Murder accused must return items taken from US home

The woman accused of killing her husband, Limerick man Jason Corbett, has been ordered to return items she had taken from their US home after she was charged with the crime.

Mr Corbett was found dead in the master bedroom of the home he shared with Molly Martens in Panther Creek, Wallburg, North Carolina, on August 2 last.

Ms Martens, 32, and her father Thomas Martens, 65, were released on bail on January 5 after they were charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter.

A consent order agreed between Mr Corbett’s estate and Ms Martens last September stated that she was not to remove any “tangible personal property” owned either solely by Mr Corbett or jointly by the couple.

However documents filed by the Superior Court of Davidson County in North Carolina this week show that, on January 21, Ms Martens “took a majority of the tangible personal property located in the home and placed that property in storage”.

The documents state that after Ms Martens had removed items from the house “the only property left in the home was Mr Corbett’s clothes, property that Mr Corbett brought to the home from Ireland, and items owned by Mr Corbett’s children”.

Mr Corbett’s estate subsequently filed a motion to enforce the consent order and sought a restraining order preventing Ms Martens from taking any further property from their home or from selling the items she had taken.

At a hearing on February 2, Ms Martens said agents acting on her behalf took the property from the home and that the items were either gifts to her or bought by herself or her parents. She argued that the items she had bought were paid for on a credit card registered solely in her name.

However, the court found that the bills arising from the card were paid for by the couple’s joint account, which mostly contained funds earned by Mr Corbett.

The court also found that there was a “high probability” money transferred by Mr Corbett to Ms Martens and her parents was the source of payment for the items she and her parents had bought. The court ruled that “immediate and irreparable injury would have resulted to… the beneficiaries of the estate” if Ms Martens was allowed to take or sell the items.

Ms Martens has 30 days to return the property she took from the home. Mr Corbett’s estate is to sell the items and pay the proceeds to the court, which will hold the funds until it decides ownership of the property.