Third Chinese scientist arrested after smuggling ‘biological pathogens' into US from Wuhan after ‘agroterrorism' probe
It is the second such case within a matter of days after a
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A Chinese scientist has been charged with smuggling biological materials into the United States
Credit: U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
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Han was arrested on Sunday at Detroit Metropolitan airport
Credit: U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
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She initially denied sending the parcels at all, court documents claim
Credit: U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
In the latest case, Han Chengxuan was arrested at Detroit Metropolitan Airport on Sunday.
Cops claim she sent four packages from China to the States that contained "biological material related to round worms".
These packages were sent to people linked to the University of Michigan lab between September 2024 and March 2025.
Han has been charged with smuggling goods into the United States.
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She initially denied sending the parcels at all, court documents claim.
Han would then insist they contained plastic cups rather the petri dishes before ultimately admitting to sending the samples, the documents add.
They had reportedly been collected during her PhD research in the Chinese city of Wuhan.
FBI Director Kash Patel posted on X: "Han is alleged to have sent four packages to the U.S. from China containing a biological material related to round worms — addressed to individuals associated with a lab at the University of Michigan.
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"Upon arriving at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport on June 8, Han allegedly made false statements to federal officials regarding the packages she had previously mailed — and had erased her electronic device just days prior.
"In a follow up interview with FBI and ICE HSI agents, Han admitted to sending the packages and lying about their contents.
China floods sea bases with nuke bombers, terrifying satellite pics show - as US warns Xi could SEIZE Taiwanese islands
"This case is part of a broader effort from the FBI and our federal partners to heavily crack down on similar pathogeon smuggling operations, as the CCP works relentlessly to undermine America's research institutions."
It comes after two other Chinese scientists were charged last week for allegedly trying to smuggle a toxic fungus into the States.
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Researchers Jian Yunqing, 33, and Liu Zunyong, 34 are facing charges of smuggling goods, conspiracy, visa fraud and providing false statements.
They are alleged to have tried to bring Fusarium graminearum into the country - which can cause severe damage to livestock and crops.
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Jian denied that she was aware of her boyfriend's intent to smuggle the pathogen
Credit: University of Michigan
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Samples of a pathogen identified by the US Department of Justice as Fusarium graminearum
Credit: Reuters
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Authorities claim the fungus could be used as a "potential agroterrorism weapon".
Prosecutors say Liu attempted to smuggle it through Detroit Airport so it could be studied at a University of Michigan laboratory.
Jian, who is Liu's girlfriend, worked at the lab according to prosecutors.
The university did not have the necessary federal permits to handle this pathogen.
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A statement from the university says the institution has not had "funding from the Chinese government in relation to research conducted by the accused individuals".
Officials further allege that Jian is a Chinese Communist Party member, and that her research on the fungus in China got Chinese government funding.
Liu allegedly lied about trying to bring the pathogen into the country in July 2024 before later admitting it.
While Jian has been arrested in the US, Liu was sent back to China at the airport - so his arrest is unlikely unless he returns.
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Following Jian's arrest, FBI Director Kash Patel posted on X: "This case is a sobering reminder that the CCP is working around the clock to deploy operatives and researchers to infiltrate American institutions and
target
our food supply, which would have grave consequences... putting American lives and our economy at serious risk."
Who are Jian Yunqing and Liu Zunyong?
Jian Yunqing and Liu Zunyong are alleged to have smuggled a toxic fungus into the United States.
Prosecutors claim Liu had attempted to bring the pathogen into the country through Detroit Metropolitan Airport.
Officials claim the intention was to smuggle the fungus in to be studied at a University of Michigan lab - where Liu's girlfriend Jian worked.
It is further alleged that Jian received Chinese government funding for her research on the fungus in China.
She has since been arrested, but Liu's detention is unlikely unless he returns to the States as there is no extradition agreement between the US and China.
According to the FBI, Fusarium graminearum is a "potential agroterrorism weapon" that can cause vomiting, liver damage, and reproductive defects in humans and livestock.
