We tussle, I get the bat, I win
as a weapon and that he didn’t see his daughter using any brick on the night Mr Corbett died.
The trial also heard that Jason’s wife Molly is the sole beneficiary of a $600,000 insurance policy in his name.
Before that, co-accused Tom Martens stepped into the dock and gave an account of an extraordinary struggle that ensued between him and Mr Corbett involving a baseball bat he had brought to Jason and Molly’s house that day for Mr Corbett’s son Jack.
He said he had been woken by a disturbance and heard screams coming from Molly and Jason’s bedroom. Grabbing the bat he had brought, he went to investigate the commotion.
The man with over 31 years of service in the FBI sobbed as he recalled begging Mr Corbett to free his daughter from a ‘chokehold’ he said the Limerick man had her in on the night of August 1, 2015. The father of four from Knoxville, Tennessee, told the court in North Carolina that he had never witnessed Mr Corbett being physically violent toward his daughter before that night.
Mr Martens, 66, and his Molly, 34, are charged with second-degree murder of Jason Corbett, 39. Both deny the charges and allege they were acting in
‘Really enjoyed outwitting’ agencies
self-defence.
During cross-examination by the prosecution, Mr Martens said he had received training in the ‘use of force’ during his time as a field agent in the FBI. This included self-defence training and ‘excessive force’ training.
In relation to ‘baton training’ he had received, he was asked to identify which parts of the body should be struck to ‘bring a man down’.
He said the ankle, the knees or the kidneys. The prosecution contended that a baseball bat is similar to a baton and should have been used in that way.
Mr Martens said that he chose to hit Mr Corbett in the head because that was the only area he could strike without hitting Molly.
Greg Brown, for the prosecution, told the court that during an interview conducted by two detectives investigating Mr Corbett’s death, Mr Martens ‘interrupted questioning and took charge’.
He had already told the two men that he had a long career in the FBI and that he ‘really enjoyed outwitting’ other spy agencies. In an earlier role, he liked ‘kicking in doors and arresting people’, the trial heard. Mr Brown said that at one point during interview, the defendant said: ‘Perhaps it would be helpful if I just launched into a story that would account for my state of mind.’
‘Were you trying to match wits with the detectives?’ asked Mr Brown. ‘No,’ replied Mr Martens. Mr Brown told the court Mr Martens tried to use his FBI training and legal qualifications to lead the interview to support his claim of selfdefence. Turning to the night of the killing, Mr Martens appeared calm and controlled as his attorney David Freedman led him through his evidence. ‘What woke you on the night of August 1?’ asked Mr Freedman.
‘I was awoken from a sound sleep,’ said Mr Martens.
‘I heard thumping, loud footfalls on the floor above me, I heard a scream and loud voices. There was an obvious disturbance going on above in the house. It sounded bad. It sounded like a matter of urgency. I got right out of bed and I grabbed that baseball bat.’
He was asked why he grabbed the baseball bat and replied: ‘It seemed like a good idea.’
He added: ‘I was going up to a situation that sounded confrontational. I would rather have a baseball bat in my hand than not.’
He said he did not know what was going on and that he ‘reacted instinctively’. ‘When I got upstairs I could determine they were coming (the noises) from Jason and Molly’s bedroom. The door was closed. I opened it,’ he said.
There was a long pause before Mr Martens continued. ‘In front of me, I would say 7 or 8 feet, Jason had his hands around Molly’s neck... they were facing each other.’
Mr Martens said he closed the door but did not know why he did so. ‘I said, “let her go,” he told the court. ‘He (Jason) said, “I’m going to kill her.” I said, “let her go”.
‘He (Jason) said, “I’m going to kill her.” ‘I said, “let her go”.
‘He (Jason) said, “I’m going to kill her”. I don’t know how many times I said it.’
Mr Martens broke down at this point, sobbing momentarily.
Continuing, he said as soon as Mr Corbett saw him he took Molly’s arm in the ‘crook’ of his arm. ‘She was in front of me and between me and him,’ he said. ‘He was really angry and I was really scared.’
He said Mr Corbett took a step back towards the hallway that leads to the en suite in the master bedroom. ‘I thought that would be the end of that because I would not be able to save her if he went behind that door. I hit him in the back of the head with the baseball bat. It seemed like the most effective place to hit him,’ he said.
