Last Updated on May 18, 2025 by libbyorc
I have just finished watching the Netflix true crime documentary A Deadly American Marriage, and I am horrified at how Molly Martens and her father, Tom Martens killed Jason Corbett, and served only 4 years for the crime.
First of all, kudos to the Netflix production team for such amazing storytelling that tried its best to provide a balanced narrative of the events before, during, and after the murder of Jason Corbett.
As an avid true crime enthusiast, this is probably the first time I’ve watched a documentary that showed—over an extended period, the opinions and feelings of the victims, accusers, defenders, and independent experts familiar with the case.
The final result was a show that took me on an emotional rollercoaster, with my allegiance frequently switching sides as my mind desperately searched for the truth. While I can’t say I found that truth, what I did find was probably the most masterful execution of a murder-led attempted child abduction I’ve ever seen.
In the end, the biggest question I have isn’t about the events that led to the murder, it’s whether we’ve all been played by a psychopath.
Here are three reasons why I think Molly Martens and her father Tom Martens should still be serving time:
Molly Martens deadly obsession with Jason Corbett’s children
This is probably my most important point. Molly Martens admitted that her miscarriage affected her deeply, as it would any woman. She also mentioned that what “pulled at her heartstrings” when she saw Jason’s ad for an au pair was that he mentioned his wife had just died, leaving two small kids behind.
I strongly believe that after losing her baby, she saw an opportunity to have a family of her own with Jason or more importantly, children. It explains why their marriage lasted only four years and why she was obsessed with adopting the children from the beginning.
Even at the wedding, she spread stories to guests about being a godparent to the kids and even claimed she had given birth to one of them. Such blatant disregard for the truth, even in front of the children’s family members, points to someone who is both delusional and dangerous.
Why was she so intent on taking children who already had two sets of grandparents and a father who loved them? It’s a classic psychopath/abusive tactic to isolate potential victims from their loved ones. That was clearly her strategy when she removed pictures of the children’s mother and repeatedly suggested, even after his death, that their dad was not a good person.
Molly Martens wanted those kids and nothing more. Is it surprising that Jason was killed when he suggested taking his children back to Ireland? That is a clear motive for murder.
It was always about Molly Martens
The first thing that struck me about her police interview immediately after the incident was her concern that the children’s paternal family would take them away from her. It isn’t normal for a stepparent to fight for custody of the children of a man she had just killed (self-defense or not).
The normal reaction would be to give the children space to process losing their dad just a few years after losing their mom. But Molly showed no concern for their feelings, immediately dragging them into a custody battle a week after their father’s death.
One of the children, Sarah Corbett, whom Molly had falsely claimed to have given birth to, said Molly was insistent on keeping her away from her dad and limiting their time together as much as possible. She was willing to sabotage Jason Corbett’s relationship with his biological children just so she could have them as her own.
Even now, Molly shows little empathy for the children. In the documentary, she claimed they’ve been manipulated into becoming “tools of evil” against her. She also accused Jason’s family of brainwashing them into recanting their earlier testimony, which had supported her narrative that Jason was violently abusive.
Molly’s inability to comprehend that she orphaned two children is bone-chilling and psychopathic. Her narcissism made her believe she could erase their mother’s existence, kill their father, and then ride off into the sunset with them, somehow expecting a happy ending.
She can’t understand why the children aren’t on her side and insists their rejection must be due to brainwashing. This indifference to their father’s death suggests she was willing to accept it if it meant keeping his children.
I strongly believe her narcissism was enabled by her parents. Tom Martens’ behaviour particularly when he berated Jason in the documentary for not letting Molly adopt his children, suggests he rarely told her no. Molly appears to be someone who always got what she wanted. Unfortunately, this time, she wanted Jason’s life.
I’m 100% convinced that if Molly had been acquitted and granted custody, Jason’s family would have been cut off permanently. Narcissists do this. She made it clear that the only reason she isn’t contacting the children now is because of a court order.
Molly Martens is a deeply disturbed woman.
The facts that the murder suggested malice and planning
Kudos to Molly’s lawyers for successfully muddying the waters to the point where even the sentencing judge admitted it was hard to determine the truth. However, the key piece of evidence for me was that despite the house being covered in blood, skull fragments, and brain matter, none of it belonged to Molly.
Her claim that Jason Corbett attacked her, forcing her father to intervene to save her, doesn’t hold up. Jason was unarmed, and evidence suggests he was beaten from behind, meaning he never faced his attackers.
Molly had no deep cuts or bleeding. How did that justify the brutal beating that killed Jason? Why didn’t they stop once he was incapacitated? Why didn’t the sound of his skull cracking make them pause if they truly feared for their lives?
The attempt to destroy Jason’s reputation was disingenuous. Molly’s father’s smear campaign about Jason’s first wife’s death was especially cruel—with Molly’s support. How can you claim to love children while wanting them to believe their father murdered their mother without evidence?
Molly had motive, opportunity, and the capability to kill Jason over his children. It’s terrifying that she almost got away with it.
Molly Martins got away with murder, somewhat. To me, this case proves that certain biases in the justice system may never be fully eradicated. I wonder if the outcome would’ve been different if Molly Martens were from an ethnic minority, if her father weren’t a former FBI agent, or if the trial had been in Ireland, Jason’s home country. We’ll never know.
So many questions remain. What really happened? Was Jason the abusive monster Molly claimed? Was it self-defense or cold-blooded murder? Are we all pawns in a game played by a psychopath with baby fever? We’ll probably never know.
The keys to the truth lie with the children. The judge emphasized that they were not at fault, and I agree. Either way, the possibility that they might live with the fact that their own words helped their father’s killer escape justice breaks my heart. That’s a burden no one should bear.
