Irish man's killers to remain in jail after "mistake" showed they'd be released this week

Irish man Jason Corbett's convicted killers, Thomas Martens and his daughter Molly Martens Corbett, will not be released this week.

A "mistake" on the North Carolina Department Of Adult Correction's public information website showed on Monday, December 4 that Thomas Martens had a projected release date of Tuesday, December 5, while Molly Martens Corbett had a projected release date of Wednesday, December 6.

The father and daughter, who admitted to the 2015 manslaughter of Irish man Jason Corbett, were each sentenced to a minimum of seven months and maximum of two years and six months, which accounted for time already served, on November 8 after taking guilty plea deals on October 30.

The news that Corbett's killers would be released just weeks after they were returned to prison spread rapidly on Monday, prompting Corbett's sister Tracey to issue a statement slamming the development.

However, on Monday evening, local news station WXII 12 News reported: "Molly Corbet and Thomas Martens will not be released from jail this week.

"According to the captain at the Davidson County Jail, the Department of Corrections miscalculated that release date."

WXII 12 News said that Thomas and Molly "will be released in June 2024 after going to a state prison facility."

At the time of publication on Monday evening, the public information still showed that Thomas would be released on Tuesday and Molly would be released on Wednesday.

Tracey Corbett Lynch said on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday before the "miscalculation" was reported: "His name was #JasonCorbett.

"We cannot disagree with people who have described this decision as making a mockery of justice - and wonder why our family was put through the ordeal of a harrowing two week sentencing hearing for this outcome - to see Jason's killers behind bars for just an extra four weeks."

Her post included the hashtag #NoJustice.

His name was #JasonCorbett. We cannot disagree with people who have described this decision as making a mockery of justice - and wonder why our family was put through the ordeal of a harrowing two week sentencing hearing for this outcome - to see Jason's killers behind bars for… pic.twitter.com/vMNmOB6SqY

— Tracey Corbett Lynch (@Lynchtr5) December 4, 2023

Molly Martens was Co Limerick native Jason Corbett's second wife; his first wife, with whom he has two children, Jack and Sarah, died after an asthma attack in 2006. Afterward, Jason hired Molly, a native of Tennessee, as an au pair in Ireland. The two began a relationship and got married in the US in 2011.

Molly and her father Tom claim they were acting in self-defense when they killed Jason Corbett in North Carolina on August 2, 2015. Tom said that he discovered Jason choking Molly and that he acted to save her life. However, their original trial heard testimony from police and paramedics who said that there was no evidence of strangulation on her body. 

In August 2017, Molly and Tom were convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 20 - 25 years in prison.

Molly and Tom appealed the original convictions on the basis that they did not get a fair trial because the judge had excluded evidence that would have supported their claims that they acted in self-defense. They said that evidence given by Corbett's children to social workers should have been included as evidence.

In February 2020, the North Carolina Court of Appeal ruled that both Molly and Tom were entitled to a retrial. The North Carolina Supreme Court upheld the Court of Appeal's decision in January 2021. 

In April 2021, Molly and Tom were granted a bond of $200k on the condition that they surrender their passports and do not contact the Corbett family.

The retrial had been scheduled to begin earlier this year but was delayed until November. On October 30, however, it was announced that a plea deal arrangement had been agreed upon and that a retrial would not go ahead.

For the plea deal, Thomas pleaded guilty to the voluntary manslaughter of his son-in-law while his daughter Molly pleaded no contest to the voluntary manslaughter of her husband. 

Judge David Hall told Thomas and Molly that in accepting the plea deal, both of them would be regarded as felons. 

The more serious charge of second-degree murder against Molly and Thomas was dropped as part of the plea deal.