The sentencing of Molly Martens Corbett and Tom Martens ends more than eight years of legal process following the death of Jason Corbett in 2015.
They were initially convicted on charges of second-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter in 2017, with an appeal court quashing those convictions in 2020 and ordering a retrial.
This eventually led to both defendants agreeing to plea deals last week and the sentencing hearing in North Carolina.
Molly Martens met Jason Corbett when she moved to Limerick in 2008 to work as a nanny for his two children from his first marriage to Margaret 'Mags' Corbett, who had died two years earlier from an asthma attack.
Soon after, the two started a relationship, marrying three years later and moving to the United States.
It was at the US home he shared with Molly Martens near Lexington, North Carolina where Jason Corbett was killed in August 2015.
The 39-year-old business manager was found beaten to death in the main bedroom of the house.
Molly, and her father, former FBI agent Tom Martens, stood trial on charges of second-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter in 2017.
Prosecutors told the trial that the pair beat Mr Corbett to death with a brick and a baseball bat, administering at least 12 blows to his head and crushing his skull.
Tom Martens claimed he acted in self-defence, testifying that Mr Corbett was choking his daughter and that he reacted to what he thought was some sort of disturbance.
The jury did not agree and both were sentenced to 20-25 years in prison.
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Jason Corbett's family travelled from Ireland to attend the trial, and made numerous media appearances in the aftermath.
According to North Carolina state law for a conviction to be made all members of the jury must come to a unanimous decision.
Following the verdict, the jury foreman said the decision to convict them did not come easily.
Tom Ammland said it was not an easy decision for two of the jurors. "We were confident in one of the defendants, but we had more (difficulty) with the other," he said.
Several members of the jury wept as they were asked to individually deliver the verdicts they reached in the case.
Mr Ammland said the jurors left the courthouse with a 12-0 vote to convict Tom Martens, but only had a 10-2 count for his daughter. He said the two jurors reversed their vote willingly "after having a night to sleep on it".
In an audio recording of the 911 call made by Tom Martens on the night of the killing, released by the Davidson County Police Department in North Carolina, he told the operator that he intervened in a fight between Mr Corbett and his daughter, saying Mr Corbett was "in bad shape – we need help".
Mr Martens then told the operator: "He's bleeding all over. I may have killed him.
"He was choking my daughter; he said 'I’m going to kill her'."
Molly and Tom Martens appealed their convictions, with lawyers for the pair telling the North Carolina Court of Appeal that they did not get a fair trial, and that the trial judge had excluded critical evidence in their case that would have corroborated their client's claims.
This included information, which they said might have explained Tom Martens' state of mind on the night of the murder.
They argued that statements Mr Corbett's children had given to social workers should have been allowed as evidence.
Lawyers also claimed the jury in the trial had disobeyed instructions from the judge not to have conversations among themselves about the case.
In its ruling in 2020, the North Carolina Court of Appeal said both defendants were entitled to a new trial.
A year later that decision was upheld by the state's Supreme Court.
Fast forward to the beginning of last week, and a pre-trial hearing, at which Molly and Tom Martens agreed plea deals in relation to Jason Corbett's death.
They both entered guilty pleas to manslaughter charges, in return for the district attorney dropping murder charges.
As a result, the case became a sentencing hearing at the Davidson County Superior Court in North Carolina.
Jason Corbett is survived by his two children Sarah and Jack.
