Molly Martens Corbett had the bill for the ambulance that removed Limerick man Jason Corbett’s remains from their North Carolina home sent to the Corbett family, his former sister-in-law, Catherine Fitzpatrick, has claimed.
Ms Martens Corbett and her father Thomas Martens are beginning jail sentences having been found guilty of second degree murder on Wednesday.
Reacting to the verdict, Ms Fitzpatrick said she phoned Molly Martens as soon as she heard the news of Mr Corbett’s death. “I expected her to be hysterical, but she was very calm, she didn’t cry. She said it just happened.
“She said the kids were fine but didn’t let me speak to the kids. My main concern was Jack and Sarah.”
Eventually she got to speak to Sharon Martens, Mr Martens’s wife, who tried to tell her that Jason and Molly’s marriage had not been good. “I just asked her to let me speak to the kids. She put them on loudspeaker; I could tell they were uncomfortable. I didn’t get to see them until they came home.”
"She made everything difficult, " Jason Corbett's twin Wayne Corbett told RTÉ's Today with Sean O'Rourke Show.
“She got the body moved so we couldn’t find where the funeral home was.”
“She’s a piece of work.”
He also said he had initially been disappointed that Molly Martens and her father were not charged with first degree murder. He also thought the judge could have sentenced them to life without the possibility of parole, but he accepted the judge’s decision. There was now a sense of relief within the family that the trial was over.
Ms Fitzpatrick, who had been living with the family when her sister Mags, Jason Corbett’s first wife, died, said that the family had been very upset at the allegations made by Tom Martens in relation to Mags’s death.
“His efforts to tarnish Jason’s name made me angry. They were all lies.”
Wayne Corbett, who had attended the trial until last week, said that seeing the photographic evidence had been very traumatic. “It still is affecting me.
“It’s very difficult to comprehend what they did to Jason. They didn’t just kill him - they slaughtered him.”
He said that Tom Martens had always come across as an arrogant man who thought he was above everyone else. “We tried to get on with Molly for the sake of Jason and the kids. She seemed a bit false, to put it simply.”
Marion Fitzpatrick, mother of Jason Corbett’s late wife Mags described her distress and horror on hearing claims by Mr Martens that her late husband had held Jason responsible for Mags’s death. “It was unbelievable, the lies. For someone to get up and say those things.”
“My husband was a gentleman. He and Jason were great friends. Jason was a good man and a good father. He was a gentle giant, he was so thoughtful,” she told Newstalk.
“He paid for us to go to the US to visit them. He came home one Christmas to surprise us. He loved his family so much. He was a really good man. He worked hard and did everything he could for his family.”
Ms Fitzpatrick said it had been difficult at first when he had married Molly Martens, but she knew he wanted a family for the sake of his children.
“The hardest part was when they went to America.”
She said she met Molly several times and thought her “a bit strict, not like Irish mammies.
“They seemed to be doing fine. They had a lovely home. The kids were making friends, so I was happy for them.”
Ms Fitzpatrick said that justice had been done. “Now the Corbett family can grieve for Jason.” She added the children had a good life now and were being well looked after.