In Jason's Name | Full Episode | Forensic Files

[Music] Jason, he was an amazing human being. When he was young, he was fun and vivaceious, a little bit giddy. So,
you're the big sister. I'm the big sister. Yeah. By about 3 and 1/2 years. That's just enough to be able to tell
him what to do. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. I don't think he always appreciated it. Jason was a 31-year-old
widowerower with two tiny children. He decided that he needed support and decided to engage the services of an
Opair that was Molly Martins. I always knew her as kind-hearted. She loves other people more than she
loves herself. I would describe her even growing up as just remarkably altruistic.
She was good with the kids. Jason started to smile a bit more. There was definitely something between
them. The two of them looked very happy. Jason was always the romantic type. He shouldn't have been alone for the rest
of his life. He proposed to her on Valentine's Day. The wedding was was beautiful.
She seemed happy. Was a lot of things changed when they moved to America. Jason started to talk
about moving home. He wasn't happy. He said she was acting strange. He would open up and say they were
having difficulties and then he would change the subject. When they moved to the US, I definitely start to notice
more uh verbal altercations and verbal abuse. Jason was yelling at Molly. Davidson County 911. My name is Tom
Martins. My son-in-law got in a fight with my daughter. I intervened and he's in bad shape. We need help. What do you
mean he's in bad shape? He's hurt. He's bleeding all over and I I may have killed him.
He's got my throat like this. I was screaming, "Help." And Danny was screaming, "I'm going to kill you." And
I said, "Let her go. Better go. I'm kill. He walks in that scene. A nightmare. Without Tom Martin's heroic efforts that
night, Molly would be dead. They claims that it was self-defense. So, you're telling me you think that whole thing
was staged? Yes, 100%. And the entire story that the two of them tell about Jason choking Molly, in your mind, that
is entirely a lie. Yes. The Martins didn't just murder Jason, but he was very controlled and
abusive. They tried to destroy his character. Tell him that guy was crazy. I would have done anything I needed to
do to get justice for Jason. [Music] [Music] covering blood. All right, listen carefully. I'll tell you how to do chest
compressions. I'll set a pace for you. One, two, three, four. The call came in the early morning hours of August 2nd,
2015. I'm I'm certified. I I just can't think. Okay, you have to stay calm. Let your
training take over. We need to try and to do this to help him. Okay. Okay. All right.
Police arrived at this Winston Salem, North Carolina home to find Jason Corbett beaten to death and his blood on
his wife Molly. They knew who did it. Molly and her father Tom Martins. The question was
why he's got caught by the throat like this. Just hours later, Tom, a 30-year FBI veteran, explains he'd been spending
the night at his daughter's home after being awakened by a commotion upstairs. He says he grabbed a little league
baseball bat he brought as a gift for the kids and ran to her room. and he sees me come in and he goes around her
throat like this and I said, "Let her go and turn like, you know, let her go. I'm going to kill her." Tom says his
protective instincts as a father instantly kicked in. I hit him with the baseball bat and he
reaches out and he grabs the bat and he's stronger than I am and he pushes me down and I'm scrambling on the floor.
The glasses fall off. Now I'm thinking he's going to kill me. Molly told investigators the same story.
He tried to hit my dad. I think what he might have missed and I um I hit him on the head.
She hit Jason with a paving stone that was sitting on her nightstand. You had a bird on your nightstand?
Yeah. What was that? What was that for? Um the kids and I we're going to paint paint these bricks and flowers
around the mailbox. Um I get the back. Can't tell you how many times I hit him. I can't tell you
like it's [Music] bad in Ireland. Jason's sister, Tracy Lynch, still cannot comprehend that he
died this way. I just couldn't process it. It was um that you he was my best friend and we
were just two of the closest people in the world to each other um outside of my husband and children. Tracy and Jason
were part of a big Irish family in Limmerch. She remembers her brother as a kind and
caring soul. We would just spend summers in uh Spanish Point in County Clare. Uh
hang out, fish, just kind of normal traditional Irish upbringing really. We looked like each other, but we were
different in so many ways. Jason was Wayne Corbett's twin. Would he have been the quiet one or anything? Oh, no. No.
