THE MAIN investigator behind the prosecution of the father and daughter convicted of killing Limerick man Jason Corbett has described their sentence as a “slap”.
Former North Carolina Sheriff David Grice was speaking publicly for the first time since Tom and Molly Martens successfully challenged their 2017 second-degree murder convictions.
“They got off with a slap,” he said in a social media post. “I have had to bite my tongue for years for fear of saying something which could have affected the appeals.
“It was a gruesome crime scene. I believe they just spent enough money on appeals until the courts got worn down and accepted their last appeal.”
Tom and Molly Martens, father-in-law and wife to murdered Limerick father-of-two Jason Corbett, had been convicted by a Davidson County jury of the second-degree murder of Mr Corbett, after he was beaten to death with a concrete paving slab and a metal baseball bat as he slept.
The pair agreed a last minute plea bargain deal admitting voluntary manslaughter and escaped the 20 plus year sentences handed down in August 2017.
They are due for release on June 6, having served four years and three months in jail, most recently in a ‘soft’ pre-release facility.
Jason’s family publicly paid tribute Mr Grice and his police team for their investigation, which led to the original convictions.
The former FBI agent and his daughter are currently being held in separate pre-release facilities in North Carolina prison.
