on the blow dryer. this is gonna help you from not frizzing. >> ahh. ♪ and i know you saw me when i was doing this, and you kind of -- so, you start this way, but turn. >> okay. >> so, when you turn, you can put the heat here for a little bit and then do a cool shot, let it cool for a minute. when you're coming out of it, spin. >> ahh. so the release is just as important. >> yes. so, when you do that, it automatically puts a form. so when you keep going to the next, it's holding it. so, let's say you just want a nice little sleek, sophisticated look. you can keep it like this. or we can do a little bit of a tease. so, quick tease trick. a lot people think you have to do the old-school, 1950's to '70s little section by section roller set. no. what i always tell people is to do, like, a triangle in the back.

so, line here, and then start at your peak. >> okay. >> so, when you do that, again, it doesn't have to be that perfect parting 'cause you want it to be natural. so, just nicely comb. over-elevate just a little bit. and you could take any comb. you can use a brush. it doesn't matter. what's more comfortable for you. about midway... >> mm-hmm. >> ...go down. again. just nice and subtle. here's the trick to a tease that a lot of people don't do. they think they tease it and then the pull it back, right? take your hair and split it. >> oh. what does that do? >> this is helping divide so you're not having such a harsh, matted look right in here. >> i see. >> so, you see how it kind of branches out a little bit? so when you that and you comb... >> so the volume moves around your hair? >> exactly. it gives it movement. so, another little trick to tell you -- you ever get to where you

see a picture, or you took a selfie and you're like, "oh, my gosh, i can see my scalp"? >> uh-huh. >> so, you can take a rat-tail comb, a pen, a makeup -- any kind of tip and zigzag into your part. >> ohhhh. >> so, what that's gonna do automatically -- it's not dramatic. it's not, you know... but do you see how it gives a lift, too? >> uh-huh. i love this! oh, my gosh. perfect. love! thank you! >> yay! >> thank you, thank you. >> no problem. >> yes! >> [ laughs ] >> coming up, pack your bags! we're going to southern california for some fun. >> there's just so much to do. you're not gonna get bored. and if anything, you're gonna need to stay an extra night. thank you, ikea. oh, john can't come. my uncle geoff just confirmed. the one that's always bringing a plus-one?

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the perfect place for a weekend getaway any time of the year. costa mesa is located in orange county, and it's known for world-famous attractions, celebrated restaurants, specialty shops, and top entertainment. it's time to be surprised and inspired. >> all right. what makes costa mesa such a perfect place for a weekend getaway? paulette, what would you sum it up as? >> we have the best of the arts here at segerstrom center for the arts. we have world-class shopping here, and we have a fabulous dining experience. and, you know, you don't need a car to get around here, and that's what makes it so convenient. when you fly into john wayne airport, we're just about a 10-minute drive, regardless of where you stay in the city, and we have transportation from the 11 partnering hotels that we have here. you can hop on a bus right outside of our partnering hotels and get to the disneyland resort. we're close to beaches. we're just about a 10-minute drive away from the pacific ocean.

so you've got everything right here in costa mesa. >> okay, now, the shopping. world-class shopping. >> absolutely. if you want to shop outside, we have got quaint places like the lab and the camp, we've got the oc mix. we have, of course, south coast plaza, the international shopping destination. ♪ >> one of my favorite things to do on a weekend getaway of course is shopping. and costa mesa has plenty of it. i'm talking to linda of the lab. hi, linda. >> hi. how are you? >> good, thank you. okay. this is not your traditional shopping mecca. you call this the anti-mall. >> the anti-mall. yes. >> explain that, linda. >> my husband and i, shaheen, started the lab anti-mall almost 25 years ago. and our mantra is really to support little american businesses, which lab is the acronym for. so you will find very unique, one-of-a-kind tenants here, and we're really out to support

them as kind of a foundation of america, really. every couple years, we have a changeover. we want to keep it fresh and exciting. as we redo the art and the landscaping, we also redo our tenants to make sure we're answering immediate trends and needs. >> all right. linda, thank you so much. >> you're welcome. come back and visit. >> there's no doubt about it -- the culinary scene in costa mesa is really diverse. so, right now, i am at vaca restaurant talking to chef amar. hello, chef. >> how are you? >> okay, i understand we are gonna be doing something that just speaks to my soul. [ laughs ] >> it speaks to my soul, too. >> so, what are we gonna do here? >> so, what we're gonna do, we're gonna assemble a charcuterie plate. so, vaca here in costa mesa is a spanish tapas/steakhouse restaurant. so, we're gonna slice some of this beautiful jamón ibérico. slice it paper-thin.

