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Extra.ie
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Extra.ie
Ryan Tubridy: 'Sarah tells her story with extraordinary dignity and insight'
I migrated to Times Radio last Monday for a three-hour juggernaut of a show that covered everything from Ukraine to UK Labour Party tax U-turns and on to more feature-based stories, including an interview with Thomas Harding, author of a fascinating book called The Einstein Vendetta. Towards the end of the show, an 18-year-old Irish woman joined me in the studio to talk about her desperately sad story. I first met her when she was just nine years old, and again when she was 13. So, here we were, five years later, in a London radio studio, but this time to talk about her book and her involvement in a much-talked-about Netflix documentary. Sarah Corbett Lynch has had a very unfair run at life since she was a baby. Her birth mother, Mags, died when Sarah was just 12 weeks old, leaving her father, Jason, to look after baby Sarah and her brother Jack. Sarah Corbett Lynch. Pic: Tom Honan Most of you will know the story, but as a brief reminder, Molly Martens arrived on the scene as an au pair. She and Jason fell in love, got married and moved to America to set up home. On the face of it, all was well until August 2, 2015, when Jason was beaten to death by Molly and her father, Tom Martens. What followed were endless court cases and appearances until the eventual conviction and subsequent release of Molly and Tom Martens. I won't get into the details here, as this is a reflection on Sarah herself. I was keen to have her on my Times Radio show on Monday because she is an exceptional person with a terrible story to tell, and yet she does it with extraordinary dignity and insight. Ryan Tubridy and Sarah Corbett Lynch. Pic: Supplied Her book, A Time For Truth, is a personal and difficult account of her life so far. She takes us through every detail of a story that fascinated the nation for so many years, offering intimate and thoughtful commentary along the way. She also participated in a recently released Netflix documentary, A Deadly American Marriage, which is not an easy watch but yet reinforces the image of Sarah and her family's dogged persistence for the truth and a need for justice on behalf of Jason Corbett. It was so good to reconnect with Sarah and with her aunt Tracey and uncle David, who were with her in London. Their bond is clearly unbreakable and, in their hands, the story of what happened will continue to be told for as long as they feel the world should know. Shobsy. Pic: Gareth Chaney/ Collins Photos In the last couple of years I spent hosting the Late Late Show, we enjoyed introducing lots of new Irish singers to the country. One of my absolute favourites was Shobsy, a charismatic and pitch-perfect performer whose appearances were always utterly compelling and whose voice drifted from smooth bass to heavenly falsetto. I'll never forget his version of Bronski Beat's Smalltown Boy, which he sang for us after a week that saw fatal attacks on two gay men in Ireland. It always stayed with me as the lyrics were so relevant and the performance so compassionate. I was delighted to watch Shobsy command a crowd in London last weekend, reminding me of everyone from Roy Orbison to Elton John, as well as being very much his own man. It was a joy to watch him own the stage and bring the punters to their feet. Here's hoping he'll break the London music scene and then keep going to the very top. I was very fortunate to be invited to a small but intriguing lunch at The French House in Soho last weekend. The invitation came courtesy of Ewan Venters, who is currently looking after one of my all-time favourite designers, Paul Smith. I was a little late, as my radio show ends at 1 pm, so I had to jump on a city bike (the quickest way to navigate this city) and make it before 1:30 pm. There were only two tables, so I swiftly sought out my name place (complete with RT-monogrammed Paul Smith card wallet – a touch of class!) and before I knew it, I realised I was beside the incomparable actor and foodie, Stanley Tucci, and across from the always amiable comedian, John Bishop. We covered everything from Conclave to US politics and the state of British comedy. Paul himself joined the chat, as did Stephen Fry and Vernon Kay, among others, in this small but fascinating crew. By 4 pm, I was back on the bike and homeward bound to meet my brother, who was in town for the weekend, which was tremendous fun, but that's for another day!
