Sarah Hartsfield murder trial: Opening statements, testimony Tuesday

ANAHUAC, Texas - The jury heard opening statements and testimony Tuesday in the trial of Sarah Jean Hartsfield, who is charged with the murder of her husband in Chambers County.

The jury was selected Monday in the trial that has gained national attention.

How to get updates:

The court is not allowing the trial to be livestreamed. However, FOX 26 is at the trial and will bring you updates throughout the day in this story and on the free FOX LOCAL app.

Opening arguments

THE PROSECUTION

In their opening arguments on Tuesday, the prosecution claimed:

• Sarah hated everything about Joseph, but he wasn’t allowed to leave her.
• Joseph planned to leave Sarah, and on the day his family was helping him leave, they got a call that he was hospitalized and unresponsive.
• Joseph had diabetes, and his blood sugar dropped dangerously low for hours. His monitoring device sent alerts, but he couldn’t call 911.
• Sarah delayed calling 911 for at least an hour at their home.
• Hospital staff raised early red flags.
• Sarah tried to isolate Joseph, hated he didn’t make enough money, and resented everyone in his life – including his family.
• Joseph did not die of natural causes; they claim Sarah intentionally caused his death.

Prosecutors say Sarah and Joseph's marriage lasted only about a year.

The prosecution says evidence present during the trial will include messages from Sarah Hartsfield; testimony from law enforcement, Joseph’s doctors, and family; and that Joseph’s doctor will testify that Joseph feared having low blood sugar episodes.

The prosecution warned the jury that Sarah can come off as smart, engaging, and caring, and the prosecution claims she will "perform" during trial.

THE DEFENSE

In their opening arguments, the defense claimed:

• The medical examiner ruled Joseph’s manner of death as undetermined.
• Joseph suffered from severe diabetes, a heart condition and sleep apnea.
• Joseph neglected to manage his diabetes, and had been hospitalized previously for high blood sugar.
• Before the incident, the couple had a fight, but there were no plans for divorce—they were just preparing to go their separate ways.
• On the day of the incident, Sarah was on pain medication (narcotics) following breast surgery.
• Joseph’s glucose monitor sent alerts, but Sarah believed he was OK.
• She checked on him from time to time, and when she last checked, he was unresponsive.
• The delay in calling 911 was due to shock.
• There were 10 insulin pens near the bed, but it’s unknown whether they were used. Authorities did not collect them for evidence.
• It’s unclear how insulin was administered.
• Sarah denies administering his insulin that day, and while she could have done a better job at responding, she can’t be criminally liable for failing to act.

Witness testimony: Joseph's mother

Background:

Following opening arguments, Joseph's mother, Helen Hartsfield, testified that:

• Joseph was described as: The "life of the party", and never met a stranger. Worried about diabetes due to his father's struggles with it. He managed his condition on his own.
• Sarah and Joseph: Met online, moved in within weeks. Sarah met Joseph’s family at Thanksgiving. Helen initially thought Sarah was nice, but thought they were moving in  together quickly.

Red flags:

Helen testified that she had some concerns and things she saw as red flags including:

• Sarah didn’t have custody of her own kids.
• Just a week after getting married, Sarah called Helen crying, saying she couldn’t do it and was sorry. She had found Joseph’s dip and was upset.
• Helen noted patterns: After arguments, Sarah would leave the house. Helen tried to encourage them to work through things.
• Sarah would lock Joseph out of the house when angry.
• She complained about his ex-wife, and sometimes didn’t want to be around his kids.
• She was controlling, put him on a budget, and complained about his income. They had money issues. It became more difficult to get ahold of Joseph.
• Helen said he would express fears and was under stress.
• Joseph told her he was scared to die in his sleep.

Before the incident:

Helen testified that:

• After a fight, Sarah kicked Joseph out of the house; he stayed with Helen.
• Joseph said he was planning to leave Sarah and had opened a separate bank account.
• He returned to their house only because he had to go to work.
• In court, prosecution played a voicemail from Joseph to Helen after he left Helen’s house saying he’s okay after he got home. In the voicemail, Joseph said, "I went home preparing to be shot but it didn’t happen."
• Helen was worried for Joseph’s physical safety.
• Joseph confided that Sarah would get "mad and mean".
• Sarah had previously told Helen she had shot and killed a man in self-defense, and this deepened Helen’s fears something could happen to Joseph.
• Helen received text messages from Sarah’s phone asking Helen to tell Joseph to work things out, get back together, and make things right in the marriage. Later, Sarah told Helen to stop contacting both her and Joseph.

Hospitalization & aftermath:

Helen testified that:

• Sarah notified another family member that Joseph was hospitalized.
• Helen said she figured something was going to happen, though she was surprised by the timing.
• Helen said Sarah wanted to speak with the doctors alone at the hospital, excluding Joseph’s family.
• Sarah seemed upset at the hospital and prevented Joseph’s family from seeing him.
• Helen got emotional on the stand saying she told Sarah that Joseph was going to leave her and Sarah acted stunned, claiming they had a good marriage.
• After Joseph died, Helen said Sarah kept Joseph's family from going to his funeral.

CROSS-EXAMINATION

Helen was cross-examined by the defense.

The defense questioned Helen about Joseph’s medical history. She said Joseph had diabetes for more than 20 years. She’s aware he was hospitalized a few times due to his condition.

Joseph had sleep apnea, and she said he was scared to die in his sleep because it causes him to stop breathing.

Witness testimony: Jean Hartsfield, Joseph's sister

Relationship with Joseph:

• Jean was very close to her brother Joseph and deeply cared about him.
• She wanted him to be happy and was initially supportive of his relationship with Sarah.
• At first, she thought Sarah was great, agreed she was an "answered prayer" and describing her as sweet.

Growing Concerns & Red Flags:

• Over time, Jean became concerned for Joseph’s physical safety.
• Jean recalled an incident where:The FBI showed up at Sarah's house after an alleged report that Sarah had put a hit out on her husband.Sarah was upset about the visit.
• The FBI showed up at Sarah's house after an alleged report that Sarah had put a hit out on her husband.
• Sarah was upset about the visit.
• During a walk, Jean and Sarah discussed Jean’s past abusive relationship.Sarah told Jean she had shot and killed an ex, claiming self-defense.After hearing this, Jean became more alarmed for Joseph’s safety.
• Sarah told Jean she had shot and killed an ex, claiming self-defense.
• After hearing this, Jean became more alarmed for Joseph’s safety.

Control & Communication Issues:

• Jean said Sarah appeared to need control over everything in the relationship.
• She noticed that Joseph became hard to reach, which was unusual for him.When Jean mentioned it to Joseph, he was surprised to hear she was having difficulty contacting him.
• When Jean mentioned it to Joseph, he was surprised to hear she was having difficulty contacting him.
• Jean recalled it was like "World War 3" when she and Sarah had a conflict.Sarah accused Jean of slandering her and claimed Jean was trying to take Joseph away from her.
• Sarah accused Jean of slandering her and claimed Jean was trying to take Joseph away from her.

Health & Medical Observations:

• Jean noted that Joseph’s blood sugar typically ran high, which she attributed to his eating habits.

Events Leading to Incident:

• Jean said Joseph told her:Sarah had kicked him out after a fight, and he went to stay at Helen’s house.He expressed a desire to leave Sarah. He was planning to leave Sarah. Jean was with him when he opened a separate bank account and says that’s the last time she saw her brother alive.
• Sarah had kicked him out after a fight, and he went to stay at Helen’s house.
• He expressed a desire to leave Sarah. He was planning to leave Sarah. Jean was with him when he opened a separate bank account and says that’s the last time she saw her brother alive.

Sarah Hartsfield charged with murder

The backstory:

Joseph Hartsfield died in January 2023. He was Sarah Jean Hartsfield’s fifth husband.

The Chambers County Sheriff’s Office says they were called to a Baytown hospital on the evening of Jan. 7, 2023, about the suspicious illness of an emergency room patient – Joseph. He had been brought in by ambulance from Beach City, where he lived.

According to the sheriff’s office, inconsistencies and other factors discovered during the investigation "made the illness appear more suspicious in nature."

Joseph later died. The sheriff’s office said they believed his death was the result of "foul play."

The district attorney was contacted, and the case was later presented to a grand jury. On Feb. 3, 2023, the grand jury indicted Sarah on a felony murder charge.

According to the sheriff’s office, Joseph was diabetic, and they believe his insulin level was suspiciously high hours before his death and before Sarah called 911.

Sarah pleaded not guilty to the murder charge. She has remained in jail for the two-and-a-half years since she was charged.

What they're saying:

"This is one of the more interesting cases in particular because it has a lot of medical aspects to it. It’s a very technical case, has taken creativity and ingenuity on the detectives and deputies to put this murder together," Chambers County Sheriff Brian Hawthorne said.

Local perspective:

Beach City, Texas, is located to the east of Houston, near the Trinity Bay.

Sarah Hartsfield's former partner's death

Dig deeper:

Following Sarah’s indictment in 2023, the Douglas County Attorney in Minnesota confirmed that the investigation into a previous death involving Sarah was active again as they followed up on new information the sheriff’s office had received. However, no charges have come from that investigation.

FOX 9 reported that in 2019 the Douglas County Attorney's Office decided not to move forward with charges against Sarah Donohue – now Sarah Hartsfield – after she shot and killed her then-fiancé David Bragg inside a home in Garfield, Minn., in 2018.

According to FOX 9, deputies responded to a home in Garfield on May 9, 2018, for a report of a domestic disturbance during which shots were fired.

At the scene, they found Bragg dead inside the home. According to a letter from the Douglas County Attorney in 2019, Sarah had claimed that Bragg had assaulted her and fired shots at her on a staircase, and she responded by shooting at him, killing him.

At the time, prosecutors said that evidence at the home seemed to support Sarah's version of events.

"The facts reveal that Mr. Bragg discharged his firearm at Ms. Donohue from a close proximity while the two were engaged in an altercation that had become physical," wrote Douglas County Attorney Chad Larson in 2019. "Under the circumstances, Ms. Donohue was justified in shooting Mr. Bragg as a matter of self-defense as she was facing lethal force and had no reasonable possibility of retreating from the threat. Therefore, I am declining to file criminal charges against Ms. Donohue in relation to Mr. Bragg's death."