but you can connect with us any time. like us on facebook and follow us on twitter. "20/20" starts right now. was there any way that that struggle would have ended without you and your dad killing jason? >> yeah, there is another way. we could have died. >> wast self-defense or murder? with 12 days with a baseball bat. days st ago, the view we saw coming. >> a lot of don't end up with a dead son-in-law. >> now they're telling their versionsynl oo t he's going to h a bat. that's it. >> due to a father's love for his daughter early or hatred of her husband. >> he's got her in a choke hold. if i don't stop it, it's going to be the other way around.

>> both are charged with murdering her husband. >> they alleged you hit him when he was on the ground. >> a marriage at the breaking point. her fears. >> it was suggested that jason may have killed his first wife. >> i knew that. >> what? >> you think maybe that's going to happen to me. >> her secret recordings on of a husband's temper. >> you are talking to something. >> and her fight for the children sheep was afraid of losing. >> i begged and begged, please don't take the kids. >> now we're taking you up the stairs to a moment of truth. or is it? >> i do not believe i committed a crime. i believe i did the right thing. >> good evening. i'm dave muir. >> and i'm elizabeth vargas. a former fbi agent convicted of murder.

tom and his daughter molly both declared guilty in the murder of her husband. sentenced to prison for what they say is self-defense. >> our lindsay there in the courtroom say to her mother, sorry, i should have let her kill me. and now what they are saying. >> hey, molly. >> reporter: tonight in a 20/20 exclusive you'll hear for from the only people who really know what happened inside this winston-salem bedroom. or more precisely, the only two still alive to talk about it. >> it's horrible. a man died. it's horrible. but a man also attacked my daughter. and a man tried to protect his daughter. molly martens corbett and her father tom martens sat down with us pre-trial to tell us their version of events.

what do you hope to get across today? >> the truth. >> reporter: molly and tom make for a rare pair of murder defendants. she'd never broken the law; while he'd made a career enforcing it working for the fbi for 30 plus years. and yet here they are enmeshed in an international murder mystery. a why dunnit, that's made news from the mountains of north carolina. >> the closing arguments happened -- >> reporter: to the emerald isle. tonight's tale begins in tennessee, where molly martens grew up. while knoxville feels like homeo iacmollonce ran from after struggles during college. >> i was planning on being a doctor. but really, for the first time in my life, school was hard. you know, i hadn't ever really so that was a challenge. there were other challenges. migraines, bouts with depression and general anxiety about her

future. molly kept it all inside. >> i thought maybe i would just fi mf foa while.u know, and >> reporter: she signs up with a nanny agency and soon receives an inquiry from a man in desperate need. >> jason corbett, who sent me messages requesting that i contact him regarding his children, it was emotional. he had lost his wife. and they were two babies. >> reporter: at age 24, the one inspiring doctor throws caution to the wind and takes the job offered by the irish widower. >> i arrive in ireland, and it's beautiful. >> reporter: so jason's family say that you guys hit it off very quickly, that you guys actually got together and slept together that first night. >> that's not true. but it was very quick. that it was too quick. but i didn't want to call up my parents and say, "i'm uncomfortable with this, and i'm coming home. i've failed again."

>> reporter: the unusual relationship toggles between personal and professional. but in short order, molly finds her place in the world. she is needed. she is wanted. she is accepted as a mother figure. >> it was wonderful. for me, it gave me a sense of responsibility. and it filled a void i had that made me feel like i was worth something. it was wonderful for me. >> reporter: you became a mother overnight. >> yes. >> reporter: were you in love with jason? >> i was. >> reporter: jason corbett has many loves. his beer, his favorite soccer team all he loves aof mt os his kids little jack and sarah. after three years together, the modern family buys plane tickets to the united states. one way tickets. >> he loved the united states. and he thought that the opportunities for the children were significantly better. >> reporter: in 2011, irish eyes are smiling and wedding bells are ringing. tom martens gets to walk his daughter down the aisle. >> on the wedding day i was

exciting for them. and it was a delightful experience, and a beautiful wedding. >> reporter: the kids were in the wedding? >> they were, of course. uh-huh. they were flower girl and ring bearer. >> reporter: the happy family soon moves to davidson county it tobacco country's answer to ireland's stone castles. four beds, three baths and 5500 square feet for the kids to run around in. there's even enough space for the in-laws to stay overnight. >> it really was a dream summer. jason was working really hard, but it was a golf course community and he was excited and golfing on his day off. >> from what i saw they were a loving couple. i didn't see anything that would question the relationship. >> reporter: tony turner says s wan kith >> he was very cordial and he was loved by everyone over here. >> reporter: loved by everyone? >> a gentle irish giant.

