Allegations of murder plot scared family of Sarah Hartfield's husband, sister testifies

The sister of a Texas man whose wife is accused of killing him with a fatal dose of insulin testified Tuesday that before he died in 2023, she had grown increasingly worried about him after she learned of Sarah Hartsfield’s ominous past

The sister of a Texas man whose wife is accused of killing him with a fatal dose of insulin testified Tuesday that before he died in 2023, she had grown increasingly worried about him after she learned of Sarah Hartsfield’s ominous past.

Jeannie Hartsfield took the stand in a courtroom east of Houston on the first day of testimony in Sarah Hartsfield’s murder trial in the death of Joseph Hartsfield, 46, and described learning of an alleged murder plot targeting another husband.

The revelation came after Sarah Hartsfield, who has pleaded not guilty in Joseph Hartsfield’s death, disclosed to her sister-in-law that she’d also fatally shot a former partner in self-defense, Jeannie Hartsfield testified.

Sarah Hartsfield in court.Rebeccah Glaser / DatelineJeannie Hartsfield initially didn’t think much about the self-defense shooting, she testified. But she said she grew very concerned after Sarah Hartsfield told her that the FBI had investigated her in an alleged murder plot.

“Things didn’t seem right,” Jeannie Hartsfield said on the stand.