Plea deal could avert new US trial over killing of Limerick man Jason Corbett

A potential new plea deal which could avoid a retrial of Molly and Tom Martens over the killing of Limerick businessman Jason Corbett is understood to have been discussed in legal circles in the US.

The father and daughter are due to go on trial for a second time over the death of Ms Martens’ husband, with the case scheduled for early November in Forsyth County, North Carolina. A hearing regarding the case is expected to take place on October 30th in Winston-Salem.

Informed sources said discussions on a new plea deal may have followed some fresh evidence being put forward. It is not known at this stage whether any plea deal has been agreed.

Earlier this year, the judge in the case imposed a gagging order to prevent those involved from speaking publicly about the matter without his permission.

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In general, in the US legal system, a plea agreement is essentially a bargain between prosecutors and the defence in which an accused person pleads guilty to some or all charges in return for some concessions.

[ The two sides of Molly Martens ]

The pair are facing second-degree murder charges over Mr Corbett’s death in 2015 at the home he shared with Ms Martens in North Carolina. They were convicted of second-degree murder in a high-profile trial in August 2017 and sentenced to between 20 and 25 years in prison.

During that trial, prosecutors accused them of brutally beating Mr Corbett to death with a baseball bat and a concrete paving brick while he was asleep. It was also contended that an attempt was made to drug him.

The father and daughter maintained that they had acted in self-defence, with Mr Martens claiming Mr Corbett had violently attacked his daughter.

However, the North Carolina court of appeals subsequently overturned their convictions after finding the trial judge made errors that denied the defendants a fair trial. The state’s supreme court later up held the appeal and ordered that a new trial be held.

The pair were released from prison having served some 3½ years of their sentences.

A judge in North Carolina last February granted requests made by lawyers for Ms Martens and her father that the second murder trial be moved from Davidson County to Winston-Salem.

Their counsel argued that extensive social media comments about the case could have affected potential jurors in Davidson County, preventing them receiving a fair trial.

Mr Corbett met Ms Martens when she flew to Ireland to work as a nanny for his two children two years after the death of his first wife. They later began a relationship and married in the US in June 2011. The Corbett family have maintained he was killed as he was preparing to bring his two children back to Ireland.