Molly Martens' 'primary focus' was to adopt Jason Corbett's children, court hears

THE SENTENCING hearing of Molly and Tom Martens has heard that the “primary focus” of Ms Martens’ existence was to secure custody of Limerick man Jason Corbett’s children.

The plea bargain hearing of the father and daughter is due to finish on Thursday with Davidson County Superior Court in North Carolina to decide the sentences for the pair.

Last week, Ms Martens and her father Tom accepted a plea bargain over the killing of the father-of-two in 2015.

Tom Martens pleaded guilty to the charge of voluntary manslaughter while his daughter pleaded no contest to the same charge.

Since then, the court has been hearing evidence from the prosecution and the defence regarding the night that Jason Corbett was killed in his US home in 2015.

Ralph Riegel for the Irish Independent reports that on Monday, Judge David Hall was told by Assistant District Attorney Alan Martin during a cross-examination of a psychologist, that Ms Martens was focused on gaining custody of Jack and Sarah Corbett before her husband's death.

Due to the plea bargain sentencing process, Ms Martens had undergone examination by a psychologist who found that before she married Mr Corbett, she was focused on adopting his two children and then divorcing him while having custody rights.

Molly and Tom Martens have already served three-and-a-half years of a sentence for second degree murder that was imposed in 2017 before it was quashed by North Carolina Supreme Court.

The pair could now be sentenced to a minimum of a probation order up to a maximum of nine years in prison.