Molly Martens to stay in jail as retrial challenged
THE North Carolina Supreme Court has granted US prosecutors a challenge to the shock retrial of the father and daughter convicted of the brutal murder of Irish businessman Jason Corbett.
The decision means that Tom (68) and Molly Martens (34) will now remain in prison in the US state while a challenge to the North Carolina Supreme Court is prepared.
North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein signalled last week that a formal stay would be sought to the shock decision by the Court of Appeal to order a retrial of the former FBI agent and his daughter over the killing of Mr Corbett (39) in August 2015.
The pair have been in prison since they were convicted in August 2017 of the second-degree murder of the Limerick widower at his home outside Winston-Salem. Both were sentenced to 20-25 years in prison for the killing of Mr Corbett who, a murder trial heard, had been savagely beaten to death with a metal baseball bat and a heavy concrete brick. Mr Corbett’s family had been left devastated by the Court of Appeal ruling.
Now, in a formal notice issued yesterday, North Carolina Supreme Court clerk Amy Funderburk confirmed that a stay has been granted on the Court of Appeal order.
This is pending a full challenge to the Court of Appeal decision – with a Supreme Court hearing not expected in North Carolina until 2021.
Had a Supreme Court challenge not been signalled or had the Supreme Court not consented to a stay on the Court of Appeal order, Tom and Molly Martens would have been able to apply within weeks for release from prison on bond pending their retrial.