The first picture of killer Molly Martens enjoying her newfound freedom has emerged - following her shock release from prison.
Our sister title The Star has obtained this picture of a beaming Molly arm-in-arm with her brother Connor, as she travels the United States.
The picture shows a smiling Molly dressed in a coat and tracksuit bottoms and wearing a bandana as she stands outside a tour bus with her brother - who has been posting pictures and videos of a state-wide trip around the USA for the past number of days.
The brazen picture is the first glimpse into Molly’s new life - after she was released from prison following a shock decision by the North Carolina Supreme Court to overturn her conviction for the murder of Limerick dad-of-two Jason Corbett.
Innocent Jason was found battered to death in the family home in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in August 2015 - with troubled Molly claiming she and her retired FBI agent father Thomas Martens killed him in an act of ‘self defence.’
Molly is now facing a potential retrial for the brutal August 2015 killing next year - but the picture shows she has clearly moved on with her new life following four years behind bars, where she was serving a sentence for the Irish man’s murder.
In April The Star revealed how Molly was in fact broke after spending all the money she received from the sale of the house where she killed Jason Corbett – on her bid for freedom.
We learned that Molly spent the entirety of the almost $200,000 she garnered from the sale of the house-of-horrors – on her eventually successful bid for freedom.
But even that was not enough money to cover Molly’s expensive legal bills, with her family claiming that her father and mother spent their retirement money and their life’s savings on getting them out.
“Whatever Molly earned from the sale of the house, much of that, if not all of that, went towards legal expenses for Molly. Molly doesn’t have anything (now),” Molly’s uncle Mike Earnest told us.
“I think whatever amount Molly may have received from the house, I think virtually all of that went to legal expenses.
“If she has some funds (now), I’m not aware of it,” he said.
And he spoke about how the remaining expenses, which have been numerous and included the $200,000 bail they had to pay this week, came from Molly’s parents' lifelong savings.
“The vast majority of the legal expenses have been borne by my sister and Tom and their savings and what they had put away for their retirement,” he said.
While the Martens enjoy their newfound freedom, Davidson County District Attorney Garry Frank is now mounting the case for a retrial of the pair.
In a previous interview with this paper, Mr Frank said he would try the case again “to the best of my ability.”
"They stand charged with second degree murder and it will be tried to the best of my ability.
“It’s scheduled now for trial. There’s a million things that could happen in the interim but right now it’s the exact same position and with the same consideration as immediately after they were indicted four years ago,” he told us.
It is understood the Martens have been offered a plea deal – which could see them accepting a manslaughter charge to ultimately avoid a retrial.
For now however neither the Martens nor Mr Frank will confirm the existence of that plea deal.
If that does not happen, it is expected that a retrial may not take place until at least 2022 due to delays thanks to COVID-19, coupled with the evidence and witnesses needed.
However Mr Frank told this paper that he stands by the work of his office and the fact that the evidence is there to prosecute the pair for the murder of Mr Corbett.
“You could judge what I think of the case and the facts based on the past performance of my office.
“We sent to the Grand jury voluntary manslaughter and second-degree murder.
“They were indited on both and on the eve of trial we dismissed the voluntary manslaughter and went forward with second-degree murder.
“So, it’s not really subject to debate as to whether we believe we could possibly convict them of second- degree murder,” he said.
In a statement released after the pair got out of jail, Tracey Corbett-Lynch, the sister of the slain Limerick-man welcomed the retrial.
“We welcome today’s decision by Garry Frank, the District Attorney for Davidson County, to seek a retrial of Tom and Molly Martens for the murder of Jason Corbett, a loving, kind, father of two who was beaten to death in his own home.
"We look forward to a date being set for a retrial at the earliest opportunity,” she said.
