Where Is Sarah Hartsfield Now? Inside Her Life Behind Bars After Insulin-Poisoning Conviction

Sarah Hartsfield was convicted in October 2025 of first-degree murder for allegedly administering a fatal dose of insulin to her fifth husband, Joseph Hartsfield, in January 2023. Prosecutors relied on medical evidence, messages and a deleted video, and testimony about prior troubling incidents to build their case. She is serving a life sentence in Texas and has filed an appeal.

What Happened

On Jan. 7, 2023, Sarah called 911 to report that her husband — a man with diabetes — was unresponsive. Joseph was hospitalized and described in a search-warrant affidavit as effectively "brain dead"; he died 11 days later. The autopsy listed complications from the toxic effects of insulin as one contributing cause, though the manner of death was initially recorded as undetermined.

Medical staff observed repeatedly crashing blood-sugar levels despite glucose treatment, and investigators reported finding multiple insulin vials on Joseph's side of the bed. Prosecutors say that pattern suggested an overdose of insulin; Sarah was charged with murder.

Evidence Presented At Trial

At the seven-day trial in October 2025, prosecutors presented:

• Autopsy findings noting toxic effects of insulin as a contributing cause of death.
• Testimony from medical personnel about Joseph’s rapidly falling blood sugar despite treatment.
• An affidavit noting several insulin vials near Joseph’s side of the bed.
• Messages allegedly sent from Joseph’s phone to Sarah’s showing personal and financial documents, and testimony that these could be used to access his accounts after his death.
• Testimony that Sarah sent a video to a family member showing Joseph "gasping" about an hour before he died; prosecutors said the video was later deleted.

"You can just look at her overall history and you can tell that there’s a very evil side to her," Chambers County Sheriff Brian Hawthorne said as the trial opened, according to reporting from NBC News.

Past Allegations And Reopened Investigations

The prosecution introduced testimony about several prior incidents and allegations to argue a pattern of dangerous behavior. Those items included:

• An alleged 2014 house fire that relatives said damaged family property — Sarah denies involvement and was never charged in connection with the blaze.
• The 2018 fatal shooting of her then-fiancé, David Bragg, a case Sarah has said was self-defense; local authorities later reopened the file after new information surfaced during the Joseph investigation, but no new charges have been filed publicly.
• An alleged plot in 2021 in which prosecutors say Sarah asked a former husband to harm another woman — participants later disputed aspects of the account and denied a completed plot.

Trial Outcome, Sentence And Current Status

A jury found Sarah Hartsfield guilty of first-degree murder after about one hour of deliberation. She was sentenced to life in prison in October 2025. The jury reached its verdict after a weeklong trial.

Sarah has been incarcerated at the William P. Hobby Unit in Marlin, Texas, since sentencing. A week after the conviction she filed an appeal and a motion for a new trial; her trial attorneys were permitted to withdraw and new counsel was later appointed for her appeal. Conflict with counsel had surfaced earlier: after her 2023 arrest she submitted a handwritten request to remove one of her attorneys, who later sought to withdraw citing a conflict.

Under Texas Department of Criminal Justice records, Hartsfield is eligible to seek parole in 2053, when she will be in her late 70s.

Where Things Stand Now

Sarah Hartsfield remains incarcerated while pursuing appellate remedies. The case attracted national attention because of the medical evidence involving insulin, the relatively quick jury verdict, and the probe into prior violent incidents that prosecutors used to establish perceived motive and pattern. As of now, no additional criminal charges related to the older incidents have been publicly filed following the reopened review of the 2018 shooting.