Latest news with #JasonCorbett
Yahoo
06-07-2025
- Yahoo
Daughter of Irish man beaten to death by American wife, her ex-FBI agent father rejects self-defense claims
A new documentary raises questions about the 2015 murder of an Irish-born man in his North Carolina home. Jason Corbett's American wife, Molly Martens, and her father, former FBI agent Thomas Martens, confessed to beating Corbett to death on Aug. 2, 2015, but they have maintained that they were acting in self-defense after Corbett apparently tried to choke his wife. "There were times when I thought, 'I'm gonna die,'" Molly Martens says in the documentary. The Martens were convicted in Corbett's death in 2017, but their convictions were overturned on appeal. In 2023, Thomas Martens pleaded guilty to beating Corbett to death with a bat and Molly Martens pleaded no contest, prompting their respective releases from prison in 2024. Model, Ex-fbi Agent Who Claimed Self-defense Plead In Her Irish Businessman Husband's Killing A Netflix documentary titled "A Deadly American Marriage," which premiered on May 9, follows the case and its many lingering questions, featuring interviews with both sides of the family, including Molly and Thomas Martens, as well as Corbett's two children, Jack and Sarah. Read On The Fox News App The filmmakers also spoke with Corbett's sister, who lives in Ireland and was eventually granted custody of her brother's two children with his first wife because she was listed as their legal guardian if anything ever happened to him. Model, 33, And Her Ex-fbi Agent Father Get 20 Years In Prison For Killing Husband Sarah told Fox News Digital she does not think her father got justice. "I definitely don't think justice has been served. I don't think it could ever be served, but definitely not what the Martens were given," she said. Now the author of a memoir titled, "A Time for Truth," Sarah says she felt the documentary accurately portrayed both her family and the Martens. Follow The Fox True Crime Team On X While the film leaves viewers with lingering questions, Sarah remains firm in her belief about what happened to her father. "Everyone knows that I believe that Molly and Tom murdered my dad. That's my belief," she said. "But that's not what they were convicted of. There's a lot of evidence [in 'A Time for Truth'] that points to that that doesn't get shown anywhere else. So, I think the book has a lot more detail in it." Ex-fbi Agent, Daughter Charged With Murdering Woman's Husband She added that her book is "not just sad" and has happy anecdotes about her father, as well. Fox News Digital reached out to Molly and Thomas Martens' respective attorneys. Molly Martens alleged that her husband was choking her when her father walked into the room and the deadly confrontation began, per local outlet WXII. A medical examiner determined that Corbett had injuries to his arms, legs and torso, as well as a fractured skull. The medical examiner said the man died of blunt force trauma and sustained at least 10 hits to the head. Sign Up To Get The True Crime Newsletter Corbett and Molly Martens met in 2008 following the death of Corbett's late wife, who suffered an asthma attack. Corbett then advertised for an au pair to help him care for his two children with his late wife and gave Molly the job. They were engaged in 2010 and married in 2011. Idaho Murders Timeline: Bryan Kohberger Plea Caps Yearslong Quest For Justice A former North Carolina FBI agent and prosecutor who knew of Thomas Martens said he was a talented agent who supervised a team of employees in Greensboro. "He had a good reputation – a very good reputation," Chris Swecker, now an attorney, told Fox News Digital. "He was in the Greensboro office of the FBI for a good while. I believe he was the supervisory resident agent up in Greensboro, which meant he was in charge of maybe 15 or 20 agents in a pretty active office in the Bureau." Swecker added that Thomas Martens would have had plenty of experience conducting interrogations, and that would have helped him as police interrogated him in Corbett's killing. "Without a doubt," Swecker said when asked if Thomas Martens' professional experience would help him in an interrogation. "He knows where the interrogator is going when he asks a question and… the piece of evidence or point he's trying to extract from him. It's a chess game, if you're trying to protect yourself and your daughter, for example." GET REAL-TIME UPDATES AT THE FOX NEWS True Crime Hub The former FBI agent described Corbett's killing as "one of those cases where you wonder if you ever really get the answers, and there's only two people that will ever know, and it's Tom and his daughter."Original article source: Daughter of Irish man beaten to death by American wife, her ex-FBI agent father rejects self-defense claims
