FIFTH HUSBAND POISONED DEAD IN NIGHT, Other Hubbies Feel 'LUCKY'
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace
iHeartPodcasts and CrimeOnline
4.2 • 8.1K Ratings
🗓️ 26 June 2023
⏱️ 39 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Sarah Hartsfield has been indicted for first-degree murder in the death of her fifth husband, Joseph.
He died of complications of the toxic effects of insulin. Sarah Hartsfield calls 911 after getting no response from her diabetic husband. Hartsfield had been sleeping in another room, coping with her own health issues from a recent surgery, when she says her husband's diabetes monitor went off.
At the hospital, Joseph Hartsfield's sugar levels should have responded to treatment but didn't. Hospital staff found that strange and reported suspicions to the police. An investigation revealed that Hartsfield wasn't the first of Sarah Hartsfield's romantic involvements to die, and then police learn of threats to others.
Sarah Hartsfield shot and killed her former fiancé David Bragg in self-defense. Police are now re-examining the case.
Hartsfield has pleaded not guilty to the murder charge and is being held in lieu of $4.5 million bond.
Joining Nancy Grace Today:
- Sarah Ford - Legal Director, South Carolina Victim Assistance Network; Facebook: "SCVAN Legal Services Program;" Former Prosecutor (focusing on crimes against women and children); Host of Palmetto Primetime; Twitter: @Sarahafordesq
- Dr. Shari Schwartz - Forensic Psychologist (specializing in Capital Mitigation and Victim Advocacy); Twitter: @TrialDoc; Author: "Criminal Behavior" and "Where Law and Psychology Intersect: Issues in Legal Psychology"
- Jason Jensen - Private Investigator (Jensen Private Investigations), Cold Case Expert (Salt Lake City, UT), and Co-founder: "Cold Case Coalition;" Investigations; Twitter: @JasonJPI, Facebook/Instagram: "Jensen Investigations"
- Dr. Kendall Crowns - Chief Medical Examiner Tarrant County (Ft Worth), Lecturer: University of Texas Austin and Texas Christian University Medical School
- Bryce Newberry - Reporter for KPRC 2 in Houston; Twitter: @Bryce_Newberry
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | 5. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace |
| 0:14.5 | A young father of two dies after his glucose levels go dangerously low. |
| 0:22.5 | I'm Nancy Grace. |
| 0:24.8 | This is Crime Stories. |
| 0:25.9 | Thanks for being with us here at Fox Nation and Series X, Sam 111. |
| 0:30.8 | So he dies of dangerously low glucose levels. |
| 0:39.0 | Or does he? |
| 0:41.2 | Again, thanks for being with us. |
| 0:42.6 | How did this unfold? |
| 0:45.6 | Take a listen to our friends at Crime Online. |
| 0:47.3 | Joseph Hartzfield is a diabetic whose glucose levels had been under control for years. |
| 0:52.6 | But in January, Hartzfield was hospitalized. |
| 0:55.8 | Hartzfield had been at home when his blood sugar levels dropped dramatically. |
| 0:59.7 | His wife Sarah Hartzfield says when it happened, she went to the kitchen to get him juice and |
| 1:04.2 | jam. |
| 1:05.2 | When she returned to the bedroom, Hartzfield had bombeted on himself. |
| 1:09.2 | Sarah Hartzfield then called an ambulance. |
| 1:11.8 | By the time Joseph Hartzfield arrived at Houston Methodist Hospital in Baytown, he's |
| 1:16.2 | unconscious. |
| 1:17.8 | Hospital staff begins treatment, pumping glucose into his body, but Hartzfield did not |
| 1:22.0 | respond as he should have. |
| 1:24.0 | This is said Hartzfield blood sugar level kept crashing. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from iHeartPodcasts and CrimeOnline, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of iHeartPodcasts and CrimeOnline and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.