DAVIDSON COUNTY, N.C. — The sentencing hearing for Molly Corbett and her father Tom Martens continues in Davidson County on Thursday.
A judge is deciding how much time they'll serve for the 2015 death of Jason Corbett after the father and daughter accepted plea deals this week.
The children, who were just 10 and 8 at the time, were interviewed by investigators after Corbett died in 2015. Sarah is now 17 and Jack will turn 20 in December. The interviews weren't used in the trial but were played Wednesday in court. In the videos, both children were saying their dad was abusive to Molly Corbett. They also said she told them about multiple instances where their dad wasn't "the best" father.
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 recantation 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 there were some statements that 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.
During day one of the hearings, Molly pleaded no contest and her father pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter.
The judge is considering the evidence and testimonies from the case to decide on a sentencing.
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