CHAMBERS COUNTY, Texas – Sarah Hartsfield, a Chambers County woman accused of murder after her fifth husband died, shared her first public words since her arrest in February.
In messages only to KPRC 2, Hartsfield, who has pleaded not guilty, said she filed paperwork to fire her court-appointed attorney and said prosecutors would “almost be crazy to proceed” with her case.
Hartsfield, 48, was indicted by a Chambers County grand jury for murder after her husband of 11 months, Joseph Hartsfield, died in a Baytown hospital. She was held on a $4.5 million bond.
“I’m looking forward to going home, even though going home means that I have to really begin my life without Joe, who would have been appalled at his family’s behavior at the hospital, but absolutely horrified at the hate campaign they enlisted against his wife to do what they have (done) all because they couldn’t handle Joe choosing his wife and marriage over them,” Hartsfield wrote in a statement.
The Harris County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled his cause of death as “complications of toxic effects of insulin.” The manner, which could be homicide, suicide, or natural causes, was left undetermined.
RELATED: Sarah Hartsfield murder case: Husband died of insulin complications, medical examiner rules
“With the ME’s findings the burden of proof for the DA just shifted significantly, they’d almost be crazy to proceed … I wrote my own motion for a bond hearing and mailed it, with the letter firing Mr. Kirkwood,” Hartsfield wrote in the statement.
Keaton Kirkwood, her court-appointed attorney, has not responded to multiple requests for comment from KPRC 2. On Thursday, Hartsfield’s letter was not yet on file with the Chambers County District Clerk’s Office.
“You can’t fire that court-appointed lawyer because you think he or she is laying down on the job,” KPRC 2 Legal Analyst Brian Wice said. “That’s unless a defendant can hire their own attorney or another one takes on the case pro-bono.”
If not, it’s not up to the defendant.
“The only entity that has the final say so about removing court-appointed counsel is the judge,” Wice said.
According to court documents, Joseph Hartsfield’s sugar level dropped dangerously low into the 40s on Jan. 7.
Sarah Hartsfield reportedly ignored a phone app sending alerts and waited an hour to call 911 after finding the diabetic unresponsive. Investigators found up to 10 insulin pens on his side of the bed.
Joseph Hartsfield’s family told investigators at the hospital the couple had a toxic relationship.
“He was leaving her. He had already discussed moving with someone and he just said, ‘Mom, I’m done. I can’t do it anymore. If I stay, she’s going to drive me crazy,’” Joseph Hartsfield’s mother told KPRC 2 earlier this month.
“They were repeatedly divisive, intrusive, and didn’t want to be a part of ‘our’ life. They wanted to drag Joe back to a life he voluntarily left,” Sarah Hartsfield wrote in the statement. “While their pain is relevant, I lost my husband that I loved dearly; they ensured I suffered alone, every step of the way, no matter how many olive branches were extended to them.”
Her bond, initially set at $5 million, was lowered by Chambers County Judge Chap Cain on March 1 by $500,000. Still, Wice calls the new $4.5 million bond “excessive.”
“There is no limit to the number of times you can go before a judge and ask that your bond be reduced,” he said.
Sarah Hartsfield’s next court date has not been set. She calls the lies and accusations purely hearsay.
“It’s about time I quit being vilified, by his family, and by the public. I never deserved how I was treated, and Joe, our relationship, our marriage -- our story ended way too soon and not by any wrongdoing,” she wrote in the statement.
The messages were shared using a pandemic-inspired system that enables Chambers County inmates to communicate with people outside the jail.
Chambers County Sheriff Brian Hawthorne told KPRC 2 nothing leads him to believe Sarah Hartsfield will be able to make bond, and that the community can rest assured she won’t be released anytime soon. Chambers County requires a mandatory 10% -- $450,000 -- to be paid before release.
Minnesota investigators are still reviewing a 2018 case in which Sarah Hartsfield fatally shot her fiancée, David Bragg. Initially ruled self defense, the top prosecutor in Douglas County, Minnesota re-opened the case four days after her Texas indictment.
Read Sarah Hartsfield’s full statement:
“I was also pulled into the same room you and I spoke before, and was told that since the ME’s report was released (that I still haven’t been told by my attorney those results) they anticipated a motion for a new bond hearing which they haven’t seen. It was further said that with the ME’s findings the burden of proof for the DA just shifted significantly, they’d almost be crazy to proceed... Well, I wrote my own motion for a bond hearing and mailed it, with the letter firing Mr. Kirkwood yesterday and today.
“I’m told the judge is out of town this week but all materials will be there waiting for him the first business day next week. If you decide to use any of this, be mindful I am paraphrasing but it is 100% true. So, I’m looking forward to going home, even though going home means that I have to really begin my life without Joe, who would have been appalled at his family’s behavior at the hospital but absolutely horrified at the hate campaign they enlisted against his wife to do what they have all because they couldn’t handle Joe choosing his wife and marriage over them.
“To accuse someone you claimed to love of murder, who just months before, in their own words was the best thing to happen to Joe and everything he ever needed, to how dare we move 2 hours away, how dare Joe try to have a life of his own independent of them. They were repeatedly divisive, intrusive, and didn’t want to be a part of “our” life. They wanted to drag Joe back to a life he voluntarily left. When Joe chose his wife and marriage over the emotionally abusive and controlling behaviors that were normalized as love and family closeness, to the point that Joe had a hard time talking to very people telling him to turn his back on his own children. It’s no wonder they’d try to divide him from his marriage, hoping he’d go right back to them.
“While their pain is relevant, I lost my husband that I loved dearly; they ensured I suffered alone, every step of the way, no matter how many olive branches were extended to them. We loved each other and were committed to each other and our marriage. All the lies, accusations that were no more than supposed hearsay, and sheer hatred still couldn’t keep the truth from rising to the top even if I couldn’t speak for myself months ago. For now, I hope the comment I gave is worthy of an update. After all, it’s about time I quit being vilified, by his family, and by the public. I never deserved how I was treated ... and Joe, our relationship, our marriage - our story ended way too soon and not by any wrong doing.”