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The Irish Sun
4 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Why Molly Martens' parents pulled her from top university amid new ‘disturbing picture' case notes on killer wife
KILLER Molly Martens' parents pulled her from a top university after she was found sitting underneath a running shower fully clothed, gorging on soup and chips at her student digs, a new book claims. Deranged Molly, 41, and her ex-FBI agent dad Tom Martens, 75, were caged for battering Limerick businessman Jason Corbett, 39, to death as he slept at his home in North Carolina in 2015. 4 Detective case notes lay bare 'a disturbing picture' of Molly Martens at university Credit: Scott Muthersbaugh 4 Molly's parents pulled her from a top university, a book has claimed But the twisted duo were recently freed after a 2023 appeal saw a murder conviction overturned, and they accepted a plea deal of voluntary manslaughter. Now a new book about the shocking slaying, A Deadly Marriage, by investigative journalist, author and documentary maker Brian Carroll, lifts the lid on the mind of a monster. Detectives who investigated Molly over the infamous 2015 killing of husband Jason discovered that the Tennessee woman had a reputation for erratic behaviour at Clemson, a prestigious South Carolina university, charging $7,200 per semester. Carroll reveals: 'Molly Martens' parents withdrew her from Clemson University after she was found sitting underneath a running shower, fully clothed, consuming soup and chips, at her student residence. 'The college authorities were alerted after the residence, shared with about a dozen other students, all living in two-bed apartments off a central corridor, had filled with steam. Martens had been sitting in the shower for more than two and a half hours.' Evil Molly and her father Tom were both convicted for Limerick dad Jason's murder and initially sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2017. But they were released on appeal in 2021, then entered a plea bargain in 2023, under which they accepted manslaughter charges in return for prosecutors dropping murder charges. The killers served just seven months and were released in June 2024. Victim Jason was savagely battered to death with a baseball bat and a concrete brick while asleep at his and Molly's home in North Carolina, US. The dad-of-two had moved to the US after meeting Martens in Ireland, where she worked as an au pair for his kids. Watch first trailer for explosive Netflix show on Jason Corbett killing In the new book on the killing, detective case notes lay bare 'a disturbing picture' of Molly at university, with former college students highlighting her 'unnerving' mood swings. Carroll said: 'When North Carolina detective Michael Hurd interviewed some of Martens' former college associates, he was told that she was a party girl who regularly missed classes and had dropped out before the end of the first semester in 2003. 'Detective case notes reveal a disturbing picture of Martens' time at Clemson. 'Classmates found her mood swings unnerving. Martens was either morose or manic. When Martens, then 20, was manic, her roommate, Jessica Thompson, would have to bunk in with other students because Martens liked to 'stay up all night making collages that she pinned to the wall'.' WEB OF LIES Molly's web of lies are also spotlighted in the book, including her fictional sister's cancer diagnosis. Carroll explains: 'When morose, Martens would fixate on a framed photograph she kept by her bed. 'She told Thompson it was a photograph of her baby sister, who had died of cancer. 'Molly's roommate told detective Hurd that she had visited the Martens' $525,000 home at 12500 Comblain Road, in Knoxville, Tennessee, one weekend. HISTORY OF PROBLEMS 'Martens took her on a tour of the 5,000-square-foot home, which came with a large backyard swimming pool. Thompson found it strange that there were no photos of Martens' deceased sister anywhere in Tom and (his wife) Sharons' home. 'When she returned to Clemson, Thompson took a closer look at the framed photograph by Martens' bed and her suspicions were confirmed - Martens' dead baby sister wasn't real. 'The girl in the photo frame was just a model, the photo a stock shot used for illustrative purposes to sell the frame.' The book documents how Molly had a history of mental health problems. BOOK AND SHOW 'A Deadly Marriage' by Brian Carroll is published by Sandycove, an imprint of Penguin Random House, and is available online and in stores from August 21. 'Classmates found her mood swings unnerving. Martens was either morose or manic. When Martens, then 20, was manic, her roommate, Jessica Thompson, would have to bunk in with other students because Martens liked to 'stay up all night making collages that she pinned to the wall'.' Brian Carroll Twisted Tom and Molly recently appeared in a Netflix show on the infamous killing. In A Deadly American Marriage, which airs on the streaming giant, Tom shows no remorse for battering Jason to death with a baseball bat and a concrete brick. Instead the beast, who claimed self-defence, declares: 'I have no regrets.' 