Martens fear Limerick man Jason Corbett killed first wife, court hears

MOLLY Martens’ lawyers have claimed she believed her husband, Limerick man Jason Corbett, had killed his first wife and she feared the same would happen to her.

The claim was made during a sentencing hearing in North Carolina on Monday after Ms Martens and her father Tom accepted a plea bargain over the killing of the father-of-two in 2015.

Tom Martens pleaded guilty to the charge of voluntary manslaughter while his daughter pleaded no contest to the same charge.

A sentencing hearing is now underway before Judge David Hall at Davidson County Superior Court which is expected to last up to two weeks.

BREAKING: Molly Martens and father accept plea deal of voluntary manslaughter in Limerick man's death

The Irish Independent reports that the defence have said they will enter “significance evidence” surrounding the circumstances of the death of Margaret Corbett, Mr Corbett’s first wife, in 2006.

Just weeks after the birth of her second child Sarah, Ms Corbett suffered an asthma attack in the presence of her husband and sister.

However, lawyers for Ms Martens said their client believes Mr Corbett killed his first wife and she had expressed her fears to others that the same “fate would befall her”.

Previously, the Corbett family have said that any allegations that the Limerick man killed his first wife were “outrageous and entirely without foundation”.