The father and daughter jailed for murdering Irishman Jason Corbett in the US in 2015 could walk free.
Molly Martens, and her father Tom, were convicted in 2017 of beating her 39-year-old husband to death in their North Carolina home and were sentenced to 20 and 25 years respectively.
The Martens’ pleaded not guilty to the charges and claimed self-defence as the reason for killing the Irishman.
Tom Martens claimed he found Jason choking his daughter, but their trial heard evidence from police and paramedics who attended the killing scene that there were no visible marks on their bodies.
Jason's children Jack, then aged 10, and Sarah, 8, were in the house on the night he was killed with an aluminum baseball bat and paving stone.
They were orphaned after their father's murder as the children’s mother Mags died in 2006 following an asthma attack.
The Martens served three and half years of their 20 to 25-year sentence before the second-degree murder convictions were quashed by the state's Supreme Court.
The North Carolina Court of Appeals overturned the convictions, saying Judge Lee had made errors that were so prejudicial it denied the Martens a fair trial.
The pair were granted a retrial and were later released on bail.
They're due back in court today for the re-trial - but the pair could walk free, based on time already served, if they agree to a voluntary manslaughter plea deal that's being negotiated.
Jason Corbett’s family has travelled to North Carolina ahead of today’s hearing.
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