Irish man Jason Corbett's murder in the US focus of new Netflix documentary

Netflix has announced "A Deadly American Marriage," a new documentary featuring exclusive interviews with those closest to Jason Corbett, the Irish father who was murdered in North Carolina in 2015.

The documentary is set to debut less than a year after Jason's wife Molly Martens and her father Thomas Martens, who were both found guilty of the 2015 manslaughter, were released from prison.

Netflix blog Tudum describes the upcoming documentary as a "chilling exploration of love and betrayal featuring interviews with those closest to the case."

A brief synopsis says: "A chilling 911 call. A gruesome scene. What is the real story behind Jason Corbett’s brutal death?

"In this documentary, Jason’s wife and children reflect on the elusive truths behind their seemingly fairytale life."

Tudum notes that "A Deadly American Marriage" features exclusive interviews with Jason's wife, Molly Martens, as well as Molly's father, Thomas.

Jason's children Jack Corbett-Lynch and Sarah Corbett-Lynch are also interviewed.

"A Deadly American Marriage" is due to debut on Netflix in Ireland and the US at 3 am EDT on May 9.

The murder of Jason Corbett

Molly Martens was Co Limerick native Jason Corbett's second wife; his first wife, with whom he has two children, Jack and Sarah, died after an asthma attack in 2006. Afterward, Jason hired Molly, a native of Tennessee, as an au pair in Ireland. The two began a relationship and got married in the US in 2011.

Molly and her father Tom claim they were acting in self-defense when they killed Jason Corbett in North Carolina on August 2, 2015. Tom said that he discovered Jason choking Molly and that he acted to save her life. However, their original trial heard testimony from police and paramedics who said that there was no evidence of strangulation on her body. 

In August 2017, Molly and Tom were convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 20 - 25 years in prison.

Molly and Tom appealed the original convictions on the basis that they did not get a fair trial because the judge had excluded evidence that would have supported their claims that they acted in self-defense. They said that evidence given by Corbett's children to social workers should have been included as evidence.

In February 2020, the North Carolina Court of Appeal ruled that both Molly and Tom were entitled to a retrial. The North Carolina Supreme Court upheld the Court of Appeal's decision in January 2021. 

In April 2021, Molly and Tom were granted a bond of $200k on the condition that they surrender their passports and do not contact the Corbett family.

The retrial had been scheduled to begin earlier in 2023 but was delayed until November. On October 31, however, it was announced that a plea deal arrangement had been agreed upon and that a retrial would not go ahead.

For the plea deal, Thomas pleaded guilty to the voluntary manslaughter of his son-in-law, while his daughter Molly pleaded no contest to the voluntary manslaughter of her husband. 

Judge David Hall told Thomas and Molly that in accepting the plea deal, both of them would be regarded as felons. 

The more serious charge of second-degree murder against Molly and Thomas was dropped as part of the plea deal.

On November 8, 2023, the father and daughter were each sentenced to a minimum of four years and three months and a maximum of six years and two months behind bars.

However, they received credit for time already served - three years and eight months - leaving them with a minimum sentence of seven months and maximum of two years and six months remaining.

The father and daughter were released in June 2024.

The new Netflix documentary has been announced about a month after Jason's daughter Sarah Corbett-Lynch released her memoir "A Time For Truth," in which she shares her version of events surrounding her father's murder.