Jason Corbett was an Irish man who was killed at his home in North Carolina in 2015, around 10 years ago. Investigation revealed that his death was the result of a physical assault by his wife and his father-in-law, Molly and Thomas Martens. Jason Corbett originally lived in Limerick, Ireland, where he met his first wife Margaret Fitzpatrick and raised their two children, Jack and Sarah. In November 2006, a few months after their daughter Sarah was born, Margaret died unexpectedly after suffering an asthma attack, according to the coroner.

Molly Martens, 31-year-old from Knoxville, Tennessee, was asked to come work as an au pair for the family. An au pair is a person working for, and living as part of, a host family. Typically, au pairs take on a share of the family’s responsibility for child care as well as some housework, and receive a monetary allowance or stipend for personal use.

From what I’ve gathered from watching the documentary, it seemed to me that Molly was really pressuring Jason to move with her to the USA and marry him after a while… It didn’t seem to me that Jason really wanted to do that, and I just don’t understand what motivations led them to marry each other… Was he looking at Molly to be a mother to his children ? Did she just want to marry him because she wanted to be with the children she had grown attached to over the years and for his money ? Their marriage seemed rushed, based on the wrong reasons, and quite toxic. I have a feeling that Molly really fell in love with the kids and wanted to marry Jason to stay close to the kids, which is why she asked him to adopt the children right after they married. I’m really happy that he didn’t do it !

I don’t think that I am the only one who thinks that Molly is a toxic, manipulating, controlling and a woman that lies a lot to get what she wants. What she and her dad did to this poor man, Jason is absolutely horrible. It almost looked like it was planned too. Maybe on that night she tried to push him, to get angry and attack her so she could claim self defense ? Hearing her and her dad talk, just made me sick to my stomach. Two horrible, disgusting people that killed a man in a really angry, violent way. It takes a kind of psychopath to do something like that to a human and I’m happy the kids were quickly moved back to Ireland, to live with a family that seemed loving, reasonable and emotionally stable. I can’t even imagine losing my parents at such a young age, one of them in such a tragic, violent way. Jack and Sarah had already lost their mother, Sarah not able to know her mother at all, since she died not long after her daughter was born, but to lose your father as well, in such a horrible way, is so tragic.

Jason’s older brother, John, later said how the issue around Molly adopting the children had caused friction in their relationship in the run-up to his death. John Corbett also stated that his brother had specifically processed the children’s legal resident status via his job, rather than through the Marten’s family, due to concerns they would not be repatriated to Ireland in the event of his unexpected death. Court records later revealed how Martens had in the summer of 2013 sought legal advice on her custody rights regarding the children in the event of a divorce, and had also spoken with a lawyer in late 2014 about her rights to the children.

Although Jason’s family had initially approved of Molly becoming romantically involved with Jason, they became increasingly concerned about Molly’s deceitful and erratic behavior during their relationship. Jason’s sister Tracey Lynch later said that Molly had a long history of lying, describing her as a fantasist who claimed to have been an Olympic swimmer, a qualified Montessori teacher and to have previously fostered a young boy. Tracey also described how Molly had informed her she was bipolar and had allegedly experienced several miscarriages before she met Jason. Tracey also shared that Molly had a history of self-harming and drinking margaritas throughout the day, before driving the children to their appointments. Although this is a lot of hearsay, from Tracey with no solid proof that she actually did that, or was like that, there would also be records of Molly seeking treatments and taking medications for having Bi Polar. People who live with Bi Polar just don’t act normal at all times without taking medication. It’s absolutely no excuse for what Molly did at all.

Tracey later discovered that Molly had been released from a psychiatric clinic in Georgia, just before she travelled to meet Jason in 2008, and that she did not disclose her mental health history until a few weeks before they were married. Now that is an absolutely red flag right there. Molly also allegedly lied to her new neighbors in Panther’s Creek Court, stating that Sarah was her biological daughter, even going so far as to give a lengthy description of how difficult her labour had been whilst at a local Bible study group. That all sounds to me like the movie “The Hand That Rocks the Cradle” Molly reminding me of Rebecca De Mornay’s character…If you have seen the movie, Molly’s personality absolutely matches the one as Rebecca’s character. You will also notice that Claire Bartel (Annabella Sciorra), suffered from asthma, just as Jason’s first wife did. Peyton, (Rebecca De Mornay) had suffered a miscarriage, Molly allegedly did as well. There are a lot of similarities between the movie and Molly’s persona and actions. 

On 2 August 2015, Thomas Martens called 911 at 3am to inform them that his son-in-law Jason was badly injured. Molly told the dispatcher that he had intervened in a fight between Jason and his daughter, and that he may have killed him. Police responders who arrived at the house at Panther’s Creek Court found Jason unresponsive with serious head injuries that later proved to be fatal. If you watched the documentary and have seen the pictures of the murder scene, it was pretty bloody, violent and disturbing. That’s not what you would call, self defense. Both Thomas and Molly gave statements to the officers at the scene linking Jason’s death to a “domestic disturbance”…

A few hours after being released from police custody, Molly Martens allegedly spent US$5,500 on having her house industrially cleaned of all traces of blood. Authorities then frustrated Molly’s attempt to have Jason cremated before his family arrived from Ireland. I’ve seen this so many times, guilty people trying to get rid of evidence, like example, the bad shape that poor man was in after the murder, probably unrecognizable. Molly only permitted the family access to his remains after they had first signed a legal agreement to pay the full costs of his funeral and the subsequent repatriation of his body to Ireland.

