Irish Daily Mail

HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE

...they say, rules the world: and for nearly 10 years, Molly Martens rocked the cradles of Jack and Sarah Corbett. Now, as she faces trial for murdering their father, we chart the string of Facebook posts that reveal how obsessed she is with ‘her children

- By Sheila Flynn

OVER the past 24 hours a shocked Irish public has been gradually digesting the explosive evidence, unveiled in yesterday’s Mail, showing just why investigat­ors have charged Molly Martens with murdering her Irish husband, Jason Corbett. It revealed she and her father had admitted hitting Jason in the head with a baseball bat and a paving brick; that Molly was furious at Jason’s plans to travel to Ireland with his children ‘with or without her’; that she removed large sums of money from their shared bank accounts after his death.

Equally extraordin­ary, though, is the series of posts she has been putting on Facebook ever since she killed Jason (allegedly in self-defence) and left his children orphans.

Aside from the total failure to mention stoving in Jason’s skull, the posts detail her obsessive attempts to contact, and somehow win over, Jack and Sarah. She appears not to accept that they — as a simple fact — are not her children. So chilling are the posts that one of the conditions of Molly’s bail is that she agree to end all contact with Jason’s immediate family, specifical­ly Jack and Sarah. Read this small selection of her posts and you’ll start to see why...

AUGUST 21, 2015

[The day the children returned to Ireland with their aunt and uncle]

I miss you with every single heartbeat.

AUGUST 27, 2015

Do you remember this day? After a long, fun day at the pool with minimal streamline work, we came home to roast marshmallo­ws. ‘Roast’ may not be the most appropriat­e word choice as Jack, your attempt at roasting involved catching the marshmallo­w on fire as soon as possible and eating off the charred remains, and yours, Sarah Beara involved the marshmallo­w roasting from such a safe distance that one could hardly declare it warm.

Neverthele­ss, we laughed and ate and chased after fireflies when we were stuffed with marshmallo­ws and cheesy poofs. I will not forget a single moment of so many seemingly normal days. They are precious to me. You are precious.

AUGUST 31, 2015

[Sharing a picture of them from Jason’s Facebook page]

Just a normal evening for Jack and Sarah on a late spring evening. Sarah, do you remember peeling the carrot for the mama and baby rabbits in the back woods? Jack, I’m sure you recall passing the football. And it was at our home, in your father’s words, our ‘home sweet home’. I miss seeing you, holding you, hearing you, and watching you grow. I am certain you have changed so much already in the two weeks I haven’t heard from you.

I am also certain that you have a strong foundation of character and mind. You will remember with truth of your lives and have faith in my love for you.

SEPTEMBER 7, 2015

Jack and Sarah, it never once crossed my mind not to love you as much because we didn’t share our genetics. I am sorry that others seem to think this trait should be valued above all others.

Please let me say, ‘I love you,’ to the children I tucked into bed every night, who called me ‘mom,’ and said, ‘love you too.’ You can have them call me whatever you want, but how could it harm them for me to remind them they are loved by the person who raised and nurtured them every day. [In another post on the same day] My babies — I could never forget the billion memories that strand together to make the life line we share. There would be no way to fabricate the details of making you breakfasts and lunches and dinners, of buying the perfect band aids [and] making Christmas lists for Santa.

She also mentioned ‘fixing your hair, helping you arrange your stuffed animals, teaching you how to read, playing memory games, singing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star’. Then ‘holding you when you had a nightmare, reading our favorite books, baking countless cakes and cookies together, painting, coloring, listening’.

She ended the message by saying: ‘No one can take those things away from us or say they never happened.’

DECEMBER 5, 2015

Jacko,

Thinking about this day, about walking for miles and seeing sights. I am thinking about the hours after this picture was taken, of dinner and a show. I am thinking about you ordering Escargot for your appetizer and loving the tiny snails saturated in butter, garlic, wine and cheese! I am rememberin­g you leaning forward in your seat after dinner, at the show, aching to be closer to the performanc­e.

I hope both of you are being nice to one another and that you know how much you are loved and missed. Wishing I could say, I love you. Mom

DECEMBER 8, 2015

[The day Molly’s appeal to regain custody was declined]

‘It’s not about the best interest of the child. It’s about the law.’

Our lives do not matter in the eyes of the law. A Will made when you were ‘infants,’ and before I came into your lives is what matters. It does not matter that clear decisions were made after this short document — moving across the ocean to another country, a marriage... It does not matter that I took you to every doctor or dentist appointmen­t. It does not matter that I signed every parent form you ever had at school from age four up.

It does not matter what you wanted. Nor does it matter what your teachers, coaches and friends witnessed in regard to our relationsh­ip.

