Loud sobbing in court as Jason Corbett’s children have their say

Molly Martens told a cellmate when she was released from prison on appeal in 2021 that she “will never, ever, spend another day in jail. I can guarantee you that.”

Yesterday, as a sheriff stepped forward and placed handcuffs on her and led her away to prison, her father Tom avoided eye contact or the offer of any support.

Sentencing her to a minimum of 51 months – or four years and three months – and a maximum of 74 months, or six years and two months, Judge David Hall asked that she be placed on suicide watch and that she receive a psychiatric assessment. A few minutes later, her father Tom stood for sentencing and showed no reaction as he received the same sentence as his daughter.

He stood, calmly took off his coat, removed his wallet and handed both to his son, Stewart. His wife Sharon leant forward and whispered in his ear. Tom told her: “Everything is going to be okay.”

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He then stood, placed his wrists together and waited as a sheriff cuffed him and led him away – a procedure the former FBI man has carried out many times in his 30 years in law enforcement.

This time, Mr Martens – described in court as a “Type A personality” who loved the law, taught the law, and even drafted the law – was on the other side of justice. He is a Felony D convict, guilty of manslaughter.

The 73-year-old will return to prison, most likely at the Buttner Correctional Institute, a North Carolina prison, for at least another seven months. The 44 months he and Molly Martens previously served in jail – for second-degree murder following an earlier trial in 2017, prior to being released on appeal – will be deducted from the sentence imposed on Wednesday by Judge David Hall.

The two had pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Molly Martens’s husband, Limerick man Jason Corbett.

The sentencing followed highly emotional victim impact statements from Jack and Sarah Corbett Lynch, the children of Jason Corbett, who was beaten to death with a baseball bat and a brick at his North Carolina home in the early hours of August 2nd, 2015.

[ Molly Martens wanted husband out of house to seek custody of his children, prosecutors claim ]

Sarah (17) brought tears from both sides of the aisle as she spoke of never having a father-daughter dance, never getting to show her father her future children, and never experiencing his hugs or wonderful laugh again.

As she spoke of Molly abusing her and Jack, Sarah broke down occasionally and cried softly throughout.

“They have pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter. I have seen the bloody handprint on the door in the bedroom. There was nothing voluntary about my dad’s death. I know in my heart he tried to leave that room,” Sarah told the court in victim impact statement.

With these words, Sarah had silenced the court, apart from the weeping that was coming from Molly Martens. Martens sobbed so loudly at times that she threatened to drown out the words of Sarah and Jack. The children were given a voice at the end of this sentencing hearing, after eight days of hearing lawyers for the Martenses eviscerate their father’s character, maintaining that he was a domestic abuser who had killed his first wife.

The competing cries from either side of the courtroom offered the perfect metaphor for where the pendulum of responsibility lies in this case.

“She betrayed me again and again – and even shared a note I left with her, the last time I saw her. And she did all this to get publicity for her lies about my father. There was nothing I could do to stop her. I was eight years old,” said Sarah.

“I was trying to start a new life in Ireland but she stalked me. She tried to hire a plane to fly a banner over my school in Limerick. The gardaí – the Irish police – were called to the school. Detectives watched our home for a while.

[ ‘Meticulously responsible’ Tom Martens portrayed in court as a loving father and grandfather who ‘follows the rules rigidly’ ]

“Can you imagine being eight years old in your first days at a new school, in a new country, your father has been killed by your stepmother, and everyone is looking at you, the new girl? Can you imagine trying to make friends when you are the troubled girl? A friend of mine, a girl who sat next to me in school, was contacted by Molly Martens when I was in 6th class, I was nine years old.”

When the judge heard this, his face visibly recoiled and he stared down at Molly Martens as she collapsed into dramatic heaves before finally resting her face sideways on the table in front of her.

I had never witnessed my dad hit Molly Martens – ever. I am not under duress now; I want you to look at me standing here today and know the truth

—  Jack Corbett Lynch

Jack said Molly had been the abuser in the house. The trauma of what had happened to him at their house, 160 Panther Creek Court, had left Jack so depressed he said he contemplated suicide.

“The bright boy and happy kid everyone used to see was buried deep inside of me and I don’t know if he will ever come out again. The tragedy and trauma I have had to deal with growing up destroyed me,” he said.

“Every day I wake up I have the constant feeling of never being enough, and punish myself in ways that I know I don’t deserve, but I can’t stop myself. I never felt I could call someone my own since I lost my dad. I am drowning every day in pain. When I was a young teenager, I used to think sometimes it would be easier if I wasn’t here any more and at least that way I could be with my dad and my mam and apologise and feel safe.”

Speaking calmly and with a strength and bravery belying his 19 years, Jack stood tall and said: “Your honour, don’t be fooled by this mask of civility of Molly Martens. There is a monster lurking underneath the exterior. She systematically broke me down and drip fed me untruths. I want to be clear: I had never witnessed my dad hit Molly Martens – ever. I am not under duress now; I want you to look at me standing here today and know the truth.”

Then, he delivered something which sent much of the women in the Martens family into tears. Tom Martens’s sons lowered their heads as Jack revealed for the first time a broader conspiracy by other members of the Martens family.

“The fact that my father’s phone, laptops, computers and hard drives were in Bobby Martens’s house in evidence baggies and not found or admitted to evidence just shows that the entire Martens family is complicit in the cover up of the killing of my father. It is a travesty of justice that Molly Martens wasn’t charged with first degree murder, as was considered by the DA,” he said.

“Molly Martens needs to be locked away for as long as possible so she cannot do this to another family, another child. It is my biggest fear and gives me nightmares. She will do it again if she finds the opportunity.”