Montgomery Edwards, age 94, and his wife Dollie, age 84, both died in Lumberton, North Carolina in early 1977 while in the care of live-in caregiver Velma Barfield. Montgomery fell ill and died on January 29, 1977; Dollie developed similar symptoms and died on March 1, 1977. At the time, both deaths were attributed to natural causes and no foul play was suspected.

Later investigations into Barfield revealed a pattern of poisoning victims in her care with arsenic-based compounds. She was ultimately implicated in multiple deaths, including Dollie Edwards, and confessed to several murders. Barfield was tried and convicted for the murder of Stuart Taylor and sentenced to death; she was executed by lethal injection on November 2, 1984.

Did anyone who knew the Edwards family or worked in Lumberton in 1976–77 notice anything unusual about the couple’s illnesses or Barfield’s behavior?