Father admitted his son-in-law was “not his favorite person” and lifted the lid on their unhappy marriage
The widow of Jason Corbett on trial for his murder will not take the stand in her own defense.
Molly Martens Corbett has invoked her right to remain silent in the much-followed murder trial.
However, her father, former FBI agent Thomas Martens, did testify; he admits he struck his son-in-law with a baseball bat but says he did so in self-defense and the pair denies the charge of second-degree murder.
Martens recounted to the jury that he was roused from sleep by, “loud footfalls on the floor above me, heard a scream and loud voices, an obvious disturbance.”
Martens began to cry as he described how he found his son-in-law strangling his daughter and begged him to let her go; when he didn’t do that he said he smacked him in the head with a baseball bat as that “seemed like the most effective place.”
Forensic experts estimate that Corbett had been hit at least 12 times and one described his injuries as akin to those suffered by someone who had fallen from a great height or died in a car crash.
Tom Martens testified he was afraid Jason Corbett would kill daughter Molly when@he saw him choking her & hit him pic.twitter.com/b6tiYwAu0Z
— Bob Costner (@bobcostner) August 4, 2017
“I hit him until I thought he could not kill me,” Martens continued, “he [Corbett] said he was going to kill Molly, I certainly felt he would kill me.” He said that he felt both of their lives were in danger and that he “did the best I could.”
He added that he had never seen Corbett lay a finger on his wife until that the night of August 2, 2015.
Under cross examination by the prosecution, he said he didn’t recall telling a coworker that he wasn’t going to take a vacation with the rest of his family because “why would I want to go on vacation with that asshole?”
He admitted that his son-in-law was “not his favorite person” and said he had likely made snide remarks about him to other people – although he added he couldn’t recall if he’d told one man he hated Corbett.
They had been, he said, “superficially friendly” despite him having advised his daughter to get a divorce from him.
Molly Martens Corbett breaks down in tears during murder trial: https://t.co/86yJnjWo53 pic.twitter.com/JHMK1mdlxO
— Newstalk (@NewstalkFM) August 4, 2017
He said the failure of Corbett to follow through with a promise to have Molly adopt his two children after their marriage had upset her deeply.
The children now live in Ireland with their aunt and uncle after they successfully won custody from their stepmother.
Martens admitted he was aware that Corbett had taken out a life insurance plan but had no knowledge of the $600,000 sum involved.
'I am going to kill her' – Jason Corbett was strangling Molly Martens before fight, trial hears https://t.co/QbdCj6KrEa pic.twitter.com/Pfi3eoIyVt
— Independent.ie (@Independent_ie) July 26, 2017
When asked if he was taking the fall for his daughter, Martens denied it and said he was simply there to “tell you the truth about what happened.”
Testimonies from two of Martens’ three sons (Molly’s brothers) are still to be given and will focus on the state of the Corbetts’ marriage.
The jury will then begin to deliberate on their verdict.
H/T: WXII News
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