'CALLOUS' SLAM In June this year, Jason's cousin Nuala Galvin branded Martens as 'callous' as supporters of the Corbett family joined her in slamming unrepentant Tom. One blasted: 'He's a scumbag. Hopefully karma will creep up on him when he least expects it and both he and that witch get what's coming to them.' Dad-of-two Jason moved to the US after meeting au pair Molly in Ireland. Before meeting Martens, Jason lived in Limerick with his wife Margaret 'Mags' and their two children, Jack and Sarah. HISTORY OF FAMILY In 2006, Mags sadly died unexpectedly after suffering an asthma attack. Two years later, Jason hired a then-31-year-old Molly Martens to be an au pair to his two children. However, Jason and Martens quickly began a relationship and married just three years after meeting. They decided to move to the United States and settled in Lexington, North Carolina, which neighboured Martens' home state of Tennessee. NIGHT OF INCIDENT On August 2, 2015, Thomas Martens - Molly Martens' father - phoned the emergency services and said that Jason was badly injured. Both Thomas and Molly Martens said that Jason had died during a 'domestic disturbance'. 'Detective case notes reveal a disturbing picture of Martens' time at Clemson." Brian Carroll Molly Martens had the house industrially cleaned just hours after being released from police custody, making it difficult for the police to properly investigate Jason's death. Martens applied for custody of Jack and Sarah, despite Tracey Lynch being named as their guardian in Jason's will. CLAIMS OF ATTACK Thomas Martens claimed that he saw Jason strangling Molly, prompting him to wrestle his son-in-law to the ground. He alleged that Molly Martens then struck Jason with a paving stone, before he also hit Jason with a baseball bat. Authorities discovered that Jason had been planning to move back to Ireland on August 21, 2015, and also found that there was no evidence of a struggle between Jason and Thomas Martens. Molly Martens and her father were arrested and charged with second-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter in relation to Jason's death. SECOND TRIAL The pair were found guilty of the second-degree murder charge and were sentenced to a minimum of 20 years and a maximum of 25 years in prison. On March 12, 2021, the Martens were granted a second trial due to Sarah and Jack's statements being excluded from being used by defence lawyers. Thomas and Molly Martens accepted plea bargains, which offered them the reduced charge of voluntary manslaughter. They were sentenced in November 2023 to between 51 and 74 months in prison. On June 6, 2024, they were released upon completing their sentences. With the one-year parole period officially over, as of June 6 this year they can now move freely about the US. 4 The twisted father-daughter duo were recently freed after an appeal
Sunday World
a day ago
- Sunday World
Two Chinese nationals jailed after shipping huge £9m drugs haul to Ireland
Yudong Ouyang, 32, and Gary Hon, 26, were growing large cannabis crops in Manchester and then smuggling to Belfast Two Chinese nationals have been jailed over shipping £9 million worth of cannabis to Northern Ireland hidden in wooden flooring. Yudong Ouyang, 32, and Gary Hon, 26, were growing large cannabis crops in Manchester and then smuggling to Northern Ireland where they got a higher price. The pair men used encrypted messaging platforms between June 2019 and February 2020 where they organised hiding the drugs in large pallets of wooden flooring. Pallets were hollowed out to hide the drugs before using a legitimate shipping agent who was unaware of the illegal cargo. Investigators from the National Crime Agency found there were up to 38 deliveries made by the group from Manchester to Belfast in the nine-month period. Yudong Ouyang and Gary Hon Today's News in 90 Seconds - 18th August Ouyang and Hon sent messages in Mandarin and translations showed that the contents discussed the cannabis trade, warehouse rentals and travel to Northern Ireland. Other messages discussed how to hide the drugs and how they could hide money when they returned to England, according the NCA in a statement today One stated: "I put the d[drug] money on me, not in the car, so the sniffing dog could not get the smell". Phone evidence also showed Ouyang regularly sent photos of cannabis, cannabis farms, or selfies of him at the farms to the gang. His fingerprints and an invoice in his name were found at a cannabis farm raided as part of the operation. Officers pieced together messages and phone calls with CCTV movements that showed how the group were in touch with each other before attending storage units