Jason wouldn't have been quiet. No, he you would hear him before you see him. Jason married his first wife, Mags
Fitzpatrick, when he was 27. They had two children, Jack and Sarah. They were just so happy and so excited with life
and so enthusiastic about it as well. And and they had Sarah, and you know, I remember them saying that they had that
their family was complete. They had their little prince and princess. But in 2006, shortly after having their
second child, Jason's storybook life came to an abrupt end. When Mags, a longtime asthmatic, suddenly had an
attack. Max woke Jason to say that she was feeling wheezy and he set her up. She started to take her nebulizer
um and she started to get progressively worse. We found out later they called him in and told him that she had died in
the ambulance on the way to the hospital. And how old was he? He was 30. So 30 years old. Yeah. With a 2-year-old
son. Yeah. 12week old daughter. With two very small children still at home, Jason Corbett had no choice but to
pick up the pieces and move on after Mags died. A year and a half later, 25-year-old Molly Martins answered an ad
for an Opair. She arrived in Limmerick in March 2008. I met Molly the day she arrived in the
airport in Shannon. Jason's longtime friend, Lynn Shanahan. And what was your impression of her when you met her? Um,
my first thoughts and the first sentence to my own husband were, "This is not what Jason needs right now." Why? The
minute I saw her with the big bouncing curls, she was in her 20ies. She had a big bright colored coat, fur collar,
cowboy boots, was dressed and makeup done like a pageant queen, as we would have said. She just seemed not the nanny
type. But Molly's uncle, Mike Ernest, says she was great with kids. She grew up babysitting, always loved children.
Molly Martins had grown up in Knoxville, Tennessee. She dropped out of Clemson University and was looking to begin a
new chapter in her life. I think, you know, she maybe was looking for something uh different and that this
might get her involved too in in something that I think she was passionate about, which is children. In
Limmerick, Molly instantly connected with Jason's children. three-year-old Jack and one-year-old Sarah. He liked
her. She seemed gentle with the kids. We started to see, you know, a little glimpse of the old Jason coming back
that he was just, you know, not so sad all the time. That's when Jason and Molly's relationship changed from
professional to personal. We went on holiday together. The two of them looked very happy. The kids were happy. and
they were soon making long-term plans. It was here at Freddy's Beastro in Limmerch on Valentine's Day 2010,
nearly 2 years after Molly Martins arrived to be an Opair that Jason asked her to be his wife. Molly was over the
moon and immediately began planning for a wedding back in the States. They came and um said that they got engaged and we
opened a bottle of champagne and toasted their future. Was he happy? He was happy. Yeah, he was. He was in love. He
loved Molly. But that happiness wouldn't last for long. Davidson County 911. What is the
address of your emergency? [Music] [Music] I'm telling you, that guy was crazy. So, there's a history of domestic
violence at the house. Yes. Tones that have been going on forever. Molly Corbett and Tom Martins continued
to give Davidson County investigators a blowby-blow account of what they say happened that night in that bedroom. By
now, they've washed off Jason's blood. Okay. Um, you know, survived his resurrection.
I didn't I didn't think so. Tom claims that when he arrived earlier that evening to visit Molly and the
kids, Jason was drunk. They all went to bed without incident. But hours later, Jason's daughter Sarah woke up from a
nightmare. She thought fairies on her insects and spiders and lizards. [Music] In the middle of her interview, Molly
tells investigators she's in pain from the chokeold Jason had her in. They photograph her, including a red
mark on the center of her neck. It's hard to see in this photo. They also take pictures of Tom.
Okay. Did you get that? Yeah. It was from another night. another one. But as Molly and Tom tell tales about
Jason's abuse, Jason's family had a different story. They say Molly was the one who caused problems in the
relationship for years. The person in Ireland was very different to the one that we met in Tennessee.