he was good. >> reporter: meanwhile the kids, now 6 and 4, are thriving. jack corbett swings a mean bat on the little league team. young sarah is the social butterfly, always impeccably dressed. >> they made friends immediately. it was like a wonderland. >> reporter: molly's got it all, except one thing. jason is refusing to make her the children's legal mother. >> at that time, i felt like he was actually going to follow through with the adoption papers and that, you know, i would feel more confident about securing my rights to the children. >> reporter: it never happened. instead, molly says jason was growing addicted to the narcotic of domination. >> he was very controlling, and he was very possessive. the first if you months, you just brush it off. he loves me so much, but those things got worse. >> reporter: he was uncomfortable with you socializing?

>> he was paranoid that i would develop some feelings for someone else and or that somebody would look at me the wrong way. >> reporter: he was worried you were going to leave him for another man. >> he was worried about a lot of things. >> he'd come home from buying new golf club for $500 and he'd open the fridge, and there would be a case of raspberries. and that would be it. "we can't afford raspberries." and he would throw the raspberries on the floor. >> reporter: according to molly, it is a side of jason no one sees because to friends, he's the life of the party. the husky 260-pound irishman always has a smile on his face at neighborhood gatherings. but in private -- >> he would dictate what she should wear, or what she should shop for, or when she should be home, or when she should or shouldn't leave, or text her repeatedly, or engage in just various forms of, you know, controlling behavior. he would demand to see her

phone, look at her computer history, that sort of thing. >> reporter: molly says the fights were escalating. and says the kids witnessed many of them this is son jack's recollection when he was later evaluated by a social worker. >> when he would get mad what would he do? >> physically and verbally hurt my mom. >> did you see him? hurt her? >> a bunch of times? >> what did you see? >> punching, hitting, pushing. >> reporter: did the physical abuse become more frequent or more extreme? >> everything became more frequent and more extreme, excelogies.or fptpo t ahe they became less frequent and less extreme. >> reporter: if you're thinking molly should pack a bag and run she says she considered it. she visited a lawyer who told her to document any abuse which she did.

making surreptitious audio recordings. >> i'm talking to you. is this how you treat -- is this you just ignore me? i said i'd like to have dinner with. i'm talking to you. >> i shouldn't have to say it over and over. i shouldn't have to say molly. can you guys get out the stuff for pancakes? see? there you go again. i'm talking to you and you're still going on talking about something else. stop fighting. stop fighting. >> reporter: but molly is caught between a rock and a hard place. without a legal adoption, she has no shot of custody in the event of a divorce. she says the stakes are too high to simply walk away. so you suffered because you didn't want to lose the children. >> i never would have left the children. you know. i couldn't imagine. sometimes i thought, "maybe i'm being selfish. maybe their life would be better, you know, if they don't have to deal with this." but ultimately, i always came to the same conclusion that, you know, it wouldn't be better for them to lose a second mother. >> reporter: tom martens knows his daughter is suffering, but

decides she doesn't need another man bossing her around. >> i wasn't going to interfere in molly's marriage. that was molly's marriage. >> reporter: a marriage she says that only gets worse when the lights go out. >> sometimes he would be angry and choking me would turn into something sexual. or sometimes the other way around. >> reporter: so sometimes he would choke you in anger, and sometimes he would choke you during sex. did that scare you? >> everything always felt so real and so scary in the moment, when it was happening. >> reporter: did you ever pass out? >> i did. it did always make me think of mags, his first wife, and wonder if that's what happened to her. >> reporter: mags fitzpatrick, who suffered from asthma, died in the middle of the night. official cause -- a heart attack. but tom martens remembers a starling conversation he says he once had with the dead woman's father. >> his name was mikey fitzpatrick.

