The family of an Irish father of two brutally murdered by his American wife and father-in-law have said they retain full faith in the North Carolina justice system.

Tracey Corbett-Lynch, her sister, Marilyn, her brother, Wayne, and friend Lynn Shanahan have flown to the US to attend the opening of the appeal by Molly (34) and Tom (68) Martens against their conviction for the brutal murder of Limerick businessman Jason Corbett (39) in 2015.

The father and daughter will have their appeal against their second degree murder convictions heard today before the North Carolina Court of Appeals in Raleigh.

Mrs Corbett-Lynch, speaking to Independent.ie, said her family remain convinced that justice for her brother will be upheld in North Carolina.

“We put our faith in the law and the justice system in North Carolina over Jason’s murder and that faith was fully justified given the guilty verdicts returned by the jury in Davidson County Superior Court in August 2017,” she said.

“We wanted to attend the North Carolina Court of Appeals hearing in Raleigh to show our support for the North Carolina police and prosecutors who did such an incredible job in bringing my brother’s killers to justice.”

Mrs Corbett Lynch helped spearhead a campaign to support North Carolina prosecutors – and to ensure the self defence claims by Tom and Molly Martens were challenged and disproved.

She has since written a best-selling book, ‘My Brother Jason’, about the Limerick family’s fight for justice.

“We are also attending the court to give our brother a voice – and to say that justice was served in Lexington two years ago and should now be upheld,” she said.

“We have been overwhelmed by the support, kindness and solidarity of the people of North Carolina which is another reason why we want to be here – to demonstrate our gratitude.”

The North Carolina Court of Appeals last month ordered that Tom and Molly Martens’ defence teams be allowed make oral submissions in their appeal.

Mr Martens, a retired FBI agent, and his daughter immediately upon conviction signalled that they would appeal against both the conviction and 20-25 year prison sentences for the second degree murder of the Limerick-born father of two.

A Davidson County Superior Court jury unanimously convicted the father and daughter of beating Mr Corbett to death as he slept in the luxury home outside Winston Salem he shared with his second wife, Ms Martens, in August 2015.

The second degree murder convictions were returned after a five week trial in July/August 2017 that dominated headlines in both Ireland and the US.

• Read more: Molly Martens’ ex-fiancé on his relationship with the convicted killer and her ‘shocking’ attempts to make Jason Corbett ‘look like a bad guy’

Mr Corbett was beaten to death with a concrete brick and a paving bat.

An attempt had been made to drug him with a sedative.

Pathology evidence indicated that Mr Corbett was beaten even after he lay dead on the floor – and that the first blow was most likely struck while he was asleep in bed and helpless.

Both father and daughter claimed they acted in self defence.

However, while Mr Corbett suffered horrific head injuries with a pathologist unable to even determine the precise number of blows struck, Mr Martens and Ms Martens were found by police to be totally uninjured at the scene.

Neither had so much as a cut or a bruise.

The father and daughter lodged written submissions on why their appeal should be upheld last September.

Now, their legal teams will be allowed to directly address the three judge panel today (Thursday) which will adjudicate on the appeal.

North Carolina prosecutors will, in turn, he allowed make oral arguments against why the appeal should be dismissed and the original Davidson Court Superior Court ruling be upheld.

North Carolina Attorney-General Josh Stein has appointed Special Deputy Attorney General Jonathan Babb to lead the prosecution arguments against the appeal.

In North Carolina, most appeal cases are dealt with by written submissions.

However, cases that are viewed as significant or complex are granted oral argument hearings.

The appeal will now be heard before Judge John Tyson, Judge Valerie Zachary and Judge Allegra Collins at the appeals courthouse in downtown Raleigh.

The prosecutors who helped convict the father and daughter two years ago will also be in attendance to support Mr Babb including Davidson County District Attorney Garry Frank, Assistant District Attorneys Greg Brown (retired), Alan Martin and Ina Stanton as well as investigators and liaison officers Jackie Miller and Karen Coe

It is now thought unlikely Molly and Tom Martens be in court for the legal arguments as they will not be required to offer evidence.

Both, however, are understood to have been eager to attend the Raleigh case.

The duo are serving their 20-25 year sentences in high security North Carolina prisons.

The three judge panel will reserve their judgement with a ruling in the case not expected until between April and June.

