Fox 8 July 16th 2017
Jury selection begins Monday in Irish man’s murder trial
The trial will soon begin for two people accused of killing Jason Paul Corbett, during a domestic dispute in his home on Panther Creek Court on Aug. 2, 2015. In the 911 call placed by Martens, he tells the 911 operator, “My daughter’s husband — my son-in-law — got in a fight with my daughter. I intervened and — I think — I believe he’s in bad shape. We need help.” Walter Holton Jr., an attorney for the defense, says the two acted in self-defense. It’s not a claim, it is what happened,” Holton said. “It is the truth. Molly is innocent, Tom is innocent.” Investigating Davidson County deputies wrote in a search warrant, “Neither Martens nor Molly Corbett suffered any injuries about their person.”
Irish Daily Mail July 17th 2017
JURY selection gets under way today in the murder trial of Molly Martens and her retired FBI agent father, Tom over the 2015 death of her husband, Limerickman Jason Corbett. The process, say experts, will be lengthy and thorough. The judge in the case has ruled against US media requests for courtroom TV coverage. The process of selecting 14 jurors to decide their fate will begin today.
‘There will be many questions asked of each juror,’ said a member of staff from the Davidson County Clerk’s Office. ‘The hope is to get the best 14 jurors possible.’ Defence lawyers for Ms Martens and her father have indicated that the selection process will be lengthy and thorough.
Independent.ie July 17th 2017
Jury to be selected in trial of Molly and Thomas Martens
The painstaking jury selection process will begin today for the murder trial of a former American nanny and her father, who are charged with the killing of an Irish father of two. Efforts by the Martens family to have the trial moved out of Davidson County for legal reasons failed and the trial will begin today in Lexington before Judge David Lee. The Irish Independent has learned that an exceptionally large jury panel has been called amid expectations of challenges to any who may have known the parties involved or the witnesses set to be called by the prosecution. Jury selection is set to take up to two days, with the likelihood the prosecution opening statement may not happen until Wednesday.
Independent tribune July 18th 2017
Jury selection starts in high-profile murder trial in Davidson County
Out of 300 called, 143 prospective jurors showed up Monday for the first day of the trial in the brutal death of Irish businessman Jason Corbett nearly two years ago. Jason Corbett, 39, was a native of Ireland who moved to Davidson County with his second wife, Molly Corbett, and his two children, Jack and Sarah, from his first marriage. Now, Molly Corbett, 33, and her father, Thomas Martens, 67, a former FBI agent, are accused of killing Jason Corbett in the early hours of Aug. 2, 2015. They are each charged with one count of second-degree murder.
Molly Corbett and Thomas Martens have pleaded not guilty and are claiming self-defense. Jason Corbett died of blunt-force trauma and, according to search warrants, he was beaten with a baseball bat and a concrete paving brick. Judge David Lee of Davidson Superior Court told the potential jurors that they must ignore media accounts and avoid discussing the case with anyone, including their friends and family members. “You and you alone determine the truth,” Lee said Monday.
Freedman has sought to introduce a statement that Michael Fitzpatrick, the father of Jason Corbett’s first wife, Margaret Fitzpatrick Corbett, is alleged to have made to Martens during a 2012 family gathering in Tennessee. Margaret Corbett died Nov. 21, 2006 of a sudden asthma attack, and in court documents, Freedman said Michael Fitzpatrick, who is now dead, told Martens he believed that Jason Corbett was responsible for his daughter’s death. The Fitzpatrick family denies he made that statement, according to Irish media reports.