and you know, i thought i was just making polite chitchat, polite conversation. and i said, you know, "what do you think of old jason?" and his response was, "i think he killed my daughter." and i go, "whoa." you know, i'm not really expecting that kind of thing. >> reporter: from ireland, the fitzpatrick family later denied the conversation ever happened. but molly had heard the same allegation. at some point, it was suggested that jason may have killed his first wife, that perhaps it wasn't an accident. >> yes. it definitely was. and prior to that, i mean, i knew that. >> reporter: what? >> you know, the first time and second time and the third time and the 20th time that you are suffocated or strangled or someone holds their hand over your mouth or a pillow over your face, and you can't breathe for an extended period of time, you know, you think, "oh, well, you

know, his first wife died at 3:00 in the morning, and maybe that's going to happen to me." >> reporter: coming up -- something very bad is about to happen. >> he's already gone this far. and he's going to kill us. >> reporter: details of a deadly night, when we return. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ take 25% off under armour that's 25% off select under armour apparel, shoes and accessories for the whole family and, everyone gets kohl's cash!... earn it on everything! spend it on anything!

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out with the grain, in with the farm-raised chicken. healthful. flavorful. beneful. before fibromyalgia, i was a doer. i was active. then the chronic, widespread pain drained my energy. my doctor said moving more helps ease fibromyalgia pain. she also prescribed lyrica. fibromyalgia is thought to be the result of overactive nerves. lyrica is believed to calm these nerves. woman: for some, lyrica can significantly relieve fibromyalgia pain and improve function, so i feel better. lyrica may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior. or swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters, muscle pain with fever, tired feeling, or blurry vision.

common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain and swelling of hands, legs and feet. don't drink alcohol while taking lyrica. don't drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. those who have had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica. with less pain, i can be more active. ask your doctor about lyrica. "20/20" continues. once again, lindsay janis.

>> my name is tom marten. >> reporter: in the earlt hours of 2013, mr. marten makes a stunning call. his son-in-law is dead on the >> it was saturday. the kids had birthday patients. >> reporter: molly's parents were never supposed to be with their daughter that day. they make a fateful decision to drive over and visit for the night. were they welcome in the home? >> i knew they didn't feel bumet. they knew it was benefic.

>> the martening arrive bearingb a gift for jack. >> i brought over a baseball bat for jack. he thought it was really cool to get any former baseball gear that was a hand me down. >> reporter: after pizza for dinner, everyone settles in for the night with tom and his wife in a guest room and molly and husband on the first floor. 3:00 a.m., molly acawakenwake e sound familiar to any parent. >> sara woke up. she came down. and the kids were not supposed to come in the room and wake up jason. so they would stand outside of the door and whisper until i heard them. >> reporter: she says she get 8-year-old sara back to bed before tiptoeing to her room. >> he woke up and was angry and

i told him sara had a nightmare and he was just furious because sara had been doing this lately and she wanted to be coddled and she was too old for that and i bed. >> reporter: she says it gave her courage to stand up forself. >> she is 8. all she wanted was her mom to lay with her a couple minutes. and he forget my parents were there. >> i don't know what woke me up. what i heard were loud voices and i heard a thumping. so i grabbed that little league baseball bat and i ran upstairs. >> he wanted to shut me up so i covered my mouth and he started choking me. at some point, he stopped and i screamed. the next thing i remember is my dad standing in the door way. >> reporter: what did you see? >> it's awful.

he has his hands around her neck and he quickly moves to move her in front of him, between me so he's got her in a choke hold. >> fear was secondary at that point. i was so ashamed my father would see me like that, allowing myself to be treated like that. >> reporter: did you know your dad had a bat with limb? >> i don't know that it rege sterp e right away. >> i said let her go. and he said i'm going to kill her. i said if he gets the door between me and him, she's dead and there's nothing i can do out it a so i hit him in the back of the head with the baseball bat, and what happened when you hit him? >> if he could have gotten angrier, he did. >> reporter: tom said it didn't stop jason. he kept dragging molly to the bathroom. >> he made it to the bathroom. i'm in the bathroom with him.