It does not matter that I kissed you goodnight and tucked you in every night. It does not matter that I held you as you got your vaccinatio­ns or helped you with your homework or read you stories.

It does not matter that you have given me Mother’s Day cards every year.

‘She is not even a real parent. She is not even blood related.’

What matters, in the eyes of the law, is that I do not share your blood and I am not listed as your guardian on a document created before I met you. I am heartbroke­n, and devastatin­gly sorry.

Our lives together may not have mattered in the eyes of the Law, but they are what matters most to me.

Jack and Sarah — I love you and will always be your mommy.

DECEMBER 11, 2015:

I do not have a moment without you on my mind. Every action causes a flood of memories to swim through my thoughts like the constant waves that crash on the shore, one after another. As I brush my teeth I think about putting your toothpaste on your baby toothbrush­es, or you squabbling with each other about who lost the toothpaste top or who stole whose sample from the dentist. I think about your princess toothbrush­es and power ranger toothbrush­es, about the toothbrush­es you decorated with stickers that had your names... Those thoughts are but a few of the multitude of a single moment.

When I see this picture of you with Santa, I see so much more than the second this was captured. It makes me think of eating candy canes and making Christmas cookies, sipping hot apple cider and hot chocolate, making Christmas lists, filling the house with glittered snowflakes and singing Christmas songs at the top of your lungs... It makes me think of magic and so many magical moments I shared with you.

I love you with all of my heart, all of the time. Mom

DECEMBER 13, 2015:

Thinking of decorating the Christmas tree, of hanging ornaments on every single branch. Our tree might not have won a best-dressed competitio­n or qualified for the pages of a magazine but it was covered in love and dripping in memories every year. It had homemade glittery snowflakes and foam ornaments with school pictures and reindeer made with clothes pins and candy canes.

It had square one art portraits and angels made from handprints and ornaments we carefully selected in Mexico or Dollywood or on cruise ships or in airports to remember our trips. It had pictures of mommy up in heaven and pictures of our dog and clay gingerbrea­d men you’d decorated.

We played Christmas music on the pandora station and took out ornament after ornament from our Christmas boxes. It had fake snow and so

many white lights that twinkled under the extra strands of colored lights that wrapped it from bottom to top.

It was the most beautiful Christmas tree to us. Missing you with every heartbeat, thinking of you always, and rememberin­g you in everything I see or taste or hear or touch. All my love, Mama

DECEMBER 14, 2015

Missing you... Missing you carefully unwrapping the butter, of measuring rice flour and sugar and sprinkling ingredient­s. Missing your delight in cracking the egg and tasting the dough. Missing the messy kitchen and eating the broken Angels and Gingerbrea­d men. Missing mixing food coloring into the buttery frosting. Missing your laughter and smiles. Missing you sneaking chocolate chips and MM’s and spoonfuls of icing.

Missing you and praying you feel loved and cherished during this Christmas season.

Hoping you make cookies this year and that your sweet memories can remind you of our lives... Missing you... Mom

DECEMBER 16, 2015

There is not a way to turn off my brain. My thoughts of you do not cease when I converse or write or eat or drive or sleep.

There is only surviving from one moment to the next by hoping and wishing and praying that you are okay. I hope you are trying hard at school and in sports, that you are treating the people in your lives with kindness, love and respect and are finding happiness in your activities and those people surroundin­g you. I wish for you a million things and pray that your heart is directing your actions with courage and kindness.

DECEMBER 17, 2015

FOUR MONTHS SINCE YOU WERE TAKEN.

I have not heard your voice and supposedly, the hundreds of cards of I have sent to you have not made it to your hands. I will never forget our tears or your pleadings on that day. I will never forget that ten minutes prior to being taken from my arms you were happily getting out things to pack your lunches for the first day of school.

I will never forget that I begged for more time to gather some things for you to take to the hotel where you would be staying ‘temporaril­y’ with your ‘temporary guardians.’ I will never forget their response. ‘No, we need to leave right now.’ You are my heart and soul. You are thought about, prayed for, and loved every second of every minute of every hour of every day. Mom

DECEMBER 19, 2015

...trying to fill my mind with the little memories that fill up the days of our lives...

Running in the park with you and Boldy, a girl and her dog, Making silly selfies with you — Sarah Beara, Your smiles and delight with your Christmas Eve gift, Jack, The day you won your first gold medal — six years old on the freestyle relay at city meet, Red velvet cupcakes on Memorial Day and a baby girl covered in crumbs...

Simple moments that simply matter. Missing you and loving you always. Mama

DECEMBER 20, 2015

Jack and Sarah,

You are my home. Without you I will always be homesick.

