The Corbetts had one of the biggest lawns in the cul-de-sac. One Saturday, after David Fritzsche finished mowing his own lawn, he walked over to help Jason Corbett with his. Afterward, the neighbors grabbed chairs and sat in the driveway. Kids flitted in and out, their wives dropped by to chat, and each man drank several beers as afternoon turned to evening. The "driveway social" that unfolded on August 1, 2015, wasn't uncommon in Meadowlands, a close-knit subdivision in North Carolina. When Jason's in-laws arrived around 8:30, the Fritzsches went out for dinner and the Corbetts ordered pizza.
Before dawn, Jason was dead. The fatal altercation involved his wife, Molly Martens Corbett, and her 65-year-old father, former FBI agent Thomas "Tom" Martens, who, according to an appeals court judgment in the case, came upon Jason strangling Molly, threatening to kill her, and refusing to let go despite Tom's pleas. In the ensuing fight, Tom used a Little League bat and Molly struck Jason with a brick landscaping paver. Though they claimed self-defense, father and daughter were convicted of second-degree murder in 2017.
Last year, the North Carolina Court of Appeals overturned their convictions and ordered a new trial, in part because, among other errors, evidence that Jason may have abused Molly was excluded from the first trial. The state appealed, but on March 12, 2021, the North Carolina Supreme Court upheld the appellate court judgment.
Meanwhile, another trial of sorts is playing out in the divided Meadowlands neighborhood where Molly is seen as either a victim of abuse, who lost nearly everything fighting for her life, or a murderer who robbed two children of their father.
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