Daughter says Jason Corbett spoke of moving home to Ireland in days before his murder

The two children did not offer evidence during the Martens’ original 2017 murder trial in North Carolina but are now adamant they want their voices heard in any retrial.

Mr Corbett’s father-in-law and his second wife face being released from prison within the next week after their convictions for his second-degree murder were dramatically overturned by the North Carolina Supreme Court.

The Corbett family now want prosecutors to sanction a full retrial amid hints from the Martens family that a plea bargain to a lesser charge may now be considered.

Members of the Corbett family have travelled to North Carolina to meet prosecutors and police over a possible retrial.

Now, it has emerged that Sarah Corbett has recalled her father talking about bringing them back to Ireland – a critical verification of what prosecutors had always argued.

“One day I was talking to my dad about moving home (to Ireland) and the next he was dead,” she said.

“I said goodnight to him as I went to bed. That was it.”

Sarah recalled her father as being a kind, caring man who tried to make his two children happy and was involved in their activities, including football and baseball.

“My dad used to make me laugh all the time – he would smile just to make me smile.”

The Corbett family want Mr Martens, a retired FBI agent, and Ms Martens, the former nanny to Mr Corbett’s two children, to be retried for second-degree murder.

They also expressed outrage at the depiction of Mr Corbett in the latest issue of US magazine Elle.

Tracey Corbett-Lynch accused the magazine of allowing itself to be used by Tom and Molly Martens in an attempt to destroy the good name of her brother – and to bolster the Martens’ case in any debate over a retrial.

The article focused on allegations of domestic abuse but effectively ignored elements of what one North Carolina Supreme Court judge acknowledged was “overwhelming evidence” against the father and daughter.

“What happens is publications like Elle take an inordinate interest in the baseless claims of a photogenic, white, middle-class girl and her wealthy father, an ex-FBI agent, and propel them into ‘the harsh light of public scrutiny’. One wonders, if Molly looked different, or was not so well-funded and privileged, would Elle so readily take an interest in her lies let alone present them as fact,” Mr Corbett-Lynch said.

“White lies are still lies – and Molly Martens’ lies go way beyond white lies – they wilfully seek to destroy the good name of a good man, against whom detectives could not find a scintilla of evidence to support Molly’s convenient theories of domestic abuse.

“It is a terrible disrespect to all victims of domestic abuse which include Jason and his children at the hands of Molly Martens.”

 

Irish Independent