North Carolina woman and her father are serving prison time for the death of her Irish husband

RALEIGH, N.C. — The wife of an Irish businessman beaten to death in 2015 and the woman's father were released Thursday from various North Carolina prisons after serving the end of their sentences for pleading for intentional homicide.

Molly Martens Corbett left the North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women in Raleigh Thursday morning while her father, Thomas Martens, was released from the Caldwell Correctional Center in Lenoir, the state Department of Adult Correction said in an email.

They each served about seven additional months behind bars after receiving additional sentences in November, shortly after reaching a plea deal. Separately, both men were set to return to trial late last year, after the North Carolina Supreme Court in 2021 overturned their 2017 second-degree murder convictions and ordered a new trial .

Both men are now subject to one year of post-release supervision, which will be served in Tennessee, Corrections Department spokesman Keith Acree said.

Corbett's husband, Jason Corbett, died in the home he shared with his wife in a golf course community in Davidson County, about 110 miles (175 kilometers) west of Raleigh.

Investigators said Molly Corbett and Martens, a former FBI agent, used an aluminum baseball bat and a brick paver to kill Jason Corbett, fracturing his skull and causing injuries to his arm, legs and back. torso. Defense attorneys said the two men were acting in self-defense and feared for their lives during a fight. His death and the resulting legal battle were the subject of intense media coverage in Ireland, as well as an episode of an American true crime show.

Each had already been sentenced to 20 to 25 years in prison for murder. They were released on bail a few weeks after the Supreme Court's decision.

Corbett pleaded no contest to the voluntary manslaughter charge Oct. 30, and his father pleaded guilty. While a Davidson County trial judge sentenced them to spend between 51 and 74 months in prison, they served far less time, in part because of credits for their previous prison stay.

Jason and Molly Corbett met in 2008 when Molly Corbett was working as an au pair and caring for two children from Jason Corbett's first marriage. His first wife died of an asthma attack in 2006.

In ordering a new trial, the state Supreme Court pointed to omitted statements both children made during a medical evaluation shortly after the death, indicating their father had been violent in the home. Prosecutors said the statements were unreliable and both children later recanted their statements. The trial judge excluded the statements from being tendered at trial.

Jason Corbett's children spoke at last year's sentencing hearing,