A Texas woman who claimed she killed a former fiancé in self-defense has been convicted of murdering her fifth husband in 2023 — and prosecutors have revived the 2018 case.
Sarah Hartsfield, 50, was found guilty of murder on Wednesday, Oct. 8, in the 2023 death of her most recent husband, Joseph Hartsfield, who died from a deadly insulin injection, according to NBC News.
“What a wild coincidence that no one can abandon her without consequences,” Chambers County Assistant Prosecutor Mallory Vargas said in her final remarks, according to the site.
According to NBC News, Sarah’s attorney, Case Darwin, had contended that Joseph, who was diabetic, most likely killed himself. Darwin claimed that Joseph was on medication at the time that made him more sensitive to insulin.
Sarah, however, was sentenced to life in prison on Thursday for his death, according to Click2Houston.
Vargas told the jurors about Sarah’s “deceptions, clever little half-truths and performance,” adding in her closing remarks that “Joe Hartsfield was drawn to the defendant and got caught in her web.” According to NBC News, the couple had met online and had been married for less than a year when he revealed that they were having marital problems.
According to his sister, Jeannie Hartsfield, he told her he was terrified she would kill him in his sleep.
His fears were realized on January 7, 2023, when Sarah called 911 to report her husband’s unresponsiveness, according to 6KFDM.
According to NBC News, a nurse treating Joseph in the hospital testified that despite the glucose he was given to raise his blood sugar levels, they continued to decrease dramatically. An autopsy after his death found that he had received too much insulin, which can cause blood sugar levels to decrease, according to the medical examiner.
A detective said that evidence pointing to Sarah murdering her husband included data from her phone, which revealed she was using it “almost every hour” before calling 911, despite the fact that she claimed to be asleep.
She also deleted messages and a video of her husband gasping for oxygen, which she had sent to her daughter an hour and a half before calling 911, Vargas said.
During the trial, Vargas used evidence on Sarah’s previous marriages and relationships to demonstrate a “pattern” of suspicious behavior, according to Click2 Houston.
A grand jury in Minnesota earlier determined that she fatally shot her fiancé in self defense. Prosecutors have revived the 2018 case after she was charged with Joseph’s murder.