>> and what kind of flavors here are we talking about? >> we talk about -- think about, like, eating hazelnut, and like a nice and rich and fatty piece of pork. i mean, the flavor on this is unbelievable. so, we're gonna get some spanish cheeses. we have three different kinds of manchegos. we have 18 months, 12 months, and 6 months. then we're gonna slice some spanish chorizo, also, to put on the plate. >> and what is it that you love most about costa mesa... >> i feel like the diversity here is so much better than anywhere else in orange county. you know, you get any kind of food. there's so much stuff going on and happening in so many restaurants, and it's so easy to get to. that's what i like about it most. >> this looks delightful. i don't even -- i'm going to go for this aged... >> yeah, try the aged manchego. >> ...manchego. oh. >> nutty, rich. >> that is so good! >> i wish you all could taste it through the camera. [ both laugh ] >> mmm! thank you, chef. >> yeah, you're very welcome.

♪ >> costa mesa is known as the city of the arts. so, talking to us right now is terry. and, tell us, this beautiful space, where are we? >> well, right now, you're in the renée and henry segerstrom concert hall. 1,900 seats. beautiful acoustics. it's one of the best places in the united states to hear a concert or see a wonderful performance. and, really, we're one of the most prominent and most favored touring destination for great broadway shows and many other kinds of performances. we're very lucky to have these facilities. >> so, tell us what kinds of performances people can see. >> well, we have jazz, cabaret, chamber music. but we also have one of the best classical dance series in the entire nation. any given weekend, there's multiple shows going on here. we have five different performing spaces, and sometimes we have two or three or four shows running on the same night. so lots of options, lots of choices. >> and i'm sure you've had friends or family that have

come out to visit you. what did they say when they left? >> you know, they're absolutely amazed. they have a great time. there's so many things to do. it's so easy to do these things. it's easy parking. it's easy to find great restaurants, and it's very easy to find great performing arts. they're amazed at what costa mesa has to offer. >> there's so much to explore in the bay area, so we'll be back with more stories to share. in the meantime, we want to hear from you. so send us your favorite stories, pictures, videos, and places in the bay area. >> visit us online, join us on facebook, and follow us on twitter. all of this fun driven by your northern california honda dealers. ♪

>> 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.

"20/20" continues. once again, linzie janis. >> davidson county 911. >> my name is tom martens and we need help.

>> reporter: in the early hours of august 2nd, 2015, tom martens, the straight-laced 30 year veteran of the fbi makes a shocking call to 911. his 39-year-old son-in-law, jason corbett, is dead on the bedroom floor. bludgeoned with a baseball bat by tom. it's a gruesome end to a day that began so differently. >> it was saturday. the kids both had play dates. >> reporter: molly's parents were never supposed to be with their daughter that day. but when their own plans fall through, that make a fateful decision to drive over and visit for the night. were they welcome in your home? >> i knew they didn't feel comfortable in my home, but they knew it was beneficial. >> reporter: the martens arrive around 8:30 that evening, bearing a gift for grandson jack. >> i had 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 some pizza for dinner, everyone settles in for the night, with tom and his wife in a guest room in the basement. molly and jason in their room on the first floor. and the kids upstairs. around 3:00 a.m., molly says she's awakened by a sound familiar to any parent. >> sarah woke up. she'd had a nightmare. and she came down and the kids were not supposed to come in the room, you know, and wake up jason, so, they would just kind of stand outside of the door, and, like, whisper until i heard them. >> reporter: she says she get 8-year-old sarah back to bed before tiptoeing back to her room, trying not to wake jason. >> but he woke up, and he was angry, and he wanted to know why i had gotten up. i told him because it was that sarah had a nightmare, and he was just furious, because sarah had been doing this lately and

