CHAPTER 6 The blood-soaked bedroom

& the question of self-defence

As the tenth day of the trial opened, jurors suddenly found themselves confronted by some of the core evidence in the case. A barrage of forensic evidence began with the keynote testimony of Lt Frank Young, a veteran crime scene analyst, whose evidence allowed the jury to be shown, for the first time, the actual concrete paving brick and metal Louisville Slugger baseball bat found in the blood-soaked bedroom of Jason Corbett that August morning.

Minutes after he took the witness stand, Lt Young opened two brown paper evidence bags to show the baseball bat and the garden paving brick to the jury. The black-coloured Louisville Slugger baseball bat, a Little League bat with bright red writing, was 28 inches in length and made of aluminium. The paving brick was brown coloured but had visible stains on it.

“[I found the bat] in the master bedroom of the residence – the bat was standing in front of the dresser,” he said. “It is a Louisville Slugger aluminium baseball bat.”

Lt Young said the only difference to the bat from when he found it was the presence of volcanic ash traces used by forensic examiners to take fingerprint samples. He also showed the paving brick he seized at the scene to the jury. “The cement paver appears to be stained with blood,” he said. “I also recovered a strand of hair from the cement paver.” Testimony from a blood spatter pattern expert was set to prove crucial in the trial. Such was the violence of the blows sustained by the Limerick packaging executive that parts of Mr Corbett’s detached scalp and hair were found in both the master bedroom and hallway of his Panther Creek property. His blood was found on the floor, walls, bed, bedclothes, bathroom and even utility equipment.

Mr Corbett’s blood was found on both the bat and brick while his hair and tissue was discovered embedded in the paving stone. When the brick was lifted off the bedroom floor by forensic experts, its outline in blood was left on the floor carpet.

Lt Young confirmed that a bloodstain pattern expert examined the Panther Creek scene – and photographs of the markings singled out by the expert – had already been shown to the jury.

Assistant District Attorneys Greg Brown, Alan Martin and Ina Stanton hoped that the detailed bloodstain pattern analysis would explain the precise sequence of blows suffered by Mr Corbett.

An analysis of the blood spatter marks in all the rooms – but particularly the master bedroom – would focus on where Mr Corbett’s head was when it was struck repeatedly by the two objects. The angle and spray pattern of the blood found on the walls would be used to determine Mr Corbett’s posture when he was being struck.

Two head-shaped blood imprints on the wall of the bedroom were found to be at a

relatively low level. Furthermore, substantial quantities of blood were on the bedroom skirting board and on an electrical socket located around 30cm off the floor.

Lt Young said that blood was also found on a vacuum cleaner – and the blood-drip patterns on the machine indicated that it had been moved by someone at the scene. “It was as if it was laid down and moved back up,” he said. The blood pattern expert will also address a number of as-yet-unexplained indentations on the plaster walls. These were of such significance they were specially circled on photographs of the scene taken by Lt Young. A plastic switch plate, located just off the ground, was found to be blood-spattered and also to be cracked.

The crime scene examiner also revealed he had to repeatedly ask Ms Martens-Corbett to stop rubbing and tugging at her neck as she stood outside the home early that morning.

Lt Young said he asked Ms Martens-Corbett for permission to photograph her to note any injuries she might have at the scene.

When he arrived at the Panther Creek property where Mr Corbett was found with fatal head injuries, Ms Martens-Corbett was already seated in a marked patrol car. However, Lt Young said he noted no injuries on the young woman’s neck or throat at the scene.

“There was initial consent to be allowed to take photographs,” he said. “Ms [Martens] Corbett continually pulled and tugged on her neck with her hand. I asked her to stop doing that.” Lt Young said that: “After several requests, she did [stop].”

The police officer said he photographed the young woman’s neck from all angles but said he noted no injuries. “None that I noted,” he stressed. The photos were displayed by an overhead projector to the murder trial jury. By Tuesday, August 1, the trial moved into some of the most dramatic testimony it would hear.

Forensic scientist Dr Stuart James said blood spatter marks on the inside of the boxer shorts of Thomas Martens indicated he was standing directly above Mr Corbett when the Irish businessman’s skull was struck with the metal baseball bat.

The revelation came as a former US federal agency co-worker of Mr Martens also testified that he said he “hated” his Irish son-in-law. The comment was passed just two months before Mr Corbett’s death. Dr James is considered one of the top experts in the field. He has worked on bloodrelated cases in more than 40 US states and also worked extensively overseas, even lecturing on blood pattern analysis in Australia.

