Five Women Serial Killer Profiles Read Online Free PDF

complaining that Velma was neglecting things around the house. Velma would retort that Dollie was a demanding nag. In February, Dollie became ill with the identical symptoms as Velma’s mother had: vomiting, diarrhea, and excruciating pains. When Dollie’s stepson, Preston Edwards, stopped by to visit on February 26 th , he was appalled at her condition and telephoned for an ambulance. She was taken to the emergency room, treated, and then sent back home. The following day, she became ill again and on the 29 th of February she was taken back to the hospital and died.
    Velma was once again homeless and out of work. She soon, however, found herself a new caretaking job. This job was also with an elderly couple, John Henry Lee who was eighty , and his seventy-six-year-old wife, Record. John Henry and Record lived in a rural area in a brick house just outside Lumberton, North Carolina known as the halfway point between Florida and New York. This was convenient for Velma as her son Ronnie Burke, now twenty-six-years-old, his wife, and three-year-old son lived in a duplex on the outskirts of Lumberton.
    The Lee’s paid Velma $50 a week , room and board and allowed Velma to have Sunday and Wednesday evenings free to attend church services. Record had recently broken her leg and was the one in need of help from Velma. While looking after Record, Velma began forging Record’s signature on checks. When John discovered that someone had been forging Record’s signature, neither he nor Record could think of who would do such a thing. He wanted to call in the police.
    But then in April of 1977, John became ill. He was suffering from acute stomach pains accompanied by diarrhea and vomiting. Velma nursed him and as his condition worsened she called an ambulance. After a few days in hospital, he began to recover and returned home on May 2 nd . The doctors diagnosed a virus.
    Within days of returning home, John became ill again suffering from the same symptoms. His daughters and Record were immensely grateful for the amount of care Velma was giving to John , but his health continued to deteriorate and, once again, Velma called for an ambulance. John died in the hospital on June 4 th from what the doctors diagnosed as "a severe stomach virus.”
    Velma attended the funeral offering comfort to Record ’s and John’s daughters.

A New Love!
    While working for the Lee’s , Velma had started seeing on a regular basis Rowland Stuart Taylor, the nephew of her previous employer Dollie Edwards. Following John Lee’s death, Velma moved in with Rowland in the autumn of 1977.
    Rowland was a big, healthy , fifty-six-year-old widower and tobacco farmer. He lived in a large, steeple-topped, white farmhouse in St. Pauls and had two grown up children: Billy and Alice. Within a short amount of time Velma, as she had done with her previous employees, began to forge checks on Rowland’s account to pay for her addiction to prescription pills. Velma lived in constant fear that Rowland would find out. When she thought he had become suspicious, shortly before they set out to attend a revival meeting in Fayetteville where the respected evangelist Rex Humbard was giving a talk, she mixed rat poison containing arsenic into his beer.
    During the meeting, Rowland began to feel ill and left the meeting hall clutching his stomach in agony. Velma followed him, helped Rowland into the truck, and drove him home. During the night , Rowland was in too much pain to sleep. The following morning, Velma phoned Rowland’s pregnant daughter, Alice, to tell her of her father’s illness. During the conversation, they both concurred that it was probably just the flu.
    Rowland’s condition worsened throughout the day and finally Velma drove him to Southeastern General Hospital in Lumberton. Here, Rowland’s children Billy and Alice joined them. The doctor on duty diagnosed gastritis , prescribed some medicine, and told Velma she could take Rowland home that night.
    Back home