Jason's family supported the marriage, but when they arrived in the States for the wedding, they say they noticed Molly
was behaving strangely. She was just very controlling. She was angry, I would say. Um, and for someone who was about
to get married, she just wasn't herself. She stayed in bed, curled up in a ball,
um, didn't come out and socialize with anybody. And that, she says, wasn't the worst of it. What really set alarm bells
ringing for me was when one of the bridesmaids told us before the wedding that Molly had told them that she had
been friends with Mags, Jack and Sarah's mother, before she died of cancer. And Mags didn't die of cancer. She died of
an asthma attack. And of course, Molly never knew Mags. Jason's family was beginning to wonder
if he was making a mistake by marrying Molly. And I said, "You're the most unhappiest married man I've ever seen on
his wedding day." Jason's best friend and groomsman, Paul Dylan, thought he should walk away. And I asked him to
just leave her and just get on the plane and go home. And he said he can't. He made the commitment.
This man believes the Corbetts had a reason to be concerned. My name is Keith Mcinn and Molly Martins is my former
fiance. Molly had been engaged to another man who says they were still together when
she left for Ireland to become Jason's Opair. She had a lot of things going on. She had migraines. She had insomnia. She
basically she spent a lot of time just soaking in the bathtub. Sometimes just crying on the bathroom floor.
Keith claims both he and Molly struggled with mental health issues that he describes in a self-published book
written before Jason died. He gave us no records to back that up. Although Molly's medical records from years after
her time with Keith show that she was diagnosed with depression. Her brother Connor is reluctant to talk about it.
Much has been said about Molly's mental health. Are you comfortable addressing that? I don't want to come in on that.
At the time of the wedding, according to Molly's family, all was well, and she was happy to be walking down the aisle
with Jason. She looked very happy, and she looked like she was very happy to be getting married.
Jason was able to get a job transfer with the packaging company he'd worked for in Ireland.
He and Molly settled into the suburbs of Winston Salem, where Molly got a job as
a part-time swim instructor, but spent most of her time with Jack and Sarah. I was concerned for Jason and his
children. He had moved locks, stock, and barrel from Ireland, packed up his whole
life, sold his house, gave up his job, and was on the cusp of a new life. Well, my impression was that things
seemed to be okay. I don't know if they seemed to be great. I did see occasions where there seemed like there were
issues coming up. After 4 years, Molly was closer to the children than ever and considered
them her own. But her relationship with Jason was in trouble. Jason started to talk about moving home. He wasn't happy.
Did he say why he wasn't happy? A lot of it was down to the relationship with Molly. Um, she was acting strange. There
was things occurring that he wasn't comfortable with and he missed Ireland, wanted to move back, but he knew and
said that there would be huge difficulty in him coming back once Molly found out.
And the kids at this point, they call her mom. Yes, she is their mother. Yes. Molly had always wanted to
officially become Jack and Sarah's mother, but Jason would not allow it. He didn't want to take the only mother
they'd ever known away from them. But he wouldn't allow her to adopt them. Yes. Why? Because of what she had said about
Max and because of her erratic behavior. She waited until just before the wedding
and then all these stories came out. So when we spoke, he said he just couldn't.
How could he go ahead and allow Molly to adopt the children when he had all these
issues of trust? Now with Jason dead, police ask Molly about his family. Jason's decision not
to allow her to adopt Jack and Sarah hits hard. I'm scared of going to take the kids. Did you adopt the children?
No. Okay, then that's a real possibility. The thought of losing the children is more than Molly can bear. But
investigators offer Molly a light at the end of a dark tunnel. This point after talking to your dad to talk to
you, looks like this is going to be self-defense. Okay. I don't think there's going to be an issue with that.
[Music] Tracy says when she got the horrible news of Jason's death, she knew it could
not have been self-defense. Jason was a gentle person. As Molly and Tom claimed,
I kept ringing Molly. She wouldn't return my calls. Her parents completely stonewalled us. I got 30 seconds on the
phone with Jackie to tell him that I loved him and I was coming over to be with him.
