DAVIDSON COUNTY, N.C. — The sentencing hearing for Molly Corbett and her father Tom Martens continues Friday in Davidson County.
Corbett and Martens appeared in court Monday, where Corbett pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter while Martens pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the murder of Jason Corbett in 2015, preventing the case from going to retrial.
A judge is deciding how long they should be in prison.
Here's a little background on how we got here.
Jason Corbett, an Irish businessman, and Molly Corbett got married and moved from Ireland to Winston-Salem in 2011.
Molly Corbett was Jason Corbett's nanny to his two children, Jack and Sarah after his first wife died from an asthma attack.
In August 2015, Molly Corbett's parents came into town to visit the family.
Late that evening, Tom Martens, Molly Corbett's father woke up to the couple arguing.
He claims Jason was strangling Molly Corbett and claims that Jason and Molly argued constantly in their relationship.
Martens then hit Jason Corbett, in the head, with a metal baseball bat.
The two struggled, Molly Corbett then hit Jason Corbett with a brick paver left on the nightstand.
In 2017, both Molly Corbett and Martens were sentenced to 25 years in prison for the death of Jason Corbett.
In 2021, the state supreme court overturned their convictions citing errors in the trial.
Throughout this week new details have come to light in the case.
Friday, the defense argued that even though blood was on Molly Corbett's clothes from the night of the murder, they do not believe the blood is from her repeatedly hitting Jason.
They believe the blood on her pajamas is from her performing CPR on Jason.
A retired, law-enforcement, forensics investigator took the stand. He was questioned by both sides about his thoughts on the blood stains on the pajamas.
A former neighbor also took the stand.
Shannon Grubb said her children were close with Sarah and Jack and said she was aware of the abuse in Corbett's household for years.
Grubb said she never called the police because Molly was scared that she wouldn’t be able to keep the children because they weren't biologically hers.
Through many of the stories Grubb told, Sarah and Jack were visibly shaking their heads no. Sarah was seen mouthing 'That’s not true.'
Other witnesses also testified.
Helen McCormack, a neighbor of Molly Corbett's brother Bobby, said the Corbett family would visit Bobby periodically and they would have gatherings with each other.
McCormack claimed that Jason had controlling habits and dictated what Molly Corbett could wear and who she could talk to.
She also said Molly Corbett confided in her about the abuse in the home.
A friend of Molly Corbett also took the stand.
Billy Jacobs said her children went to school with Jack and Sarah and that she and Molly Corbett would exercise together.
Jacobs said she was very scared for Molly in her relationship with Jason because Molly would tell Jacobs about the abuse in her home.
She said she urged Molly to leave Jason but claimed Molly wouldn't because of the children.
The State argued that Molly has a tendency to stretch the truth.
They said there have been multiple interviews with friends, and people who knew the couple who tell them that Molly told them she birthed Sarah Corbett.
Molly Corbett was the stepmother to Jason Corbett's children.
The State also notes that they learned in interviews that Molly told people she swam collegiately for Clemson
The State said she did not.
The State also mentioned Molly expressed her desire to adopt the children, Jack and Sarah, to all her friends and family.
They said Molly Corbett's family, along with Molly, made "jabs at Jason about when that was going to happen."
The State said in Molly's qualifications to become a nanny she said she was a foster parent. The State said this is not true.
In court Thursday, testimony was heard that was not allowed in Corbett's and Martens' first trial.
At the time of the death of their father, Sarah, 17, and Jack, 19, were 8 and 10 respectively.
The kids told the social worker their dad was abusive and treated Molly Corbett poorly.
These statements were recanted and they never came up in the initial trial six years ago.
A new sentence will be decided in the coming days.
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