to move pallets. Contact details on invoices from the legitimate storage businesses were also linked back to the men. Hon was arrested by NCA officers in February 2022. Ouyang was arrested in December 2023. Ouyang pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply class B drugs in January 2024 and Hon pleaded guilty to the same offence on 25 June 2025 at Manchester Crown Court where they were sentenced today. Hon received a prison sentence of three years and one month and Ouyang received three years and six months' imprisonment. Barry Vinall, NCA operations manager, said: "Ouyang and Hon were key players in this large scale cannabis supply operation, producing up to £9 million in profit and working closely with a wider group. "They attempted to make their operations appear legitimate but investigators unravelled their vast communications and movements showing they would often transport pallets back across to England so they could be reused for further importations. "This organised crime group targeted Northern Ireland as their market where they knew their drugs would attract a premium price. "Gangs like those run by Ouyang and Hon fuel an industry that sees people transported to the UK to work illegally in cannabis farms and taking action against those involved in these crimes is a priority for the NCA." Two other men, Luis Ieong and Ming Liang He were convicted in Northern Ireland after being arrested in Belfast in January 2020. They were stopped by PSNI officers while driving a vehicle carrying almost 11 kilos of cannabis and CCTV showed they had been at a storage unit in Belfast where boxes of flooring with the internal cavity were kept. A further 35.5 kilos of cannabis was found at the unit alongside £70,000 in cash. They were sentenced to 13 months' imprisonment each in December 2020.
Sunday World
2 days ago
- Sunday World
Molly Martens planned to buy ‘black market sperm' to get pregnant behind Jason Corbett's back
A DEADLY MARRIAGE | Details revealed in over 10,000 pages of newly released documents that form the basis of a new book Molly Martens Molly told neighbours in Meadowlands, North Carolina, that she intended to combine the sperm with fertility drugs that her parents had secretly purchased for her, so she could get pregnant by another man with 'superior DNA' to her husband, Limerickman Jason Corbett. My book, A Deadly Marriage , the result of a four-year investigation into the killing, reveals that Jason had already spent $25,000 (€21,000) on fertility treatments for Molly without success when she devised the secret plan. In July 2014, just over a year before Jason (39) was killed in the master bedroom of their home, Molly asked a neighbour to store fertility drugs, which she said she had purchased using $10,000 sent to her by her father, Tom, a retired FBI agent and counterintelligence officer. Molly, then aged 30, told at least two neighbours in the exclusive Meadowlands golf community about her plans to buy 'black market sperm' from Craigslist, a classified advertising website. She declared her intention to use fertility drugs and the sperm to become pregnant by another man. The house where the Corbetts lived in the US. Photo: Netflix She also outlined a plan to use her brother's friend in Tennessee as a secret sperm donor. She told neighbours she would have to pay more for this 'upper crust' sperm. One year later, Molly and her father beat Jason to death with a baseball bat and a brick on August 2, 2015. Molly and her father had claimed Jason had been choking Molly on the night, and they acted in self-defence. Molly claimed to detectives that she was a victim of domestic violence and said it had been going on 'forever'. Jason's family maintain that there was never any domestic violence and Jason's death was rooted in Molly's desperation to take his two children from his first marriage — Jack and Sarah — from him. Jason's family believe the explosive events of August 2, 2015, were triggered by Molly's fear that Jason intended to leave her and return to Ireland with Jack and Sarah. His first wife, Margaret 'Mags' Fitzpatrick, died suddenly aged 31 in November 2006, when Jack was two years old and Sarah just 11 weeks old. Molly moved from Tennessee to Limerick in March 2008 to become the children's au pair. She soon developed a romantic relationship with Jason and they married in 2011, moving to North Carolina to begin their American adventure. Four years later, Molly and her father killed Jason, leaving Jack and Sarah orphaned. Jason Corbett Detective and prosecutor case notes — released to me following a public records request — reveal that Molly told a neighbour, Jerusha Maddock, that Jason did not know about this batch of fertility drugs; that Tom Martens paid for them; and that she intended to use the drugs and another man's sperm to become pregnant behind her husband's back. In summary notes of Molly's interactions with Maddock, assistant district attorneys Greg Brown and Ina Stanton state: 'Molly called Jerusha needing a favour. She first asked Jerusha if Jerusha had space in her fridge, then asked to come in the house. 