Tracy says she was desperate to get to Jason's children as soon as possible. I was terrified. Yeah. What were you
terrified about? I was terrified she would kill them. You thought that Molly might kill the children? Absolutely.
Years before, Jason had named Tracy legal guardian if he were to die. And Tracy knew Molly would not give up the
kids without a fight. She immediately flew to North Carolina and filed for custody. Sure enough,
Molly filed a motion for custody as well. No one knew what scenario was playing in Molly's head, what she
thought she needed to do, or was there a chance that they would be in danger if she knew they were taking them from her.
During the troubled marriage, Molly had asked an attorney what her rights to the
children would be in the event of a divorce. She also secretly recorded arguments with Jason. Are you finished
with your dinner, hun? I'm talking to you. Is this how you treat this? You just ignore me. I said I'd like to have
dinner with my son. I'm talking to you. I shouldn't have to say it over and over. I shouldn't have to say Molly. Can
you guys get out of the stuff? No, you're See, here you go again. You're so good at I'm talking about so fast.
[Music] This friend says Molly spoke with her about Jason. So prior to his death, you never talked
to her about their relationship? No. And after his death, has she talked to you much about Jason and that relationship?
Yes. We agreed not to use her name or show her face. She says she's been threatened by Jason's supporters. There
were, you know, some signs that things weren't right. Like what? Controlling behavior, some of the bad language and
calling her names and and then it just progressively got worse. Forced sex, stuff like that.
Molly never reported any abuse to police. Molly has said that Jason was verbally abusive, had started becoming
physically abusive. Do you think that any of that is possible? I don't believe any of that is true.
4 days after Jason died, both of his children were interviewed by a social worker. Tell me why you're here. My dad
died and people are trying my aunt and uncle from my dad's side are trying to take away take me away from my mom. Jack
and Sarah are asked about the night their father died. I don't want my dad to wake
up. Tell me why that's not because he just gets really really angry because why'd you wake me up? Jack even explains
the odd presence of the paving stone in the bedroom. It was in my mom's room cuz
it was raining earlier and we already and we were going to clean it. We didn't want it getting it all wet. When a
social worker asks the kids about their parents' relationship, both seem to support Molly's claims of abuse.
What did you mean? Um, punching, hitting, pushing. Has anyone told you what to say when other people
talk to you? I'm just saying say the truth. That's all she said. But Tracy says that is not the truth.
You believe that Molly or someone in the Martins family coached the children? I'm
certain of it. The children were removed from Molly's care and placed with Tracy,
who was staying at a hotel in North Carolina as the custody battle waged on. No matter
what, I'm sure. Tom and Molly were allowed a visit. It would prove to be one of their last. Lots of people. lots
of people. I love you so much. I love you. 16 days after Jason was beaten to death,
Tracy prevails. Jack and Sarah would be heading back to Ireland with her and away from Molly, the only mother these
children have ever really known. She was very, very devastated. She could, you know, barely function. I mean, she
was absolutely distraught. In the months following their return to Ireland, Tracy
says that Molly repeatedly tried to contact Jack and Sarah, posting numerous messages on social media, hoping that
somebody here in Limmerick would pass them on to the children. Did you feel that Molly had any rights to them at
all? No. Molly had murdered their father. Um, and that's what I firmly believed at that point.