The Florida-based doctor was hired by the Davidson County prosecution team to help understand the extensive blood patterns found inside the Panther Creek Court property. He also studied blood spatters found on the red Izod polo shirt and white patterned boxer shorts of Mr Martens and the blue patterned pyjama suit of Ms Martens-Corbett. The clothing was shown to the jury, pinned up on giant display boards.

Dr James compiled two reports for Davidson County District Attorney’s Office on Mr Corbett’s death. In respect of the boxer shorts, he said blood spatters on the inside lower hem were different in direction from those on the front of the underwear.

“The source [of the blood] has to be [from] below,” he said. “The blood droplets had to travel upwards. They have to be: on the inside of the hem, it is not a soak-through stain.”

Dr James said he considered the blood spatters there to be part of “one pattern”. He also accepted, in cross-examination, that the spatters on the front and inside lower hem of the boxer shorts were, in his opinion, indicative as being from two different blows to the head of Mr Corbett. Dr James also said that blood spray patterns on the walls of the bedroom indicate that Mr Corbett’s blood was being flung off an item which was being swung back after being in contact with his skull.

A number of indentation marks on the bedroom walls – all of roughly the size of a baseball bat head – were indicative of an object impact.

The trial also heard that Mr Martens told a former co-worker in a special security unit of the US Department of Energy that “he hated Jason” and also had disdain for his sonin-law’s Irish family.

Joanne Lowry worked alongside Mr Martens in the US Department of Energy for a decade. Both were co-workers in a security unit which specialises in counter-intelligence at the federal agency.

Assistant District Attorney Alan Martin said the evidence was relevant in that it goes towards potential malice as required by the second degree murder definition.

Ms Lowry said that it was “common knowledge” in the Oakridge unit in Tennessee that Mr Martens disliked his Irish son-in-law and his family. Ms Lowry said Mr Martens expressed his dislike for Mr Corbett in a general conversation.

“We have a room where we do classified work,” she said. “I went into the room – the computers are side by side. Tom was by me. I asked him how his weekend was.

“He said the children were down [for the weekend]. He said: ‘You are always glad to see them come but you are always glad to see them go.’” “[He said] That son-in-law – I hate him.” The statement was made two months before Mr Corbett’s death. Ms Lowry added that, at the time of Mr Corbett’s marriage to Mr Martens’ daughter in 2011, he also expressed dislike of the Irishman and his friends. “Jason and his friends – they were going to be at the wedding and were at the house,” she said. “He was not very fond of Jason and his rowdy friends. They were very rowdy in the home. Rude.”

Ms Lowry denied that Mr Martens ever mentioned drinking in the context of the comment. Both defence lawyers, David Freedman and Walter Holton, objected to the evidence on the basis it was potentially prejudicial and “double hearsay”.

A forensic DNA expert also confirmed that Jason Corbett’s DNA was found on a baseball bat and a garden paving brick recovered from the bedroom of his blood-soaked home where he was discovered with fatal head injuries. His DNA was also found on the pyjamas of his second wife and boxer shorts of his father-in-law.

Hair found embedded on the blood-soaked garden paving brick matched the microscopic profile of the Limerick father-of-two’s hair samples.

The North Carolina murder trial heard from forensic DNA expert Wendell Ivory that his tests for DNA proved positive on both the Louisville Slugger Little League baseball bat and the garden paving brick recovered in Mr Corbett’s bedroom on August 2, 2015.

Mr Ivory, an expert with the North Carolina State Crime laboratory, said he conducted tests on the baseball bat and the paving brick, as well as items of clothing including

pyjamas, red polo shirt and pair of boxer shorts. The clothing was taken by Davidson County police from Thomas Martens and Molly Martens-Corbett.

“There was generalised staining of the bat. There were multiple indicators present of blood on the bat,” Mr Ivory said.

He said the DNA tests on the items matched the DNA sample received from Jason Corbett. He said the match was a 1 in 1.99 trillion chance compared to the North Carolina DNA Database for the Caucasian population.

The brick found in the blood-spattered bedroom yielded a total of 25 hairs for forensic inspection. North Carolina State Crime Laboratory official Melanie Carson told Judge Lee and the jury of nine women and three men that 12 of the hairs recovered were, under analysis, consistent with the hair samples taken from Mr Corbett’s scalp.

