Snapped: Killer Couples- How did James Sartorelli die?

Modified Aug 13, 2023 15:21 GMT

Snapped: Killer Couples' new episode will revisit the shocking murder case of 61-year-old U.S. Marshal James Sartorelli. The episode will premiere on August 13, 2023, at 6 pm ET, exclusively on Oxygen.

The official synopsis of the episode, as per Rotten Tomatoes, reads:

"A 61-year-old farmhand is found murdered in his home on the outskirts of the Ozarks; a strange text message points to a suspect, but the investigation quickly diverges after a duo on the run is exposed, resulting in a fatal shootout in Mississippi."

On May 7, 2020, James Sartorelli was found dead in his home in Smithville, Arkansas, by a neighbor. The former U.S. Marshall had been shot in the head and had died on the spot.

Upon investigation of the crime scene, the police found numerous items missing from Sartorelli's house, including his firearms, money, and drugs, and concluded that Sartorelli had been killed as a result of a robbery gone wrong.

Numerous DNA traces were found at the scene of the crime on different objects throughout the house; however, it wasn't until May 11 that a conclusive match for the DNA traces came back. The reports showed that the traces were those of a former convicted felon, Hunter Carlstrom.

An arrest warrant for Carlstrom was granted by the judge in the case. However, until then, Carlstrom and his girlfriend, Xaveriana Cook, had already fled to Vardaman, a town in Mississippi.

Snapped: Killer Couples- Why was James Sartorelli killed?

Hunter Carlstrom and Xaveriana Cook (Image via Oxygen)

Over the days that followed Sartorelli's murder, police all around the country were on the lookout for Carlstrom and Cook. The pair had shut their mobile phones off to avoid being detected by the police.

On May 15, 2020, a task force officer in Lafayette County, Mississippi, spotted Xaveriana Cook's black Cheverlotte, leading the entire task force to surround the nearby area. When the pair was finally caught, Carlstrom refused arrest and instead got out of the car and started shooting at the task force.

In this shootout, Carlstrom shot a deputy to death. The police were finally forced to reply with firing of their own, which eventually led to Carlstrom's death.

However, the case still wasn't over since Cook, Carlstrom's girlfriend, had been an accessory to murder and robbery. In the legal proceedings that followed, her involvement in the case was exposed in depth when it was revealed that Calstrom had told her numerous times that he was going to murder James Sartorelli.

Fox 16 reported that according to the case's court documents, Carlstrom had revealed to Cook that he was going to murder Sartorelli since he believed that Sartorelli was a drug dealer and therefore would have a lot of money and drugs stashed at his home. James Sartorelli's firearms purchase, however, was something that Carlstrom had observed by going around the ammunition shops in town.

Carlstrom had also revealed to Cook that he would not go back to jail and would rather be on the run from police. If ever the pair were to have any confrontation with the police, Carlstrom would open fire on them.

Xaveriana Cook had willingly kept this information to herself. If she had reported James Sartorelli's murder, she could have also saved U.S. deputy Bob Dickerson's life. Her involvement in the case earned her a seven-year sentence in jail. She continues to serve her prison term today.

Snapped: Killer Couples' upcoming episode premieres on August 13, 2023, at 6 pm ET, exclusively on Oxygen.

Edited by Somava