Chambers County – When 48-year-old Sarah Hartsfield was indicted for murdering her fifth husband in February, stories from across the country about the mother of four’s past started surfacing and unraveling a twisted web.
From her little brother’s bizarre death in 1990 to a murder plot she allegedly concocted, and even the fatal shooting of a fiancé, KPRC 2 has been uncovering more about Hartsfield every step of the way.
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Sarah has not been arrested or charged in connection with the death of any person other than Joseph Hartsfield. Sarah is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
This in-depth, special look at the case comes as Hartsfield is indicted for murder, awaiting trial in Chambers County, and in jail on a $4.5 million bond.
An extra-marital affair
But during her third marriage, between 2014 and 2016, extra-marital affairs crossed state lines.
“If I didn’t answer a text, she’d send an email … or Facebook message me,” Brian Altis, a boyfriend, said. “If I didn’t respond quick enough because I’m at work to one of her questions, she would just go ballistic … whenever she got mad, it was like World War Three.”
Altis says he was under the impression that she was going through a divorce with Christopher Donohue. After two years, their affair was over.
“It ended about as horrible as it could ever be for a person,” Altis said. “She went her way and I went mine.”
Altis went to a local bar with friends, but within about 20 minutes, said he got a call from the local police department that his house was on fire.
“My bedroom was pretty much destroyed,” he said. “Gutted the whole house. And basically, everything in my house is brand new, except for the studs and the roof.”
He lived in the home for about five years, at that point, and never had any issues, but said investigators ruled the fire’s cause to be faulty wiring.
“It was kind of like another secret life that she was living,” Barb Stuart, one of Sarah’s foster mothers, said.
Sarah and Christopher Donohue, her third husband, separated not long after. The official divorce filing started the year 2017.
“There would always be some sort of resentment towards my dad,” said Ryan Donohue, Sarah’s son.
Click on the graphic below to learn more about Sarah’s complicated past relationships.
