Molly Martens killed husband beneath ‘robust provocation’, docs reveal

Molly Martens killed her husband Jason Corbett under ‘strong provocation’ and was formerly a ‘person of good character’, court documents have claimed.

The former nanny, 40, from Knoxville, Tennessee, was found guilty of second degree murder in 2017 and sentenced to up to 25 years in prison.

However, this was later overturned and Molly – who has always claimed she acted in self-defence – accepted a plea deal, which saw her walk free from jail last month. 

In August 2015, father-of-two Jason Corbett – who was 39 and originally from Ireland – was beaten to death with a baseball bat and brick by his wife and father-in-law Tom Martens in the bedroom of his North Carolina home. 

A checklist of Molly’s ‘mitigating factors’ claimed the former pageant queen acted under duress and felt threatened on the night of 2 August 2015.

As The Times reports, the sentencing terms – which were signed off by Judge David Hall – read: ‘The defendant acted under strong provocation.’

Molly has always claimed she acted in self-defence and told ABC in 2017 that Jason began ‘choking’ her after she comforted step-daughter Sarah, who had woken up with a nightmare. 

Elsewhere in the document, Molly was described as having a ‘person of good character’ who also maintained a ‘good reputation’ in the family’s North Carolina neighhbourhood. 

Although the form included a list of potential ‘aggravating factors’ that may have driven Molly, officials concluded that these did not apply in this instance.

Another form, which was also signed by Judge David Hall, outlined how Molly is prohibited from having any contact with Jason’s family.

In Molly’s original trial, the prosecution team argued that Jason and Molly had been in disagreement over whether she could adopt his two children in the lead-up to his death. 

After Jason’s death, Jack and Sarah returned to Ireland – where they’ve been raised by their aunt Tracey Corbett Lynch, who has previously labelled Molly a ‘compulsive liar’.

This document – titled ‘Judgment and Commitment Active Punishment — Felony (Structured Sentencing)’ – also stated how Molly will receive psychiatric evaluation following her release too.

It added: ‘The defendant is to be provided all opportunities to continue her education.’ 

Earlier this year, the Irish Independent claimed Molly – who has moved back to Tennessee – is hoping to attend college in the US in September. 

Although it has not been revealed which institutions she is looking at, Molly – who previously dropped out of Clemson University in South Carolina – is reportedly wanting to study for a Bachelor of Arts. 

Posting a photo of the news report, Tracey used the hashtag ‘#compulsiveliar’ to describe her former sister-in-law. The bereaved sister also posted a quote from psychotherapist Ray Freeman.

It read: ‘The abuser will be upset that YOU ruined their reputation by telling the truth about them.’

Tracey then used the hashtag ‘#NoJustice’. After it was announced Tom and Molly Martens were being released after just four years, the Corbett family said they were ‘very disappointed’ with the verdict.

They also accused the ex-nanny of spinning a ‘web of lies’ and putting Jack and Sarah through an ‘inhumane’ judicial process.

These new court documents were made public as a result of a Freedom of Information Act request after the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction gave an incorrect date for Molly’s release last year.

The corrections department originally stated that Molly and Tom Martens were going to be released in December 2023. The father and daughter only walked free in June. 

Initially, Molly and Tom – who claimed they acted in self-defence against Jason – were found guilty of second degree murder.

In October 2023, the father and daughter entered plea deals to voluntary manslaughter: Molly pleaded no contest and Tom pleaded guilty to the charge. 

Ahead of their release from prison, North Carolina’s former sheriff David Grice said Molly and Tom ‘got off with a slap’ for the ‘gruesome’ crime. 

The father-of-two – who met Molly when he hired her as his children’s nanny – sustained so many injuries during the attack that a coroner was unable to count them all. 

The former sheriff wrote on social media: ‘They got off with a slap.

‘I have had to bite my tongue for years for fear of saying something which could have affected the appeals. 

‘It was a gruesome crime scene. I believe they (Tom and Molly) just spent enough money on appeals until the courts got worn down and accepted their last appeal.’ 

According to the Irish Independent, Molly spent almost $200,000 from the sale of the house she shared with her late husband and his children on her legal bills.

The publication also claims Molly’s parents Tom and Sharon spent their life savings on lawyers fighting for the pair’s freedom.

In 2008, Jason Corbett hired then 24-year-old Molly Martens, who was a former beauty queen from Tennessee, to be the children’s nanny and the pair quickly fell in love. 

Two years earlier, the late father-of-two’s first wife Margaret had died following an asthma attack.

In an interview with ABC’s 20/20 in 2017, Molly – who was awaiting trial at the time -said: ‘It was wonderful for me. It gave me a sense of responsibility and it filled a void I had that made me feel like I was worth something.’

One month before their June 2011 wedding, the family moved into a four-bedroom home in the picturesque suburb of Winston-Salem in North Carolina.

Molly added: ‘Jason loved the United States and he thought the opportunities for the children were significantly better.’ 

However, the couple’s relationship soon began to deteriorate and Molly’s brother Connor told CBS in 2020 that he noticed more ‘verbal altercations’ between his sister and Jason. 

At the time of Jason’s death, Molly says the pair were in conflict over whether he was going to let her legally adopt Sarah and Jack – making her their mother in the eyes of the law. 

