Testimony in the Jason Corbett murder trial finally began in Davidson County Superior Court on Tuesday, July 25, after more than a week of jury selection.Ultimately, 14 jurors were seated to hear the case, two of them are alternate jurors. The full panel is made up of 10 women and four men. Nine women and three men make up the main pool of 12 jurors.Defendants Thomas Martens and Molly Corbett face second degree murder charges in the death of Ireland native, Jason Corbett. Mr. Corbett died on August 2, 2015 after suffering numerous injuries to his head. Police said Martens beat Mr. Corbett to death with a baseball bat and paving stone, after allegedly finding him choking his wife, Molly, in their Meadowland home on Panther Creek Court in Winston-Salem.Both defendants have plead not guilty and claim self defense or defense of another.In opening statements, prosecutors painted a gruesome picture of the scene the morning Mr. Corbett was killed. They said responding deputies walked into the master bedroom of the home and found the “naked, dead and bloody body” of Mr. Corbett. Attorneys said a bloody ball bat and brick paver were found near the dresser in the room. They said the brick paver was saturated with blood.Lead prosecutor Alan Martin told the jury Mr. Corbett’s head was so badly crushed that when the medical examiner went to perform the autopsy, pieces of Mr. Corbett’s skull fell out on the table. He compared his injuries to a hard boiled egg that had been dropped on the counter.Jason and Molly Corbett were married in 2011 after a romantic relationship formed between them while Molly worked as an au pair for Jason’s two young children from a previous marriage. Mr. Corbett’s first wife died suddenly after suffering an asthma attack when their children were ages two and seven weeks old.In closing, prosecutors posed the question to the jury, “why didn’t they stop?” when describing the events that transpired the morning of August 2, 2015.Defense attorneys described a scene of self-defense. Thomas Martens’ attorney, David Freedman, called the defendant a “dedicated family man” and said that morning, he was protecting his daughter and himself after finding “the last thing he ever thought he would see,” Jason choking Molly in the couple’s bedroom. Freedman said Martens allegedly told Mr. Corbett to “let her go,” but Martens claims Jason said he would kill Molly.Freedman said Thomas Martens and his wife, Sharon, decided to visit their daughter and grandchildren after not seeing them for six months. They arrived at the Corbett home on Saturday, August 1, 2015.Freedman said Martens tried to save Mr. Corbett the following morning by calling 911 and performing CPR for nine minutes before EMS arrived. They said Martens was cooperative for the entire investigation. Molly Corbett’s defense attorneys cautioned jurors to keep an open mind as they hear the case and hinted that there is evidence that may not have been seized by investigators, including a strand of blond hair that was found in Jason Corbett’s hand.So far, 14 witnesses have testified for the state, including numerous EMS paramedics and sheriff’s deputies who responded to the scene, medical professionals who treated both Jason and Molly Corbett, the medical examiner who performed Mr. Corbett’s autopsy and the 911 dispatcher who answered the call from Mr. Martens the night Mr. Corbett died.The jury heard the full, 14-minute, 911 call. They were asked to leave the courtroom for part of the witness’s testimony, as there was some discrepancy about a part of her testimony. Defense attorneys argued that her opinion about the two defendants demeanors during the 911 call should not be admissible. The judge agreed and said the 911 call tape would speak for itself.Graphic photos of Jason Corbett’s injuries were shown to the jury Wednesday, as day two of testimony began in Davidson Superior Court.Jason Corbett’s family was visibly emotional during parts of testimony Wednesday. One juror became physically ill while viewing the autopsy photos and had to step out of court. She later returned and was able to proceed hearing testimony.Dr. Craig Nelson, the medical examiner and forensic pathologist who performed Mr. Corbett’s autopsy testified. He went in-depth describing Mr. Corbett’s injuries and explained autopsy photos to the jury.Dr. Nelson works for the North Carolina Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. He said Mr. Corbett suffered multiple blunt force injuries and estimated a minimum of 12 different blows to his head, as well as a few other injuries to his torso and extremities. He also talked about the amount of sleep aid medication, Trazadone, that was found