in an exclusive interview with abc news, molly corbett and her father, thomas martens, detailed the night of that killing. lindsay janice is here with more of what they are saying. this is a very interesting case, one that started with self-defense claims and unravel from there. >> that's right. a lot a fascinating and of emotion in that courtroom. a 3.5-week trial that ended with molly and thomas martens being convicted of second-degree murder, being sentenced to 20-25 years in prison. you will hear exclusively from thomas martens and his daughter months before they went to trial. they give us their version of events that happened that night. thomas martens was visiting his daughter at her home in north carolina. he says he heard a disturbance in the middle of the night. he went upstairs, bringing with him a baseball bat, a little league baseball bat he had brought for his grandson. when he walked into the room, he said he saw his son-in-law choking his daughter and he was forced to intervene. the prosecution argued there was no self-defense, that molly and ,er father killed jason corbet

molly corbett says her husband got angry after she woke up to tend to the daughter who had a nightmare. her parents were sleeping and thomas martin was woken up by loud thumping noises. >> he wanted to shut me up and he covered my mouth and started to choke me and at some point when he stopped, i screamed, and he started again and the next thing i remember is my dad standing in the doorway. >> i reached around and i hit him in the back of the head with a baseball. >> thomas says the blow to the back of jason's head did not stop him. but investigator says that a bloody brick found at the scene, paint aid different story. one of a wife in a rage. hear the rest of the exclusive interview tonight here on abc. >>> and tonight she had a rough road battling cancer and the neighbors decided to celebrate her last day of chemo with a surprise block party. and stepping outside sky 6 hd showing you philadelphia international airport meteorologist, melissa magee, has the update from accuweather. and more when "action news" continues in just a moment. >>> we have breaking news to pass along from glo

. >> reporter: this morning former au pair molly martins corbett prison. jury finding both guilty of second degree murder in the death of molly's husband jason corbett. the father and daughter each sentenced to the maximum 20 to 25 years. martins and his daughter had always maintained they acted in self-defense. as the defense claimed investigators missed key evidence that they say showed a fight for survival. investigators testifying that the physical evidence specifically, the blood spatter, proved corbett suffered fatal blows to the head after he was already down. the weapons, a baseball bat and a brick. linzie janis, abc news, lexington, north carolina. >>> and cameras in nevada caught a heated moment at a city council meeting. not that kind of heated moment. that's a woman's purse erupt nothing flames while it was on her lap. people started screaming. you see the woman jump firefighter was at the meeting and put out that fire. yep. a battery inside the woman's purse malfunctioned and caused it. >> fiery debate. >>> police are searching for the suspect

. >> reporter: tonight molly martens corbett and her father tom martens are behinbars, convicted d ofband, 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. >> r

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 home today. it is place molly once 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 had to study before. 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 go somewhere, you know, and figure myself out for a while. >> reporter: she sign

. >> a jury found both guilty having second degree murder in the death of molly's husband jason corbett. the father and daughter each sentenced to the maximum, 20 to 25 years, some crying as the guilty verdict was delivered. molly herself sobbing, saying mom i should have just let him kill me. molly was hired as his au pair after the death of his wife. in 2011 jason and molly married moving their two young children to the u.s. but tom martins making this 911 call from jason and molly's north carolina home. he is bleeding all over and the daughter and he always maintained he was acting in self-defense. >> the retired 31 year veteran of the fbi even taking the stand. as defense claimed they missed key evidence showing a fight for survival. >> but prosecutors pointed to the crime scene seen in these photos obtained by abc news. testifying that the physical evidence specifically the blood spatter that corbett suffered blows to the head after he was down, the weapons a baseball bat and a brick. jason's family now raising the family speaks out. >> the evidence we found those details so unbeli

i may have killed him. >> reporter: before the trial i spoke exclusively with molly martens corbett andthe early hours of august 2nd, 2015. molly says it all began when jason's 8-year-old daughter sarah woke up allegedly sending him into a rage. >> i said she's just 8. she had a nightmare. i should be allowed to go upstairs and comfort our daughter and he forgot my parents were there. >> reporter: molly who met jason when she became his au pair says knowing her parents in the house gave her more courage to stand up to him supply don't know what precisely woke me up. but what i heard were loud voices and i -- like thumping. something bad was going on. so i grabbed that little league baseball bat and i ran upstairs. >> were you yelling at him? were you screaming -- >> no, i wasn't yelling. no, he wanted to shut me up so he covered my mouth and started choking me but at some point when he stopped i screamed and then he started again and the next thing, the next thing i remember is my dad standing in the doorway. >> what did you see? >> it's awful. he has his hands around her neck and i sai

