Netflix’s true crime documentary about the 2015 killing of Limerick father of two Jason Corbett clocks in at more than 90 minutes, and every single one is excruciating to sit through. Not just because of the details it goes into regarding the horrific death suffered by Corbett in his home in North Carolina. But also because of the centrality to the story of his children, Jack and Sarah – young adults today but shell-shocked kids (aged 10 and eight respectively) when their father was killed and their new life with a new mother, Molly Martens, was turned on its head.
True crime is often exploitative, and that charge can certainly be directed at Netflix, which with A Deadly American Marriage provides a platform and megaphone to the individuals found guilty of his killing: Molly Martens and her father Thomas Martens – initially convicted of murder but who later had their sentences reduced to voluntary manslaughter. Freed from prison in 2024, they are allowed to reassert their allegation that the killing was in self-defence and that Corbett had a temper and could be abusive towards Molly. Thomas also repeats the bizarre assertion that Corbett was somehow involved in the death of his first wife, Mags – something denied by her family, who reject outright Thomas’s claim that Mag’s late father shared his suspicions with him.
In addition to Molly and Thomas Martens, the film features extensive interviews with Jack and Sarah, along with Jason Corbett’s sister, Tracey Corbett-Lynch and her husband, David, who are legal guardians of Jason’s children. In a statement, the family said they agreed to take part to spotlight injustices in the legal system. “Participating in the Netflix documentary was important to us because it highlights the profound impact of the absence of justice we faced in the judicial system,” they said on Facebook. “We are not alone in our experiences. We hope the documentary honours Jason’s memory while advocating for justice and ensuring that the voices of victims are heard, especially when the judicial system has failed them.”
Their message is that their father was an innocent man and that his killers have not been made pay for their crimes. Blinking away tears, Sarah speaks about how the Martens’s lawyers were able to direct attention away from the brutal violence inflicted on their father and to put him in the dock instead, with no way to defend himself. “I feel like my dad’s on trial. All the focus is on my dad’s character,” she says. “What Molly and Tom Martens took from me I can never get back. I’ve seen his [Jason Corbett’s] bloody handprint on the door ... He did not chose to leave us. He was taken from us.”
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The documentary does not pass judgment on either side, but the Corbetts were suspicious of Molly from early on. On the morning of Jason and Molly’s wedding, Tracey Corbett-Lynch recalls a bridesmaid telling her that Molly had claimed that she and Mags had been best friends and that she was Sarah’s godmother – fabrications that set alarms off.
At the time, Molly had been pressing Jason to consent to her adopting Jack and Sarah, which would have made her their legal guardian, meaning she could have been granted custody if the relationship ended.
“Our theory is that Molly had devised some explosive event,” says Alan Martin, the assistant district attorney in Davidson County, North Carolina, who worked on the case for six years. “If Molly could get Jason to blow up while her parents were there as witnesses she could apply for a domestic violence protective order. And then she can file for emergency custody of the children. And take his children away from him. When the plan [went amiss] it appears she quit caring whether or not he lived or died.”
Netflix’s true crime documentaries have a habit of outstaying their welcome – of flogging a tragedy for all it is worth and filling out the run time with extraneous detail (2019’s The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann delved into the history of tourism in the Algarve and the difference in policing in Spain and Portugal). However, directors Jessica Burgess and Jenny Popplewell tell Jason Corbett’s story economically, resisting the temptation to pad it out with pointless waffle. Whether A Deadly American Marriage should have been made in the first place is another question – there is always an element of the ghoulish circus to these affairs – but you do have to credit the family for speaking up and giving their version of events.