and i hit him again. i mean, i have room now, and i hit him hard. back of the head again. >> reporter: you hit him hard? >> yeah, i did. he still got her by the throat but he changed his tactics. he decides to come back at me. and i'm swinging the bat. and he catches the bat in his hand and he sends me flying across the room. >> jason just grabbed the bat away. he could choke me with one hand and grab the bat with the other. he was just so much stronger. and i was screaming, don't hurt my dad. don't hurt my dad and i thought he's going to hit my dad with the bat and kill my father. >> i get up and grab the bat and hang on for dear life. i'm trying to hit him with the bat or elbow. i'm going to hang on to that bat and he goes down. >> reporter: he went down. >> he went down and i realized, okay, he's not going to get up. looks like the threat is over.

>> reporter: this version of events will eventually be challenged. what we know is aren't 3:00 a.m., tom martens makes this call to 911. >> what's going on? >> he's in bad shape. we need help. >> what do you mean he's in bad shape? he's hurt? >> he's v he's bleeding all over. i may have killed him. it hit in the head. >> with what? >> a baseball bat. >> yes, ma'am, he said i'm going to kill her. >> the 911 dispatcher instructs tom to give cpr to jason. he hands the phone to his daughter. >> i need to you calm down to help him. >> i'm certified. i just can't think. >> you have to stay calm. >> i think he's going to sit up and start choking me again and it was terrifying. >> reporter: did the kids sleep through that struggle and the 911 call? >> the kids did. and i keep their rooms closed and my door closed bus arguing was a common theme. >> reporter: and your mom was

down testairs the whole time? >> my mom was in the guest bedroom. she told my mom to stay in the room with the dogs. >> reporter: ems and police arrive and take molly and her father to separate patrol cars. >> i was told. don't worry, it looks like self-defense. >> it looks like self-defense. i don't think there's going to be an issue with that. >> they are photographed and told they are free tlo go. deputies drive them back to the house about seven hours after the incident. >> the sheriff was there. he dade, we're done. >> reporter: they were finished processing the scene that quickly. >> yeah, they were done. >> reporter: but investigators are just getting started. and what looked like self-defense looks a lot like murder. >> reporter: they are alleged you finished him off. did you murder jason? there's more to the story of

what happened that night and it's about to cost molly her reputation, her freedom and even worse, the children who called her mommy for eight years. >> i begged and begged, please don't take the kids. >> za with us. the ford summer sales event is in full swing. it's gonna work, i promise you, we can figure this out. babe... little help. -hold on, mom. no, wifi. wifi. it's not a question, it's a thing. take on summer right with ford, america's best-selling brand. now with summer's hottest offer. get zero percent for seventy-two months plus an additional thousand on top of your trade-in. during the ford summer sales event get zero percent for seventy-two months plus an additional thousand on top of your trade-in. offer ends soon. advil liqui-gels minis. our first concentrated pill that rushes powerful relief. a small new size that's fast, cause it's liquid. woohoo! you'll ask, what pain? new advil liqui-gels minis.

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>> reporter: in the aftermath of jason corbett's death, there is a bitter divide, as wide as the atlantic. two families, in two countries, with two very different notions of the man he was. in the medieval city of limerick, ireland, hundreds of mourners eulogize a loving husband and father. jason's casket is adorned with the word "daddy." but stateside, his widow molly, adamant that he abused her for years, is desperate to secure custody of 10-year-old jack and 8-year-old sarah. >> you think that they're gonna see the truth and that everyone is gonna recognize that, that you're the mother to these children. >> reporter: this is jack in an interview with a social worker. >> do you like her? >> yes. >> and you said you wanted to

stay with her? >> yes. >> reporter: but jason's will, written before his marriage to molly, states that both children are to be placed in the custody of his sister tracey in the event of his death. and tracey flies to north carolina, determined to execute that wish. molly says she is stunned when, after a guardianship hearing, a woman from social services arrives with an order take the children molly has raised for eight years. >> i begged, i begged, begged for her to -- to think about our lives and think about, what she was doing. "and please, please don't take the kids." the kids were crying and screaming. and -- you know, screaming, "don't take me from my mommy, don't take me from my mommy." and i took 'em out to the van. and i buckled 'em in. you know, i told 'em that i loved 'em and i'd see 'em soon. they drove off, and i melted. i just melted into the driveway.