The retired FBI agent has claimed a North Carolina judge was “unfair” in not allowing him enter specific statements in support of a claim he acted in self defence.

The appeal by the father and daughter is based on a number of grounds including the claim they acted in self defence, that the trial judge erred in not allowing them enter specific statements, that there was jury misbehaviour and that prosecution forensic evidence was misleading.

Mr Martens insisted he only struck his son-in-law with a baseball bat when he claimed he saw him holding Ms Martens by the throat.

His legal team were not allowed introduce evidence at the Davidson County Superior Court trial where he claimed the father of Mr Corbett’s late first wife, Margaret ‘Mags’ Fitzpatrick, alleged he held the Limerick businessman responsible for her death.

The defence were similarly not allowed enter disputed statements from Mr Corbett’s two children, Jack and Sarah, in evidence.

Michael Fitzpatrick and the Fitzpatrick family have vehemently disputed the Martens claims.

Mags Fitzpatrick Corbett died from a severe asthma attack on November 21 2006, just weeks after giving birth to her second child, Sarah.

Her husband frantically tried to resuscitate her after having driven to meet an ambulance to get her critical medical attention at University Hospital Limerick (UHL).

He then met Tennessee-native Molly Martens when she moved to Ireland to work as a nanny minding his two children, Jack and Sarah, two years later.

Mr Fitzpatrick, who was gravely ill in 2015/16, made a sworn affidavit with an Irish solicitor challenging Mr Martens allegations.

Mr Martens initially claimed he had heard the comments from Mr Fitzpatrick at a time and date in the US – but Mr Fitzpatrick indicated he was not even in the US at that time.

The time and date was subsequently revised – but Mr Fitzpatrick, who has since passed away, remained resolute he never made any such comments at any time to the former FBI agent.

His affidavit was a key element of the prosecution rebuttal case but was ultimately never entered in evidence at the original trial.

• Read more: Killer Thomas Martens claims judge ‘unfair’ in not allowing statements supporting self-defence claims

The trial judge had described Mr Martens’ statement and claims about Mr Fitzpatrick as “self-serving” and “prejudicial.”

In court documents, Mr Martens said the trial judge was “unfair” to him in not allowing those statements into evidence.

The appellants stressed that it was not being argued the statements were correct – but that they were critical as to indicating the state of mind the retired FBI agent was in when he got involved in the fatal 2015 incident with his son-in-law.

In the US, an individual’s state of mind is a key issue in defending second degree murder cases.

The Fitzpatrick affidavit is now one of the documents cited by the North Carolina state attorneys in full defence of the appellant claims.

North Carolina Department of Justice officials have already dismissed the appeal claims of self defence as “fantasy” and “a fabrication.”

During the five week trial, Mr Martens acknowledged in cross-examination that he had never previously seen his Irish son-in-law threaten or harm his daughter.

Further, the trial heard that police were never called to the Corbett home for any disturbance.

The State case is that the father and daughter fabricated the self-defence story to explain their brutal killing of Mr Corbett.

The Corbett family maintain Jason was attacked and killed because he planned to move back to Ireland with his two children amid concerns over the increasingly bizarre behaviour of Ms Martens who had a history of mental health problems.

“Together they created this fantasy to deceive the authorities and this jury in a fabricated story participated in by both defendants, acting in concert together, to attain the ultimate result that they intended,” one North Carolina Department of Justice document claimed.

The State argued that the excessive use of force was so blatant and overwhelming it negated any possible suggestion of self defence.

Critical blood spatter analysis evidence indicated that Mr Corbett was asleep in bed when first attacked.

After being attacked by his wife and father-in-law while in bed, Mr Corbett was then cruelly left to die on the bedroom floor as prosecutors stated the father and daughter delayed ringing emergency services to ensure he was dead when they arrived.

Paramedics immediately noted when they arrived that Mr Corbett’s body was cold to the touch.

Ms Martens was obsessed with securing custody of her husband’s two children, visiting a divorce lawyer in the US to determine her rights to them just weeks after she had married Mr Corbett in 2011.

If the father and daughter fail to win a retrial with the Court of Appeal, their final recourse is the North Carolina Supreme Court.

• Read more: Expert who helped convict murderer Molly Martens examines Avery case in Netflix’s Making a Murderer Part 2

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