Tom and Molly Martens are transferred to separate prisons after North Carolina corrections admits release date calculation errors

Tom and Molly Martens are now to remain in separate prisons until June 2024, following a corrections department review of release dates.

Tom and Molly Martens have been moved to different state prisons, where they are expected to stay until the end of their sentences. On August 2, 2015, the Martens were found guilty of second-degree murder of Jason Corbett at his Panther Creek, North Carolina, home.

After causing controversy and outcry with its earlier confirmation that the two would be freed from jail this week, the North Carolina Department of Adult Corrections withdrew the statement and ordered the department to “correct” and examine the dates.

In a statement department, the two won’t be freed until June 27 of the following year, which is in keeping with what Tom Martens’ lawyer, Jay Vannoy, had anticipated on the day of the sentencing last month.

Both were taken this afternoon to different state prison institutions from Davidson County Jail in Lexington, where they had been detained since November 8th, awaiting a formal order about their detention and release dates from the Department of Adult Corrections.

Both were scheduled for release this week, according to the first release order that was made public yesterday: Molly Martens Corbett on Wednesday, December 6, and Tom Martens on Tuesday.

Today, the online searchable database indicates that the two will now be released on June 27, 2024.

According to a spokeswoman, Tom Martens was committed to Piedmont Correctional Institution in Salisbury, while Molly Martens Corbett was admitted to North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women in Raleigh, according to a Department of Adult Corrections spokesperson.

Late last night, following a day filled with inquiries regarding the initially suggested early release date, the department stated that, after further examination, the initially projected release dates calculated in response to resentencing Molly Corbett and Thomas Martens were discovered to be inaccurate. It mentioned that the incorrect release dates had been posted due to human error during the sentence calculation process.

It has refuted rumors that an internal probe or investigation is underway.

The Justice for Jason campaign and media inquiries, according to the Limerick Corbett family, forced them to perform a second check, which they believe was necessary because of the mistake.

The family expressed their frustration, stating that they found it incredible that the error was spotted only on a second check of the early release sentence calculations. They are convinced that, if it weren’t for the actions of the Irish media and the Justice for Jason supporters in bringing attention to this injustice, the Tom and Molly Martens who took Jason’s life and attempted to tarnish his reputation would have been released after only four weeks in prison.

Additionally, the family added that the recent instances cast considerable doubt on the empathy and impartiality of North Carolina’s legal system. For non-fatal assaults, other offenders in North Carolina are receiving terms of more than twenty years.

They also expressed their belief that the seven-month sentence extension for two individuals who beat a helpless man to death with a baseball bat and a concrete paving slab is a shocking injustice.

Source: https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2023/1205/1420377-us-martens/

https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/jason-corbetts-sister-says-release-of-his-wife-and-father-in-law-an-insult-to-her-family-1560576.html#:~:text=Molly%20and%20Tom%20Martens%20were,over%2Dturned%20following%20court%20appeals