A Lethal American Marriage is one other Netflix documentary that explores a extremely publicized homicide that received plenty of consideration within the media. In 2015, Jason Corbett was murdered, overwhelmed to demise with a brick and a baseball bat at his residence in North Carolina. His spouse, Molly Martens, and her dad, Thomas Martens, have been charged along with his homicide. Seems like a fairly open and shut case? However questions concerning the motivation have at all times lingered.
“Jason misplaced his life in a brutal killing,” filmmakers Jessica Burgess and Jenny Popplewell mentioned to Netflix. “It was not lengthy after he had moved from Eire to America to construct a brand new life for himself and his household — what ought to have been the ‘American Dream’ went so tragically flawed for everybody.”
Was it calculated? Was it an act of self-defense from a girl who had been abused? A Lethal American Marriage tries to reply these questions by interviewing most of the individuals straight concerned in what occurred. And when you keep in mind listening to concerning the case or are contemplating the documentary, probably the most generally requested questions is about Molly Martens and her dad, Thomas. What occurred to them? Have been they convicted? And, is Thomas Martens nonetheless in jail for the homicide of Jason Corbett?
Is Thomas Martens Nonetheless in Jail For Jason Corbett’s Homicide?
No, Thomas Martens was launched from jail in June 2024. His daughter Molly Martens was equally launched from jail in June 2024. The 2 are each featured within the A Lethal American Marriage documentary. From the start, each Molly and Thomas Martens insisted that they acted in self-defense after Corbett allegedly began choking Molly and threatening to kill her.
In 2016, the 2 have been charged with second-degree homicide and voluntary manslaughter, to which they pleaded not responsible. They have been each convicted and sentenced to twenty to 25 years, respectively, however the conviction was reversed on attraction. In 2023, the 2 agreed to plea offers of Class D manslaughter expenses and have been each sentenced to 51 to 74 months in jail. They got credit score for the greater than three-and-a-half years that they had already served, so the 2 ended up serving solely an extra seven months behind bars.
The documentary options interviews with each Molly and Thomas Martens in addition to Jason’s youngsters, sister, and brother-in-law, in an try to supply “divergent views of these straight impacted by his killing”. Neither of the kids has any relationship with Molly Martens in 2025, and so they each expressed their anger at her within the documentary, accusing her of manipulating them and mendacity about their father’s homicide.
Jason’s sister and her husband, who’re the authorized guardians of his youngsters, mentioned in a press release that they participated within the documentary in an try to focus on the problems with the authorized system. “Taking part within the Netflix documentary was vital to us as a result of it highlights the profound affect of the absence of justice we confronted within the judicial system,” they mentioned on Fb. “We’re not alone in our experiences. We hope the documentary honours Jason’s reminiscence whereas advocating for justice and guaranteeing that the voices of victims are heard, particularly when the judicial system has failed them.” Thomas Martens and his daughter Molly, in fact, inform a special story—and so they additionally get to inform their aspect through the documentary.
“This case demonstrates how advanced the American justice system is,” filmmakers Burgess and Popplewell additionally informed Tudum. “The place is the reality? The place are the lies? The place is justice? This documentary demonstrates that it’s not clear-cut.”