she just wanted to be coddled and she was too old for that and i shouldn't have gotten out of bed. >> reporter: molly says, knowing her parents were in the house gave her more courage to stand up for herself. >> i said, she's just 8, she had a nightmare, i should be allowed to go upstairs and comfort our daughter. all she wanted was her mom to lay with her for a couple minutes. and he forgot my parents were there. >> i don't know what precisely woke me up, but what i heard were loud voices and a thumping. something bad was going on. so, i grabbed that little league baseball bat and i ran upstairs. >> he wanted to shut me up. so, he covered my mouth and he started choking me. but at some point, when he stopped, i screamed. the next thing i remember is my dad standing in the doorway. >> 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 just so ashamed that my father would see me like that, allowing myself to be treated like that. >> reporter: did you know your father had a bat with him? >> i don't know if it registered right away, but it did register. >> i said let her go. and he said, i'm going to kill her. he started totowards master bathroom. i thought, if he gets the door between me and him, she's dead and there's nothing i can do about it. so i reached around and 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 says the blow to the back of the head didn't stop jason. he kept dragging molly towards the bathroom. >> he makes it to the bathroom, but i'm too close. he can't close the door and i'm in the bathroom with him and i hit him again. i mean, i have room now, and i hit him hard in the back of the head again. >> you hit him hard?

>> yeah, i did. he still got her by the throat, but he changes 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, like it was nothing. he could choke me with one hand and grab the bat with the other and 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 that's it. he's going to kill my father. >> i get up and you rush him and i grab the bat with two hands and i hang on for dear life. i'm trying to hit him with the bat. hit him with my elbow, my fist, anything else, but i'm going to hang onto that bat. and he goes down. >> reporter: he went down? >> he went down. i realized, he's not going to get up. looks like the threat is over. >> reporter: this version of events will eventually be challenged. but what we know is around 3:00 a.m., tom martens makes this call to 911.

>> what's going on there? >> he's in bad shape. we need help. >> what do you mean, he's in bad shape? he's hurt? >> he's bleeding all over. i may have killed him. i hit him in the head. >> with what? >> with a baseball bat. >> with a baseball bat? >> yes, sir. he was choking my daughter. he said, i'm going to kill her. >> reporter: 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, because arguing was a common theme. >> reporter: and your mom was downstairs the whole time? >> my mom was in the guest bedroom. i guess my dad told my mom to stay in the room with the dogs.

>> reporter: ems and police arrive. they take molly and her father to separate patrol cars and bring them in for questioning. >> i was told, you know, don't worry, it looks like self-defense. >> it looks like this is going to be self-defense, okay? i don't think there's going to be an issue with that. >> reporter: molly and her father are photographed and told they are free to go. deputies drive them back to the house about seven hours after the incident. >> the sheriff was there. he came up to me and i said, how much longer are you guys going to be here? we're done. >> reporter: they were finished processing the scene? >> yes. >> reporter: that quick little? >> they were done. >> reporter: but investigators are just getting started. and to them, what looked like self-defense soon looks a lot more like murder. they're alleging that 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 have called her mommy for the last

eight years. >> i begged, i begged, please, please don't take the kids. >> reporter: stay with us.

>> reporter: in the aftermath of jason corbett's death -- >> the 39-year-old father of two was found dead in his homerier this month. >> reporter: -- 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 going to see the truth seasoned that everyone is going to recognize 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. so, they were crying and, you know, don't take me from my mommy, don't take me from my mommy. and i took them out to the van and i buckled them in, you know, i told them that i loved them

and i'd see them 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 -- >> i love you so much. >> reporter: 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. 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 becomes a suspect. what happened to make this go from justified self-defense to murder? >> the investigation itself, >> reporter: davidson county prosecutors say they took a hard look at these photos and noticed a vast different 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. this 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 stone in your bedroom? >> the kids and i were going to decorate a number of paving stones. anyway, it was left on my night stand. >> reporter: 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: prosecutors are convinced that brick shattered both jason's skull and molly's self-defense claim. >> when she was crushing his skull with that brick, she had anger to assuage and resentment to address. and she addressed those on his head. >> reporter: what you are saying is that tom and molly beat jason after he was already down. >> yes. >> reporter: when he was no longer a threat. >> yes. absolutely. 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 thomas have surrendered themselves. >> reporter: and this morning, both are charged with murdering her husband. for jason's family in ireland, who had bombarded the d.a.'s

office 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 -- >> a 32-year-old woman and her father -- >> have been charged in connection with the death of jason corbett. >> reporter: -- 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 followup interviews. pretty logical, you know? >> we were ready for them to call us any time to be questioned again, about any memories that may have

resurfaced when you're not in a 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 confidence? >> 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. >> no. >> reporter: is your father guilty of murder? >> no, my father is, you know, guilty of saving my life. >> reporter: stay with us.

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"20/20" continues. once again, linzie janis. >> now to new developments in that father/daughter murder trial so many are following. >> reporter: three weeks ago, tom martens and his daughter molly walked in a north carolina

courtroom facing charges of second degree murder. tom martens took the stand and told jurors he was going to save daughter. you were defending your daughter. >> i was. i'm going to do everything that i had to do to save her life. >> reporter: and did you think that he would kill you? >> yeah. once it starts, it's -- it's what it is. it's a fight. you either fight and lose or you fight and win. >> reporter: but prosecutor allen martin immediately started chopping at his story like the trunk of a carolina pine. >> there was so much that didn't make sense. the physical activity that he had described between he and jason would flip from him being come mro completely overpowered, to seconds later, overpowering that same man. >> reporter: prosecutor greg brown honed in on his wife, sharon.

where was she during that violent struggle? >> i asked him questions about the noise that was taking place. when the baseball bat was hitting the walls. when he indicated that he was thrown to the floor and then, no wife came running up the stairs to check on him. no wife called 911. it was just incredulous. >> reporter: put yourself in his shoes for a moment. he's a father. says he sees his daughter being strangled by his son-in-law. you're telling 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 that they say proves their overkill theory. evidence like that brick. and the blood spatter in the bedroom. what does the blood spatter tell us? >> tom was very clear, he 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 that jason was still being 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 is science to prove that, because the truth is the truth. >> reporter: the prosecution believes the truth is that molly and her father killed jason with malice. to prove that, they turn to a witness from tom's past. you had one witness on the stand who used to work with tom, who said, yeah, we had a few conversations 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 from that? >> well, a lot of those fathers don't end up with a dead son-in-law and a bloody baseball hat in their hands.

>> 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 unnecessary force. i used the force that was necessary to end the threat. >> reporter: but at trial, prosecutors challenge the notion that there ever was a threat that night. going so far as to throat a possible motive for murder. that jason may have been considering returning to ireland, and taking the two most precious people in molly's life with him. >> molly's life was about those children and she wanted the kids. >> reporter: she was willing to kill for it? >> apparently maybe so. >> reporter: and defense attorney water holton says molly's story of being attacked could have been corroborated, if investigators had done a better job. >> everything that pointed to

molly being the victim of strangulation, which she was, they ignored. they didn't check jason's hand and lo and behold, there it is. >> reporter: this crime scene photo shows a blond hair that investigators never tested. holton says molly was a victim of abuse that night and for years before it, and two people in the house knew it. jack and sarah. >> mr. corbett's family took the children to ireland. they could have brought them back and let them testify. that was not going to happen in a million years and the judge knew that. >> reporter: but that might not have helped molly. according to the prosecutors, before trial, they spoke to jack and this time, he denied jason had ever abused her. wasn't there anybody else that could testify? >> the only way we could do that was to force molly to testify. molly had 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

jurors never heard. >> i should haven't to say -- >> can you guys get out the stuff for pancakes? >> see, there you go again. >> reporter: those audio recordings molly says demonstrate jason' abuse. in the closing argument, prosecutors made it clear this case was about more than proof behind a reasonable doubt. it was personal. >> i am very passionate about this 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 argument was for jack and for sarah. >> reporter: coming up, the verdict that shook the courtroom. and the jurors are speaking out. >> there was no doubt in my mind. >> reporter: stay with us.

>> 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 shockwave 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, merciless killing. >> reporter: the prosecution is satisfied. >> 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.

>> reporter: 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 have a theory for myself, i believe molly made the first blow. >> reporter: why? >> i believe jason was in bed sleeping and she struck him with the paver. >> reporter: 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 out of 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 before they called 911. and what was happening during 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. >> reporter: molly tells us that jason is habitual abuser. emotional and physical abuse she

says she has suffered for years. >> where is the evidence? >> yeah -- >> the defense did not once suggest any of that. >> that's not our fault. that's the lawyer's fault. you know? your defense should have defe defended you. we had to go by what we heard. >> reporter: the jury has rendered judgment, but what about the corbett kids? what do they think of molly now? that's next. somesend you and your family overwhelrunning. y can... introducing febreze one for fabric and air.

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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. complete with the scratchouts and the misspellings for a 12-year-old. i believe from the bottom of my heart he wrote every 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 life is already over. do you have any dreams? 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. >> the defense team has now filed a motion to have that verdict appealed. the question for you at home tonight, which version of the story do you believe? let us know on facebook and twitter. in the meantime, that is our program for tonight. i'm david muir. for elizabeth and all of us here at "20/20" and ab b kr nudbc ne for watching. have a good evening. good night. next at 11:00 relatives call her a kind, generous woman we

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