Fox News
06-07-2025
- Fox News
Daughter of Irish man beaten to death by American wife, her ex-FBI agent father rejects self-defense claims
A new documentary raises questions about the 2015 murder of an Irish-born man in his North Carolina home. Jason Corbett's American wife, Molly Martens, and her father, former FBI agent Thomas Martens, confessed to beating Corbett to death on Aug. 2, 2015, but they have maintained that they were acting in self-defense after Corbett apparently tried to choke his wife. "There were times when I thought, 'I'm gonna die,'" Molly Martens says in the documentary. The Martens were convicted in Corbett's death in 2017, but their convictions were overturned on appeal. In 2023, Thomas Martens pleaded guilty to beating Corbett to death with a bat and Molly Martens pleaded no contest, prompting their respective releases from prison in 2024. A Netflix documentary titled "A Deadly American Marriage," which premiered on May 9, follows the case and its many lingering questions, featuring interviews with both sides of the family, including Molly and Thomas Martens, as well as Corbett's two children, Jack and Sarah. The filmmakers also spoke with Corbett's sister, who lives in Ireland and was eventually granted custody of her brother's two children with his first wife because she was listed as their legal guardian if anything ever happened to him. Sarah told Fox News Digital she does not think her father got justice. "I definitely don't think justice has been served. I don't think it could ever be served, but definitely not what the Martens were given," she said. Now the author of a memoir titled, "A Time for Truth," Sarah says she felt the documentary accurately portrayed both her family and the Martens. While the film leaves viewers with lingering questions, Sarah remains firm in her belief about what happened to her father. "Everyone knows that I believe that Molly and Tom murdered my dad. That's my belief," she said. "But that's not what they were convicted of. There's a lot of evidence [in 'A Time for Truth'] that points to that that doesn't get shown anywhere else. So, I think the book has a lot more detail in it." She added that her book is "not just sad" and has happy anecdotes about her father, as well. Fox News Digital reached out to Molly and Thomas Martens' respective attorneys. Molly Martens alleged that her husband was choking her when her father walked into the room and the deadly confrontation began, per local outlet WXII. A medical examiner determined that Corbett had injuries to his arms, legs and torso, as well as a fractured skull. The medical examiner said the man died of blunt force trauma and sustained at least 10 hits to the head. Corbett and Molly Martens met in 2008 following the death of Corbett's late wife, who suffered an asthma attack. Corbett then advertised for an au pair to help him care for his two children with his late wife and gave Molly the job. They were engaged in 2010 and married in 2011. A former North Carolina FBI agent and prosecutor who knew of Thomas Martens said he was a talented agent who supervised a team of employees in Greensboro. "He had a good reputation – a very good reputation," Chris Swecker, now an attorney, told Fox News Digital. "He was in the Greensboro office of the FBI for a good while. I believe he was the supervisory resident agent up in Greensboro, which meant he was in charge of maybe 15 or 20 agents in a pretty active office in the Bureau." Swecker added that Thomas Martens would have had plenty of experience conducting interrogations, and that would have helped him as police interrogated him in Corbett's killing. "Without a doubt," Swecker said when asked if Thomas Martens' professional experience would help him in an interrogation. "He knows where the interrogator is going when he asks a question and… the piece of evidence or point he's trying to extract from him. It's a chess game, if you're trying to protect yourself and your daughter, for example." GET REAL-TIME UPDATES AT THE FOX NEWS TRUE CRIME HUB The former FBI agent described Corbett's killing as "one of those cases where you wonder if you ever really get the answers, and there's only two people that will ever know, and it's Tom and his daughter."
Dubai Eye
24-06-2025
- Dubai Eye
Truth, Trauma, and Healing: Sarah Corbett Lynch's Story
Dane and Sana speak Sarah Corbett Lynch who was just eight years old when her father, Jason Corbett, was killed in 2015. Despite the trauma, Sarah has become an author and an advocate for others navigating grief and identity. And have you ever exaggerated on your CV to help get that dream job? Well that is exactly what one 'fake Dentist' done and has now been charged by police after treating dozens of patients. All discussed and debated on The Debrief!