>> reporter: the next day, molly is granted one hour of visitation with the children. there are tearful hugs, she gives sarah her necklace as a memento. and she struggles to keep her composure. >> they said if i cried or the kids got upset, that i would be removed. so i did a good job of holding it together and -- for them. we looked at pictures. >> that's you, that's baby sarah. remember when we went to see santa? >> reporter: she says she was later sent a letter they wrote. >> it said that, "i love you very much times 999 billion. we will never leave you. you're the greatest mom we could ever have." and yeah, i never saw them again. they were taken the next day to ireland. >> reporter: she posts messages like these one on facebook, including her phone number and e-mail in the hope they can contact her. and she makes a plea on an irish

radio show. >> i want someone to tell them that i love them and happy birthday, kiddos, with all of my heart. >> reporter: in return, she receives this voicemail from jack, "hi mom this is jack. this cannot go public. i miss you and i love you, keep fighting really hard, i love you so much." >> reporter: while molly's focused on her fight for the children what she doesn't know is that police are focused on her and her father. they no longer see her as a suffering widow. now she's become a suspect. what happened to make this go from justified self-defense to murder? >> the investigation itself, davidson county prosecutors say they took a hard look at these photos and noticed a vast difference between jason's injuries and the absence of injuries, they say, on molly and her father. how brutally was jason beaten? >> it was horrific.

>> reporter: would you have expected to see more injuries on tom and molly, have they been in the kind of struggle that they described? >> they walked away with nary a mark on them. and he left on a board with his skull crushed and his scalp ripped off. >> what can i say? the struggle occurred. i've described it as accurately as i can. and that's what happened. >> reporter: the investigators believe the evidence never lies, and that this bloody brick or paving stone, found in the bedroom tells a convincing story, the story of a wife in a murderous rage. in her police interview, molly admits she hit her husband with it. >> i hit him on the head. >> you hit on the head with what? >> with -- a brick on my nightstand. >> reporter: why would there be a paving stones in our bedroom? >> the kids and i were going to decorate a number of paving stones -- and anyway, epas>> r ter: but in our interview, her lawyers advise her not to discuss what she did with it. did you take action and hit jason yourself at that point with the paving stone? >> it's just not something that i'm prepared to talk about right now.

>> reporter: prose ackrstohatt both jason's skull and molly's self-defense claim. >> and when she was crushing his skull with that brick, she had anger to assuage and resentment to address. she addressed those on his head. >> reporter: what you are saying is that tom and molly beat jason after he was already down. he was no longer a threat. >> yes. the physical evidence suggested that he was still being struck in the head after he went down. >> reporter: eventually prosecutors conclude the g-man and his daughter have cooked their whole story, and they charge molly and tom with second degree murder and voluntary manslaughter. >> molly marten and her father have surrendered themselves. >> this morning, both are charged with murdering her husband. >> reporter: for jason's family in ireland, who had bombarded the d.a.'s offices with letters, demanding "justice for jason," it is welcome news. >> we want to express our appreciation to davidson county and to the investigators for

their hard work and determination to uncover the truth. >> reporter: it's a huge story in ireland, and the irish tabloids immediately have a field day, dubbing jason a gentle giant, and molly as the "merry widow." painting her as a gold digger with mental problems. but tom martens, ironically an expert himself in processing crime scenes from his days at the fbi, says the investigation was flawed. he says he was stunned that after their police interviews, he and molly had no further contact with the sheriff's office. >> what i thought would happen next was that they would want follow up interviews. pretty logical, you know? >> we were ready for them to call us any time to -- to be questioned again about any memories that may have resurfaced when you'a n iotn state of shock.

