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Man on trial for killing Limerick man in North Carolina gives testimony in court

Published 19:55 5 Aug 2017 BST

Updated 19:59 5 Aug 2017 BST

Carl Kinsella
Man on trial for killing Limerick man in North Carolina gives testimony in court

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Thomas Martens, a man on trial for killing Irishman Jason Corbett in North Carolina, testified in court on Friday.

Martens has pled not guilty to a charge of second-degree murder, claiming self-defence and defence of his daughter, who was married to Corbett. Speaking in court, Mr. Martens said “I hit him until he goes down, and then I step away. I don’t know how many times I hit him. I hit him until I thought he could not kill me. ... I felt both of our lives were in danger. I did the best I could.” Corbett died in 2015, and an autopsy revealed that the cause of death was blunt-force trauma to the head. Prosecutors claim that Martens killed Corbett with a baseball bat and a concrete paving brick. Martens claimed that he attacked Corbett with a baseball bat when he heard him trying to strangle his wife, Molly.
According to JournalNow, Martens said “I said, ‘Let her go.’ He said, ‘I’m going to kill her.’ I said, ‘Let her go.’ He said, ‘I’m going to kill her. He was really angry. I was really scared.” The prosecution has argued that Martens and his daughter conspired to kill Corbett in order to get access to $600,000 life assurance accruing to him through a work package.
 The trial will resume on Monday.

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