Staff Reports
NS&D Monitor
1/15/2016
A former counterintelligence officer at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory has been indicted on second-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter charges in the death of his son-in-law last August in North Carolina.
Thomas Martens, a retired FBI agent, was indicted by the Davidson County (N.C.) Grand Jury, along with his daughter, Molly Martens Corbett, for the death of her Irish-born husband. Both face the same charges.
Jason Corbett was reportedly beaten to death on Aug. 2 at the home in Wallburg, N.C. while Martens was visiting.
According to Greg Brown, an assistant district attorney, the indictment was unsealed earlier this week by Superior Court Judge Theodore Royster.
Martens, who lives in Knoxville, and his daughter both appeared before Royster for their first court appearance in which they were advised of the charges. A secure bond of $200,000 was set for each of them.
Mike Earnest, brother-in-law of Tom Martens and uncle of Molly Martens Corbett, said the family is looking forward to a trial in which the facts of the case will show their innocence.
“This I know is that both Tom and Molly acted in self-defense and that what they did was justified and necessary,” Earnest said in a telephone interview.
According to a police incident report in August, Martens acknowledged his involvement while making a 911 call to report the 3 a.m. incident.
“At this time, the Davidson Co. 911 Center advised that the complainant in the call had stated that he had been in an argument with his son-in-law and that he had struck him with a baseball bat,” the incident report stated.
The case has drawn international attention, especially in Corbett’s native Ireland. “The District Attorney’s Office has received numerous calls from Ireland,” Brown said.
Corbett’s two children by a previous marriage are now living with his relatives in Ireland, and Martens and Molly Martens Corbett are prohibited by judge’s order from contacting them. Molly Corbett was the au pair for the children, a boy and a girl, after the death of Corbett’s first wife, and later became their step-mother.
Martens joined the Department of Energy’s Counterintelligence Office at ORNL about eight years ago. He was placed on administrative leave with pay following the death of Corbett and Martens’ involvement at the scene, and a lab spokesman said his employment at ORNL ended late last year.
David Keim, public affairs chief at ORNL, declined to provide details of Martens’ departure.
“That’s a personnel matter,” Keim said. “We don’t talk about that stuff.”
Martens said he retired from ORNL on Dec. 1.
The next hearing in the case will be scheduled for the week of Feb. 8, according to Brown.