Irish Times
16-06-2025
- Irish Times
Jason Corbett's killers, Molly and Tom Martens, complete North Carolina parole
Tom and Molly Martens , the North Carolina father and daughter jailed for the killing of Limerick man Jason Corbett , have completed their parole. Records from the North Carolina Department of Corrections show the pair's one-year parole period was officially terminated on June 6th. During that time, Tom Martens (75), a former FBI agent, and his daughter Molly (41) were subject to strict conditions, including where they could live and travel. They were also subject to monitoring by parole officials in Davidson County, North Carolina. READ MORE Neither came to the attention of authorities during this period, meaning they can now move freely within the United States and live together in the family home. Their parole status has been officially changed to 'inactive', records show. The killing of Mr Corbett, who was married to Molly, was recently the subject of a high-profile Netflix documentary which interviewed the victim's two children as well as the perpetrators. [ Netflix documentary sheds new light on Jason Corbett killing Opens in new window ] In October 2023, the Martens were sentenced to a minimum of four years to include time already served under a plea deal they accepted for the voluntary manslaughter of Mr Corbett. Both were released from prison just more than a year ago. In their original 2017 trial, the Martens were convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to between 20 and 25 years. The court heard that in the early hours of August 2nd, 2015, paramedics were called to the home Mr Corbett (39) shared with Molly and his two young children Jack and Sarah, from a previous marriage in Ireland, at Panther Creek Court in a suburb of the North Carolina city of Winston-Salem. Jason Corbett was killed by the Martens in August 2015. Photograph: Brendan Gleeson They found Ms Martens attempting to carry out CPR on Mr Corbett, who had suffered traumatic injuries. State prosecutors argued that the victim had been beaten to death with a baseball bat and a paving brick by Tom Martens because the Martens feared that if Mr Corbett returned to Ireland, the children would be taken from Molly Martens. The prosecution also made the case that Molly Martens would benefit from a $600,000 (€518,000) life insurance policy. In their defence, the Martens argued the killing was in self-defence against an abusive spouse. [ Opinion: Molly Martens assassinated her husband's reputation Opens in new window ] Their 2017 second-degree murder conviction was overturned on appeal in 2020 and the retrial was moved from Davidson to Forsyth County due to the intensity of the media and public interest in the story. Before the retrial began, the Martens accepted a plea deal for voluntary manslaughter in October 2023. The district attorney dropped the murder charges, but Judge David Hall advised them that a 'no-contest' admission, under North Carolina law, was taken to be an admission of a guilty plea. Under the deal, Thomas Martens admitted hitting Mr Corbett on the head with a metal baseball bat and his daughter admitted striking him on the head or shoulder with a concrete landscaping brick. The plea agreement stated that the 'autopsy and circumstances of the scene establish that at least some of the fatal blows inflicted were of a nature, number and level of force that exceeded what could have been reasonably necessary in furtherance of perfect self-defence'.
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Yahoo
Teen daughter of murder victim writes children's book series
An Irish businessman is killed by his American au-pair-turned-wife and her father. They claim self-defense. The dead man's sister fights to clear his name. "48 Hours" correspondent Maureen Maher investigates in "In Jason's Name," By the time Sarah Corbett Lynch was 8 years old, she had lost three parents, been moved back and forth halfway across the world twice and experienced more loss than anyone of us do in an entire lifetime, let alone childhood. Sarah's birth mother died when she was just an infant. A few years later, her father Jason Corbett, a successful Irish businessman, married their young, beautiful American nanny, Molly Martens. The newlyweds, Sarah and her older brother Jack, moved from Limerick to North Carolina. Molly was the only mother Sarah had ever really known and the two were incredibly close. But the married couple grew apart and on Aug. 2, 2015, Jason Corbett was beaten to death by Molly Corbett and her father Tom Martens. They claimed it was self-defense. Within days of Jason Corbett's death, a very public and ugly international custody battle ensued between Molly Corbett and Jason's sister, Tracey Corbett-Lynch. Corbett-Lynch prevailed. The children abruptly moved back to Ireland to live with their aunt, uncle and two cousins. Molly Corbett and her father were convicted of murder and sentenced 20 to 25 years in prison. In March 2021, the North Carolina Supreme Court ordered a new trial. The two were released on bond the following month. In October 2023, Molly Corbett pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter and Tom Martens pleaded guilty to the same charge; the second-degree murder charge was dropped. They were each sentenced to another 7 to 30 months in prison. In June 2024, both completed their sentences and were released from prison. You might expect a child exposed to so much loss and pain from a violent act to lash out at some point, but for Sarah, the pen became mightier than a sword. At 13 years old, the young author published a series of children's books. "Some kids have a really gentle, fun life. For some of us we are not so lucky," she told The Irish Times. Perhaps the way in which she lost her parents was unique, but Sarah realized the overwhelming feelings of loss were not. "It basically helped me feel less alone and so I began to write about my experiences through my stories," she said. "Noodle Loses Dad, "the first book of the Boogawooga series, is a tale of young brother and sister wolves whose father is snatched by an evil vulture, never to be seen again. The frightened cubs are taken in by a kind and generous family of monkeys, a mother, father and two boys, who live "across the pond" on an island. Despite the simple words and soft pastel illustrations, the similarities between Sarah's real-life drama and the misfortunes that befall the cute, innocent forest animals are undeniable. "These stories are a means for Sarah to share her experiences over recent years transforming her story into something that can be understood by other children coping with loss, grief, blended family and being re-homed due to personal circumstances," said Sarah's uncle, David Lynch. In the end, the orphans successfully learn to live a very different life than the one they had planned. A fitting end for the book and hopeful beginning for a teenager recently honored with the Limerick Garda Youth Award for Most Courageous and Inspiring Young Person. Sarah Corbett Lynch's latest book, "A Time for Truth: My Father Jason and My Search for Justice and Healing," was released in March 2025. 4 women arrested for allegedly aiding escaped New Orleans inmates 9 young siblings killed in Israeli airstrike in Gaza Summer travel season kicks off
