North Carolina Serial Killers
ColdCaseIndex documents 4 serial killers whose murders took place in North Carolina, with first known killings from 1927 to 2007. 4 of them were caught; 0 linked case files document their victims. The earliest series is Nannie Doss (1927) and the most recent is Gary Michael Hilton (2007). Profiles are added in order of public interest, so this page is not a complete census of the state.
All 4 profiles
Nannie Doss
The Giggling Granny
Died in prison. Nannie Doss pleaded guilty in 1955 to poisoning her fifth husband, Samuel Doss, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, confessed to killing four husbands, and is linked to as many as 11 family deaths from 1927 to 1954.
Velma Barfield
Margie Velma Barfield
Executed. Velma Barfield was convicted in 1978 of poisoning her boyfriend Stuart Taylor with arsenic in Robeson County, North Carolina, and admitted poisoning three others, including her mother.
Henry Louis Wallace
The Taco Bell Strangler
On death row. Henry Louis Wallace was convicted in 1997 of murdering nine young women in Charlotte, North Carolina, between 1992 and 1994 and received nine death sentences.
Gary Michael Hilton
The National Forest Serial Killer
Imprisoned. Gary Michael Hilton was convicted of killing four people on forest land in 2007 and 2008: Meredith Emerson in Georgia, Cheryl Dunlap in Florida and John and Irene Bryant in North Carolina.
At a glance
| Name | Alias | State | Active | Convicted | Confessed | Suspected | Legal status | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nannie Doss | The Giggling Granny | Alabama, North Carolina, Kansas, Oklahoma | 1927 to 1954 | 1 | 4 | up to 11 | Convicted | Died in prison |
| Velma Barfield | Margie Velma Barfield | North Carolina | 1974 to 1978 | 1 | 4 | 5 to 7 | Convicted | Executed |
| Henry Louis Wallace | The Taco Bell Strangler | North Carolina, South Carolina | 1990 to 1994 | 9 | 11 | 11 | Convicted | Imprisoned |
| Gary Michael Hilton | The National Forest Serial Killer | North Carolina, Florida, Georgia | 2007 to 2008 | 4 | 4 | 4 | Convicted | Imprisoned |