'Molly had a mini-cooler. Inside were fertility drugs. Molly wanted Jerusha to store them in Jerusha's fridge so Jason would not find them. Molly said her parents had paid for the drugs and that Jason did not know about them. Jerusha took a photo of the drugs so Jerusha could not be accused of anything later.' Molly Martens claimed she acted in self-defence Maddock asked another neighbour, Chip McDonell, to come over and examine the drugs. He took a note of the prescription sticker with Molly's name on it and verified that they were fertility drugs. The following day, Jerusha's husband, Tom Maddock, played golf with Jason and some other men in the neighbourhood. Jason was asked whether he and Molly were trying to have more children. 'Jason said he and Molly were 'trying' and Jason seemed pretty excited about it,' Tom Maddock said. Jerusha Maddock told the assistant district attorneys that, in addition to hiding her fertility drugs at the Maddock home, Molly also had plans to source another man's sperm via the internet. The notes state: 'Molly was talking about getting pregnant. Molly wanted to get black market sperm. Molly was going on Craigslist to get sperm.' Molly was also planning to get one of her brother's friends to donate sperm because they were 'educated and upper crust men' and Jason did not have a university degree. Martens told neighbours she was willing to pay a premium to source semen from educated men. Molly Martens and Tom Martens on a GoFundMe page to raise money for an appeal Despite being a successful packaging executive who had risen from a general operative on the factory floor at age 17 to managing the Lexington branch of Multi Packaging Solutions (MPS), Jason's education and grammar were a source of embarrassment to Molly. In email correspondence, released as part of the public records request, she frequently bullied and denigrated him. The prosecutors' case notes state: 'She wanted certain genetic material. Molly did not want the brother's friend to know it was for her, so it would not be awkward if she saw them at a party or something. Molly was not sure where she would get the money for the sperm because the upper-crust men would want a high fee for their superior sperm.' Molly, then a part-time swim coach, told Maddock and another neighbour, Katye Oliver, that 'doctors and researchers' had asked to store her DNA as she was considered the 'perfect genetic specimen' due to her self-proclaimed sporting and academic prowess. But she was not gifted at sport or academia; she was an average swimmer and a college dropout. Molly also lied to neighbours that she was Jack and Sarah's birth mother Molly also lied to neighbours that she was Jack and Sarah's birth mother. She told several women at Meadowlands Swim and Tennis Club that it had taken her years to get rid of the stretch marks left following Jack's birth. Detectives interviewed women at the club who all reported that Molly never showed any bruising, cuts, injuries, or stretch marks, despite wearing revealing bikinis. Prosecutors were told that Molly overdressed for social occasions. The notes state: 'She showed a lot of skin. Katye Oliver never saw any bruising or injury. She started watching Molly because of Molly's alleged stories of abuse. Never saw anything to confirm abuse. Molly still outspoken, loud. Molly always had to 'one-up' others' stories. Molly was an attention seeker.' Neighbours told police that Molly had told them at a bible study group in June 2014 that she had given birth to Sarah. She described an episiotomy — a surgical severing of the skin between the anus and vagina — claiming she had to endure this procedure during Sarah's birth. Katye Oliver, having previously heard Molly lie to other neighbours that she was Sarah's birth mother, regarded Molly as untrustworthy and prone to exaggeration. 'Molly's reality was what Molly made it,' Oliver told assistant district attorney Ina Stanton. Molly told Oliver about her plans to buy 'black market sperm'. Though she could not put an exact date on when Molly raised the issue, it was after July 2014 and in the final year of Jason's life. Even though Jason had fathered Jack and Sarah, Molly suggested his sperm was deficient and he was to blame for her multiple miscarriages. The documents include email correspondence showing Molly chastised her husband over his 'loser sperm'. Jason would sometimes send himself emails as an aide-memoire. In emails, procured by detectives from Google under search warrant, Jason alludes to Molly berating him over his 'loser sperm' and being overweight. Molly Martens, left, in court on October 30, 2023. Photo: AP In March 2014, four months before Molly approached Jerusha Maddock about keeping the