Some true crime stories will never be satisfactorily solved.
At heart this tragedy is a story of two children called Jack and Sarah Corbett and how they lost their dad.
It is also the story of the ‘truths’ we tell ourselves and inflict, sometimes unknowingly on others.
Especially children and in this case Jack and Sarah.
Jason Corbett ended up battered to death in his North Carolina bedroom, inflicted upon him by his second wife and her father in what they maintain is self-defence.
However, the story starts in Limerick, Ireland where Jason meets his childhood sweetheart Margaret “Mags” Fitzpatrick. They had two lovely children together, Jack and Sarah, but in 2006 Mags died from an asthma attack leaving the family bereft.
A few years after his first wife died Jason hired young American nanny Molly Martens to look after the children. At the time Jack was 3 years old, and Sarah was 1. Shortly after Molly got hired, she started a relationship with Jason. They eventually got engaged and they all moved to North Carolina to start a new life together.
Things were not as it seemed. Told in flashback by all the major players including Molly and Jack and Sarah the story becomes complicated and intertwined.
Molly said that she killed Jason because he was enraged, and she was fearful for her life. Her father helped her as he heard a commotion while staying in the house for the weekend.
This is when the detectives who found Jason body come into the story. What struck them as suspicious was the brutality of his death, it seemed unlikely that if his wife and stepfather were just defending themselves why batter him countless times until he was unrecognisable.
Also, Molly’s backstory started to raise concerns. She told friends that she was the birth mother of Jack and Sarah and had been best friends with Mags. All untrue. Her father, an Ex FBI-agent when questioned was arrogant and calm. To the detectives it seemed that his statement was too well prepared.
This is where Jack and Sarah get questioned and tells the exact same story of what Molly said that night including stating that Jason had been aggressive and abusive to their stepmother even before the events of that night.
Where they prepped by Molly to say their father was a bad man?
Further digging discovered that Molly was trying to adopt the kids for herself, and even more disturbing had bugged the house and Jason’s car to record him. She says to highlight his abuse, but listening to the recordings the police felt it was very easy for her to control the narrative.
Molly and her dad were tried for murder and sentenced to 20-30 years and Jack and Sarah went back to live with Jason’s relatives in Ireland. Whilst this was all happening the two children recanted their original statement saying that their dad was wonderful, and that Molly had told them what to say.
Fast forward a few years and Molly and her dad get a retrial and because of time served already are out much to the dismay of everyone back in Ireland.
Molly now says that Jason’s family has influenced Jack and Sarah into what to believe and although she realises, she will never have them back, she still loves them.
She even hints that perhaps Jason had something to do with his first wife’s death.
The kids want nothing to do with Molly and her dad and believe that they killed their dad because he would not let her take them away from him.
This documentary is as ambiguous as the events themselves. The production value is low as the police interviews and recordings are inaudible with no subtitles. It also feels one sided and with Jack and Sarah the main protagonists talking to camera, you cannot help feeling that they are being manipulated all over again by the producers.
No one will ever know exactly what happened that night, but you do feel that there are more victims than just Jason. All parties find it difficult to move on.
This story remains an enigma and so does the documentary.
See for yourself.