game on kohl's. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >>> reporter: before the judge sentenced molly and tom martens, the prosecutionrbett, 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 j

. >> 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

. >> reporter: this morning former au pair molly martens corbett and her father tom martens heading torison. a 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. martens and his daughter have 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 very heated moment at a city council meeting. and not that kind of heated moment. that's a woman's purse erupting into flames while it was on her lap. people started screaming. you see the woman jump up. now, fortunately, the city's top firefighter was at the meeting and put out that fire. yep. a battery inside the woman's purse apparently malfunctioned and ca

prosecutors say tom martens, a veteran of the fbi, and his daughter molly committed a heinous crime beating to death, but the father and daughter say he was the aggressor and they were fighting for their lives. >> he's bleeding all over and i may have killed him. >> reporter: former fbi agent tom martens making this call to 911 in the early hours of august 2nd, 2015, from the north carolina home of his daughter molly and son-in-law jason corbett. >> my daughter's husband, my son-in-law, got in a fight with my daughter. i intervened and i think he's in bad shape. >> reporter: this morning, 67-year-old martens and his 33-year-old daughter molly on trial for second degree murder. defense attorneys describing what they call a fight for survival between mr. martens and his 39-year-old son-in-law. >> what happened? >> i hit him in the head with a baseball bat. he was choking my daughter. he said i'm going to kill her. >> reporter: but prosecutors calling it a brutal murder, on monday showing jurors the recovered baseball bat as well as a blood-stained paving stone they say molly used to hit her h

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

but two years ago, tom martens making this 911 call from jason and molly's north carolina home. >> he'ser 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 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 pointed to the crime scene seen in these photos obtained by abc news. 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. jason's family now raising his children speaking out after the verdict. >> a brick that had been on her nightstand. when we found those details it was so unbelievable. who keeps a brick on their nightstand. >> reporter: the jury not buying the self-defense claim. >> once you hit a certain point and you do not stop, self-defense goes off the table. >> reporter: family members of molly and tom shocked and devastated. >> this is the most

and molly didn't testify at the trial. >> tom martens testified but mol molly did not. >> you can see> thanks, again. >>> coming up, a terrifying moment for britney spears. a fan rushes the stage. her backup dancers jump into action. what we're now lirping about that fan. we'll be right back. ♪ ♪ ♪ give extra. get extra. when we say "study"! you say "haul"! study! haul! study! haul! when we say "study"! you say "haul"! study! haul! study! haul! everything you need to ready, set, go! back to school. only new tena intimates has ♪ it'pro-skin technologyiend designed to quickly wick away moisture to help maintain your skin's natural balance. for a free sample, call 1-877-get-tena. going somewhere? whoooo. here's some advice. tripadvisor now searches more... ...than 200 booking sites - to find the hotel you want and save you up to 30%. trust this bird's words. tripadvisor. a new epic flavor... it's cranberry. it's pineapple. and there's no. sugar. added. cranberry pineapple 100% juice. the next big thing to hit the juice aisle. catmore than one flavor, oruch. texture, or color.ing. a good

. >> reporter: before the trial i spoke exclusively with molly martens corbett and her father tom aboutnd, 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 were in the house gave her more courage to stand up to him. >> i 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 guys screaming at each other? >> 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 said,