Texas woman jailed on $5M bond in husband’s death from “suspicious illness”

HOUSTON, Texas (KWTX) - Sarah Jean Hartsfield, 48, a Southeast Texas woman, has been arrested in the suspicious death of her husband.

Hartsfield was taken to the Chambers County Jail, where she is being held on a $5 million bond.

Chambers County Sheriff’s Office deputies were dispatched at approximately 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 7 to the Baytown Houston Methodist Hospital.

The deputies were investigating a “suspicious illness” of an emergency room patient who was was transported via ambulance from Beach City, Texas.

Authorities arrived at the hospital and initiated an investigation due to inconsistencies in the information provided by the hospital staff.

During the investigation, additional inconsistencies, as well as other determining factors, made the illness appear more suspicious in nature, investigators said.

“The patient identified as Joseph Hartsfield died as the result of what investigators believe to be foul play. This would lead to them to have probable cause to arrest the victim’s wife,” investigators said.

“This is an active case and only limited details can be released at this time. I appreciate the hard work of the deputies and detectives who followed their instincts and identified the suspicious circumstances surrounding Mr. Hartfield’s death that could have been labeled as ‘death due to illness’ instead of murder,” said Sheriff Hawthorne.