The Jason Corbett Case: Convictions, Plea Deal, and Release

The Jason Corbett case is the killing of a 39-year-old Irish father in his North Carolina home on August 2, 2015, by his American wife, Molly Martens Corbett, and her father, Thomas Martens, a retired FBI agent. The two were convicted of second-degree murder in 2017, had their convictions overturned on appeal, and in 2023 pleaded to voluntary manslaughter. They were released from prison on June 6, 2024.

Who Jason Corbett Was

Jason Corbett was from Limerick, Ireland. His first wife, Margaret “Mags” Fitzpatrick, died in November 2006 of what an Irish autopsy attributed to an acute cardiorespiratory attack related to her lifelong asthma, weeks after giving birth to their daughter Sarah.¹ Jason was left to raise Sarah and her older brother Jack, and he named his sister Tracey Corbett Lynch and her husband David as the children’s legal guardians should anything happen to him.²

In March 2008, Jason hired 24-year-old Molly Martens of Knoxville, Tennessee, as a live-in au pair.³ They became engaged in February 2010, married in 2011, and eventually moved the family to Wallburg in Davidson County, North Carolina.⁴

The Night of the Killing

In the early morning hours of August 2, 2015, Thomas Martens, a 30-year FBI veteran, was visiting the couple’s home on Panther Creek Court.⁵⁶⁷

Both Molly and Thomas admitted they had done it and said they acted in self-defense. Thomas told investigators he heard screaming, grabbed the bat, and rushed upstairs to find Jason choking Molly. He said Jason threatened to kill her and that he kept striking him because Jason would not “go down.” On the 911 call, Thomas said, “I may have killed him.”⁶⁴ Molly said Jason had been screaming “I’m going to kill you” and that she struck him with a paving brick she kept on her nightstand.⁸

Investigators noted neither had significant injuries. Molly had redness on her neck, which the defense called a nail mark from being choked; prosecutors argued she showed no real signs of a violent struggle.⁴ A blood spatter expert testified some of the blows landed while Jason’s head was only twelve to eighteen inches off the floor, suggesting the attacker was standing over him as he lay down.⁸

The 2017 Murder Convictions

A grand jury indicted Molly and Thomas in January 2016 on second-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter charges.⁷ The trial ran in Davidson County Superior Court in the summer of 2017.

Prosecutors argued two motives: Molly’s fear that Jason would take the children back to Ireland, and a $600,000 life insurance policy for which she was the sole beneficiary.⁹ Prosecutor Alan Martin told jurors there were “so many blows to his head the pathologist couldn’t count them.”⁷ The defense described Jason as a “violent, controlling man” and presented recordings of him yelling at Molly along with allegations of sexual assault and attempted suffocation.⁶

The jury rejected the self-defense claims. Both defendants were convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to twenty to twenty-five years in prison.¹⁰

Why the Convictions Were Overturned

The North Carolina Court of Appeals reversed both convictions in 2020. It found the trial court had improperly instructed the jury on the “aggressor doctrine” as to Thomas Martens despite insufficient evidence to support it. Because the trial court had already ruled as a matter of law that Molly was not an aggressor, allowing the jury to consider Thomas as one undercut the core of the defense. The appellate court also found that a series of evidentiary rulings, taken together, denied the defendants a “full and meaningful defense.”¹¹

A key exclusion involved statements Jack and Sarah gave hours after their father’s death to a social worker at the Dragonfly House Child Advocacy Center in Mocksville. In those recorded interviews, the children described alleged verbal and physical abuse by Jason toward Molly. After moving to Ireland, both children later recanted, saying their earlier accounts had been “influenced by Molly.”¹²

The state appealed. In March 2021, the North Carolina Supreme Court upheld the order for a new trial by a 4-3 vote. The majority held that excluding the children’s Dragonfly House statements was prejudicial error because they were admissible under the hearsay exception for statements made for medical diagnosis or treatment. The court also found that testimony from a bloodstain pattern expert regarding certain physical evidence did not meet the requirements for expert testimony under state rules.¹³