in Mr. Corbett’s system. Dr. Nelson said toxicology tests revealed Trazadone levels of 0.308 and a 0.02% BAC. Prosecutors said the Trazadone was prescribed for Molly, not Jason.Dr. Nelson ruled Mr. Corbett’s cause of death as blunt force trauma and considers his death a homicide. He compared the degree of trauma to Mr. Corbett’s body to that of cases involving falls from great heights or car crashes.Molly Corbett’s defense team questioned the medical examiner about why samples of Jason Corbett’s fingernails and the tissue underneath them were not taken. Dr. Nelson said he would not have collected that type of sample unless he was told, though he did note that there was blood underneath Mr. Corbett’s nails. He also said that he did not find any blond hairs in Mr. Corbett’s hand.The Davidson County Sheriff Deputy who responded to the scene of Mr. Corbett’s death on August 2, 2015 described a grisly scene.The jury saw a photo of Mr. Corbett’s body where it was lying in floor of the master bedroom of the Corbett home. The photos were not displayed to the entire court, though people sitting in the room could catch glimpses of them. Mr. Corbett’s family was visibly emotional.Corporal Dagenhardt was the responding deputy that morning. He took the jury through the scene of the alleged crime. He testified that he passed an EMT paramedic on the way into the Corbett home that morning and the paramedic told him, “It’s bad in there, real bad. Horrible scene.”Cpl. Dagenhardt said he and another deputy went upstairs to make contact with Jason Corbett’s two children who were inside the home. He told the court that Mr. Corbett’s young daughter was asleep and that she was startled when he work her and told her they needed to go downstairs. He testified that he carried her down the stairs and asked her to turn her head and close her eyes. Her older brother was also carried downstairs. The two were left with Mrs. Martens, who came upstairs from the basement.Paramedics testified about the details of Mr. Corbett’s injuries on scene that morning and how they attempted to perform CPR on him and hooked him up to a cardiac monitor. One paramedic said Mr. Corbett’s torso was cold to the touch when he was loaded into the ambulance.They also testified that defendants Thomas Martens and Molly Corbett did not seem winded, despite performing CPR for several minutes before paramedics arrived.The Corbett’s neighbor also took the stand. He told the jury about his day spent with Jason and Molly Corbett, hours before police said Mr. Corbett was killed.David Fritchey and his wife live next door to the Corbett home. He described he and Jason’s relationship as “friendly.” He told the court that he and his wife would spend time with the entire Corbett family during social activities. He said Jason joined his soccer team in summer 2015.The day before Mr. Corbett died, Mr. Fritchey said he and Mr. Corbett were out mowing their lawns and then sat in the driveway for several hours, drinking beer. The neighbor said his wife and Molly Corbett joined the pair.He estimated that he and Mr. Corbett drank seven to eight beers between 3:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. that evening, once Molly’s parents arrived at the home. He said that when his family went to dinner that evening, his wife drove them because he knew his BAC was above the legal limit.He said both Jason and Molly were acting normal throughout the day, even after the Martens’ arrived.When asked about the following morning, Mr. Fritchey said that he woke up around 3:30 a.m. to use the bathroom and noticed first responders on scene of the Corbett’s home next door. He said he went to the bathroom and then got back in bed. He didn’t feel he could be useful outside and thought officials on scene would tell him they couldn’t say anything about what had happened. He said he later answered the door around 5:30 a.m. when an officer asked if Molly Corbett could come inside to use the restroom. Fritchey said she was inside for about an hour and a half.Last on the stand Thursday afternoon was the crime scene specialist from the Davidson County Sheriff’s Department. He documented and photographed the entire scene at the Corbett’s home.The jury looked at a number of those photos, from both inside and outside of the home. The lieutenant talked about his photographs of Molly Corbett’s body when he arrived on scene. The jury saw three different angles of those photos. Lt. Frank Young said he did not find any remarkable injuries on Molly, though her neck was red on scene. He said once she arrived at the police department, that redness was gone.Molly claims Mr. Corbett was choking her when her father, