hell, i don't care ♪ // this is night line. tonight, game changer. star cowboys running back eziel elltt suspended for six games over alleged domestic violence. his apparent disrespecting of women. he's never been arrested what the nfl said that it discovered that led to his suspension. plus, the beautiful nanny who married her boss, raising his children as her own. until one day she says a life or death struggle, her father running in to intervene. >> i thought he would kill my father. >> her husband left dead. the father/daughter duo saying self-defense. but a jury convicting they will both of murder. inside the crime scene and why

prosecutors say their story was a li de. swift justice. try sue taylor swift and she might just shake it off. why the case was thrown out of court. but first the night line five. ♪ >> no wonder you can't sleep. your car is a mess. >> you need parts i've never heard of. >> when life keeps you up, it let's you sleep in 20 number 1 in just 60 seconds.

good evening.

thank you for joining us. tonight, dallas cowboys superstar ezekiel elliott suspended without pay over allegations of domestic violence. even though he hasn't been charged with a crime. it's a sharp change of direction for a league that was known to let domestic abusers off easy, even in the face of what some call overwhelming evidence. so are we now seeing a new nfl? >> elliott breaking into the secondary! and it's a foot race! and he will not be touched. >> reporter: he's one of the nfl's top players. superstar dallas cowboys player ezekiel elliott. the toast of the nfl and dallas, texas. baring it all in espn's "body issue." >> ezekiel elliott plain and simple is one of the best young players in the game. it's a major blow to a team that to the it could compete for a super bowl this season. >> reporter: nerut bhe a tow cl controversy suspended for six games for violating the nfl's >>he dlas wboy are

furious. they did not see this coming. >> reporter: in a letter informing elliott of their decision the nfl says the suspension stemtz from thes fro investigation into allegations li domestic violence.ott's ex-g hi of multiple incidents of domestic violence during the week of july 6th, 2016. although she report td to the columbus, ohio police department elliott has denied the allegations and was never arrested or charged with a crime. >> the commissio trnebeerog r ae to suspend players even though they aren't found guilty in a court of haw. >> reporter: damian woody was an offensive lineman for the new york patriots and the new york jets. >> i think from the players' perspective a lot of players are i think shocked by the fact it's six games. considering that ezekiel elliott hadn't been convicted of a crime as far as domestic violence is erncco conducted its own investigation and said they found that credible evidence establishes that on multiple occasions elliott used physical force against her, resulting in her injury,

including on one occasion injuries to her face, arms, wrist, and hands. >> when you hear what ezekiel liott did, it is incredibly troubling. at least three times hitting his girlfriend, hitting all over her body over and over again. this is the kind of thing you that just scratch your head and you say how is this possible this man could do this one night and then anotheright and then another night? >> reporter: in the letter to elliott the nfl also pointed to an incident in march of 2017 captured ony tmz sports where elliott appears to pull down the shirt and grab a woman's breast at a st. patrick's day parade. the nfl called the incident inappropriate and disturbing and reflected a lack of respect for women. >> for him to behave in that manner, obviously shocking the woman, shocking anybody who watched it, it's extraordinary. this is a role model? are you kidding me? >> reporter: late this afternoon elliott's attorneys responding in a statement that the nfl findings areh

fact'll inaccuracies and erroneous conclusions and it cherry picks so-called evidence to support his conclusion. elliott and his lawyers plan to appeal and say during the upcoming weeks and through the appeal a slew of additional credible and con trofrting evidence will come to 4r50id. elliott tweeting "i am surprised by the nfl's decision. i admit i am far from perfect but i will ton work hard on the field off the field to mature and earn the great opportunity i have been given." ezekiel elliott's su pengs is a stark contrast to how the nfl initially disciplined former baltimore ravensr r assaulting n fiance janae palmer. this video showing rice dragging his fiance's limp body out of an elevator after what police say was an assault. rice was indicted on aggravated assault charges. the very next day he and palmer married. two months later the two of them appeared together at a press conference. >> you know, i failed miserably.

but i wouldn't call myself a failure. because i'm working my way back up. i just want to thank her for -- for loving me where i was weak and building up where i was strong. >> reporter: palmer sitting at his side apologizes. >> i do deeply regret the role that i played in the incident that night. i love ray. >> reporter: some critics called the press conference a sham. >> horrible press conference where janay palmer rice is apologizing for her behavior, which was just unthinkable. >> reporter: then the nfl gave rice what many considered a slap on the two-game suspension for domestic violence. >> there are consequences when you make a mistake like that. i stand behind ray. he's a heck of a guy. >> reporter: a firestorm erupts. critics chastising the nfl for giving rice a lesser punishment than a six-game suspension imposed on players caught using banned substances. and then later a s emerges, also obtained by tmz sports, showing rice punching palmer in the face in the