Tracy had a new battle on her hands. Justice for Jason after the autopsy. And I recall the
sheriff saying that it was blunt force trauma. She was told that Jason suffered at least a dozen blows to the head. I
looked at my brother in the coffin and witnessed just the devastation that one human can inflict on
another. After those first interviews, Molly and Tom heard nothing more from authorities. Despite Molly being told
that the attack on Jason looked like self-defense, I don't think there's going to be an
issue with that. A murder investigation actually kicked into full gear. And in January
2016, five months after Jason died, father and daughter are shocked when they are charged with seconddegree
murder. I mean, of course, they're devastated. Tom, the FBI veteran of 30 years, would now find out what it's like
to sit at a criminal defense table. They were both aware of the possibility that
they might not walk out of that courtroom. Correct. [Music] [Music] Yeah, you have to take care and
attention. Look at this. We were under a lot of pressure as a family and you know, we were concerned. Were they going
to be charged? So, it was a relief that the charges were brought. Tracy felt sure from the beginning that
Molly and Tom did not kill her brother Jason in self-defense. In fact, she believes she knows the real motive.
There isn't a shadow of a doubt in my mind that Jason was beaten to death because he was going to leave with the
kids. Tracy says Jason's plans to move back to Ireland with Jack and Sarah, but without Molly had finally come together.
She and Lynn believe Molly found out that night. I think Jason became surplus to her requirements. She didn't need him
anymore. She just wanted the children. After knowing her for years, Lynn thinks Molly had been plotting to get the kids
away from Jason for some time. She was playing the long game that she was telling people that he had been abusive.
She had her recordings. talk. You're still going to talk about some she would have a case to get the
children from him. While awaiting the trial, Tracy settled Jack and Sarah into their new home back
in Ireland. They had intensive therapy, she says, and adjusted well. Is it true that your father was a victim or false?
Um, false. Nine months after returning to Limmerch, Jack recanted what he told social
workers after his father was killed. What did Molly say? We were going into an interview. Um she was saying a lot of
story making of stories about my dad saying that he was abusive and she started saying if you don't lie I'll
never ever see you again. Jack says he only has one motive for telling the truth now. and I find out what happened
to my dad and I want justice to be served. Jack was 14 years old and Sarah was 12
when we were in Ireland. They did not want to be interviewed, but the family did allow us to take video of
them. Molly Corbett and Tom Martins went on trial together in July 2017. Family and friends of both the Corbetts
and the Martins turned out in force. What was it like to be so close sitting by and and in the same room with Molly
and Tom? Um it was very very difficult. You're sitting there and looking at, you know,
two people that had done something that was so malicious and insiduous and ferocious. We thought we had evidence
stacked up behind us a mile high. Assistant District Attorney Alan Martin was confident the state would prove that
Molly and Tom murdered Jason with malice. The viciousness and violence and excessiveness of the injuries that Jason
suffered was really the cornerstone of our case. Not only had the autopsy stated Jason suffered at least a dozen
blows to the head, the exact number could not be determined because he'd been struck repeatedly in the same spot.
We looked at the damage to his scalp. Um the his scalp was literally ripped from his skull. His skull was
crushed. For comparison, the jury was shown pictures of the defendants taken that same night. They didn't have a
scratch, an abrasion. Molly had a delicate bracelet on her that that night that she continued to wear um throughout
the trial. Martin says that makes Molly and Tom's claim of self-defense a tough cell.