In the lead-up to his death, Jocelyn said her brother had started talking about moving back to Ireland and was clearly unhappy. Meanwhile, Molly claims her husband became increasingly ‘controlling’ and ‘paranoid’ she would cheat on him.

The year before Jason’s death, it is believed that his relationship with his father-in-law had worsened and Thomas reportedly encouraged Molly to divorce him. 

On 2 August 2015, Jason was bludgeoned to death in his bedroom by Molly and her father Thomas – who claims he only intervened because his son-in-law was strangling his daughter. 

Molly claims she was woken up in the middle of the night by Jason’s daughter Sarah – who had had a nightmare.

The children’s step-mother says Jack and Sarah would whisper at the bedroom door to get Molly’s attention as they knew they weren’t supposed to wake up Jason.

After getting Sarah back to sleep in her room, Molly claims she returned to bed and accidentally disturbed Jason – who was furious that she had ‘coddled’ the eight-year-old. 

Downstairs, Molly’s father – who had made an impromptu overnight visit with wife Sharon – said he heard ‘thumping’ and instantly felt something ‘wasn’t right’.

Molly claims Jason wanted to make her be quiet so he covered her mouth and started choking her.

‘At some point, when he stopped, I screamed, and he started again, and the next thing I remember is my dad standing in the doorway,’ she told ABC.

Thomas claims he walked into the couple’s bedroom to find Jason with Molly in a chokehold. He says his son-in-law told him he was going to kill Molly as he dragged her towards their bathroom. 

At this point, Thomas claims he hit Jason in the back of the head with a metal baseball bat – but alleges the Irish father was strong enough to grab it off of him. 

The pair claim a struggle ensued as Molly feared Jason would then hit Thomas with the bat.

She told the interviewer: ‘I’m trying’ to hit him with the bat, and hit him with this end of the bat, and hit him with my elbow, and hit him with my fist, or anything else… but I’m going to hang onto that bat.

‘And he goes down, and I’ve got the bat… and I back off.’

In his 911 call, Thomas told emergency services: ‘My son-in-law got in a fight with my daughter, I intervened and he’s in bad shape. We need help.’ 

When asked for specifics, Thomas added: ‘He’s bleeding all over and I may have killed him.’ 

Molly claims her husband was strangling her and yelling ‘I’m going to kill you’ when her father intervened. 

During the 2017 ABC interview, Thomas said: ‘I’m going to do everything that I have to do to save her life. 

‘And if I die trying, well… she’s my daughter. I’m not going to live with not trying. I’ll tell you that.’ 

In February 2016, the father and daughter went on trial at Davidson Superior Court.

Greg Brown, the attorney representing the state of North Carolina in the case, said the crime was especially ‘heinous, atrocious and cruel’. 

Both applied for bail, which was not opposed, and was granted on the condition that $200,000 was lodged with the court for each defendant, that they surrender their passports and agree to cease all contact with Mr Corbett’s immediate family, specifically his children Jack and Sarah. 

Jason’s autopsy showed he died from blunt force trauma to his head. The description of the ‘means of death’ is a ‘ball bat and landscaping stone’.

During the trial, forensic experts argued that the physical evidence – including blood splatter patterns – proved that Jason sustained severe head injuries while on his bedroom floor. 

The prosecution also disputed Thomas and Molly’s timeline as paramedics arrived on the scene to find Jason’s body cold to the touch. 

In 2020, an appeal court supported Molly and Thomas’ appeal – citing that not all of the evidence, including Sarah and Jack’s initial statements and Molly’s secret recording, was presented to the jury. 

In 2023, Molly Martens pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter while Thomas pleaded guilty to the same charge.

As such, their second-degree murder charges were dropped. Although voluntary manslaughter carries a maximum sentence of 25 years, this is only if there are multiple aggravating factors.

During the retrial, jurors heard an audio clip Molly had recorded in February 2015 where Jason yelled at his wife for not preparing a meal that he wanted to eat with Jack and Sarah. 

Instead, Molly had fed the children early and taken them to play in the snow before Jason returned home from work. 

Jason is heard saying: ‘I’m talking to you! Is this how you treat… you just ignore me? I said I’d like to have dinner with my family. I’m talking to you. I shouldn’t have to say it over and over.’

The short clip ends with Sarah screaming at Molly and Jason to try and put an end to the argument. 

In a pre-trial interview with ABC from 2017, Molly said she had consulted a solicitor who had told her to record any altercations which she could use as evidence in divorce proceedings. 

District Attorney Alan Martin told the court in November 2023: ‘You have now heard one singular, secretive recording when there were other recordings made and not submitted.’ 

During the sentencing hearing, Molly Martens’ attorney Douglas Kingsbery argued that Jack and Sarah’s 2021 recantations contained language similar to several interviews his aunt has given.

The defence also argued that it would have been challenging to ‘coach’ the children for their first interview within 24 hours of their father’s murder – with them later offering to recant their statements after months in their aunt’s care.

In his statement, Jack claimed that he never saw his father hit Molly but he did remember them having verbal arguments.

The teenager also claims his stepmother told him that he would never see her again if she did not tell social workers that her father assaulted her.