DAVIDSON COUNTY, N.C. — The sentencing hearing for Molly Corbett and her father Tom Martens continues Monday in Davidson County. This is entering the second week.
Corbett and Martens first appeared in court Monday, Oct. 30, 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.
Monday morning, the defense brought two forensic pathologists to the stand. Both of them are speaking on the death of Jason Corbett's former wife, Margaret.
Margaret's death is relevant because Molly's attorney says Jason has a history of domestic violence, and they believe Jason's former wife was killed by him. The defense is trying to argue and explain just how dangerous they believe Jason was.
Both pathologists believe Margaret did not die because of an asthma attack, but instead, they believe she died from strangulation. One pathologist said her cause of death could have been the result of heart issues, but according to reports, she had no history of heart defects.
The state is arguing there are many causes of death in Margaret's case, and that Molly isn't being truthful about the details associated with Jason's death.
The state said Monday that there were interviews conducted with witnesses in the murder of Jason.
They said according to those interviews, Molly had a tendency of telling people lies about her life, and they believe she is stretching the truth when it comes to the night Jason was murdered.
Both pathologists said whenever Margaret died, there was redness around her nose and mouth, which is associated with strangulation. Dr. Bill Smock said there is something called delayed death that follows manual strangulation. This means Margaret could have been strangled and then died hours later due to swelling in the throat.
The defense has continued to argue Jason's death was the result of self-defense, while the state argues it was overkill. The judge is hearing testimony from several experts and witnesses to make a decision on sentencing.
Here's what we know so far:
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.
Day 1: Corbett and Martens make pleas in notorious 2015 murder case
Molly Corbett and her father Tom Martens appeared in Davidson County court on Monday.
Corbett pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter while Martens pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter.
The jury trial that was supposed to take place in Forsyth County next week will not happen. The judge said there was a factorial basis in the plea and both pleas have been accepted.
Day 2: New details arise in sentencing hearing
In this hearing on Tuesday, witnesses were called in, testimonies were read, and evidence was brought before the judge.
Two murder weapons were used in the death of Jason Corbett — a baseball bat and a brick paver.
Molly Corbett and her father, Martens arrived at the Davidson County courthouse to kick off day two of the hearing.
The jury trial that was supposed to take place in Forsyth County next week will not happen due to these pleas accepted by the judge.
The state played a 90-minute video of Tom Martens. He is talking to investigators just hours after the killing in 2015.
You hear Martens saying, "I hit him. I hit him with the baseball bat," and "I was scared to death he was going to kill her."
Day 3: Video played following Jason Corbett's death in court
In Wednesday's hearing, a nearly hour-and-a-half-long video of Molly Corbett's interview with law enforcement just hours after Jason's killing was played. In the video, Molly could be heard saying, "We were fighting," and "I was screaming help and he was screaming, 'I am going to kill her.'" Molly told investigators she never told anyone about the abuse she received from her husband. She said she was scared if she did, the children would be taken away from her because they weren't biologically hers.
The state also read through an interview with the Corbetts' next-door neighbor at the time. The neighbor at the time told investigators that Jason was a loving father, nice, and never raised a hand at the children. He also said he never observed Jason being rude to Molly.
Interviews with both children were also played during Wednesday's proceedings. Sara, then 8 years old, recounted what happened the night of her dad's murder. She's now 17 years old. She became visibly upset in court as the interviews were being played.
19-year-old Jack's interview played as well. In the videos, both children said their dad was abusive to Molly Corbett. They also said Molly told them about multiple instances where Jason wasn't "the best" father.
These interviews took place shortly before a custody battle between Jason Corbett's family and Molly Corbett.
Day 4: New testimony heard in court
On Thursday, the court heard for the first time from a social worker who interviewed Molly, Molly's mother, and the children one day after the murder. In those interviews, both children again spoke of abuse in the relationship between Molly and Jason.
In the social worker's interview with Molly's mother Sharon, Sharon said Molly and Jason had a horrible relationship and the children would tell Sharon about the abuse.
The state cross-examined the social worker, asking how likely it could be that the children would make up stories about situations like this. The state questioned the truthfulness of the interviews and said it could be possible that the children were willing to say anything to preserve their "last living parent they have."
A recording that was done secretly was played for the first time ever on Thursday. It was taken on February 17, 2015 - months before Jason's killing.
In the recording, Molly, Jason, Sarah, and Jack are in the kitchen, and the couple is having an obvious argument about dinner. You can hear the children trying to step in to stop the arguing.
The state went through a recantation of evidence of the children. Prosecutors said Jack recanted his statements about his dad being abusive in 2016, a year after the killing. The state said Jack said, "I told them what she (Molly) wanted me to tell them...Dad was not abusive." The state also pointed to a 2021 interview between Sarah and the Davidson County Sheriff's Office, in which Sarah said, "I never saw my father hurt or hit my mother...There was always a lot of arguing and yelling from both of them."
The judge said some interviews of the children showed some factual basis to some of the claims, but some statements showed obvious coaching.
The medical examiner also took the stand on Thursday. He read through Jason's autopsy. Jason had a broken nose, blunt force trauma, several cuts, and a portion of his skull was broken. The medical examiner said there was a total of 10 impact sites on the head alone. He said Jason lost consciousness during the beating. The cause of death was ruled blunt force trauma.
Day 5: Former neighbor testifies in sentencing hearing
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.'
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