>> it's not worthy of a second interview and i'm charged with second degree murder? >> reporter: how do you feel going into trial? are you feeling confident? >> i'm feeling worried. but i feel righteous. i would not want to live with not having taken action. >> reporter: are you guilty of murder? it's all that stuff. in a house that you own. because homeownership? that's as american as ditching the metric system. you think we put men on the moon so future generations could say buying a house seems hard. we don't think so. so we won't rest until we fulfill your domestic destiny. i mean, we'll sleep. but not that soundly. ♪ a used car,t that soundly. truck, suv.

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we continue with more of "20/20." the new developments in the father daughter murder trial so many are follows.

>> reporter: three weeks ago, tom martens and his daughter molly walind ke north carolina courtroom facing charges of seconds degree murder. tom martens took the stand told the majojurors he was goine his daughter. >> i'm going do what i had to do to sai her life. >> reporter: did you think he was going to kill you? >> yes. once it starts, it is what it is. you either fight and lose or you fight and win. >> reporter: but prosecutor allen martin started chopping at the story like the trunk of a carolina pine. >> there was so much that didn't make sense. the physical activity that i had described between he and jason would from being being overpowered to seconds later, powerfully overpowerinsae th me >> reporter:g

brown hoined in his wife was absent from the account. where was she in the violent struggle? >> i asked him about the questions about where she was when the noise was taking place. when he indicated he was thrown to the floor and no wife came running up the floor to check on him. no wife called 911. it was incredulous. >> reporter: put yourself in his shoes. he's a father. you tell me you wouldn't try to intervene? >> i'm telling you don't believe that's what happened. >> reporter: prosecutors want to focus on the physical evidence like the brick and the blood spatter in the bedroom. what does the blood spatter tell us? >> tom marten said when jason went down, the threat was over. and in this particular case, the blood spatter information that

was testified to showed that jason was down and still being bludgeoned. >> reporter: they point to pictures like these, noting that most of the blood spatter is on the lower half of the wall with the area above relatively clean. prosecutors say that demonstrates he was hit after he was down. did that happen? >> no, that didn't happen. the last hit, he was still standing up and hopefully, you know, i'd like to think there are signs to prove that. because the truth is the truth. >> reporter: the prosecution believes that molly and her father killed him with malice. they turn to the past. you had run witness who used to work with tom martens and he said he didn't like his son-in-law. >> he actually said, that son-in-law, i hate him. >> reporter: but lots of fathers hate their sons in law.

how do you get murder center. >> well, a lot of the fathers don't end up with a dead son-in-law and a baseball bat in hand. >> reporter: did you murder your son-in-law? >> no, i didn't murder my son-in-law. and i would challenge any reasonable man, much less a reasonable father to say that this was a necessary force. i used the force that was necessary to end the threat. >> reporter: but at trial, prosecutors challenge the notion there ever was a threat that night. going on so far as to float a possible motive for murder esch. that jason may have been considering retiring to ire lands and taking the two most preeshs people in molly's life with him. >> molly's life was about those children and she wanted the kids. >> reporter: she wanted to kill for it? >> apparently so. >> reporter: and the defense attorney saying molly's story of being attacked would have been

corroborated. >> everything that pointed to molly being the victim of strangulation, which she was, they ignored. they didn't check jason's hand and there it is. >> reporter: this crime scene photo shows a blond hair that investigators never tested. they say molly was a victim of abuse before it. and two people in the house knew it. jack and sarah. >> the family took the children to ireland. they kougt have brought him back and let them testify. that was not going to happen in a million years and the judge knew that. >> reporter: that might not have helped molly. before the trial, they spoke to jack and this time, he denied jason had ever abused her. was the anyone else that would testify? >> the only way is to force molly to testify. molly has a constitutional right not to take the stand.

>> reporter: why not put molly on the stand? >> why? what burden of proof do we have? it's not up to us to prove innocence. >> reporter: and something else that jurors never heard. the audio recordings molly says demonstrate jason's abuse. in the closing mesguarade,nt it case was about more than proof behind a reasonable doubt. it was personal. >> i am passionate about the case. i very much believe those two people killed a man. made orphans of two children who did not have to lose their father. that argumentas w for jack and sar sarah. >> reporter: coming up, the verdict that shook the courtroom. >> there was no doubt in my mind. >> stay with us. w get our best e season. on the agile mkc.

