Woman Charged In 1985 Delaware Homicide

Sandra Hartzag, now 50 years old, was arrested on November 4, and charged with the murder of then 54-year-old Joseph Braun, who was found dead in his home in DE in July 1985.

Investigators from New Castle County linked Hartzag in October to the beating death of her then-boyfriend’s relative Joseph Braun in his Wilmington-area home, according to the Dalton Police Department. The New Castle County Police developed evidence linking Hartzag to the murder and had been searching for her ever since. Dalton police also charged Hartzag with being a fugitive from justice.

The auto was found just over a week later in Philadelphia, but no one had been arrested in the case until now. A neighbor had called 911 after she had not seen Braun for a few days. The relative had died in 1997, but the two men named Hartzag as the girlfriend.

They weren’t able to find her at that time. It’s the people that solved it, in my opinion because these are very dedicated officers that feel that justice will and should be served. “And that’s why this unit was put together and today is our first, which I believe, of many successes in this regard”, said Colonel E.M. Setting, New Castle Count Police, Chief of Police. She’s being held in the Whitfield County jail as she awaits extradition back to Delaware.

She is charged with murder during the commission of a felony, robbery in the first degree, conspiracy in the second degree and possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony.