In Jason's Name

48 Hours

This episode of '48 Hours' explores the tragic case of Jason Corbett, a widower who found love with his au pair, Molly Martins, only to be b

Key takeaways

Jason Corbett's life transformed after meeting Molly Martins, who brought joy back into his family after losing his first wife.
The couple's relationship deteriorated after moving to America, with Jason reporting emotional abuse from Molly.

Main topics

Domestic violence
Family dynamics

Notable quotes

He was an amazing human being. When he was young, he was fun, vivacious, a little bit giddy.

I would have done anything I needed to do to get justice for Jason.

Conclusion

Jason Corbett's tragic death exposed a complex web of love, betrayal, and legal controversy.

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:08) Jason, he was an amazing human being. When he was young, he was fun, vivacious, a little bit giddy. So you're the big sister? I'm the big sister, yeah, by about three and a half years. That's just enough to be able to tell him what to do. Absolutely, yeah. Yeah, I don't think he always appreciated it. Speaker 6 (0:31) Jason was a 31-year-old widower with two tiny children. Speaker 1 (0:39) He decided that he needed support and decided to engage the services of an au pair. That was Molly Martins. Speaker 7 (0:48) I always knew her as kind-hearted. Speaker 4 (0:52) She loves other people more than she loves herself. I would describe her even growing up as just remarkably altruistic. Speaker 1 (1:00) She was good with the kids. Jason started to smile a bit more. There Speaker 6 (1:05) was definitely something between them. The two of them looked very happy. Jason was always the romantic type. He shouldn't have been alone for the rest of his life. Speaker 1 (1:15) He proposed to her on Valentine's Day. Speaker 4 (1:19) The wedding was beautiful. She seemed happy. Speaker 1 (1:27) I suppose a lot of things changed when they moved to America. Jason started to talk about moving home. He wasn't happy. He said she was acting strange. He would open up and say they were having difficulties and then he would change the subject. Speaker 4 (1:44) When they moved to the US, I definitely start to notice more verbal altercations and verbal abuse. Jason was yelling at Molly. My Speaker 3 (1:56) name is Tom Martins. My son-in-law got in a fight with my daughter. I intervened. in bad shape. We need help. What Speaker 5 (2:04) do you mean he's in bad shape? He's hurt? He's bleeding all over and I may have killed him. Speaker 5 (2:11) He's got Molly by the throat like this. I was screaming help and he was screaming I'm going to kill you. And I said let Speaker 4 (2:19) her go. Let her go. I'm going to kill her. Let her go. I'm going to kill her. Speaker 7 (2:24) He walks in that scene a nightmare. Without Tom Martin's heroic efforts that night, Molly would be Speaker 1 (2:32) dead. They claimed that it was self-defense. Speaker 2 (2:36) So you're telling me you think that whole thing was staged? Yes. 100%. And the entire story that the two of them tell about Jason choking Molly, in your mind, that is entirely a lie? Speaker 1 (2:47) Yes. The Martins didn't just murder Jason. Speaker 7 (2:52) They tried Speaker 1 (2:56) to destroy his character. I would have done anything I needed to do to get justice for Jason. Speaker 5 (3:25) The Speaker 2 (3:25) call came in the early morning hours of August 2nd, 2015. Speaker 5 (3:34) Police arrived Speaker 2 (3:44) at this Winston-Salem, North Carolina home to find Jason Corbett beaten to death and his blood on his wife, Molly. They knew who did it, Molly and her father, Tom Martins. The question was why. Speaker 5 (4:00) He's got Molly by the throat like Speaker 2 (4:03) this. Just hours later, Tom, a 30-year FBI veteran, explains he'd been spending the night at his daughter's home. After being awakened by a commotion upstairs, he says he grabbed a Little League baseball bat he brought as a gift for the kids and ran to her room. Speaker 5 (4:23) He sees me coming and he goes around her throat like this. Speaker 4 (4:29) And I said, let her go. Turned him on. Tom says Speaker 2 (4:38) his protective instincts as a father instantly kicked in. Speaker 4 (4:57) Molly Speaker 2 (5:00) told investigators the same story. Speaker 2 (5:17) She hit Jason with a paving stone that was sitting on her nightstand. Speaker 2 (5:56) In Ireland, Jason's sister, Tracey Lynch, still cannot comprehend that he died this way. I Speaker 1 (6:03) just couldn't process