Praying you are surrounded by love and hugs and the meaning of Christmas. I wonder if you went to Mass today... If we heard the same message although we are miles apart...

May light flicker still in your darkest moments, may it shine bright in your lightest moments and may you always, always feel loved.

DECEMBER 24, 2015

Thinking of the ghosts of Christmas Eve past... Sweet girls making their own Christmas snow globes, family dinners, Christmas crackers, midnight masses, candle light, Caroling, Christmas movies, cookies left out for Santa, celery and carrots for the reindeer, reindeer food sprinkled on the lawn to guide their way, prayers around the table, and dreams of magic...

Missing you so much...

Wishing you sweet dreams tonight and praying you have received some of your things from home to give you comfort. All my love, Mommy

DECEMBER 25, 2015

There are so many people that love you and miss you, Jack and Sarah. So many people who were such a big part of your lives wish they could wish you a Merry Christmas. You have lost so much. I know you would never be allowed to speak to me but perhaps someone could consider you having a conversati­on over the phone with a best friend, a cousin, an aunt, an uncle, or your Seecu? For you, Jack and Sarah. Not for me. Could someone consider, please, the possibilit­y that it would be a gift for You to enjoy such a call.

Please. On Christmas.

DECEMBER 27, 2015

No one can take away my memories... Even if they can distort and pollute yours. I am thankful tonight for your first days of school, for making and baking hundreds of cookies and cakes, for halloweens and Christmase­s and Easters, for great days at school and awards earned and won, for snuggles and stories read, for talks about school and friends and life and God, for picking out clothes and for playing with dolls and games and toys... I am so grateful for you... I love you with all of my heart, all of the time... Mommy

DECEMBER 28, 2015

Jack and Sarah,

...Thinking of you, now and always. I am wondering what I could have done to be a better mother, to give you a better life. I tried my very best.

I wish I could hear your voices. I wish I knew your new friends’ names, what songs you are singing in the car, or dancing to at dance, what you got for Christmas and what your favorite part of Christmas dinner was. I look at this picture and I remember that day but I recall so much more. I remember that soft white cardigan you are wearing, Sarbear. We got it in Chicago. And then I think of that day in Chicago, Jack, and I think of you eating that snack mix at Embassy Suites that night after museums and shopping, and I think of you puffing up because you were allergic to the sesame sticks!

Then I remember you looking in the mirror and laughing at your reflection. Then I remember other reactions you had, like that time at the dentist in Ireland when they gave you a numbing shot but it effected your optic nerve and you were seeing double! I was so scared but you thought it was hilarious that you could see two moms!

It is never-ending... The memories — the thoughts of you, just like my love and hope and just like my prayers. They are ceaseless.

DECEMBER 30, 2015

Jack and Sarah,

I am thinking about teaching you to ride your bike, to dance, to swim, to surf, to dive, to streamline, to front flip off the diving board, to make a salad, to cook spaghetti, to roller skate, to ice a cake, to wrap a present, to pace yourself when running... I am grateful for having had the opportunit­y to be your teacher, your coach... Your mom. Loving you now and always.

DECEMBER 31, 2015

Some things are hard to imagine. Unfortunat­ely, that doesn’t make them less true. It is unbearable to think of people purposely teaching you to hate the mother that has raised, nurtured, and loved you for as long as you could remember. It is wrong and it is not in the best interest of anyone, certainly not you.

I will love you unconditio­nally. If your memories have been corrupted or polluted, if you believe somehow that I was a bad person or a bad mother... Even if someone has taught you to hate me, I will love you.

I will love you like I did five years ago, or eight years ago, or one year ago; I will love you like I did the day you wrote me this letter.

I will always love you.

JANUARY 2, 2016

Missing your hugs, your laughter, your cards, your smiles, your stories. Missing your arguments, finding candy wrappers in your pockets, towels on the floor...

Missing the big things, the little things and everything in between...

Five years ago... I love this shot of my daughter at this age... It captures her spirit... her character... I can see the giggle behind that smile...

JANUARY 5, 2015

I have loved, nurtured and protected you to the best of my ability in the environmen­t we found ourselves. I do not know what you will remember about our lives but I know some of the things you are being told. I pray one day you are able to remember with truth and clarity some of the events of our lives.

You are my heart and soul, my sunshine and my happy, and I will always love you.

 ??  ?? Ramblings: Some of the dozens of Facebook posts on Molly’s page since Jason’s death
Ramblings: Some of the dozens of Facebook posts on Molly’s page since Jason’s death
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 ??  ?? Incessant:
Molly constantly attempts to
reach the children via
Facebook
Incessant: Molly constantly attempts to reach the children via Facebook
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