Woman killed fifth husband by injecting him with insulin

Sarah Hartsfield left a trail of destruction behind her for decades

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The couple lived in Beach City, Texas

Sarah Hartsfield and her husband Joseph had only been married a year, but there were already signs the relationship was in trouble. Hartsfield told friends Joseph was a "nightmare" and that she was thinking about ending it, while Joseph also told relatives things weren't going well and said he wanted to end the marriage.

He was Hartsfield's fifth husband and it appeared she was heading for yet another breakup.

Divorce and tragedy had followed former Army sergeant Hartsfield for years. Her first two marriages had ended in a matter of years. She had four children with her third husband, Christopher Donohue, but they'd split by 2017. Within the year, she was engaged to David Bragg and they planned to marry. But on May 9, 2018, Hartsfield made a 911 call. When the police arrived, David was dead.

Hartsfield said they'd had a big argument about her third husband's visitation rights to their children. She said she'd been scared and had fetched two guns then started packing up some belongings. She said David, 43, had grabbed one of the guns and fired at her. She'd returned fire and killed him. While it seemed odd that she had armed herself so heavily, no charges were brought against her and it was recorded as self-defence.

Around a year later, Hartsfield married David George. In 2021, her ex-husband Christopher requested a restraining order against Hartsfield because he believed she was plotting to have David kill his new wife, in an effort to derail his custody plans. Later that year, Hartsfield and David separated.

Hartsfield then met Joseph, 46, online, and they married in February 2022. He loved the outdoors and often went fishing and hunting. He had a fun personality and made everyone laugh at gatherings. But his family noticed he seemed unhappy.