THE SENTENCING HEARING of Molly and Thomas Martens over the 2015 killing of Irish businessman Jason Corbett has heard from his two children on the impact of his death.
Judge David Hall of Davidson Superior Court yesterday sentenced both defendants to 51 to 74 months in prison on voluntary manslaughter charges minus time served. Each gets credit for 44 months already served from sentences after their 2017 convictions.
The sentencing works out to 7 to 30 months of remaining active prison time for each defendant.
But their attorneys said after the hearing concluded in Lexington that each defendant will actually serve only seven months behind bars, thanks to good behaviour sentencing reduction they earned during their 44 months previously served.
Before Hall sentenced the pair, he listened to Sarah Corbett and Jack Corbett, Jason Corbett’s children, give impact statements about their father’s death.
Sarah Corbett told Hall that defence witnesses and lawyers twisted her words when she was 8 to help Molly and Thomas Martens get lenient prison sentences.
Sarah Corbett, who is now 17, said she is receiving therapy as she tries to cope with the Martens’ use of lies to help their case over the past eight years.
“Molly Martens weaponised my love,” Sarah Corbett said.
I do not love Molly Martens. She is not my mother.”
The teenage girl said the Martens used her words when she was a child to make her father, Jason Corbett, look like a bad person to the world.
Since she was 4, Molly Corbett taught Sarah Corbett how to shoplift, how to vomit and how to lie, Sarah Corbett told Hall.
“I only got betrayed,” Sarah said. “I lied to help the Martens escape full justice for taking my father’s life.”
Sarah Corbett said she loved her father, and that Jason Corbett will never see his daughter get married or meet his grandchildren.
“He would call me his little princess,” Sarah about her father.
He would read to me. I felt safe and secure.”
In his statement to Hall, Jack Corbett admitted that he lied to investigators about the case when he was 10.
“I have lost so much of myself since the day he was taken,” Jack Corbett said.
“My words were weaponised to help Molly and Thomas Martens get away with killing my dad.”
Jack Corbett described Molly Martens as a “living monster”, and that he never saw his father hit her.
“My dad didn’t deserve to be killed,” Jack Corbett said.
Molly Martens cried when Jack and Sarah Corbett spoke to Hall.
The teenagers urged Hall to give Molly and Thomas Martens the maximum sentence of 25 years allowed under state law.
“My dad’s life is worth more than a few years in prison,” Jack Corbett said to Hall.
In a statement shared on X, formerly Twitter, Tracey Corbett Lynch, the sister of Jason Corbett, said the sentencing is “not a moment of celebration” for the family, but that “we can still find a path to move forward in our lives”.
“Jack and Sarah have at last had the chance to communicate unencumbered and freely without duress,” she said.
“While we may not be satisfied with the sentencing, we would like to acknowledge the dedication and hard work exhibited by the Davidson County Sheriff department and the District Attorney’s office throughout the past eight years.”
She said the family is “deeply grateful” for the support they have received from the people of North Carolina and Ireland and she thanked the media “for their interest and reporting”.
We kindly ask for privacy as our family processes this experience with the comforting knowledge that Jason will forever hold a place in our hearts and memories.
Some local friends of Jason Corbett, including a woman who worked at a plant he managed, said they were disappointed by the sentencing.
“They should have gotten more time, because he was a good guy,” Patsy Miller said. Another woman, who didn’t want her name used, said: “You can’t just murder someone in cold blood.”
Molly Martens told Hall that she did the best she could as a wife to Jason Corbett and a mother to his children, Jack and Sarah.
“I made a decision to protect my father from certain death,” Molly Corbett said.
She added that she has endured a painful chapter in her life, and she is grateful for what she has accomplished in her life.
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