You cannot be engaged in a Donny Brook like they described with a man who is bigger than
you, stronger than you, taller than you, and not have a mark on you. It's just not possible. A blood spatter expert
bolstered that argument. You can tell by looking at the spatter on the wall that
Jason's head was 12 to 18 in off the floor when some of the blood struck. Martin says that meant Tom was standing
over Jason, still swinging after Jason could no longer have been a threat. I've known Tom Martins for 50 years. This is
not someone who loses control. This is not someone who is going to kill someone out of malice. I absolutely do not
believe there's any way Tom would hit him while he's down. The defense pointed to photos that showed Molly did have
that red mark on her neck. And a nurse practitioner testified that at a checkup just two weeks before he died, Jason
said he'd been more stressed lately. He had complained of getting angry for no apparent reason. One strand of long
blonde hair was found in Jason's hand. It was likely Molly's, but was never tested. And the autopsy indicated there
were defensive wounds to Jason's left arm, but not to his right. The one in which he supposedly held Molly. He said
he was going to kill Molly. Still claiming he did what any father would do to protect his child. The
defense's star witness, Tom Martins, takes the stand. No cameras were allowed, but there is audio. I
certainly felt he would kill me. I felt both of our lives were in danger. I did the best I could. Molly did not
testify and the defense was not allowed to offer evidence regarding Jason's alleged abuse. I did not like some of
Jason's behavior, particularly with regard to my daughter. That does not mean that I demonized the man. Tom
testifies he went only as far as he had to. Once I got control of the bat, I hit
him until I considered the threat to be over. And when I considered the threat to be over, I quit hitting him. Did
Jason make the threat to be over when he went down? During closing arguments, Alan Martin used the bat and paving
stone from the Corbett bedroom to hit home his point at the prosecution table. How much force does it take to split the
flesh all the way to the skull? You know what malice feels like from the brick that Molly had? It feels like I hate him
and I want those kids. That's what malice feels like. After nine days of testimony, arguments,
and crime scene photos so graphic we can only show you isolated images, the jury
deliberated for just 3 hours. If they're coming back this fast with two unanimous
verdicts, that's a really good sign. Molly and Tom were found guilty of secondderee murder. It was just
overwhelming belief really. They beat him horribly and viciously. And no human being
deserves to leave their marital bedroom with their skull destroyed like what happened to Jason?
Had you been thinking that it was possible that a a guilty verdict might come back? I did not think it was
possible that both of them would be convicted of seconddegree murder. Molly and Tom were immediately sentenced to 20
to 25 years in prison. That's when Molly turned around in court and said something to her mother. I'm so sorry. I
should have just let him kill me. But as it turns out, this case may be far from over. Mistakes were made at
trial. [Music] You saw tears. There were tears. I even had a few tears there while the verdicts
were being ran through. After the verdicts, as Tom Martins and Molly Corbett were led off to prison, the jury
foreman described his struggle. It wasn't an easy decision. Somebody's life changes. And then he blurted out
something that could potentially put those freshly minted verdicts in jeopardy. We didn't discuss a verdict,
but in having private conversations, everybody we could read that everybody was going in the same direction. Did the
foreman just admit the jury discussed the case prior to deliberations? If so, that would be a direct violation of the
judge's daily instructions to wait. It's been pounced upon to say, "Aha, these people got together and started
deliberating before they were supposed to." Prosecutor Alan Martin disagrees. What I hear is we're a group of people
who were sitting together seeing all these events transpire in the courtroom together
without talking about it. We can read each other's body language while we're in the courtroom. But within days, the
defense filed a motion to have the verdict thrown out based on jury misconduct. The trial judge denied that
motion. But one year later, the defense went to the appellet court. This time arguing there were numerous errors at
trial. There's part of me that maybe has some thankfulness that so many errors were made at trial. That leaves room for
a proper appellet decision in favor of Tom and Molly. For one thing, there were blood stains on the hem of Tom's boxer
shorts that the state said indicated he'd been standing over Jason as he swung the bat. Those stains were assumed
to be Jason's blood, but they were never tested. It's not practical, reasonable,
or feasible to test every single blood spot in every location. Then there's the matter of the
statements from Jack and Sarah. Tell me why you're here. My dad died. Molly's brother Connor is upset that the trial
judge did not allow them in. The kids statements say that Jason was was an abuser. What did you do? Um
puncture him and those interviews were conducted in professional environments on multiple
occasions where Molly was not present. And to the allegation from the Jason side of the family that they were
coached by Molly, I mean the interviews were conducted by by professionals. and that's that's their job. Like, why would