Mr Martens said that the blow ‘didn’t have any effect’ and seemed to ‘further enrage’ Mr Corbett.
‘He didn’t waver,’ he said. ‘He didn’t go down. He did as I feared, he continued to edge down into the hallway leading to the bathroom.’ Mr Martens said he ‘didn’t have any room to manoeuvre’ in the hallway. ‘I tried to hit him as many times as I could,’ he said.
‘He had Molly in a very tight chokehold. She was no longer wriggling. She was just dead weight being dragged into the hallway. I don’t know how effective those hits were. I tired .... I was determined that he was not going to close that door between me and him.’
Mr Martens said he stepped to the right and hit Mr Corbett. ‘I know of two times when I hit him in the back of the head and then whatever happened in the hallway,’ he added.
He said that again, the blows did not have any effect and that Mr Corbett ‘changed tactics’.
‘He started to push back down the hallway,’ the retired FBI agent said. ‘I don’t think I hit him in the return trip in the hallway... We merge from the hallways and we are back in the bedroom. I get what I think is a chance to hit him, only this time he is ready for me.’
Mr Martens said that Mr Corbett caught the bat as he swung it towards him. ‘In the process Molly goes free,’ he said. ‘She escapes to his right. Now he has the bat but I’m still holding on to it. He cocks his head and he is punching out and shoves me across the entire room. I’m on the floor with my back to him and my face down in the carpet. If I could get any more afraid... that was it.
‘I’m thinking, “the next thing he is going to [hit me with] a bat in the back of the head”.’
Mr Martens said he heard his daughter screaming, ‘Don’t hit my dad!’ and scrambled away, eventually getting himself back up.
‘Now I see Jason essentially where we started, inside the doorway to the bedroom,’ he said.
‘He’s got the bat. Molly is by the nightstand between the wall and the bed. Things look pretty bleak. He’s got the bat... he’s in a pretty good athletic position... He’s looking between me and Molly. I decide to rush in and get the bat.
‘If I stay there, I figure he is going to kill one of us or both of us.’
A struggle ensued, during which Mr Martens gained control of the bat. ‘I win,’ he said. ‘I get control of the bat. He loses his grip and I hit him. I didn’t want him to take the bat away and kill me. This was far from over. I’m in shock. I’m not doing good so I hit him and I hit him until he goes down.’
He added: ‘I hit him until I thought that he could not kill me.
‘He said he was going to kill Molly and I certainly felt he would kill me. I felt both of our lives were in danger. I did the best I could.’
Mr Martens said he asked his daughter to get a phone to call 911. He said they administered CPR.
Earlier, the trial, which Jason’s sister Tracey Lynch attended with her husband David, heard that Mr
‘He had Molly in a tight chokehold’ ‘He obviously had had a few beers’
Martens and his wife Sharon had arrived at Jason and Molly’s home at Panther Creek Court at about 8.30pm on August 1, having made a five-hour journey from Knoxville. He packed a bat that belonged to his third son Stewart as a gift for Mr Corbett’s son Jack.
Mr Martens said Jason was in a lawn chair drinking beer with his neighbour when they arrived.
Jason came over to greet them. ‘He obviously had had a few beers,’ he said. He said they ‘made nice’.
Molly ordered pizza and everyone sat down to eat, except Jason’s son Jack who was attending a birthday party nearby. ‘I had a small glass of wine,’ said Mr Martens.
Jack arrived home after 11pm and it was too late to give him the bat he had brought, Mr Martens said. They all retreated to bed, with plans set for Jason and Mr Martens to play golf the following morning, the trial heard.
Earlier, Mr Martens told jurors he did not like Jason. Mr Martens told the court that, in his view, Jason Corbett ‘never measured up’ to his expectations for his daughter and that he had advised her to seek legal advice about the marriage.
Mr Martens said Jason had told him he intended to make Molly the ‘adoptive mother’ of his children, Jack and Sarah. But this never happened, he said, and it was a source of strain. He said he was aware of the fact his daughter was the beneficiary of Mr Corbett’s insurance policy, worth $600,000.
‘The money is being held in trust pending litigation,’ he said.
The prosecution told the court a civil suit for wrongful death has been taken against both defendants and that the outcome of the criminal proceedings would have a bearing on this.