the murder trial of molly martin corbett and her father, thomas martin is going to wrap up toda todayprosecutors say he was hit in the head with a baseball bat close to a dozen times. defense attorneys say it was self-defense. >> jon: a fox news alert, north korea faces a billion-dollar hit to its economy after the u.n. imposed its toughest distinctions yet against the rogue regime before test launching to intercontinental ballistic missiles last month. china and russia, amazingly, joined the unanimous security council saturday to pass those sanctions, which the u.s. drafted. here's nikki haley, are you an ambassador. >> saturday was a huge win for the united states, it was a huge win for the united nations. it was not a good day for north korea. basically what you saw was everyone come together and say this is got to stop. this is not something we think can be casually dealt with and i think they hit him and basically we hit them back. >> jon: john garamendi of california, a member of the armed services committee and the subcommittee on strategic forces. he was on the korean peninsul

fingernails and blood on the bottom of his feet all allegedly pointing to a molly martens first met corbettd in 2008 where she went to be the nanny of his two young children after their biological mother died. three years later molly and jason marrying and moving to this upscale north carolina neighborhood. after his death, molly fighting for custody of the children she says called her mom giving this emotional radio interview after their guardianship was given to jason's sister in ireland. >> i just need them to know that all thee we haven't gotten to see one another or even speak to one another that i will never stop thinking about them and loving them. >> reporter: well, there will be more testimony today. court adjourned for the second anniversary of his death and it's expected to last till the end of week and may get testimony from jason's sister and tom himself. >>> coming up the massive breach at hbo. will hackers leak "game of thrones"? you're not taking these. hey, hey, hey! you're not taking those. whoa, whoa! you're not taking that. come with me. you're not taking that. you're no

attorney walter holten said molly was the victim of abuse and there were two children in the house that knew it. and the jury didn't get to hear from they will. >> mr. corbett'sy took children to ireland. they could have brought them back and let them testify. >> but during the trial, prosecutors read a statement from jack where he called molly a murderer. 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 jurors say they were convince in the part by the lack of injuries to molly and tom and they say they have a theory of their own about what really happened. >> i believe molly made the first blow. >> why? >> i believe jason was in bed sleeping. and she struck him with the paver. >> and her up? >> i think at some point dad dime help out and help cover up. >> the judge sentenced both father and daughter on 20 to 25 years in prison. when i spoke with molly, she told me that even before that sentence, she had already lost something more precious than her freedom. >> my life end that had day th

this morning, former au pair molly martens corbett and her father tom martens heading to prison findingsecond degree murder in the death of her husband jason corbett. the father and daughter each sentenced to the maximum, 20 to 25 years. the jury taking less than a day for deliberations. some crying as the guilty verdict was delivered. molly herself sobbing and telling her mother, i'm really sorry, mom. i should have just let him kill me. >> we believe justice has been done. >> reporter: jason hired molly has ace au pair after the death of his first wife. in 2011, jason and molly married and moved the family including his two young children to the u.s. but two years ago, tom martens making this 911 call from jason and molly's north carolina home. >> he's bleeding all over and i may have killed him. >> reporter: martens and his daughter maintained they acted in self-defense. >> i hit him in the head with a baseball bat. he was choking my daughter. he said i'm going to kill her. >> the former fbi agent taking the stand. key evidence they say showed a fight for survival. but prosecutors po

. >> according to molly martin corbin her husband jays set corbett got angry when she woke up after tending their daughter who had a nightmare. her own father thomas martins was in the house at the time, he was awakened by loud thumping sounds and went to check on his daughter. >> he wanted to shut me up so he covered my mouth and then he started choking me. but at some point when he stopped, i screamed and then he started again and then the next thing -- the next thing i remember is my dad standing in the doorway. >> and so i reached around and i hit him in the back of the head with the baseball bat. >> investigators though say a bloody brick found at the scene tells a much different story, one they said was a wife in a murderous rage. >> abc news takes you through the entire investigation tonight on 20/20. that's at 10 o'clock here on 6abc. "action news" follows at 11:00. we'll be right back. (woman) when you have type 2 diabetes, there's a moment of truth. and now with victoza®, a better moment of proof. victoza® lowers my a1c and blood sugar better than the leading branded pill, which d

corbett with a baseball bat. he said he did it because he was trying to choke his daughter molly to death. >> my daughter's husband, my son-in-law got in a fight with my daughter. i intervened. he is in bad shape. jonathan: the prosecutors aren't saying it's an act of self-defendants. not only did they show the baseball bat in court but also a brick that molly used to hit her husband after the fact. nancy: massive and an expensive toy train went missing in california over the weekend. the power of social media helped bring it home. the company that owns the train called police when this $60,000 toy disappeared. but they knew it wasn't enough to file a report. they also posted pictures of the train and the trailer to facebook. one woman >> it was amazing to see how many people cared about our little train and the small family business. >> it may not look like a lot to a big company but for me it's a lot of money and a lot of work. jonathan: "7 on your side" now. when health matters. a mediterranean diet can reduce heart problems but only if you are rich and educated. that is what the researchers found. the research