‘Daddy killed your mom’ – Molly told the children Jason suffocated his wife

In the second exclusive extract from her new book, ‘My Brother Jason’, Tracey Corbett-Lynch tells how Molly Martens plotted to get custody of his children

SHORTLY after Jason’s death, and by agreed consent order when the property was effectively sealed under court control, Molly’s attorney informed our legal team that she wanted to recover a few personal items from the Panther Creek Court house. Permission was given. It transpired that Molly had arranged for seven trucks to arrive at Panther Creek Court at 6.30am and they began loading everything, from furniture to clothing and even kitchen appliances that she had marked with stickers.

Nothing had been left in the house but rubbish and dust. Davidson County Court immediately ordered that, pending the conclusion of legal matters, all the belongings needed to be placed in secure storage under court control.

Between August 4, 2015 and July 17, 2017, the day the Davidson County Superior Court murder trial of Molly and Tom Martens opened, Dave and I had to undertake 13 trips to North Carolina to support either civil or criminal proceedings arising from Jason’s death. Each time felt like we were walking into a psychological war zone.

Jason drove a Honda Accord. It had also vanished from Panther Creek Court when we arrived in North Carolina on August 4. Days after Jason’s death, I discovered that Tom Martens was now driving the car. On the occasions we would arrive for court hearings over the next year, Tom would arrive driving Jason’s car. He would park the car, deliberately look over towards us if we were in the car park, and smile. It dawned on me that this was all about playing mind games and trying to upset us.

Back in Ireland, we had decided it was very important for Jack and Sarah to receive every possible support, including counselling. Thus began a slow, painstaking process of recovery and healing for the children.

Unfortunately, it also brought to light a lot of things. Most disturbing was that Molly had repeatedly told the children that Jason had suffocated ‘Mags’. Sarah was just six years old when Molly first told her: ‘Daddy killed your mom.’ She wanted to maintain her control over the children by making them afraid of the person determined to protect them. And worst of all, Jason never knew what Molly was secretly telling Jack and Sarah.

She said she was their protector in the US and it was vital the children did everything that she told them. But children are also shrewd observers and they witnessed what Molly was doing to Jason and were scared of her.

Jack and Sarah revealed that Molly would hide Jason’s car keys when he came home. It was all part of an elaborate campaign to wear him down psychologically. Jason, late for a meeting, would end up frantically ransacking the house for his keys. Just when he was at his most agitated, Molly would ‘discover’ the keys and hand them over. Or she would put them somewhere Jason had just searched.

The children also revealed that, for the last year of their marriage, Molly had hidden recording devices throughout the house – behind pictures, in the children’s bedrooms and in the sitting room – and even in Jason’s car. I can only presume she was hoping to secure something that would help her in her legal battle to secure Jack and Sarah in any divorce proceedings.

The recordings came to light when Jason, eager to impart his work ethic to his son, agreed to pay Jack $5 for cleaning his car. As he was cleaning Jason’s car on the front driveway, Jack found what he thought was a mobile phone stuck under the driver’s seat. He handed it to Jason, who immediately knew it was a recording device. Jason told Jack and Sarah to play in the garden and he went into the house to talk to Molly. I think it is worth noting that this happened just weeks before Jason’s murder.

When we had received legal permission to visit Jason’s home, we found Molly had left a stack of empty packaging – all from recording devices.

Our greatest horror was over the revelations about how Molly had been treating Jack. The little boy would be punished if he didn’t call Molly ‘mom’ on all occasions.

He also faced punishment for the smallest things that Molly didn’t like. Once, Jack fell ill while Jason was away on business. Unable to reach the toilet in time, he got sick into the sink. He called Molly for help but she was angered by what had happened and made him scoop the vomit from the sink with his hands.

On one occasion, Jason was asleep upstairs when Molly, angered by something, confronted him and grabbed him by the neck. The child let out an involuntary cry. Jason, alarmed, came down the stairs and a row erupted over what Molly had been doing with Jack. Molly left the house and, according to the children, only returned the following day.

After the incident between Molly and Jack, Jason began trying to spend more time alone with Jack.

Every bruise or scrape that Jack had, Jason would want a detailed explanation of how it had been sustained.

Again, this happened in the early summer of 2015 and, I believe, was another factor that persuaded Jason it was time to bring the children back to Ireland.