CHAMBERS COUNTY, Texas – Sarah Hartsfield, the Chambers County woman accused of killing her husband, was successful in her second attempt to reduce bond in her murder case.
Judge Chap Cain lowered the bond by $500,000 on Monday morning to $4 million. It’s the second $500,000 reduction he has made since she was arrested on Feb. 3 when her initial bond was set at $5 million.
It was the first time Sarah attended a hearing in her case in person. During the past two, she participated virtually from the jail, but on Monday, she walked from the jail to the courthouse despite dealing with an apparent case of vertigo.
NOW: Sarah Hartsfield has entered the Chambers County courthouse for today’s bond hearing in her murder case. @KPRC2 pic.twitter.com/5jquR3NLeX
— Bryce Newberry (@KPRC2Bryce) May 22, 2023
Her court-appointed attorney, Keaton Kirkwood, argued that she should be given a personal recognizance bond with conditions because he said prosecutors have not presented any tangible evidence and nothing shows she is a threat to society. He said the reduced bond is still too high for her to afford.
Prosecutors brought with them an evidence binder, about six inches thick, estimating it’s about 200 hours’ worth of material to review. Much of the evidence is being turned over to the defense.
Sarah’s fifth husband, Joseph Hartsfield, died on Jan. 15 in a Baytown hospital. The medical examiner ruled the cause “complications of toxic effects of insulin” and left the manner undetermined. Investigators found up to 10 insulin pens on his side of the bed and allege that Sarah waited at least an hour to call 911 after finding him unresponsive and allegedly ignoring a glucose monitor that sent alerts to both of their cell phones.
“The state has not shown me anything, at this point, that she’s done anything,” Kirkwood said. “In all honesty, I think she’s innocent.”
Throughout the hearing, Sarah whispered to Kirkwood several times and took the stand twice. Her deceased husband’s uncle, Floyd Johnston, also took the stand and testified about his conversation with Joseph Hartsfield about leaving the marriage in the days prior to his death.
Johnston said he spoke with Joseph in late December, who had left the couple’s Beach City home and gone to his hometown, when Joseph told him he was going to open a new checking account in his hometown so his direct deposit could go there instead of the couple’s joint account. Joseph was also figuring out where to go and stay, Johnston said.
Messages Sarah sent to Joseph’s mother were also shared in court, in which she told his mother that he can’t go running to his mom, and that he needed to come home and work on his marriage.
Johnston also said Joseph was “afraid of what she might do” when he tried to leave, and when asked by the prosecutor, said it wasn’t just the type of being scared that someone would throw clothing in the front yard during a bad breakup or divorce. He also said he never saw the couple argue or fight.
In her testimony, Sarah said Joseph told her he had plenty of places to go but was staying home. She said she didn’t believe he had a reason to open another account because he already had his own account through the same bank in which the couple had a joint account.
Chambers County District Attorney Cheryl Lieck Henry asked Sarah about a Facebook message discussing an “exit strategy” that she allegedly sent in the days before her husband’s death, to which Sarah replied she was “looking into her options.”
“You got him to leave, didn’t you?” Henry pressed.
“I don’t know how you can say that to me,” Sarah said. “I didn’t do anything to harm my husband.”
Kirkwood said the DA is mischaracterizing some of the testimony.
“She knows her job. She knows what she’s doing and she’s trying to see if she can make Sarah out to be the monster that they think she is and she’s not,” Kirkwood said. “She’s trying to spark her and Sarah’s not, she’s not going to fall for that.”
Chambers County’s jail captain, Todd Harris, testified that Sarah has not been a threat to others in jail or members of the media who have visited her, and hasn’t been involved in any fights. He said she has asked for more than most inmates and has been accommodated every step of the way.
No character witnesses testified on behalf of Sarah.
During the hearing, the state also brought up the 2018 fatal shooting of Sarah’s fiancé that’s being re-investigated in Douglas County, Minnesota, as well as the murder plot she allegedly concocted.
According to an affidavit for a protective order, Sarah wouldn’t let her fourth ex-husband, David George, back into their home until he traveled to Arizona to kill her third ex-husband Christopher Donohue’s new wife, and allegedly made him buy a car and gave him a gun to carry out the hit.
Sarah laughed when talking about the FBI showing up at her door and said how “shocked” and blown away she was when they came to question her about the alleged plot.
A Bell County, Texas judge granted the protective order, which is still in effect, after the allegations came to light in April 2021.
Sarah testified that the allegations came after she kicked George out of their home for lying and cheating, and then he banded together with Donohue to come up with the plot.
“I just want to keep the public mindful to hold off on putting judgment on Sarah. I’ve been approached many times saying, ‘Hey, did she really kill five husbands?’ No, she didn’t. She’s been married five times. Those marriages have worked out. Being married five times is not a crime,” Kirkwood said.
Sarah was also pressed about claims that she had breast cancer after her daughter testified to the grand jury that was a lie. Hartsfield said her treatment was initially intravenous, but she also went through a lifestyle and diet change to deal with the breast cancer.
Sarah said her daughter didn’t live with her and didn’t know about the cancer, explaining that the reason she didn’t live with her is because she was an “obstinate, bull-headed teenager.”
When asked if the real reason was that Sarah beat her, she said she never beat her and that her daughter can believe whatever she wants.
Lieck Henry asked Sarah if everything everyone has said about her are simply “conspiracies” against her.
“It’s never been your fault,” Henry said, asking if there’s anything Hartsfield will ever take responsibility for. “No truth comes from her mouth when she’s on the stand.”
The judge urged both parties to prepare for trial as soon as practical. A future court date has not been set.
Watch KPRC 2′s investigative documentary The Two Sides of Sarah, which digs deeper into Sarah Hartsfield’s past, revealing new details about her background and the string of exes she’s left behind.
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