infertility drugs, Jason wrote an email to himself outlining Molly's abuse of him: 'Molly says I'm so sick in the head. Bitch I wished dead. I need more of the bed because I'm so fat. My boobs are bigger than hers. Loser sperm, loser sperm. Kids probably aren't even mine because of my loser sperm.' Jason's semen samples were stored for use in Molly's infertility treatment. After his death, the annual $275 storage bill was sent to Jason's estate. It was revealed in various court appearances that Tom Martens told his co-workers that he 'hated' Jason, and referred to him as that 'son-of-a-bitch' son-in-law. Tom told detectives Michael Hurd and Brandon Smith that he didn't think Jason was good enough for his daughter. The neighbours' claims about Molly attempting to become pregnant by someone other than her husband were partially corroborated by a $10,000 transfer from Tom Marten's Morgan Stanley account in New York to Molly's PNC bank account on July 15, 2014. Detectives had concerns that Molly had been motivated from day one by a single purpose: becoming a mother, one way or another, even if that meant taking Jack and Sarah from their father. Detectives initially pursued first-degree murder charges — all the search warrants describe the investigation as being one of first-degree murder — believing the Martenses' claims did not match the evidence of the crime scene, where a descending pattern of blows to the back of Jason's head was evident from the bloodstained walls. He suffered at least 12 blows to the head, the last of them delivered when he was just inches from the floor, facing away from his killers. Ultimately, however, detectives did not find proof of premeditation, so they charged both Tom and Molly with second-degree murder, which only requires proof of malice. Molly, as stepmother, had repeatedly asked to adopt the children Molly, as stepmother, had repeatedly asked to adopt the children, but Jason did not allow this, fearing she would one day divorce him and seek custody of Jack and Sarah. His fears were well-founded: a psychiatrist, Dr David Adams, would tell a sentencing hearing in November 2023 that Molly planned, before marrying Jason, to take the children from him. 'A primary focus of her existence from before she married Jason Corbett was to adopt these children, then divorce him and take these children.' Helen McCormac, a neighbour of Molly's brother Bobby Martens, met Molly the week before she left for Ireland to become the children's au pair in March 2008. Molly had not met Jack and Sarah yet, but according to McCormac, Molly showed her photographs and talked incessantly about them — so much so that McCormac felt she herself knew Jack and Sarah. Detectives learned from Molly's ex-fiance, Keith Maginn, that she had spent several days in a secure psychiatric unit around this period. Martens was detoxing from 15 daily medications she was taking for various conditions, including bipolar disorder. Detectives were unable to confirm this due to Molly invoking privacy laws in the United States, which protect an individual's medical records. However, A Deadly Marriage has uncovered a single line among supporting documentation presented to the sentencing hearing, which confirms Molly stayed at a psychiatric unit at Emory Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, from February 6 to 9, 2008. Four weeks later, she flew to Ireland to become an au pair to Jack and Sarah. Six hours after killing their father, Molly was given emergency custody of Jack and Sarah Six hours after killing their father, Molly was given emergency custody of Jack and Sarah. They were kept in the custody of their father's killers for 15 days, until a guardianship judge ruled that the children should be raised in Limerick by Jason's sister Tracey, who had been nominated as guardian in Jason's Last Will and Testament. The Martenses were convicted of second-degree murder in 2017 and were handed sentences of 20 to 25 years each. However, their convictions were overturned on appeal in March 2021. The Martenses avoided a retrial by entering into a plea deal, which saw both handed felony convictions in 2023 for voluntary manslaughter. The plea deal accepted that the Martenses acted in self-defence and that Jason was the 'sole aggressor' on the night, but their violent response — Corbett suffered at least 12 blows to the head, while the Martenses had no visible injuries — had been excessive. They were released from prison in June 2024, having each served a total of four years and three months. My book examines the domestic violence claims in depth and uncovers a new witness and a significant twist, which questions the accepted narrative of what really happened to Jason Corbett on August 2, 2015. A Deadly Marriage by Brian Carroll A Deadly Marriage by Brian Carroll is published by Sandycove, an imprint of Penguin Random House, and is available online and in stores from August 21
