THE CHIEF MEDICAL examiner who performed the autopsy on Jason Corbett said this morning in Davidson County Superior Court that the degree of skull fractures were similar to a victim of a car crash or a fall from a great height.

Molly Corbett (33) and her father, Thomas Michael Martens (67) are each charged with second-degree murder in the 2015 killing of Corbett’s husband, who was originally from Co Limerick.

They have entered pleas of not guilty, claiming self defence and defence of another.

The trial was briefly delayed as one juror became ill while viewing photos of Jason’s injuries.

Dr Craig Nelson, a licensed pathologist, testified that Jason Corbett was struck in 10 areas and two other spots were areas of repeated blows. The doctor added that he can’t say exactly how many times Jason Corbett was struck or how quickly.

Nelson said one scrape on Corbett’s head occurred after his heart stopped.

During the trial, Nelson said that when he pulled back the scalp to perform the autopsy, pieces of Jason Corbett’s skull fell away. The doctor also identified fracturing of the nose, bruising on the thigh and hand and scraping on the back and neck. All of these injuries were a result of blunt force trauma, according to Nelson.

Nelson testified that trazodone was found in Jason Corbett’s system, but at a low level. Yesterday, a nurse practitioner testified that Molly Corbett visited Kernserville Primary Care on 30 July, 2015, and was complaining about foot pain. The nurse prescribed 15 milligrams of trazodone to help her sleep.

Nails

Nelson testified today that Jason Corbett’s hands were not put into bags, and he was not asked to examine finger nail samples from Jason Corbett. The doctor also stated that an abundant amount of blood was present in the body bag, which could possibly wash away an object.

Yesterday during opening statements in the trial Walter Holton and David Freedman, lawyers for Molly Corbett and Martens, claimed there was a photo of Jason Corbett allegedly clutching a strand of blonde hair in his hand and a photo of redness on Molly Corbett’s neck.

“Look at the mark on her neck,” said Holton.

“Look at the hairs that surround it, and look at the hair in (Jason) Corbett’s hand. Where’d that mark come from?”

On 2 August 2015, Davidson County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a report of an assault at the Corbetts’ residence at Panther Creek Court in Wallburg. When officials arrived on the scene, they discovered Jason Corbett unconscious with wounds to his head from which he later died.

An autopsy report determined Jason Corbett died from blunt-force trauma inflicted with a baseball bat and landscaping stone.