Sunday World
20-05-2025
- Sunday World
‘Recording of my dad's killing is missing' – Jason Corbett's daughter speaks out
Sarah Corbett Lynch discusses life with Molly Martens and explains her reasons for talking to Netflix documentary The daughter of Jason Corbett believes her father's killing was recorded using one of the devices Molly Martens kept in their North Carolina home. Mr Corbett died in a fatal assault carried out by his wife Molly and her father Tom Martens in 2015. The father and daughter were released from prisons in the US last year having served four years and three months for the voluntary manslaughter of the Limerick father of two. In an interview with the Indo Daily podcast, Sarah Corbett Lynch said Molly Martens confirmed a device had been put on her nightstand in the new Netflix documentary about the killing of Mr Corbett, A Deadly American Marriage. Ms Corbett Lynch said this corroborates something she has said 'for years and years' about the presence of the device in the room. 'Jack [Ms Corbett Lynch's brother] said it in his victim-impact statement that he saw a recording device in a ziplock baggie in Bobby Martens's house a few days after my dad was killed, and Molly says on Netflix, she corroborates that there was a recording device in their bedroom on her nightstand,' she said. 'But do you know, that just begs the question, where is that recording device?' Asked whether she believes her father's killing was recorded, she said: 'I believe it was and I also believe that it was premeditated. There's so much evidence that points to premeditation, but that's not the conviction that they have.' Ms Corbett Lynch, whose book A Time For Truth was published earlier this year, said she agreed to do the documentary as for many years, she 'didn't have a voice', adding: 'I wanted to tell the truth about my dad, and I wanted to tell the truth about the story and what truly happened inside of our home.' On the involvement of the Martens in the series, she said she understood that 'both sides of the story' should be shown, but that 'the Martens showed their true character in it and I believe we showed ours.' The programme makes it clear that the Martens had 'no remorse and no regret', she said. 'After my dad was killed by them, nobody asked me was I OK. Nobody said, 'I'm sorry that you lost your dad',' she added. Nobody actually said bye to us or hugged us or anything 'Molly acted like she got a new lease of life and even when we were taken away by social services, Molly curled up in a ball and started crying and her family gathered around her. 'Nobody actually said bye to us or hugged us or anything. We just got put into the back of a van and taken away.' Molly Martens and Jason Corbett. Photo: Brendan O'Callaghan/Netflix She said it was difficult to watch a scene in the Netflix series where her older brother described how Molly Martens prevented his sister from having a full relationship with their father. Molly made it really difficult for me and Jack to be close 'I think that was probably one of the hardest for me to watch as well, but it was also quite nice to see that Jack could see my pain that I didn't get that relationship,' she said. 'Molly made it really difficult for me and Jack to be close and we've had to work really hard together to gain the relationship that we have now. 'He was sitting next to me when we watched that and he gave me a hug, as he was saying it on the screen he was sitting next to me holding my hand and giving me a hug, and it was a nice moment that we understood each other.' Martens, who treated her like 'her little doll', would get 'very upset' when she spent time with her father and attempted to isolate her from family members through 'a lot of coercive control'. 'Molly started teaching me how to vomit and told me shoplifting was OK. There was a lot of things that she got in my head and started whispering in my ear from a really young age,' she said. Molly Martens. Photo: AP She said she received a new dress at the age of six or seven that she showed Martens's mother, Sharon. 'I was dancing around showing her the new dress and Sharon looked me dead in the eye and told me that I looked fat in the dress,' she said. 'Molly was very conscious of her weight. She was making herself sick, and I had seen her doing it and she showed me how to do it, and she told me it would keep me skinny for swimming and I could swim faster.' On whether she believed Martens loved her, she said: 'I think Molly loved the idea of me and Jack. She loved control and she could control us, and I think that's what she loved.' She said Martens even went to the extent of attempting to 'hire a plane from Shannon Airport' with her phone number on it to fly over their school in Limerick. She said Martens's appearance on an Irish radio station was hard for her family as 'Ireland is a very safe space for us'.
