Sarah Hartsfield accused of killing 5th husband with insulin

A Texas woman is accused of knocking her fifth husband by poisoning him with insulin – nearly five years after she fatally shot her then ex-fiancé, allegedly in self-defense.

Sarah Hartsfield, a 48-year-old former US Army sergeant, is accused of murdering her diabetic husband, Joseph Hartsfield, by shooting him up with high levels of insulin and then failing to call 911 until it was too late, according to multiple reports.

The 46-year-old’s insulin levels were extremely high about four to six hours before his wife dialed for help in the January incident, officials told ABC13 in Houston, adding that his glucose monitor had sounded an alarm long before she attempted to seek aid.

And while Hartsfield is locked up in Chambers County Jail, investigators in Minnesota have re-opened a probe into the death of her ex-fiancé David Bragg, who she shot and killed in 2018. 

It’s unclear what new evidence Minnesota investigators received to reopen the case, but even that incident wasn’t her first brush with the law.

Hartsfield – then going as Sarah Dohonue – was arrested in March 1996 for allegedly assaulting her second husband, Michael Traxler, at their Rio Bonito home.

She remained in jail for a week but the charges were ultimately dropped.

“I am glad she has finally been caught for who she is,” Hartsfield’s first husband, Titus Knoernschild, told ABC13 in February. “I’m just sorry another person had to die to get her caught.”

“I knew she’d end up in jail someday,” added Knoernschild. “So she cheated things. She would steal money from people. So I knew she would end up getting caught eventually. That was always my hope. But unfortunately, she’s turned to [allegedly] murder. And that’s what she’s facing now.”

Ryan Donohue, Hartsfield’s son from her third marriage, told NBC he knew his mother’s poor judgment would lead to her downfall.

“It’s unreal seeing my mom in that jumpsuit now,’ Donohue said. “I’ve waited for it my whole life.”

ABC13 obtained some notes written recently by Hartsfield from her jail cell.

On one note, she told the judge that she had fired her attorney and asked for a replacement.

The second note asked to get her bond reduced, alleging she’s illegally confined because she can’t afford to make her $4.5 million bond.