester became ill, suffering from headaches and dizzy spells. He was discovered dead at home in January of 1967. The doctors at the hospital attributed his death to hepatitis. Once again, the church, in disbelief at the number of tragedies befalling the young widow, rallied around in support. Janie appeared broken hearted and crushed by all that she had endured over the past two years. She told the church congregation that without their support, she could never have coped and once again gave a percentage of the insurance payout to the church.
One piece of happy news for Janie in 1967 was that her son Roger’s young wife was pregnant. In August, the church was delighted to see Janie smiling again as she held her young grandson Raymond in her arms. But before the end of October , both her grandson Raymond and his father Roger, her son, were dead.
The doctors were mystified by the baby’s death. He had been a healthy strong child. An autopsy failed to find anything wrong. In Roger’s case, it seemed as if his kidneys had just stopped functioning. The doctors were suspicious and called the law enforcement agency. Another autopsy was performed on Roger, and arsenic poisoning was detected. The police then disinterred the other dead members of the Gibbs family and similar results were found.
Janie Lou Gibbs was arrested on Christmas Eve of 1967. In court, she admitted poisoning her family with rat poison. Her lawyers pleaded insanity. In February of 1968, she was declared clinically insane and sent to the state mental hospital. In May of 1974, she was declared well enough to stand trial. In May of 1976, Janie was convicted of murdering her family with poison. The judge gave her life for each member of her family. In 1999, Janie, at the age of sixty-six, was released from prison on parole into the custody of her brother on medical grounds. She was suffering from advanced Parkinson's disease. Janie Lou Gibbs died on February 7, 2010, at the age of seventy- eight.
VELMA BARFIELD
GATEWAY TO HEAVEN
Early Life
Velma Barfield (née Bullard) was born on October 29 th , 1932 in rural South Carolina. Velma was the second born of nine children and the eldest daughter born to Presbyterians Murphy and Lillie Bullard. Murphy Bullard was an impoverished, small, tobacco and cotton farmer. The house that Velma was born into was a small, wooden, unpainted house with no running water or electricity. As the Great Depression tightened its grip around the country, Murphy Bullard found it harder and harder to make a living from the farm as crop prices fell by about 60%. He gave up the farm and took a job in a saw-mill. When the saw-mill laid Murphy off, he moved his family into his parents’ home in Fayetteville, North Carolina and found work in a textile mill.
Murphy Bullard, Velma’s father, was an authoritarian. He was the undisputed ruler of his family, and Velma’s mother was the compliant, docile wife. Murphy was a big drinking man, was easily angered, and didn’t hold back from taking the strap to the children if they annoyed him or disobeyed him. Lila, Velma’s mother , never argued or tried to stop Murphy from hitting the
Tragedy struck again a year later when Janie’s thirteen -year-old son Marvin, Jr., appeared to have inherited the same liver disease that had afflicted his father. He, too, collapsed suffering from severe cramps shortly after having eaten one of his mother’s home cooked meals and died. Yet again, the church community was a tower of strength for Janie in this family tragedy, and Janie thankful to the church for their support, once again gave 10% of the insurance money to the church congregation.
However , just a few months later, Janie’s sixteen-year-old son Lester became ill, suffering from headaches and dizzy spells. He was discovered dead at home in January of 1967. The doctors at the hospital attributed his death to hepatitis. Once again, the church, in disbelief at the number of tragedies befalling the young widow, rallied around in support. Janie appeared broken hearted and crushed by all that she had endured over the past two years. She told the church congregation that without their support, she could never have coped and once again gave a percentage of the insurance payout to the church.
One piece of happy news for Janie in 1967 was that her son Roger’s young wife was pregnant. In August, the church was delighted to see Janie smiling again as she held her young grandson Raymond in her arms. But before the end of October , both her grandson Raymond and his father Roger, her son, were dead.
The doctors were mystified by the baby’s death. He had been a healthy strong child. An autopsy failed to find anything wrong. In Roger’s case, it seemed as if his kidneys had just stopped functioning. The doctors were suspicious and called the law enforcement agency. Another autopsy was performed on Roger, and arsenic poisoning was detected. The police then disinterred the other dead members of the Gibbs family and similar results were found.
Janie Lou Gibbs was arrested on Christmas Eve of 1967. In court, she admitted poisoning her family with rat poison. Her lawyers pleaded insanity. In February of 1968, she was declared clinically insane and sent to the state mental hospital. In May of 1974, she was declared well enough to stand trial. In May of 1976, Janie was convicted of murdering her family with poison. The judge gave her life for each member of her family. In 1999, Janie, at the age of sixty-six, was released from prison on parole into the custody of her brother on medical grounds. She was suffering from advanced Parkinson's disease. Janie Lou Gibbs died on February 7, 2010, at the age of seventy- eight.
VELMA BARFIELD
GATEWAY TO HEAVEN
Early Life
Velma Barfield (née Bullard) was born on October 29 th , 1932 in rural South Carolina. Velma was the second born of nine children and the eldest daughter born to Presbyterians Murphy and Lillie Bullard. Murphy Bullard was an impoverished, small, tobacco and cotton farmer. The house that Velma was born into was a small, wooden, unpainted house with no running water or electricity. As the Great Depression tightened its grip around the country, Murphy Bullard found it harder and harder to make a living from the farm as crop prices fell by about 60%. He gave up the farm and took a job in a saw-mill. When the saw-mill laid Murphy off, he moved his family into his parents’ home in Fayetteville, North Carolina and found work in a textile mill.
Murphy Bullard, Velma’s father, was an authoritarian. He was the undisputed ruler of his family, and Velma’s mother was the compliant, docile wife. Murphy was a big drinking man, was easily angered, and didn’t hold back from taking the strap to the children if they annoyed him or disobeyed him. Lila, Velma’s mother , never argued or tried to stop Murphy from hitting the
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