She’ll always be remembered as a MURDERER
Slain Jason’s teen son blasts Molly Martens as she is jailed for US killing
THE young son of slain Irishman Jason Corbett yesterday blasted his killer stepmother. As Molly Martens and her father Thomas were jailed for 20 to 25 years, 13-year-old Jack Corbett said in a letter to the court: “She will always be remembered as a murderer.” A jury in the US convicted the pair of the second-degree murder of the 39-year-old Limerick man. As she was led away in handcuffs, Molly, 33, sobbed: “I’m really sorry mom – I wish they’d just kill me.”
MOLLY and Thomas Martens were jailed for up to 25 years last night for the second-degree murder of Jason Corbett. The jury in North Carolina took just three hours and 20 minutes to convict the pair in a unanimous verdict. As she was led away in handcuffs Molly Martens, 33, sobbed: “I’m really sorry Mom – I wish they’d just kill me.” In emotional scenes in Courtroom C of the Davidson County courthouse, the former Tennessee model wailed as Jason’s teenage son Jack explained how his father wouldn’t be there to see him and his sister grow up. In a letter read out on Jack’s behalf, the 13-year-old said his stepmum’s brutal slaying of her husband had robbed the youngsters of “a kind, loving and adoring father”. He continued: “I will never be able to give him a hug, to give him a present, to help me up when I’m down. He will never watch me grow into a teenager, see me get married or catch a ball. “She has put this burden on this family, and it will not be done until she is put away. She will always be remembered as a murderer.” The attorney reading the statement added: “There is no joy, there is no triumph, there is no pride. There is only grief.” A hysterical Molly, dressed head to toe in black with her blonde hair tied back in a ponytail, was comforted by her lawyers as her father Thomas, 67, sat in silence. Her mother Sharon and her brothers wept as the jury of nine women and three men sealed the fate of father and daughter. Present for the verdict was Jason’s sister Tracey along with other family members and supporters from Limerick. The family held one another and broke down in tears as the verdict was announced. Found guilty of second-degree murder, Judge David Lee sentenced the Martens to between 20 and 25 years in prison each. Both were immediately taken into custody and placed in handcuffs. Under US criminal law, second-degree murder refers to intentional but unpremeditated killing. Thomas Martens chose not to speak before his sentencing but for the first time in court, Molly made a statement. Struggling through tears she said: “I did not murder my husband. My father did not murder my husband. “The incidents of August 2 happened as they happened on a somewhat regular basis, the only difference is my father was there.” The judge later recommended that Molly Martens seek psychiatric and psychological help while in prison. Mr Corbett, 39, died in his home in Wallburg, North Carolina, on August 2, 2015. Martens and her father, an EX-FBI agent, beat the defenceless dad around the head with a metal baseball bat and a brick. Prosecutors described the ice-cold blonde’s attack as “horrific, heinous, brutal and cruel”. Martens admitted she had kept the brick on her bedside table. She was also the main beneficiary of a $600,000 life insurance policy on her husband. Prosecutors claimed she first made an attempt on her husband’s life in 2015 by spiking a mojito with the powerful sedative Trazedone. Thomas Martens admitted that he disliked his son-in-law prior to the murderous attack. Both Molly Martens, who was Jason’s second wife, and her father had pleaded not guilty, claiming they acted
We will make sure Jason is remembered for who he was, not how he died TRACEY LYNCH DAVIDSON COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA YESTERDAY
in self-defence. However Assistant District Attorney Greg Brown said: “They literally beat the skin off of his skull with that bat and that brick. “They, acting in concert, her and him, literally crushed his skull. They hit him at least four times after he was dead – maybe more. “It takes a lot of force to crush a skull. They didn’t just split his skull or rip the flesh off the bone. They crushed his skull.” Davidson County prosecutors claimed Jason was murdered because he planned to move back to Ireland with his children, Jack and Sarah, but without his second wife. He had refused to sign adoption papers giving her equal custody of the kids. His first wife, Margaret ‘Mags’ Fitzpatrick, died of an asthma attack in 2006 when the children were toddlers. Speaking after the verdict Jason’s sister Tracey Lynch said: “I can promise you that our family is going to stick up for Jason’s memory, telling the world that this was a good man. Jason was a loving man and he was a good father. “You can make sure the Corbett family will make sure he is remembered for what he was, not for how he died.” Tracey added: “On August 2, 2015, my niece and nephew were made orphans in a brutal, merciless killing. My parents lost their child and we lost the most wonderful brother and friend. “Jason was unarmed. He was struck when he was lying down in the middle of the night. Two people battered him until he was dead. And then battered him even more. “One of them swung a heavy metal baseball bat at Jason. One of them used a brick. A brick that has been on her nightstand. “When we sifted through the evidence, we found those details so unbelievable. Who keeps a brick on their nightstand? “We worried the jury might not find the two accused guilty but they did, and we thank them for that. “The jury have fulfilled their duty and I can promise them that we will fulfil our duty to help create a good future for Jason’s children who he loved.” David Freedman and Walter Holton, lawyers for Thomas and Molly Martens, said they will appeal the decision.