In a Call to 911, Tom Martens Said He May Have Killed His Son-in-Law — Here's What Happened

The crime scene in the house Molly Martens shared with her husband, Jason Corbett, was about as bloody as one could possibly be. Molly and Corbett met in 2008 when she was 25 and he was 30. The slightly older man had lost his wife a few years prior and was raising two small children on his own in Ireland, where he was from. In 2008, he decided to hire Molly, who was originally from Knoxville, Tenn., to work as an au pair. They soon fell in love and decided to get married, per Time.

The couple moved to Wallburg, N.C., and a few years later, Corbett was violently murdered in their ensuite bathroom. When it comes to the details of that night, law enforcement said a few things didn't add up. One thing is for sure: Molly, Corbett, and the children weren't alone. Her parents, Tom and Sharon Martens, were visiting. It was Tom who made a frantic call to 911, telling the dispatcher he may have killed Corbett. Where is Tom Martens now? Here's what we know.

The altercation that ended in Corbett's death involved Molly and her father, who told police it was self-defense. In January 2016, Molly and Tom were charged with second-degree murder. A year later, they were both found guilty and sentenced to 20 to 25 years in prison. Two years after that, the defense went to the appellate court and argued that several mistakes were made during Tom and Molly's trial, including not testing blood on Tom's shorts and possible jury misconduct.

Although the verdict was overturned, the prosecution appealed it all the way to the North Carolina Supreme Court, which ordered a new trial in March 2021. Despite the fact that the state and defense began preparing for a new trial, in October 2023, Molly and Tom pleaded no contest to charges of voluntary manslaughter because they simply couldn't do it again. They each received sentences of 51 to 70 months, got time served, and were released in June 2024.

The following is an account of what happened to Corbett based on interviews with Molly and Tom, for an episode of 20/20 that aired in August 2017. This conversation happened almost exactly two years after Corbett was killed. On that warm night in August 2015, Tom and his wife decided to drop in on their daughter and son-in-law for an unplanned visit.

According to Molly, her parents arrived around 8:30 p.m., and by that time, her husband was already drunk. Tom had brought a baseball bat as a gift for Corbett's son because the kid "thought it was really cool to get any former baseball gear that was a hand-me-down," he explained. Everyone had pizza and headed for bed, but Molly was woken up around 3 a.m. by Corbett's daughter Sarah, who had a nightmare.

The kids were not supposed to be in Molly and Corbett's room, and she later told authorities that her husband thought she coddled them too much. When Corbett woke up, he was furious at Molly for comforting his daughter and proceeded to yell at his wife. Molly said she normally didn't fight back but felt "emboldened" by her parents' presence in the house. That's when Corbett allegedly started choking Molly, which woke up Tom, who ran upstairs with the bat.

When Tom entered the room, Corbett supposedly still had his hands around Molly's neck but positioned her between the two of them while dragging her into the bathroom. Tom said he was afraid Molly would get killed if Corbett got her into the other room, so he followed the two of them. He was able to hit Tom in the back of the head with the bat, and then a few more times before his lifeless body was on the floor. That's when Tom called 911 while Molly performed CPR. Corbett didn't make it.