A Deadly American Marriage, Alan Martin, David Lynch, documentaries, Doug Kingsbery, Jason Corbett, Jay Vannoy, Jenny Popplewell, Jessica Burgess, Jones Byrd, Molly Corbett, movies, Netflix, North Carolina, reviews, Scott Hampton, Thomas Martens, Tom Martens, Tracey Lynch, true crime, Wanda Thompson
May 10, 2025
by Carla Hay
Directed by Jenny Popplewell and Jessica Burgess
Culture Representation: The documentary film “A Deadly American Marriage” features an all-white group of people who are connected in some way to the case of Jason Corbett, who was killed on August 2, 2015, in Meadowlands, North Carolina, by his second wife Molly Corbett and Molly’s father Thomas “Tom” Martens.
Culture Clash: There have been disputes over whether or not Jason Corbett (who was an Irish immigrant with two underage children when he married Molly, an American) was murdered or if he was killed in self-defense.
Culture Audience: “A Deadly American Marriage” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in watching true crime documentaries about families affected by tragic deaths.
“A Deadly American Marriage” does a good job of presenting both sides of this controversial case about the 2015 killing of Jason Corbett by his second wife and her father. The movie’s title omits Corbett’s Irish heritage, which is a big part of the story. It’s a minor flaw but the title misleads people into thinking that this is was a marriage between two Americans when it was not. Jason Corbett was born and raised in Ireland and moved to the U.S. state of North Carolina in 2011, the year that he married North Carolina native Molly Corbett, whose maiden name was Molly Martens. Their marriage hit a rough patch, and Jason was considering moving back to Ireland with his two children when Jason was killed at the age of 39.
Directed by Jenny Popplewell and Jessica Burgess, “A Deadly American Marriage” was filmed in 2023, when Molly and her father Thomas “Tom” Martens (a retired FBI agent), who are both interviewed in the documentary, were out on bail and facing new charges after they were both originally convicted of the second-degree murder of Jason in 2017. That conviction was overturned for reasons that are explained in the documentary. In 2023, instead of facing a new trial, Molly pled no contest and Martens pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter and were each sentenced to 51 to 74 months in prison, including time served. They were both released from prison in 2024.
What happened on the night of August 2, 2015, at Jason and Molly’s home in Meadowlands, North Carolina, remains divisive and debatable. According to Molly and Martens, Jason was a very abusive husband to her. Martens, who was visiting the spouses that night, says that he killed Jason because Jason was physically attacking Molly. Jason was bludgeoned to death with a cinder block and a baseball bat.
Jason and Molly were raising his two children from his first marriage: Jack (who was 10 when Jason died) and Sarah (who was 8 when Jason died) were both at home and asleep when this killing happened. Jason’s first wife Margaret “Mags” Corbett died of an asthma attack in 2006, when she was 31. Jason, Mags, Jack and Sarah were all born in Ireland. Jason’s family is mostly in the Limerick area of Ireland. Molly met Jason because she was hired to be the au pair for Jack and Sarah.
Originally, Jack and Sarah told police investigators that Jason was abusive to Molly. Jack and Sarah later recanted those statements when they both admitted that Molly told them to tell lies to the investigators about Jack being abusive to Molly. These contradictions led to the murder convictions against Molly and her father to be overturned. Molly and her father have maintained their stories in this documentary and elsewhere that the killing was done in self-defense. The prosecutors in the case disagree, based on evidence that Molly and her father had almost no injuries, while Jason was beaten to a bloody pulp.
The documentary also brings up several instances and shows proof that Molly was at the very least a chronic liar. On the day that she and Jason got married, she told her maid of honor (a woman identified in the documentary only as Susie, her first name) that Molly had given birth to Sarah. According to Susie (who was also interviewed in the documentary) and Jason’s sister Tracey Lynch, Molly also lied to people at the wedding by saying that Mags was a good friend of Molly and Mags had asked Molly to take care of the kids if Mags died. The truth is that Molly never knew Mags and met Jason, Jack and Sarah after Mags died.
After Jason’s death, Tracey and her husband David Lynch (who is also interviewed in the documentary) say that Molly wouldn’t return their calls, wouldn’t contact them to tell them what happened, and wouldn’t let them see Jack and Sarah. Tracey and David also heard erroneous information that Jason had died from a fall when Molly pushed him. It wasn’t until later they heard the gruesome truth.
Wanda Thompson, a lieutenant at the Davidson County Sheriff’s Department in North Carolina, says in the documentary: “It was one of the bloodiest crime scenes I’ve seen in a long time.” Alan Martin, the prosecuting district attorney in the case, breaks down in tears when he describes the crime scene (blood-spattered rooms) and the autopsy photos of Jason’s fatal injuries. Martin says, “He had so many blows to the head, the pathologist couldn’t count them because they overlapped. And a chunk of Jason’s skull fell out onto the [autopsy] table.”
Other people interviewed in the documentary are Molly’s attorney Doug Kingsbery; Jay Vannoy and Jones Byrd, two of Martens’ attorneys; and Dr. Scott Hampton, a domestic abuse expert who was a witness for the defense. There are also some people interviewed whose last names are not mentioned in the documentary. They include Mags’ best friend Lynn, Mags’ mother Marian and Mags’ sister Catherine, who all deny the defense team’s theory that Jason could have killed Mags. A friend of Jason’s named Brandon (no last name given) also denies that Jason was an abusive person.
Molly fought to get custody of Jack and Sarah, who were never adopted by Molly. But after about four days of legal wrangling, Tracey and David—the biological aunt and uncle of the kids—got custody and raised Jack and Sarah in Ireland with their own biological children. Jack and Sarah eventually changed their last names to Corbett-Lynch.
Molly made secret audio recordings of verbal arguments between her and Jason that she said was proof that he was abusing her. These recordings were used as evidence in the defense arguments for Molly and her father. However, the recordings featured in the documentary have no proof of physical abuse, and the recordings sound more like Jason was annoyed and frustrated that Molly was trying to make him angry. Jason’s family members who are interviewed in the documentary all say that he was not abusive and was actually a kind, loving and charismatic person.
Jack’s and Sarah’s comments and interviews in the documentary are the most impactful. Their story is tragic but it’s also an inspirational story of resilience and the power of family love. Under court order, Molly is forbidden from having contact with Jack and Sarah, who are now adults. Near the end of the documentary, Jack has this to say about Molly: “I don’t hate her. I just don’t want to give her power over me anymore.”
Netflix premiered “A Deadly American Marriage” on May 9, 2025.