Molly Martens brother speaks out amid new Netflix doc release
The brother of convicted killer Molly Martens has described the violent death of Irishman Jason Corbett and the subsequent courtroom drama as 'a tragedy for all involved'.
Connor Martens said his sister is trying to get on with her life and is now close to finishing her college degree following her release from prison last June.
A new documentary about the killing of 39-year-old Limerick man Mr Corbett at the hands of his wife and his father-in-law, Thomas Martens, has been released on Netflix today.
In August 2015, Mr Corbett was drugged, then beaten to death with a brick and a baseball bat, leaving his two children, Jack and Sarah, without both their father and their mother Margaret, who had tragically died following an asthma attack in 2006. Connor Martens, brother of Molly Martens, says she is graduating from college this week. Pic: WBIR Channel 10
Molly Martens, 41, and her former FBI agent father, 74, ended up serving only four years and three months in prison for the savage killing of Mr Corbett.
The documentary Deadly American Marriage, co-produced by Irishman Brian Carroll, asks viewers 'to reflect on the elusive truths beneath a once-seemingly fairytale life that ended in tragedy', Netflix said in a statement.
Speaking about his sister, Connor Martens said: 'There's been a lot more media scrutiny and harassment and she struggles a little bit more but overall I think she's really grateful and she's doing really well, all things considered. Molly Martens. Pic: Michael Chester
'She's actually graduating this week from college, finishing her degree,' he added.
Mr Martens said he understands the perspective of Mr Corbett's sister, Tracey Corbett-Lynch, and the wider Corbett family, but repeated that he believed Mr Corbett to have been an abusive partner, a claim which the Martens family has stuck steadfastly by since his death ten years ago.
Mr Martens said in an interview with US station WBIR Channel 10: 'It is a tragedy for everyone involved. They lost their father, she lost her brother. I was reading something about the sister [of Mr Corbett], basically saying she's not only sad to lose her brother, but that his character had been so badly damaged, that it was like a smear campaign against her brother. Connor Martens. Pic: WBIR Channel 10
'You could understand how fiercely she's defending her brother and the kids. I think that no one wants to believe that someone they know and especially someone that they love was an abuser but there is an incredible amount of evidence to support that.'
He also repeated the claims that his family believe Mr Corbett's first wife and the mother of his two children did not die of an asthma attack and that instead she was killed, something the Corbett family strenuously deny.
During a 2023 sentencing hearing, three medics testified that they could not stand over a coroner's report on the death of Mr Corbett's first wife, Margaret. Jason Corbett. Pic: Jason's Journey/Facebook
The doctors testified there was a possibility Mrs Corbett had died as a result of strangulation.
Dr William Boseman, who was called on behalf of the prosecution, said he could not determine the probable cause of death but that he did not believe she had been strangled.
'While I agree it was potentially a cause, I can't quite get to saying it was probably caused,' he said. Molly Martens. Pic: Michael Chester
Molly Martens also claimed that her husband had tried to strangle her before he was killed.
The family of Margaret Fitzpatrick-Corbett, Mr Corbett's first wife, have vehemently denied that she was strangled to death and have hit out at the alleged lies being told in court.
Referring to Mr Corbett, they said in a statement: 'He did everything he could to save the person he absolutely adored and our family have always been grateful for how he tried to save her.'
Connor Martens added: 'At the sentencing hearing, there were three expert medical examiners and pathologists that testified and said that they could tell from the autopsy that she definitively did not die of an asthma attack, and our expert witness said that it should have been investigated as a homicide.'
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