Revealed: Jason Corbett makes payments to Molly Martens and her parents as they crowdfund legal fees
A fundraising page aiming to raise $300,000 (€279,400) towards its costs has so far raised $32,856 (€30,600), with the last contribution of $50 donated in September.
“The legal fees have decimated the family financially,” the site says.
With more witnesses scheduled to testify this week before Davidson County judges consider what sentence to impose on the father and daughter, their financial struggles will undoubtedly last another day.
Previous court documents indicate that Jason Corbett was the primary breadwinner in the marriage.
When he agreed to return to their native United States with Martens, his children’s nanny, 12 years ago, he paid $340,000 to buy their home.
And according to the documents, Jason Corbett transferred $80,000 to Martens and $50,000 to her parents to pay for their wedding in Knoxville on the banks of the Tennessee River in the US.
The money included the cost of bridesmaids, dresses, tuxedos, alcohol and a rehearsal dinner.
Jason Corbett (inset) and his murderers Molly Martens and her father Tom Martens
According to court documents, Martens deposited a total of $10,000 into their joint bank account during the marriage.
At the time of her husband’s death, she owed $12,000 on her Visa card.
Martens was later accused of taking personal items from the home in Wallburg, North Carolina.
The only property left in the house were her husband’s clothes, things he had brought with him from Ireland, and his children’s belongings.
Martens claimed the items she took were hers. She said they were gifts or bought for her by her parents.
However, the Davidson County Court ruled that she provided no evidence of this and was ordered to return most of it.
Martens was allowed to keep her clothes, toiletries, two lamps, a chest, paintings, a coat rack and a mirror.
She was ordered to pay $4,900 for a Honda Accord car to her late husband’s estate or sell it for that amount.
Martens was accused of removing “tangible personal property” from the home and storing it in Tennessee in violation of a previous agreement.
She claimed the items taken were either gifts to her or were purchased by herself or her parents and charged to a credit card registered solely in her name.
The court papers were part of a 2015 motion on behalf of Jason Corbett’s estate to return the property and to stop Martens from removing any more possessions from the family home.
