Jason Corbett's family has had 'enough of the drama', says prosecutor in Martens case
Molly Martens has 'never accepted responsibility' for her actions on the night her husband died, court told.
The state prosecutor in the sentence hearing of Molly and Tom Martens, broke down during his closing statement and said the family has had “enough of the drama”.
Alan Martin told Davidson County Court it it was a “miracle” Mr Corbett’s children Jack and Sarah Corbett did not witness their father being beaten to death with a brick and baseball bat in August 2015.
He was speaking as counsel for the state and the defendants gave closing arguments to Judge David Hal at Davidson County Court in Lexington on Wednesday morning.
Breaking down, Mr Martin said: “It is nothing but a miracle that these two children do not have the sights and sounds forever seared into their brains… nothing but a miracle”.
Mr Corbett’s American wife, Molly Martens, 40, and her father Tom, 73, pleaded guilty to beating Mr Corbett to death at his home in Panther Creek Court in North Carolina on August 2, 2015.
They are claiming he was an abusive husband who “berated” his wife repeatedly and was “trying to choke her” on the night they attacked him.
The pair were convicted of second-degree murder in 2017 but had their convictions overturned in the Supreme Court.
Last week, they entered a plea deal with the state and their legal teams after spending 44-months in prison.
Addressing the court on Wednesday, Mr Martin said unlike their first trial where a baseball bat and brick were bashed on a table in front of the jury, “that is not going to happen here today”.
“These folks have had enough of the show” he said. “There will be no demos of a bat and brick pounding on the table. You’ve all seen the photos.
“It was a vicious horrible brutal event. Jason’s statement died with him, Jason is in the carpets, walls, and ceilings. Jason has been silenced” and added there was “no statement” from Jason Corbett.
He described how Molly Martens had a complicated relationship with the truth and said she was “future casting” and had “wishful fulfillments” and that she had lied about giving birth to Sarah Corbett.
“Her wish fulfillments are as real and reliable as the stretch marks she got when she gave birth,” Mr Martin said.
He said Molly Martens has “never accepted responsibility” for her actions on the night her husband died. “She was casting blame on everyone else. Everything was Jason’s fault”.
He described how she had invented a life for herself and had told friends she was friends with Jack and Sarah’s mother Margaret “Mags” Corbett who died in 2006 and that she asked Molly to rear her children.
“We need to look at the bigger picture here” he said. “Molly was all about the children. That is the thread that runs through this case. That is the forest.
“The big picture in this case was Molly was all about the kids. But she was not the natural mother of these children, rather the stepmother."
He said she came to Ireland to marry Jason Corbett so she could divorce him and “take his kids”.
“She knew the end was coming,” he said. “They are not her kids and never will be”.
“Molly Martens has not taken responsibility” he continued. “Her father Tom Martens has”.
He continued: “Mr Martens would do anything for his kids we heard, Molly won't even walk away from the kids. She wouldn’t let go of something she wanted but could not have.
“Molly had a choice, all she had to do was quit living a lie.” He said the entire family were “living a lie”, Molly did not want to be with her husband, and he was not happy being married to her.
“The clock was running out for her years-long plans to get the kids. Jason only had to get them on a plane to Ireland and leave them there. She wanted Jason out of the house and custody of the kids. She was meeting an attorney within eight months of marrying him”.
He said she wanted “some type of event” to happen so that she could leave Jason and take his children.
He then spoke about the death of Mags Corbett, who died after an asthma attack. Molly Martens had told friends she believed her husband had killed his first wife and she was “afraid” the same thing would happen to her.
Mr Martin said Mags Corbett’s death was “irrelevant, meaningless and speculative”.
During Mr Martin’s closing speech, Ms Martens turned her back to him and cried into a tissue. She could be seen wiping tears away as she sat facing her legal team.
She wore the same clothes to court on Wednesday morning, a blue dress and black jacked, as she wore when she was convicted of second-degree murder in 2017.
Mr Martin also outlined the scene of Jason’s death, as “a scene of carnage, on carnage”.
He referred to the autopsy report and said “there was some delay in the 911 call” on the night of Mr Corbett’s death.
Mr Martens was not “labouring for breath” when he made the call he said. “He had time to reset and he’s giving instructions to the emergency services to get here.
“This was not a silent crime; it was an explosive event that went on and on”.
Counsel for Molly Martens, Doughlas Kingsbury, claimed she was acting in self-defence and that her husband was abusive to her.
He said Molly was often found in a “foetal position” because she was being abused by her husband.
“She is crying and really upset” on the night of her husband’s death “she was obviously in shock”, he said.
He added that Molly was trying to help Sarah on the night Jason died, after she had nightmares.
“Jason woke up and he was angry, he escalated the situation. She was assaulted for getting up at night to tend to an eight-year-old” he said.
“This was a trigger” for Jason, he said. Even the children knew not to wake him up at night.
Mr Martens' legal team described him as a man of exemplary character and that he admitted his actions on the night of Mr Corbett’s death but that he was only protecting his daughter.
Lawyer Jones Byrd said he had spent 44 months in prison and is “needed at home” to care for his wife Sharon who is going blind.
“He’s only concern at the time of his conviction in n 2015 was his family and that’s all it is now”.
He said on the night he beat Mr Corbett over the head he “was trying to protect his daughter” but he admitted using excessive force.
Judgment in the sentence hearing is due on Wednesday afternoon after the court hears victim impacts statements from the Corbett family.
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