THE FAMILY OF Molly Martens Corbett and Tom Martens have started a fundraising drive to pay for their appeals against their murder convictions.

The pair were convicted on Wednesday of the second-degree murder of Molly Corbett’s Irish husband Jason Corbett in August 2015, and are beginning lengthy sentences – although lawyers for both have said they will appeal.

To fund that appeal, an aunt of Molly Corbett has established a crowdfunding campaign which has already amassed a fund of $10,000.

It says:

“Molly & Tom were wrongfully convicted of 2nd degree murder and in less than an hour sentenced to 25 years in prison without parole.

“The legal expenses have gutted the family financially. The next step is to file an appeal and fight the wrongful death suit. We desperately need your help.”

The fund sparked anger online yesterday, with many negative comments being left on the site. Those comments have since been deleted.

However, many angry comments have been left on the Go Get Funding Facebook page.

One says:

“Horrific that Gogetfunding is allowing murderers to profit from the murder they committed.”

Another calls the fund “utterly disgusting” and another calls it “a disgrace”.

The pair had claimed throughout the trial that Jason Corbett had been choking Molly Corbett and that they had intervened, acting in self defence. However, a jury unanimously found both guilty of second-degree murder.

A spokesperson for Go Get Funding also confirmed to The Irish Times that some parts were removed from the campaign’s description. These include references to domestic abuse.

Read: ‘Surprisingly calm’: The 911 call testimony about Thomas Martens that was disallowed