Slain man’s wife asked to stop campaign

The sister of an Irishman who died after being hit with a baseball bat in the US has pleaded with his second wife to stop her social media campaign to speak with his orphaned children.

A message posted to the, ‘Bring Justice for Jason’ Facebook page by Tracey Lynch, a sister of Jason Corbett, who died at his home in North Carolina on August 2, says the two-month campaign, “is hurting no one only Jack and Sarah”.

Jason, 39, was found with fatal head injuries at his US home he shared with his second wife Molly and his two children, Jack, 11, and Sarah, 9, from a first marriage.

Following a two-week legal battle by Molly and her family to keep his children in the US, where they had lived for the last four years, Jack and Sarah returned to Ireland seven weeks ago.

They are now living with their aunt — Jason’s sister — Tracey and her husband David who are the children’s legal guardians. The children’s biological mother, Mags, died in 2006 following an asthma attack.

In her post, Tracey says: “There are those who do not respect or understand our silence however they would never understand our words either. Jack and Sarah are content, they will remain and live in Ireland the land of their birthplace in the heart of their family.

“If you are someone reading this who has shared or posting publicly pictures of the children all over the internet to please think of the kids, you are hurting no one only Jack and Sarah. Haven’t they suffered enough?

“Your actions are destructive, take your pictures down, love your own family, let it go. Leave them have an opportunity at life again.”

Molly, along with her father Tom, a retired FBI agent, are persons of interest in Jason’s violent death.

Molly has continued a campaign on Facebook seeking to speak with the children, by posting photographs of them when they lived in the US, while also sending them messages of love. The messages have been frequent — more than 20 since the start of October alone and are all aimed directly at the two children.

She has also posted her phone number and email addresses and asked that they be given “the gift of knowing how much I love them”.

In a separate post on the Bring Justice for Jason page, Tracey thanks those who have supported the Corbett and Fitzpatrick families.

“Can I take a minute of your time to thank all of you, the incredible people who have supported my family and I through this terrible time in our lives,” she said.

“We appreciate your respect and kind words about Jason on the support page. He was a positive, fun, loving and kind person and would take comfort from your kindness and empathy along with shared memories as do we.

“Jack & Sarah are content, safe, protected, and loved in a way that has their best interest, safety, and needs met with expert support. We pray and hope they are allowed to heal in time.”