Ex-boyfriend of Texas woman accused of murdering husband says he had a suspicious house fire after breakup

Ex-boyfriend Sara Jean Hartsfielda Chambers County woman who has been married five times and is accused of killing her last husband as well as the murder of her ex-fiancee told KPRC 2 that their relationship ended in flames in 2016.

He said the couple dated about two years apart while Hartsfield was married to another man, but insisted a divorce was imminent.

“Whenever she got angry, it was like World War III,” the former boyfriend, who asked KPRC 2 not to use his name, said in an interview. “It ended as badly as it could ever be for a human.”

Their relationship ended in 2016. After arguing with restraining orders, he said they met to break up for good.

“She drove her car her way and I drove my car my way,” he said. “Basically, we left, agreeing that we were done with each other. She went her way and I went mine.”

He went to a local bar with friends, but about 20 minutes later he got a call from the local police station saying that his house was on fire.

“My bedroom was practically destroyed,” he said. “Gutted the whole house. And in general, in my house everything is brand new, except for the pillars and the roof.

He had lived in the house for about five years at the time and had never had any problems, but investigators said the fire was caused by faulty wiring.

He considers the circumstances suspicious and part of a turbulent past investigators have been dealing with since Hartsfield’s last husband, Joseph, died in a Baytown hospital in January.

Joseph’s official cause of death has not been released, but sources say an overdose of insulin likely killed the diabetic.

“We’ll go back as far into her past as we can,” Chambers County District Attorney Sherrill Lick Henry said.

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According to detectives, Hartsfield has called 39 different places home in her adult life.

Days after a Texas grand jury indicted Hartsfield in Joseph’s murder, Minnesota prosecutors announced they were reopening a 2018 case in which she shot and killed her then-fiancé, David Bragg. The same prosecutor who reopened the case initially considered it a justified shooting in self-defense.

“His death was very accidental and the circumstances surrounding his death seemed far-fetched and almost fictional,” the Bragg family wrote in a statement to KPRC 2.

Hartsfield’s attorney is asking the judge to reduce her $5 million bail, writing that she tried to cover the required amount with the help of family and friends, but was unable to raise the necessary funds, according to court documents.

“Sarah Hartsfield maintains her innocence and will assist in the investigation into her husband’s untimely death. We strongly condemn the misinformation that has been provided to the public regarding her past, as well as any criminal activity currently in Chambers County. We are participating in the discovery process and are reminding the public to refrain from any judgment until due process is satisfied,” her attorney, Keaton Kirkwood, wrote in a statement.

He declined to say how much they would charge for the bail reduction, but they will ask the judge to rule it reasonable based on information in the Chambers County case, not rumors or previously investigated allegations.

“I was very happy to see that they put up this high tie because she would run. There is no way she will stay and meet the music,” her first ex-husband Titus Knornschild said in an interview with KPRC 2 last week. “I knew that eventually she would be caught for who she is.”

Her ex-boyfriend, whose house burned down in 2016, said he was lucky to be alive, based on everything he’s learned. He also feels bad for both families in Minnesota and Texas dealing with the deaths.

“The only way to protect the next person from harm is for Texas to do its job and somehow keep it under lock and key,” he said.