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05 Sept 2025
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05 Sept 2025
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Picture: Mark Condren /INM
Convicted killers Tom and Molly Martens are scheduled to be released from separate prisons in North Carolina early on Thursday morning, having served their time for the voluntary manslaughter of Irish widower Jason Corbett.
The father and daughter have completed the four-year-and-three-month prison terms imposed for the voluntary manslaughter of father of two (39), from Limerick.
The pair will not be able to live together after their release on Thursday, because both are convicted felons. Further, convicted felons are not allowed to socialise together without the express permission of parole authorities.
Both Tom and Molly will be subjected to parole controls and monitoring for 12 months after their release.
Tom (73) and Molly (40) had been previously scheduled to be released on June 27, but the date was brought forward by three weeks as they received extra credit for the time they have already spent in custody.
The father and daughter were given prison sentences for the voluntary manslaughter of Jason Corbett in North Carolina in August 2015. The Limerick widower was beaten to death as he slept in his luxury Winston-Salem home.
Molly and Tom Martens insisted they acted in self-defence that night after claiming Mr Corbett attacked his Tennessee-born wife. However, Mr Corbett’s family are adamant that he was killed because Ms Martens feared he would bring his two children, Jack and Sarah, back to Ireland amid worries over her mental health issues and increasingly bizarre behaviour.
The Limerick packaging industry executive had repeatedly refused to sign adoption papers which would have given Ms Martens, who he met when she travelled to Ireland to work as a nanny for the two youngsters, equal rights to the two children.
Molly and Tom’s killing of Mr Corbett left his two children orphaned.
Tom, who has reportedly been a model prisoner throughout his sentence, will now be released from a North Carolina prison on June 6. Molly will enjoy the same release date as her father – despite the fact she was cited for five separate violations of prison rules since 2017.
They will be released from custody once they are processed, with Tom Martens, a former FBI agent, reportedly expected to return to his home in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Molly Martens is expected to go to live with one of her brothers in North Carolina.
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