() A Texas woman has been convicted of the murder of her fifth husband, according to multiple reports.
Sarah Hartsfield was accused of killing her most recent husband, Joseph Hartsfield, with a fatal dose of insulin two years ago. Joseph Hartsfield, who was diabetic, was on medication that increased his sensitivity to insulin. This medication helps individuals with diabetes manage their blood sugar levels.
Multiple insulin pens were found on the side of Joseph Hartsfield’s bed, authorities said.
Mallory Vargas, Chambers County assistant district attorney, charged that Sarah Hartsfield believed she’d get away with her husband’s murder.
“What a wild coincidence that no person can leave her without consequences,” Vargas said.
Joseph Hartsfield was taken to a hospital in the Houston area after Sarah dialed 911 on January 7, 2023. He was admitted with dangerously low blood levels. A nurse testified that Hartsfield’s blood sugar kept crashing. The hospital staff provided glucose, but a medical examiner later found that insulin had counteracted it.
Extensive amounts of insulin can cause dangerously low blood levels for diabetics.
Toxic complications from insulin were identified as the cause of Joseph Hartsfield’s death, but the manner of death was deemed undetermined.
Joseph Hartsfield planned on leaving Sarah Hartsfield: Relatives
Weeks before his passing, Joseph’s relatives said he confessed his relationship with Sarah was worsening, and he intended to leave her.
“He told me he was worried she would kill him in his sleep,” Jeannie Hartsfield, Joseph’s sister, stated while testifying.
Skyler Rocz, one of the detectives in the case, said circumstantial evidence proved Sarah Hartsfield’s guilt.
Just hours before his hospitalization, messages from Joseph’s phone to Sarah’s contained personal information, bank account details, and a key for his Apple Legacy Contact.
The information allowed Sarah Hartsfield to access Joseph’s phone data after his death.
Rocz stated that the data from Sarah’s phone contradicted her statement to authorities, and her internet search history had been erased, according to Rocz.
Sarah Hartsfield was investigated for killing fiance in 2018
In 2018, Sarah Hartsfield was investigated for killing her then-fiancé, David Bragg, at the time in Minnesota. Four years earlier, she denied being involved in an alleged murder plot and fire at her brother’s home in Missouri.
Hartsfield was also accused of asking her fourth husband to kill her third husband’s new wife. She also denied involvement in the alleged murder plot and in the 2014 fire at a home that her grandmother had given to her brother.
Hartsfield wasn’t charged with a crime in either case.
