'Appalling' that Jason Corbett's first wife dragged into Martens case, says US prosecutor

Molly and Tom Martens were jailed for between 20 and 25 years for second-degree murder, but had their convictions overturned in 2021 — which led to a voluntary manslaughter plea deal last month.

The pair were returned to prison last week after the presiding judge found “holes” in their evidence.

They were sentenced to a minimum of seven months and a maximum of 23 months — they have both already served 44 months.

Jason Corbett, 39, died on August 2, 2015, in the home he shared with his second wife Molly Martens in North Carolina.

Mr Martin said the case involved “years of investigative work” and his office had received “15,000 pages of discovery material, in addition to videos and recordings”.

“There was an awful lot in it,” he told the Irish Examiner. During last week’s sentence hearing, the Martens said they feared Mr Corbett killed his first wife Margaret “Mags” Corbett, who was 31 when she died in 2006, following an asthma attack.

“That was appalling,” said Mr Martin. “There is no basis for suspicion. That should not have been brought into the case.

“It is my understanding that the consultant who treated Mrs Corbett did what any doctor would do over there, took information from the family and her history.”

In outlining her defence, Molly Martens had suggested to friends that her husband had strangled Margaret Corbett, and she was afraid he would do the same to her.

Mr Martin said “this was unfair”. He also attacked the claims in his closing arguments and said the medical experts’ opinions on Margaret Corbett’s death were “irrelevant, meaningless, and speculative”.

Throughout the sentence hearing, which lasted eight days, three medical professionals gave evidence that Margaret Corbett did not die from an asthma attack.

Bill Smock, who was also a key figure in the George Floyd case, even went so far as to suggest she may have been strangled.

“There is blushing around the nose and mouth in page two of the autopsy report,” he said.

“It says ‘very pale, and blush around the mouth and nose’. That is a physical finding that is consistent with strangulation.

“The most common cause we are left with is strangulation. If that were the case it would be homicide,” he said.

Pathologist Thomas Sporn, who works in the Duke Department of Pathology in North Carolina, told the courtroom: “She had a heart that was normal” and “there were no intoxicants or poisoning. They found her death was due to asthma.”

When asked if he agreed with the Irish autopsy findings, he replied: “I don’t.”

A third expert for the state, William Bozeman, gave evidence saying he did not believe Margaret Corbett was strangled.

When asked why, he replied: “It is the word ‘probable’, I do agree it could be plausible as a cause of death.

“It’s best described as undetermined,” he said.

The Martens engaged the services of a number of experts in the case that is expected to cost millions of dollars.

“I don’t even want to speculate how much those experts cost the Martens,” said Mr Martin.

Sentencing

When sentencing Molly and Tom Martens, Judge David Hall said nobody will ever know what happened on the night of Mr Corbett’s death.

However, he pointed out that Molly Martens' delicate bracelet on her wrist was not damaged despite claims that Mr Corbett tried to choke her.

There was also no stretching of Molly and Tom Martens’ clothes and they barely “had a mark on them”.

More strikingly, he said Tom Martens, who spent his life enforcing the law and living as a law-abiding citizen, “did not call for backup” on the night in question.

“What do you do? You call for backup,” said Judge Hall, adding that the call was not made until after Mr Corbett died. “That is another big hole,” he said.

Mr Martin told the Irish Examiner that they “absolutely got a fair hearing” under Judge Hall.

“We were able to introduce what we needed to in front of a very confident, capable, fair, and open-minded judge, who was willing to listen,” he said.

“He obviously carefully considered and examined all of the evidence before him.

“He certainly gave us a resolution in what he was able to do and within the law that was available to him.

“I feel very comfortable with the result and Judge Hall very clearly gave the case his full attention.”

Mr Martin also described it as a “stand-out case” that will “stick” with him.

“You always go through a process of ‘could I have said something different?’ and ‘were there details or additional information I could have used?’

“It is human nature to go through that process, but I am happy with the result.

“You often wonder can you change something or reconsider something, but not in this case.

He also paid tribute to Mr Corbett’s children Jack, 19, and Sarah, 17.

“Every case is unique,” he told the Irish Examiner. “But this case did have some family dynamics that were different to normal, and there is no normal in homicide.

Every family grieves, and every family suffers extraordinary loss in a homicide case, just like this family did.”

Judge Hall ordered a full psychiatric assessment of Molly Martens and placed her on suicide watch.

Mr Martin explained that until Monday, November 13, the pair were still in the care of the local Davidson County Jail, but he expected them to be transferred to a state prison by next week.

“They are still in local custody. They are not processed yet and then they will go to a state jail.”

When asked if the Martens will appeal their sentences, Mr Martin said: “It’s always hard to say, there is zero expectation of an appeal, but there are not much appealable issues in this case, so we don’t expect it.”