Texas woman Sarah Hartsfield previously said she killed her former fiancé in self-defense in 2018, though prosecutors have reopened the investigation into the killing after she was convicted of murdering her fifth husband in 2023.
Sarah, 50, was found guilty of the murder of her most recent husband, Joseph Hartsfield, during an October 8 court hearing. According to NBC News, Joseph died from a fatal dose of insulin.
“What a wild coincidence that no person can leave her without consequences,” Chambers County Assistant Prosecutor Mallory Vargas said in her closing arguments, according to the outlet.
However, Sarah’s attorney, Case Darwin, argued that Joseph likely caused his own death, per NBC News. Darwin went on to claim that Joseph — who was diabetic — was taking medicine at the time that made him more sensitive to insulin.
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Sarah was ultimately found guilty and sentenced to life in prison for Joseph’s death, according to Click2Houston.
After Vargas told the jury that Sarah had a habit of “deceptions, clever little half-truths and performance,” she said in her closing arguments that “Joe Hartsfield was drawn to the defendant and got caught in her web.”
According to NBC News, Sarah and Joseph met online and were married for less than a year when he said they started having trouble in their relationship. During the trial, his sister, Jeannie Hartsfield, testified Joseph said he was afraid Sarah would kill him in his sleep.
His fears eventually came true on January 7, 2023, when Sarah called 911 to report her husband was unresponsive, per 6KFDM.
According to a nurse who treated Joseph, his blood sugar levels kept steeply dropping despite the fact that he was given glucose to raise them. NBC News also reported that his autopsy revealed he had been given too much insulin which can cause blood sugar levels to drop.
Prosecutors argued that Sarah was guilty of murdering Joseph based on data from her phone, and a detective testified she was using it “almost every hour” before she called 911 even though she claimed to have been sleeping.
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Additionally, Sarah deleted messages and a video that showed Joseph gasping for air that she recorded and sent to her daughter less than two hours before she called 911.
Click2Houston reported that Vargas brought up information about Sarah’s past marriages and relationships during the trial, which presented a “pattern” of suspicious behavior.
While a Minnesota jury previously found that she fatally shot her former fiancé in self-defense in 2018, prosecutors have now reopened the case following Joseph’s death, according to People.