the prosecution try so hard to prevent that from coming from trial? It's only evidence for the jury. Let them make
that decision. Jack's statement recanting what he'd said after he'd returned to Ireland was
also never heard by the jury. Is it true that your father was abusive or false? Um, false. The Martins family has
maintained all along it is that statement that was coached. Um uh she was saying a lot of story making of
stories about my dad saying that he was abusive. Do you think that the recanting
should be allowed in too? I don't think so under the conditions. But if they can't then the jury can discern which is
which is truthful. Oh yes. Oh yes. Oh yes. The court of appeals is now in session. In January
2019, the state appeals court makes the rare move to allow oral arguments in Molly and Tom's case. Once again, both
families flocked to the courthouse with Tracy flying in from Limmerick. There is
always another step or there is always something else to face. Neither Tom nor Molly are present in the courtroom. How
does she feel her chances are with the appeal? I don't know. I I think that she is cautiously
optimistic, but um I think that there's a lot of hopelessness, too. It's hard to
trust the system after what they've gone through. Each side has just a half hour
to make its most important points. The defense goes first. There are a number of statements from the children,
including dad got mad for no reason. It was air to exclude them. But the prosecution pushes back. The fact that
somebody makes a statement doesn't mean that it's trustworthy. The children didn't want to go back to Ireland. They
had friends. They had schools. They were used to the USA. Uh they rode horses. They lived in a nice house. They were
comfortable. The defense, all we're asking for is a fair trial. Makes an impassioned
argument about jury misconduct. In having private conversations, everybody, we could read that everybody was going
in the same direction. A juror is confessing on the courthouse steps not even an hour after the verdict that they
engaged in private conversations. Are you concerned about this appeal? I'm not concerned about it. I think the case was
really, really strong. Mike says it is strength of a different kind that keeps Tom going.
Tom, I think even as he sits in this atrocious miscarriage of justice, knows that he saved his
daughter's life. And you know, I think he can sleep at night knowing that even if she is in prison, she's not dead.
Back in Ireland, Tracy waits for the appeals court's decision. She's written a book about this case and
Jason. I wrote the book to give him back his character. The Martins, Molly Martins in particular, tried to destroy
his character. I smiled briefly to myself as I realized that Jason eventually found
himself back in the only place on earth he ever wanted to be, in the arms of his
beloved Mags. She finds comfort that her brother is buried in Limmerch next to his first
wife and the mother of his children. Jack and Sarah picked out the picture to change on the headstone from Mags to
both of them. I hope they're together somewhere. The memories just flow to the surface and you know they'll always be
part of our lives. [Music] [Music]

An Irish businessman is killed by his American au-pair-turned-wife and her father. They claim self-defense. The dead man’s sister fights to clear his name. "48 Hours" correspondent Maureen Maher reports in the episode from February 2020. Watch more full episodes of "48 Hours" on Pluto TV.

CASE UPDATES: - In March 2021, the North Carolina Supreme Court ordered a new trial for Molly Corbett and her father, Tom Martens. The two were released on bond the following month.

-In October 2023, Molly Corbett pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter. Tom Martens pleaded guilty to the same charge. The second degree murder charge was dropped. They were each sentenced to another 7 to 30 months in prison and were released from custody in June 2024.

True crime. Real justice. "48 Hours" investigates the most intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all areas of the human experience including greed and passion. "48 Hours," which premiered in 1988, has developed a rich history of original reporting and impact journalism that has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, caused cold cases to be reopened and solved, and along the way changed lives.

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Brief Summary

Jason Corbett's tragic death leads to a controversial murder trial involving his wife Molly and father-in-law Tom Martins.

Key points

Jason's Romantic Nature. Jason was always the romantic type, deserving love and companionship.
A Father's Protective Instincts. Tom Martins intervened during a violent altercation, showcasing his protective nature.
The Tragic Death of Jason Corbett. Jason was found beaten to death, raising questions about the circumstances.
Custody Battle After Tragedy. Following Jason's death, a fierce custody battle ensued over his children.
Molly's Dark Past. Molly's mental health struggles and past relationships raise concerns about her behavior.
Molly and Tom Found Guilty. Molly Corbett and Tom Martins were convicted of second-degree murder after a brutal trial.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I would have done anything I needed to do to get justice for Jason.

Expressing determination for justice.

2:58WatchApr 29, 2025

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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