In 2007, Jason Corbett created a will naming his sister Tracey Lynch and her husband as the legal guardians of his children should he die, and did not alter the will after he married Molly Martens. A few days after Jason’s death, Molly formally filed for custody of then, 10 years old Jack and 8 years old Sarah, whom she had raised as their sole mother figure for the previous eight years. When Jason’s family arrived in the United States, they filed a legal challenge, and on August 20, 2015 the authorities dismissed Molly’s claim and handed over Jack and Sarah into the custody of Tracey Lynch, who promptly flew the two children back to Ireland via commercial airline. Im so glad that she came and got the children away from the Martens.

For several months after the children’s repatriation, Molly started posting photos, sometimes including a US phone number and email address, in the apparent hope they would get in touch with her. The Corbett family denied any contact. They eventually sent a cease and desist letter to Molly asking her to refrain from posting images of the children on social media. Tracey really did the right thing preventing Molly’s toxic personality from tainting those poor kids.

In police interviews, a few hours after Jason’s death, Tom Martens claimed he had been staying over at the Corbett house when he was awoken by the sound of a disturbance in the master bedroom. He grabbed a baseball bat and rushed to the bedroom, where he allegedly saw Jason strangling Molly in their dark bedroom. After a struggle on the floor between the two men, Molly hit Jason over the head with a brick, after which Tom hit Corbett with the baseball bat several times. During a separate interview, In addition, Molly stated that there was a history of domestic violence in their marriage that resulted in her seeking medical assistance several times, although she did not inform the police or tell the hospital staff how her injuries occurred.

Molly also accused her husband of being a heavy drinker and that he was drunk when the fatal incident occurred a few hours earlier. It’s funny how Tom just happened to be there, the exact night that a domestic disturbance was happening between the married couple and how she kept the brick on her night stand for painting it with the children… right… What was it doing there then if it was for painting ? It makes no sense at all. Tom also apparently knew where to find the baseball bat. They also made sure that Jason was dead so he wouldn’t speak the truth either, this was no self defense, it was just plain murder. How disgusting they did that with the two kids sleeping downstairs. I’m sure Tom, being an ex FBI agent knew exactly how to proceed with all this, to get Jason out of their lives so she could claim the life insurance and keep the kids, little did she know about Jason’s will wishes for the custody of the kids.

The day of Jason’s death, his two children were interviewed by the North Carolina Union County Department of Social Services about their parents’ relationship. Transcripts of their sessions recorded Sarah saying he had anger management issues and that “her dad is angry on a regular basis,” and she described a time when Jason pulled Molly’s hair and “smacked her in the face.” Jack claimed to have witnessed his father physically assaulting Molly on previous occasions and that “his dad gets mad at his mom [Molly] for no good reason.” However, nine months later Jack renounced his previous statements in a follow-up video call with the sheriff’s office, asserting that Molly had in fact coached him on what to say prior to being interviewed and she made up false stories about abusive behavior… which doesn’t surprise me at all coming from Molly.

On 5 January 2016, Molly and her father Thomas were charged with second degree murder and voluntary manslaughter in relation to Jason’s death, after unsealed indictments revealed that a grand jury had determined that probable cause had been established. After having their mugshots taken, both of the accused were ordered by Davidson Superior Court to hand over their passports and not to attempt to contact Corbett’s children in Ireland. They were then released on a bail bond of US$200,000 each to await trial, which they posted.

In July 2016, the Martens’ legal team filed a defense motion to exclude from evidence Jack Corbett’s earlier rebuttal interview, where he withdrew allegations that his father had physically abused Molly Martens Corbett, claiming the interview was “hearsay and unreliable.” Judge Lee eventually ruled the children’s statements taken shortly after their father’s death were inadmissible and therefore would not be allowed to be submitted as evidence.

The trial of Molly and Thomas Martens began with jury selection on July 17, 2017 at the Davidson County Superior Court in Lexington, North Carolina, before Judge Lee. Both of the accused entered formal pleas of not guilty to the second-degree murder of Jason Corbett, claiming they acted in self-defense.

On 9 August 2017, after less than 4 hours of jury deliberations, 67-year-old Thomas Martens and his 33-year-old daughter Molly Corbett Martens were unanimously found guilty of the second-degree murder of Jason Corbett. Both were then sentenced to a minimum of 20 years and a maximum of 25 years in prison, as per the prosecution’s recommendation.

On 6 June 2024, Molly Martens Corbett and her father Thomas Martens were released from prison after completing their sentences for the voluntary manslaughter of Jason Corbett. Both were to be subjected to one year of post-release supervision, which was reported to be served in Tennessee and now walk free, after the horrible murder they committed. Those poor children, i feel so sorry for them, but at the same time, they finally found some peace with their family, away from Molly and her father’s toxic influences.

I can’t comprehend how people end up violently murdering another human being for their own selfish reason. Molly wasn’t bad looking at all, she could’ve easily found someone else and had her own children. How does one sleep with no remorse after savagely killing someone in such a way ?

What are your thoughts ?