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>> reporter: after less than four hours of deliberation the jury in the martens case returns a resounding verdict, guilty of second degree murder. the judge sentences both father and daughter to 20 to 25 years in prison. they are led from the courthouse in shackles. >> and this morning a father and daughter in north carolina are headed to prison. >> what an emotional day this has been. >> reporter: the shock wave from the guilty verdict is still reverberating on two continents. >> the wife and father-in-law of limerick man jason corbett, have been found guilty of second-degree murder. >> the verdict today was a relief. >> reporter: jason's family feels his reputation has been redeemed. >> this was a good man. jason was a loving man and he was a great father. my niece and nephew were made orphans in a brutal me killing. >> reporter: the prosecution is satisfied. >> and there was justice for jason today. >> reporter: while the defense

is not only beaten, but bewildered. >> this was the worst possible outcome for your clients. what happened? >> i mean, the jury ruled against us. i've been involved with many cases where, in the criminal justice system where the initial ruling didn't go my client's way and that's why we continue to go on and fight. >> we think they got it wrong and we think they missed quite a bit. >> reporter: just how did the jurors decide to convict? three of them kindly sat down with us to explain. >> based off the evidence that was presented there was no doubt in my mind that i made the right choice. >> reporter: that evidence, specifically the blood spatter testimony, and the crime scene

photos, sold them on the prosecution's overkill theory. >> but once you hit a certain point and you do not stop -- it's no longer self-defense. >> those images of jason corbett's skull were so graphic. nancy, you actually threw up. >> yes, ma'am. >> i don't think there's anything or any experience in life that could prepare you to look at those pictures. >> reporter: but the lack of injuries on molly and tom led them even further, into a theory the prosecution never even presented. >> i believe molly made the first blow. >> why? >> i believe jason was in bed sleeping and she struck him with the paver. >> and her dad helped her cover it up? >> i think at some point dad came to help out and help cover up. >> there was blood on the pillow and on the comforter. that may have been the first blow. and then it progressed from that point where he got outta bed, and tried to protect himself, i believe that's when tom had to intervene because of the size difference of molly and jason. >> to me, the choking did not occur. >> reporter: as for motive? they say perhaps money, perhaps the kids, perhaps just years of pent up rage. but in any case, after the deed

was done, they believe molly and tom took some time to conspire rifongbe that passage of time? >> setting up the scenario. what do we tell so that we are on the same page and get our stories straight. tom's saying, "maybe because i'm fbi they'll help look the other way to a degree." >> i believe not once in his mind did he think old davidson county, podunk town would even question his 40 years of fbi experience. i feel like he thought he could outwit davidson county and davidson county outwit the martens. >> molly tells us that jason is a habitual abuser. emotional and physical abuse she says she has suffered for years. >> where is the evidence? the defense did not once suggest any of that.

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reporter: before the judge sentenced molly and tom martens, the prosecution read an impact statement from young jack corbett, which said, in part -- molly martens is so many bad things. one thing she is not is part of my family. molly martens will not be forgotten. she will be remembered as a murderer. do you believe he wrote every word of that letter? >> this was a handwritten letter. i believe from the bottom of my heart he wrote word after careful thought. >> reporter: when we interviewed molly in may she was a free woman able to enjoy simple pleasures like a jog through the woods. tonight she is behind bars, but she told us it makes little difference. as far as she's concerned her dofe is already over. do you want to rebuild your life one day? >> you can't ever get your life back when something like that

happens. my life ended that day that they took the kids. >> reporter: and if anyone can relate to the pains of parenting, it's her own father. >> we all try to do the right thing, and i tried to do the right thing, and i'd rather live with what i did than live with what i didn't. better to die in jail than have my daughter die before my eyes. >> tonight molly and her father are in separate pricens. their defense team has already filed to appeal the verdict. >> the question for you at home, which version of the story do you believe in that is our program for tonight. i'm david muir. >> and i'm elizabeth vargas. from all of us at abc news, thanks so much for watching d veha he serves his country but it didn't keep a thief from stealing. stealing. >> everything a marine

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