Jason Paul Corbett Murder: How Did He Die? Who Killed Him?

Jason Paul Corbett was a devoted husband and doting father to two adorable children. So, when he met his untimely and tragic demise in August 2015, it sent shockwaves across the entire community of Wallburg, North Carolina. The news of the tragedy also reached his family in Ireland and left them devastated. The murder case is covered in a detailed manner in the Netflix true-crime documentary titled ‘A Deadly American Marriage.’ It also features exclusive and in-depth interviews with his loved ones, who talk about the impact of his loss and the complicated investigation that followed the killing.

Jason Corbett Was Brutally Murdered Inside His Wallburg, North Carolina, House

On February 12, 1976, Jason Paul Corbett was born to John and Rita Corbett and raised in a loving and supportive household in Limerick, Ireland, alongside his four brothers, John, Michael, Stephen, Christopher, and Wayne, and two sisters, Tracey and Marilyn. Out of all his siblings, he was especially close to Tracey. Described as a kind-hearted and charismatic man, Jason’s life changed for the better after he crossed paths with Margaret “Mags” Fitzpatrick. As the two formed an instant romantic connection, they started dating and got married, starting off their fairy tale life. They built a house together and even welcomed two adorable children into the world — Jack and Sarah Corbett.

However, an unexpected tragedy struck the family when Mags succumbed to a sudden asthma attack in November 2006, just a few months after their daughter was born. Once he became a single father of two, Jason focused on work to provide a secure future for his kids. Eventually, he put an advertisement for an au pair, to which Knoxville, Tennessee native Molly Paige Martens responded. Around March 2008, she visited Limerick, Ireland, as she was hired as an au pair for the family. Over time, the relationship between Jason and Molly turned romantic, resulting in the two getting engaged. In April 2011, the engaged couple and Jason’s two children relocated to North Carolina. A couple of weeks after their move, Jason and Molly tied the knot surrounded by their loved ones.

The family of four then started the new chapter of their lives in Panther Creek Court in Wallburg, North Carolina. As they settled into suburban life, Jason worked as a business manager while Molly reportedly took up a part-time swim instructor job but spent a lot of time with Jack and Sarah. However, their picture-perfect life was interrupted in the early hours of August 2, 2015, when 39-year-old Jason was found brutally killed in his house by the authorities. They discovered that he had suffered at least a dozen blows to the head, which was the cause of his death. Since he had been struck in the same spot multiple times, even the autopsy could not determine the exact number of blows he received. Immediately, a homicide investigation was launched by the police as they collected all the pieces of evidence from the gruesome crime scene.

Jason Paul Corbett’s Killers Claimed Self-Defense

As it turned out, Jason Paul Corbett’s death was reported around 3 am by his father-in-law, Thomas “Tom” Martens, who was visiting the Corbett family along with his wife, Sharon Martens. During the 911 call, he claimed to have intervened in a fight between Jason and his daughter and the deceased’s wife, Molly Corbett, and possibly killed him. Thus, Tom, who was a retired FBI agent, was brought in for questioning alongside Molly, who was also present at the crime scene when the police arrived. During the interview, both of them admitted to their involvement in the killing, but claimed that it was in self-defense.

As per Tom’s accounts, he was awakened by a commotion upstairs and went to check on his daughter, armed with a baseball bat. He claimed that as he entered her room, he noticed Jason was heavily drunk and choking her as he allegedly kept saying, “I’m going to kill her.” According to the former FBI agent, he struck his son-in-law in the head with the baseball bat. A struggle allegedly ensued as the latter got hold of the bat and began striking Tom, as per Molly’s accounts. In order to save her father, she then picked up a cinder block from the nightstand and beat her husband to death with it. During her questioning, Molly also opened up about the alleged physical and verbal abuse she suffered at the hands of her late husband.

These accusations were confirmed by Jason’s children, who were interviewed by a social worker four days after the murder. However, when the authorities interviewed Jason’s family, they were told a whole different story. They claimed that Molly was the root cause of all the problems in the marriage. Upon digging deeper into her life, the detectives learned that she was used to fabricating false narratives about different things and had visited a divorce attorney to explore her rights to the children in case of divorce. For years, she had reportedly been trying to officially adopt Jack and Sarah and become their mother, something Jason kept postponing. In the months leading up to the murder, she also reportedly planted recording devices in different areas of the house to record their arguments secretly.

The Killers Were Tried Twice as the First Conviction Was Overturned

A couple of days after the killing, the custody of Jack and Sarah was given to Jason’s sister, Tracey Lynch, and her husband, David Lynch, despite Molly’s best attempts to keep it. In January 2016, Tom and Molly were charged with the second-degree murder of Jason Corbett. Nine months after the killing, Jack recanted his earlier statements and claimed that he was brainwashed by Molly to tell the story that she had fed him and his sister. Finally, in July 2017, the first trial of the two accused killers commenced. By the end of it, the jury convicted them of second-degree murder and sentenced them to 20-to-25 years in prison.

However, the defense counsel of both the convicts soon appealed to get the convictions overturned. In March 2021, a retrial was ordered for Tom and Molly, both of whom were released on bond the following month, but no trial date was set. More than two years later, on October 23, 2023, Molly pleaded no contest to the reduced charge of voluntary manslaughter, while Tom pleaded guilty to the same charge. Finally, on November 8, 2023, both of them were sentenced to 51 to 74 months in prison, before being released in June 2024, but were ordered not to have any contact with Sarah and Jack.