A North Carolina woman and her ex-FBI agent father have been charged in the August murder of her Irish-born husband, according to grand jury indictments unsealed Monday.
Molly Martens Corbett, 31, and Thomas Michael Martens, 65, were both charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter in death of Jason Corbett,
the documents reveal.
Authorities found the 39-year-old victim unresponsive, suffering from head injuries, on Aug. 2.
His wife and father-in-law were both in the home at the time, and they gave statements to police linking the death to a "domestic disturbance,"
authorities said at the time. Thomas Michael Martens, the retired FBI agent who reported the incident, stated that he hit his son-in-law with a baseball bat.
Molly Martens Corbett's uncle, Mike Earnest, told
UTV Ireland that he expected the father and daughter to claim self-defense, stating that their actions were necessary and justified.
Corbett's death sparked a custody dispute between Molly Martens Corbett — the victim's second wife and the children's step-mother — and family in Ireland.
She worked as an au pair for the family before she started dating Jason Corbett, serving a motherly role for the young children, whose biological mother Mags died in 2006.
With the children now in the care of their Irish relatives, Molly Martens Corbett has posted dozens of reflections on social media about her time with the children, including handwritten notes in which they called her "mom."
She has also asserted her innocence.
"I cannot believe the level of slander, harassment, lies and absolute utter corruption. The truth does not matter. Shouldn't the truth matter? Shouldn't the truth prevail? Doesn't anyone care about the truth?" she wrote.