Killers Tom and Molly Martens set for early prison release

North Carolina officials have confirmed that the projected prison release date for Tom Martens, a former FBI agent, has been brought forward by three weeks from June 27 to June 6.

This is understood to have been done in response to Tom Martens' engagement with parole services, his record while in custody as well as his age and health.

It is unclear if Mr Martens' daughter, Molly, will also receive the same early release date.

She still has a projected release date of June 27 but North Carolina sources said it’s believed she will also secure the earlier release.

The revised release dates came just two months after the North Carolina Department of Corrections (NCDC) caused controversy with an embarrassing error which saw the father and daughter wrongly given a prison release date in December. This came less than a month after they were sent back to jail for beating Mr Corbett to death with a metal baseball bat and a concrete paving slab.

Both father and daughter are now completing four year and three month sentences imposed for the voluntary manslaughter of the Irish widower in August 2015.

The pair beat the Limerick packaging industry executive to death as he slept in his luxury home outside Winston-Salem with his two children asleep in an upstairs bedroom.

Tom and Molly Martens agreed a plea bargain deal with North Carolina prosecutors to voluntary manslaughter charges last November after they successfully appealed against their 2017 conviction for the second degree murder of Mr Corbett.

Both had served three years and eight months of 20-25 year prison terms before their convictions were overturned by the North Carolina Supreme Court.

The voluntary manslaughter hearing - which heard emotional pleas for heavy sentences from Mr Corbett's two children, Jack (19) and Sarah (17), who were left orphaned by their father's killing - added just a further seven months to the Martens' sentences.

NCDC initially insisted the December prison release dates were correct - but later revised these to June 27 after admitting an error was made by the Central Records Office which calculates parole and prison releases.

During her time in custody on the second degree murder charge, Molly was cited for five separate prison rules breaches, ranging from refusing to obey the order of a prison guard to being in an unsanctioned area of the jail and to being in possession of non-dangerous contraband.

Despite the fact her earlier time in prison will count towards her voluntary manslaughter sentence, Molly is now considered a model inmate - and any record of her previous infractions had been wiped from her official NCDC status.

Current NCDC records indicate that Molly has no record of prison infractions.

Under North Carolina law, inmates who fail to abide by prison rules may not qualify for early release under minimum sentence calculations.

Tom, a former FBI agent and counter-intelligence operative, is in protective measures in custody because of his status as a former law enforcement official.

Molly is currently in the North Carolina Correctional Institute for Women (NCCI) in Raleigh amid indications she may be moved to another prison before her release.

NCDC sources indicated that both facilities operate as admission centres - and further transfers to other prisons may be possible once the admission and evaluation phase is concluded.

NCDC officials made contact with the Corbett family over Christmas to explain the error about the early release that caused outrage both in the US and Ireland in early December.

However, the family have not received a formal apology for the upset caused - or an explanation as to why the father and daughter were kept at Davidson County jail for four weeks when prisoners are normally transferred out of the facility within 24 hours.

The Corbett family said they remain convinced the father and daughter were being prepared for early prison release from the first day they were put back behind bars in North Carolina on November 8 last.

A formal letter of complaint has been sent to North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper with a request for an apology to the Corbett family for the enormous upset caused by the error.

Their mistaken early release was also proposed a full six months before the expiry of the minimum sentence term imposed by Judge David Hall.

He jailed both father and daughter for a further seven months after they admitted the voluntary manslaughter of Mr Corbett on August 2 2015.

The Corbett family confirmed that they had only learned about the proposed early release of the two killers via the Irish media.

Such an early release was slated by the family in December as "a betrayal" and "an insult to the memory" of Jason Corbett.

Mr Corbett's sister, Tracey, who had led the campaign for justice for her brother, said her family had been treated in a disgraceful manner.

"Molly and Tom Martens, by their violent actions, orphaned our brother Jason's beloved two children, Jack (19) and Sarah (17). They have never shown remorse. The events of the sentencing hearing and the confusion over prison release dates in North Carolina this week caused further hurt and upset to two children who have already suffered far too much."

She said her family had been left dealing with a nightmare after the controversial sentencing hearing and then the mistaken early release dates.

Mr Corbett's daughter, Sarah, said she was "heartbroken" by the early release chaos - having warned the North Carolina sentencing hearing: "My father's life is worth more than just a few years in prison."

When they are released next June, Tom and Molly Martens will have to spend 12 months on parole.

They will not be allowed to live together as both will be officially regarded as felons.

Tom has an offender number of 1553797 while Molly has an offender number of 1552729.

The former nanny - who suffers from bipolar disorder - underwent a third psychiatric evaluation in recent months as she was placed on on suicide watch in a North Carolina jail.

Mr Corbett was beaten to death by the Tennessee father and daughter with a metal Louisville Slugger baseball bat and a concrete paving slab in the master bedroom of his North Carolina home in the early hours of August 2 2015.

Both insisted they acted in self defence after claiming Mr Corbett had attacked his wife.

However, the pair were found totally uninjured at the scene whereas Mr Corbett's skull had been so badly shattered that a pathologist warned he could not accurately count the number of blows inflicted.

Pieces of his skull fell out onto the medical table as he was being prepared for the post mortem examination.

Prosecutors claimed six years ago that Mr Corbett was first attacked while in bed and then beaten while helpless on the floor in an assault sparked by a dispute over control of his two children.

Earlier, an attempt had been made to drug him.

Both Tom and Molly Martens then delayed calling police and paramedics to ensure he was dead before they arrived.

It also emerged that Mr Corbett's will had been changed by remote means several weeks earlier to exclude his two children, with the entire benefits of the policy going to Molly Martens.