Un matrimonio mortal en Carolina del Norte

Two very opposing versions of a married life and two kids forever damaged by what ultimately happened. The brutality of the death speaks volumes. Not self-defence. It was murder as the baseball bat blows kept going even when he was incapacitated. Molly Martens is clearly guilty and is likely a sociopath, assisted by her ex FBI doting father who deserves an oscar for his nonsense testimonies that do not make any sense. The Martens are evidently dangerous and manipulative. The courts have said so. I hope the kids are able to move on now from from the Martens poison they had to endure. What do I hope for the Martens? Nothing but relentless and swift karma. The documentary was excellent. It did portray both sides, but it showed that any bit of ambiguity (not in this case) or lack of corroboration as to how a violent event occurred could cause people to query matters. Then, instead, you have to look at the graphic crime scene evidence. Not for the faint hearted and not some attempt but somebody to subdued anyone that may have been, in any way, aggressive. This was a brutal and sustained assault in someone who could not defend themselves. If such alleged aggressor is no longer a threat, it stops there. To keep going...that's murder. No two ways about it. Full stop.

It's great that the children even though it took some time after all those years for them to come forward until what really happened. And that the father was not physically abusive to the mother at all. She seems to have no answer to any of those comments the kids had brought to light. She still speaks like her and her father who deserves to be where he's at too he should have actually gotten more and her also it was a total Massacre. See and that old scallywag of a father ambushed him and didn't allow any exit for him while they were beating him with a baseball bat and a large brick. But yet they try and justify that as they were in fear. It just goes to show you how some narcissistic ignorant people think that what they can lie about that they believe a jury is too stupid to see through it. To my opinion the father and the daughter should have been in prison forever. They might come up as upstanding citizens but let's get this straight they're dirty scumbag felons. Only in my heart do I wish that they could read this. And know that most Americans virtually all that had seen this story do not believe their side. They just need to stay in jail and think about every day how they beat that man to death. Sad really sad human beings almost makes you wish you weren't human when you have trash like that still existing.

That Molly, Tom and their horrible excuse for an attorney were allowed to point blank LIE regarding Mags is so appalling and quite honestly, grotesque.

The prosecution for this debacle couldn't have been more incompetent- they didn't even bother to call Mags' family in Ireland to testify! After presenting such an horrific case the first time, he caved completely and gave these two monsters an ridiculous plea deal for next to no time after what can only be described as the most grisly, gruesome annihilation of an human being most have witnessed.

And then you have these two adorable children, through no fault of their own, are now smack in the middle of a child's worst nightmare- no parents remaining, having experienced and witnessed this hideous tragedy, and then having to struggle through being forced to endure living with people to whom they had no blood relation and all this after their father had so thoughtfully designated appropriate caregivers for them in the chance something awful befell him. Little could he have imagined the worst imaginable would pale in comparison to the actuality.

There's far too much air given to these monsters, and not nearly as much time spent delving into what horrible creatures this entire family is, and how manipulated the victim was and how poorly Molly treated him and his children.

"I can't tell" was what Tom Martens told the 911 operator when they asked him if Jason Corbett was still breathing. Later, he and his daughter, Molly, Jason's wife, can be heard attempting or feigning an attempt to perform CPR on Corbett's unresponsive body. Checking for signs of breathing precedes CPR. "I can't tell" implies either he didn't care to check whether Corbett was still breathing or he already knew that Corbett was dead.

Very rarely in true crime documentaries do we get to see an even portrayal of both sides of the story. No one involved had "declined to comment" and it felt very much like witnessing a live trial where cases of the defense and prosecution are being presented as we the audience watch on like a member of the jury. In this sense, this documentary succeeds in allowing you to form your own opinion about the truth surrounding the death of Jason Corbett - was he the victim or the aggressor who was killed in self-defense?

A few things stood out to me. Tom's coldness and detachment when discussing the death of his son-in-law, and his smirk that was captured at the police station. Molly's unwavering focus on herself and her image as the mother of Jack and Sarah, speaking of them as if she was their birth mother, as well as the abject absence of any remorse or horror towards her husband's death, even if he was abusive according to her. After all, she admitted to striking him in the head with a brick.

Jack and Sarah were more reliable narrators, especially when they each expressed sadness and guilt over their initial statements to the authorities at the tender ages at 9 and 7 respectively, that portrayed their father as having a temper and abusive towards Molly; these statements were later retracted when they concluded that they had been groomed by Molly. The defense attorneys homed in on medical notes that indicated Jason reporting "getting angry for no reason", while ignoring the bigger picture that Jason had hypothyroidism and hadn't been taking his medication for seven months. Symptoms of hypothyroidism include weight gain, fatigue, depression and irritability.

DARVO is Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender; Molly gave a masterclass of this here. A real victim of coercive control wouldn't dare to risk their abuser finding a recording device, let alone plant several at various locations in the home and in the car. Molly saying "I was the mother to the Jack and Sarah that existed in another lifetime" also informed me that she never truly cared for the children. She only saw them as extensions of herself as she basked in title of Mother and wanted them so that she could continue her charade. But Jason would not allow her to be their adoptive mother and wanted to return to Ireland with Jack and Sarah. That was the motive.

After his wife dies, Jason Corbett falls for his American au pair, Molly Martens. The couple marries and moves to the States with his kids, Jack and Sarah. A disturbing 999 call alerts the police to the tragedy of Jason's death; he'd been brutally killed. Molly claims self-defence, along with her father, Thomas.

This is one of those jaw-dropping, real-life true crimes. A decade on, it still shocks me. What a miscarriage of justice. The overturning of the decision was a joke.

It almost made me vomit listening to Thomas and Molly Martens; just vile. What was done to Jason was simply an act of evil; what was done to those children was sick. Hopefully, his murderers are haunted by sleepless nights.

I didn't believe a single word that came out of Molly's mouth, her body language truly told the story of someone who was lying. She's clearly her father's daughter. He made me feel so uncomfortable.

Not enough was made of the lies she told, didn't she tell her friends a pack of lies about her relationship towards Jason and the kids.

One criticism: why on earth were these two creatures given such a platform? Honestly, it's truly sickening. Crocodile tears galore, she deserves an Oscar for her performance.

Some things have changed for the better, but one thing that hasn't is the ability of a perpetrator to play the victim card.

It warms the heart to know that Jack and Sarah turned out to be such impressive human beings. I wish those two very well.

8/10.