Prosecutors in North Carolina dropped the second-degree murder charges against Molly Martens Corbett and her father Thomas Martens on Monday, October 30 after the two accepted a deal in which they pleaded guilty to the 2015 voluntary manslaughter of Irish man Jason Corbett.
Thomas Martens, 73, pleaded guilty to the voluntary manslaughter of his son-in-law while his daughter Molly Martens Corbett, 40, pleaded no contest to the voluntary manslaughter of her husband Jason Corbett.
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 has been dropped as part of the plea deal.
The plea deal was finalized on Monday ahead of a scheduled retrial for the father and daughter. The retrial will now not go ahead and sentencing will commence.
According to the Irish Independent, prosecutors are seeking prison sentences of between six and a half years and nine years, while the defense lawyers will argue for lower sentences of between just over three years and just under six years.
If Judge Hall accepts the lower sentences, Molly and Thomas could walk free having already served three and a half years of the 20-25 year prison terms imposed after the 2017 conviction.
When asked for comment on Monday, Tracey Corbett-Lynch, Jason's sister who is now legal guardians of Jason's two teenage children, told IrishCentral: “We will not be commenting until this stage of sentencing is concluded.
"Our thoughts on what has happened to date are well documented."
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 Martens Corbett and Tom Martens 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 this year but was delayed until November and will now not go ahead in light of the plea deal arrangement.
The day before the plea deal was finalized, Jason's daughter Sarah took part in a balloon release at her father's memorial plaque in Lexington, North Carolina in support of domestic violence victims.
Balloon release this Sunday, 4pm to raise awareness & support Oct domestic violence awareness NC. You don’t have to be a victim to show solidarity to someone who is. Hope to see you there. Location & details in poster. Sarah 💜#octoberdomesticvoilanceawareness #Lexington pic.twitter.com/57KWLTiD0O
— sarahcorbettlynch (@sarahcorbettly1) October 28, 2023
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