The family of Molly Martens and her father have brazenly appealed for donations to finance their court cases.
Both face a retrial over the death of Limerick businessman Jason Corbett in the US.
Father-of-two Jason’s second wife Molly Martens, 38, and her father Thomas Martens, 71, were released from jail in April 2021 on bail pending the retrial.
READ MORE: Jason Corbett's family 'never want actions of Molly and Tom Martens to be his legacy'
The pair were convicted of second-degree murder in 2017 and both served four years of 20 to 25 years of their respective sentences.
However, the State Supreme Court upheld an appeal court ruling quashing the conviction last year.
The court ruled that evidence, including testimony from Jason’s son Jack, 16, and 14-year-old daughter Sarah should have been included in the original trial.
The extended Martens family set up a fundraising drive over five years ago to finance court appeals against the convictions.
Their aim is to raise $300,000 (€265,582) but so far just $31,076 (€28,573) has been donated by 246 donors to the Free Tom and Molly Martens Now Gogetfunding page.
In a post last month, Molly’s aunt Mona Earnes told followers that “unfortunately, the financial burden continues for the Martens family as there will soon be preparations made for a new trial”.
She asked for more donations, writing: “We humbly seek and thank you for your continued support.”
Jason was found beaten to death with a baseball bat and a concrete paving slab in the bedroom of his North Carolina home in August 2015.
Both Molly and Tom, a retired FBI officer, insisted they acted in self-defence, despite both being found uninjured at the scene.
Their 2017 second-degree murder trial was told Mr Corbett had been drugged and attacked while he slept in his North Carolina home and had suffered such horrific head injuries that a pathologist could not accurately count the number of blows inflicted.
Last month, a preliminary administrative hearing took place in Davidson County court in North Carolina but no new trial date was set.
A second hearing is set for the week of May 23.
READ MORE: Molly Martens and dad Tom not expected to face retrial over Jason Corbett death until autumn
READ MORE: Jason Corbett's family statement amid hope for retrial date for Molly and Tom Martens
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