Five of the hairs found on the brick were grey and required mitochondrial root DNA testing rather than simple microscopic analysis. The other hairs could not be definitively identified though one strand had both similarities and differences to Molly MartensCorbett’s hair sample given to Davidson County Sheriff ’s Department. That single hair strand could not deliver any conclusive analysis. Ms Carson said that hair-like material recovered from the end cap of the baseball bat could not deliver a conclusive analysis for identification purposes though one strand could have come from Jason Corbett.

North Carolina State Crime laboratory fingerprint expert, Adrianne Reeve, revealed that no identifying fingerprints were found on the blood-soaked Louisville Slugger baseball bat found at the scene. Ms Reeve said fingerprint-type ridges were found in a dark red dried substance believed to have been blood.

“There were no identifying latent (hidden) print on Item 1 (baseball bat),” she said. “(I) saw some ridge detail – but there was not sufficient quantity or quality of it available.”

On Tuesday afternoon, jurors and those involved with the trial were informed that there would be no court hearing the following day, Wednesday, August 2, 2017 – the second anniversary of Jason Corbett’s death. While the adjournment was for ostensibly legal reasons, it was a gesture greatly appreciated by the Corbett family.

To mark the second anniversary of Jason Corbett’s death, his former workmates at the Multi Packing Solutions (MPS) plant on Lexington Parkway in North Carolina staged a special balloon release.

The event, to which the extended Corbett family were specially invited, was organised by Jason’s MPS friends and workmates to honour the Limerick father-of-two and to show solidarity with his heartbroken family.

At 12 noon sharp, in the blazing heat of a North Carolina day, the balloons were released and scurried across the azure blue sky. In the distance, the sound of traffic on the nearby I85 motorway could be heard, thundering north towards Winston-Salem and south towards Charlotte. The sky was dotted with clouds hinting at the heavy thunderstorms forecast for later in the week.

Members of the Corbett family including Jason’s sister, Tracey, brother-in-law, David, as well as extended family members and friends, watched in silence as the balloons vanished into the distance above the sprawling plant.

Earlier, the family had attended Mass for private prayers in memory of their brother and friend. By Lexington Parkway, near the car park of the plant, the family chatted to some of Jason’s former workmates and friends.

One of the 143 prospective jurors for the Davidson County trial had indicated two weeks ago he believed he had a conflict of interest. He worked for MPS though he admitted he didn’t personally know Jason. But, in a comment which brought a fleeting smile to several members of the Corbett family in Courtroom C as they attended the painstaking jury selection process, he revealed that MPS staff still talk about Jason “almost every day”. “Everyone liked Jason,” the man said. It was a memory the heart-broken family held tight to; one copper-fastened by the decency of staff who remembered a man known as a hard worker and a great colleague.

Jason had worked for MPS in Ireland but, after his second marriage, had decided to take up the opportunity to transfer to the firm’s North Carolina plant because his second wife, a native of Tennessee, hadn’t settled in Ireland and was homesick. His relocation would last just four years. But, two years after his death, the young Janesboro man was still fondly remembered by colleagues in a plant which had been central to his plans to build a new life. He was now remembered by a tree planted in his memory and a special plaque. The plaque tribute was simply: ‘In dedication to a great leader and friend – Jason Corbett August 2015 – Conas tá tú?’

The trial resumed in a blaze of legal argument and concluding prosecution evidence on Thursday as the two defence teams asked Judge Lee to dismiss the charges.

The State case had closed on the 12th day of the trial after hearing from a total of 21 witnesses. The final witnesses included Dr James, whose evidence concluded in the morning, Lieutenant Detective Wanda Thompson, who led the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office murder investigation, Tracey Lynch and Melanie Crooke, an MPS executive who had worked with Jason Corbett. Substantial legal argument surrounded the proposed evidence of Lt Det Thompson. The defence objected to her testimony on the basis of revelations surrounding queries from the Davidson County Sheriff ’s Department to a Maine-based insurance company which handled the life assurance policy taken out on Jason Corbett. The defence vehemently objected to Judge Lee over the fact they had received documents in relation to the insurance matter two days into the trial proceedings on July 19.

The prosecution, who obtained the documents at the same time, made them immediately available to the defence.

However, both Mr Freedman and Mr Holton objected and raised queries over any likely testimony from Lt Det Thompson. Later it was agreed that Lt Det Thompson would not offer any testimony in relation to the insurance matter. She would, instead, simply testify as to the questioning of Molly Martens-Corbett at a Davidson County Sheriff ’s Office on August 2, 2015.

Lt Det Thompson, a 22-year veteran of the Davidson County force, met Ms Martens-Corbett at the station. “I asked Mrs Corbett if she would be willing to give us a statement