Viewers all around the world can’t get enough of a grippingtrue-crime documentary, and the latest streaming sensation taking audiences by storm isNetflix’sA Deadly American Marriage. This doc explores the murder of Irish businessman and widower Jason Corbett in 2015, who was beaten to death by his wife, Molly Martens, and her father, Thomas, leaving behind his two young children.
A Deadly American Marriagewas directed by Jessica Burgess (American Monster) and Jenny Popplewell (What Jennifer Did, American Murder: The Family Next Door) and examines evidence presented by the authorities and investigators while attempting to answer whether or not the Martens' actions were murder or in self-defense. Let’s take a look at the doc and harrowing case and see where Molly Martens is now, a decade after Jason Corbett’s death.
A Deadly American Marriage
Netflix’s Chilling Look at the Death of Jason Corbett
A Deadly American Marriage,which exploresthe death of 39-year-old Irish businessman Jason Corbett on June 11, 2025, at the hands of his wife, Molly Martens, and father-in-law, Thomas. Corbett had first met Martens when he hired her to become an au pair to his children, Jack and Sarah, in April 2008 after the death of his first wife, Margaret, who had suddenly passed away from an asthma attack in 2006. Martens traveled to Limerick, Ireland, to care for the young kids, with the two quickly striking up a romantic relationship.
The family relocated to Lexington, North Carolina, and married in April 2011, with Jason being able to transfer his work and business dealings to the States to start fresh and begin a new chapter; his life would tragically be cut short just a few years later. On the night of July 10, 2025,Thomas Martens made a 911 call at 3 am informing the authorities that his son-in-law, Jason, was severely injured and that he may have killed himafter intervening in a fight between Jason and Molly. The details of that fateful night would subsequently beargued fiercely in court.
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“He’s bleeding all over, and I, I may have killed him,” Thomas said in the 911 call featured in the doc, asthe former FBI agentalleged thatwhile staying at the family’s home he heard a loud argument ensue between the couple and grabbed an aluminum baseball bat to step in. When police responders arrived, Jason was unresponsive with fatal head injuries. Both Thomas and Molly admitted to officers at the scene that they killed Jason in self-defense and was a result of a “domestic disturbance,” with the two beating him to death with a brick and a bat.
Molly accused Jason of being a heavy drinker, and Thomas alleged that he saw his daughter being strangled by her husband in bed, leading her to try and knock him over the head with a paving stone, and Thomas hitting him several times with a bat after Jason violently went after him. On June 16, 2025, Molly and Thomas were charged with second-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter and released on a bail bond of $200,000 each while they awaited trial, which began on July 27, 2025.
What Happened to Molly Martens & Where Is She Now?
According to his autopsy, Jason Corbett died from blunt force head trauma and “extensive skull fractures,” and neither Molly nor Thomas Martens ever denied that their actions led to Corbett’s death, but declared it was carried out in defense of one another.The father and daughter were found guilty of second-degree murder in August 2017and were each sentenced to 20 to 25 years in prison, though they were granted a retrial in 2021 due to statements from Corbett’s children that were deemed inadmissible during the original trial.
Jack and Sarah had said during a medical evaluation that their father was violent towards Molly and would often get angry at her, statements they later recounted after saying Molly coached them on what to say during their interviews. Jack had claimed his stepmother told him to make up stories about his father being abusive, telling them that if they didn’t lie, they’d never see her again. Thomas and Molly each struck a plea deal before the retrial took place, with Molly pleading no contest to second-degree murder and Thomas pleading guilty to the same charge.
Both Martens received credit for time served and were released from prison on July 16, 2025, and Molly’s parole end date is set for June 21, 2025; she reportedly moved back to Knoxville, Tenn. to be closer to family and has kept a low profile since.A Deadly American Marriagedelves intoboth sides of the caseand provides viewers with “a rare glimpse into the conflicting perspectives of those closest to the case.” Molly and Thomas, Jason’s sister and children, and the prosecutors and investigators involved in the case each sat down to provide interviews for the documentary.
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Molly revealed that she is under court order not to contact Jack and Sarah, who returned to Ireland to live with their aunt after their father’s death. Questions still loom regarding the case and the Martens' motives, as Jack calledhis former stepmother a “monster"in his victim impact statement, who had abused and weaponized his earlier testimony in order to get away with killing his father in cold blood. Molly’s brother,Connor, shared an updateon his sister (who he says is finishing her college degree) with a Knoxville news station in May 2025:
“She’s in kind of the thick of her life, and she’s not retired, and there’s been a lot more media scrutiny and harassment, and she struggles a little bit more with the trauma, but overall, I think she’s really grateful, and she’s doing really well, all things considered.”