elevator. the ravens terminating the running back's contract and the nfl then suspending him indefinitely. >> i got handling of the ray rice matter. and i'm sorry for that. >> reporter: after that a mea culpa from nfl commissioner roger goodell. >> we're going to do better going forward. >> reporter: rice appealed the suspension and was reinstated although to this day he's yet to be re-signed by a team. but more importantly, sweeping changes in the league's personal conduct policy, including independent investigative powers and a minimum six-game susponsienfirst-time domestic violence offenders. elliott's suspension is one of the first major tests of the ne league finally acted. and it sent a message loudly and clearly to any player who's going to be involved in any domestic violence incidents, this is not going to be tolerated ant' i goisng to be accepted. >> reporter: this is a stunning fall from grace for one of the nfl's most promising players. >> elliott hurdles a tackler.

>> reporter: elliott was a star at ohio state. >> and busts end zone! >> repeorter: ttho elliott's ps were so bright espn's "e-60" profiled him right before the 2016 draft. >> if you trust your support system, you trust the people that care for you, a yound listen to them, then nothing but good things will come from that. >> the dallas cowboys select ezekiel elliott. >> reporter: he was the fourth player chosen overall and headed to the biggest stage in football, dallas. >> and elliott with a touchdown. >> reporter: in his the league rushing. >> you know, i'm a competitor. i love going out there when there's high stakes, everyone's watching, all eyes on you. and i mean that's fun for me. >> reporter: and helped the cowboys reach the playoffs. >> and ezekiel elliott out across the 45. >> reporter: today's decision by the nfl putting this season one owner had been outspoken and public about the fact that he read the league's report, heloot

believe that ezekiel elliott committed any domestic violence acts here. >> this is an opportunity for zeke to have some self-reflection. hopefully a guy that talented he'll get it together and be a productive player not only on the field but in the community. >> reporter: the nfl is a multibillion-dollar business, a brand. the days when a behavior off the field met with little more than a wink are long gone. next, a former fbi agent and his daughter convicted of killing her husband. was it self-defense or murder? and later, winning never goes out of style. ♪ we never go out of style why the case against taylor swift was dismiss the by a judge. ♪ white t-shirt ♪ and i got that good girl -- now get our best offers of the season. on the agile mkc. on the versatile midsize lincoln mkx. or go wher you in the exhilarating mkz.sueset

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she was a loving and law-abiding family woman. her father a former fbi agent. now both are facing decades in prison orve ohe tf her husband, a killing they say was in self-defense. tonight they're speaking out about what they sayitaph hped d jury never got to hear. here's abc's linzie janis. >> is your father guilty of murder? >> no. my father is, you know, guilty of saving my life. >> reporter: tonight molly martens corbett and her father tom martens are behinbars, convicted d of second-degree husband, 39-year-old jason corbett. >> and this morning a father and daughter in north carolina are headed to prison. >> reporter: the father and daughter claim it was

self-defense. they make for a rare pair of murder defendants. e' he never broken the la enforcing it. working for the fbi for 30-plus years. and yet here they are enmeshed in a crime that's made news from the mountains of north carolina to ireland, where nearly a decade ago molly took a job as a nanny after an inquiry from a father in desperate need. >> jason emotional. he'd lost his wife. and there were two babies. reporter: very quickly their relationship goes from professional to personal. she becomes a mother to. ja then 3-year-old jack and 1-year-old sarah. after three years together jason and molly marry in molly's home state of tennessee. >> the wedding day i was excited for them. >> reporter: and the family stays in the u.s., moving into this four-bedroom home in north carolina. >> it really was a dream summer. >> reporter: molly's got it all.

except one thing. jason is refusing to make her the children's legal mother. >> i felt like he was actually going to follow through with the adoption papers. happened.er: but and molly says there were other problems in their relationship. >> he was very controlling and he was very possessive. >> he would dictate what she should wear or what she should shop for or w home. >> reporter: molly says the fights were escalating and the kids witnessed them. later, son jack tells a social worker what he saw. >> he would physically and verbally hurt,rbally hurt my mo. >> reporter: molly says a lawyer told her to document any alleged abuse. >> are you finished with your dinnerhon? >> i'm, talking to you! is this how you treat -- you just ignore me? >> reporter: but she says she's caught between a rock and a hard place. without a legal adoption she has no shot of custody in the event of a divorce. >> i always came to the same conclusi conclusion, that 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: but two years ago that changed, when tom and molly's mother, sharon, were spending the night at her house. and i don't know what precisely woke me up, but what i heard were loud voices and like thumping. something bad was going on. so i grabbed that little league baseball bat and i ran upstairs. >> reporter: the bat was in his room. he had brought it as a gift for his grandson. >> what did you see? >> it's awful. he has his hands around her neck. and so he's got her in a choke hold. >> fearas w point. i was just so ashamed that my father would see me like that. >> and i said, let her go. and he said, "i'm going to kill her." >> reporter: tom says he hit jason in the back of the heat with the baseball bat. but heraggings s molly toward the bathroom.