that it was, that he was my best friend. We were just two of the closest people in the world to each other, outside of my husband and children. Speaker 2 (6:16) Tracey and Jason were part of a big Irish family in Limerick. She remembers her brother as a kind and caring soul. We Speaker 1 (6:25) would just spend summers in Spanish Point in County Clare, hang out, fish, just kind of normal traditional Irish upbringing really. Speaker 5 (6:34) We looked like each other, but we were different in so many ways. Speaker 2 (6:38) Jason was Wayne Corbett's twin. Would he have been the quiet one or in the middle of it? Speaker 5 (6:43) No, no, no, Jason wouldn't have been quiet. You would hear him before you see him. Speaker 2 (6:52) Jason married his first wife, Mags Fitzpatrick, when he was 27. They had two children, Jack and Sarah. Speaker 1 (6:59) They were just so happy and so excited with life and so enthusiastic about it as well. And they had Sarah and, you know, I remember them saying that they had, that their family was complete. They had their little prince and princess. But in Speaker 2 (7:14) 2006, shortly after having their second child, Jason's storybook life came to an abrupt end when Mags, a longtime asthmatic, suddenly had an attack. Speaker 1 (7:27) Mags woke Jason to say that she was feeling wheezy, and he set her up. She started to take her nebulizer, and she started to get progressively worse. We found out later they called him in and told him that she had died in the ambulance. the way to the hospital. Speaker 2 (7:43) And how old was he? He was 30. So 30 years old? Yeah. With a two-year-old son? He had a 12-week-old daughter. With two very small children still at home, Jason Corbett had no choice but to pick up the pieces and move on after Mags died. A year and a half later, 25-year-old Molly Martins answered an ad for an au pair. She arrived in Limerick in March 2008. Speaker 6 (8:16) I met Molly the day she arrived in the airport in Shannon. Speaker 2 (8:20) Jason's longtime friend, Lynn Shanahan. And what was your impression of her when you met her? Speaker 6 (8:26) My first thoughts and the first sentence to my own husband were, this is not what Jason needs right now. Speaker 2 (8:34) Why? Speaker 6 (8:34) The minute I saw her with the big bouncing curls, she was in her 20s. She had a big bright-colored coat, fur collar. How by boots was dressed and makeup done like a pageant queen, as we would have said. She just seemed not the nannying type. Speaker 2 (8:55) But Molly's uncle, Mike Ernest, says she was great with kids. Speaker 7 (9:00) She grew up babysitting, always loved children. Speaker 2 (9:05) Molly Martins had grown up in Knoxville, Tennessee. She dropped out of Clemson University and was looking to begin a new chapter in her life. Speaker 7 (9:14) I think, you know, she maybe was looking for something different and that this might get her involved too in something that I think she was passionate about, which is children. Speaker 2 (9:24) In Limerick, Molly instantly connected with Jason's children, three-year-old Jack and one-year-old Sarah. He Speaker 1 (9:32) liked her. She seemed gentle with the kids. We started to see, you know, a little glimpse of the old Jason coming back that he was just, you know... Not so sad all the time. Speaker 2 (9:44) That's when Jason and Molly's relationship changed from professional to personal. We Speaker 6 (9:51) went on holiday together. The two of them looked very happy. The kids were happy. Speaker 2 (9:55) And they were soon making long-term plans. It was here at Freddy's Bistro in Limerick on Valentine's Day 2010, nearly two years after Molly Martins arrived to be an au pair. that Jason asked her to be his wife. Molly was over the moon and immediately began planning for a wedding back in the States. They Speaker 1 (10:20) came and said that they got engaged and we opened a bottle of champagne and toasted their future. Was he happy? He was happy. Yeah, he was. He was in love. He loved Molly. But that Speaker 2 (10:36) happiness wouldn't last for long. Speaker 5 (10:44) It was crazy. So there's a history of domestic violence at the house. Tom, that I don't know. Speaker 2 (11:12) Molly Corbett and Tom Martins continue to give Davidson County investigators a blow-by-blow account of what they say happened that night in that bedroom. By now, they've washed off Jason's blood. Okay. Speaker 5 (11:28) You know your husband didn't survive his injuries, right? Speaker 2 (11:32) I don't think so. Speaker 2