The 2023 Plea Deal and 2024 Release

A retrial was set in Forsyth County but never took place. On October 30, 2023, Molly Corbett pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter, and Thomas Martens pleaded guilty to the same charge. The second-degree murder charges were dropped.¹⁰ Superior Court Judge David Hall accepted the pleas and held a sentencing hearing that stretched over several days.¹⁴

Both defendants were sentenced to 51 to 74 months in prison with credit for time served.¹⁵ Having been incarcerated since 2017, they were released on June 6, 2024, after roughly six years and ten months behind bars. Both were required to serve twelve months of post-release supervision, which they were allowed to complete in Tennessee under an interstate compact, and as convicted felons they were barred from residing at the same address.¹⁶ They were warned that any contact with the Corbett family could breach their parole conditions.¹⁷ Supervision is scheduled to end June 6, 2026.⁷

Jason’s family called the outcome a deep disappointment, saying in a statement that after “a nine-year battle for justice” they were “deeply disappointed by the impending release of Tom and Molly Martens, the individuals responsible for the senseless and brutal murder of Jason, leaving his two children orphaned.”⁷

Where Jason’s Children Are Now

Immediately after Jason’s death, Molly filed for custody of Jack and Sarah, but Tracey Corbett Lynch, already named the children’s legal guardian, fought to bring them back to Ireland. A North Carolina court ruled in favor of the Lynches in August 2015, and the children were returned to Limerick.²¹⁸

Both siblings still live in Ireland with the Lynches. Sarah has written a children’s book series starting with Noodle Loses Dad, and in March 2025 published a memoir titled A Time for Truth: My Father Jason and My Search for Justice and Healing.²

The Netflix Documentary

A Deadly American Marriage, directed by Jessica Burgess and Jenny Popplewell, premiered on Netflix on May 9, 2025.¹⁹ The film is structured like a trial, presenting the two sides’ accounts side by side: Molly and Thomas Martens, who continue to maintain they should never have been convicted, and Jason’s children and sister, who believe the killing was deliberate.²⁰

In an interview for the documentary, Molly addressed her estrangement from Jack and Sarah, saying she believed they “hate the person that they think that I am” and that she was “the mother of the Jack and Sarah that existed in another lifetime.” She said the children had “been used as tools of evil” and “weaponized against me.”⁷

1
People. All About Margaret Fitzpatrick, Jason Corbett’s First Wife
2
People. Where Are Jason Corbett’s Kids Now
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Biography. Jason Corbett Death: Molly Martens
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CBS News. Jason Corbett Death: Woman Fights for Her Brother’s Honor
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WXII 12. Corbett Martens Sentencing Hearing
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The Assembly. Corbett Irish Murder Case
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Biography. Molly Martens Now
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CBS News. Jason Corbett Case: A Look at the Evidence
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Irish Post. Widow Accused of Killing Irish Father Stood to Inherit $600,000 Life Insurance Payout
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WXII 12. Molly Corbett, Thomas Martens Accept New Plea Deal
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FindLaw. State v. Corbett, NC Court of Appeals
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MyFox8. Court Shows Never-Before-Seen Video of Corbett Children Testimony
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FindLaw. State v. Corbett, NC Supreme Court
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RTÉ. Corbett Retrial
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WXII 12. Release Date for Molly Corbett and Thomas Martens Moved Up
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RTÉ. Martens Prison Release
17
Independent.ie. Killers Tom and Molly Martens Warned That Any Contact With Victim Jason Corbett’s Family May Breach Parole Conditions
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Irish Times. Corbett Children Placed With Aunt and Uncle After Custody Battle
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Netflix Tudum. A Deadly American Marriage Release Date News
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Netflix Tudum. A Deadly American Marriage: Molly Martens, Jason Corbett Children