>> i hit him hard in the back of the head again. >> reporter: you hit him hard? >> yep. i did. he's still got her by the throat. but he changes tactics. he decides to come back at me. >> jason just grabbed the bat away. it was like it was nothing. >> reporter: tom says jason throws him fought ground. >> and i was screaming "don't hurt my dad. don't hurt my dad." i thought he's going to hit my dad with the bat and that's it, he's going to kill my father. >> i get up and i rush him. and i grab the bat wit hh two h. and he goes down. and then i realize, okay, he's not going to get up. okay. looks like the threat is over. >> what do you mean he's in bad shape? he's hurt? >> he's bleeding all over. and iiay m hit him in the head. >> with what? >> with a baseball bat. >> reporter: mollynd aer h it w self-defense. and just days after jason's death molly begins fighting for custody of the children she raised for eight years. while she's focused on sarah and jack, the police have turned

their focus to and tom. molly 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. >> they walked away with nary a mark on them, and he left on a board with his skull cshednd his scalp ripped off. >> reporter: investigators say that bloody brick found in the bedroom is a key piece of evidence. i erervi hinew that night molly admits she hit her husband with it. in the head. >> you hit him on the head? >> with a brick on my night stand. >> reporter: prosecutors become convinced molly and her father are lying and charge them with second-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter. >> are you guilty of murder? >> no. 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 unnecessary force. >> reporter: during the trial tom martens took the stand and fays he simply did what any w derthefending your daughter. >> i was. >> i'm going to do everything i have to do to save her life. >> reporter: but prosecutors tell the jury to disregard tom's testimony and focus instead on the blood spatter in the bedroom. they point to pictures like these noting most of the blood spatder is on the low laugh of the wall with the area above relatively clean. prosecutors say that demonstrates jason was still being hit after he was down. they challenge the notion there was ever a threat that night floating a possible motive for murder, that jason may have been considering returning to ireland and taking his kids with pimm. >> molly's life was about those children, and she wanted those kids. as whe it? >> apparently maybe so. >> defense attorney walter

holton says molly was a victim of abuse and there were two children in the house that knew it and the jury didn't hear from them. >> mr. corbett's family took the children to ireland. they brought them back a themteify. >> rndorter: let but during the trial prosecutors read a statement from jack where he and according to prosecutors before the trial they spoke to jack and this time he denied his father ever abused molly. after nearly four hours of deliberation they return a verdict. guilty of second-degree murder. these jourors say they were convinced in part by the lack of injuries to molly and tom and they say they have a tier theory of their own about really happened. >> i believe molly made the first blow. >> why? >> i believe jason was in bed sleeping and she struck him with the paver.elped her cover it up? >> i think at some point dad came to help out and help core un.

>> reporter: the judge sentenced both father and daughter to 20 to 25 years in prison. when i spoke with molly, she told me even before that sentence he'd already lost somethineor m p freedom. >> my life ended that day they took the kids. >> reporter: for "nightline" i'm linzie janis, in lexington, north carolina. ♪ and next whyaghenst wildest taylor swift was dismissed. ♪ white lips andosieheck say you'll see me again even if it's just in -- ♪ where's gary? 'saved money on motorcycle insurance with geico. goin' up the country. later, gary' i wonderful.orcycle! ♪ ♪ i'm goin' up the country, baby don't you wanna go? ♪ ♪ i'm goin' up the country, baby don't you wanna go? ♪

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and when we finally got those things open, we'd be overcome with the sense of accomplishment no 3rd gr deray dato ewi hi guys.ie this guy? new ez open gogurt. kids never had it so easy. and finally tonight, if yo hreu'ginop lawsuit, it mighte sure you have sufficient evidence. tonight tayr swift is out of the woods. ♪ are we out of the woods yet are we out of the woods ♪ big tm swift sles for a colorado judge threw out radio dj david mueller's lawsuit against the pop star citing insufficient evidence. >> i couldn't be more proud to represent somebody like taylor swift, who is willing to in a situation like this.

>> reporter: swift had been sued by mueller after he lost his job when smith claimed mueller groped her back side backstage at her 2013 concert. captured in this photo leaked to tmz. but smith countersued alleging assault and battery. yesterday on day 4 of the trial she was defined r find in an hour-long courtroom showdown saying this is a photo of his hand up my dress. it was a very long grab, she testified. long enough for me to be completely sure it was l.nath and as always, we're online at

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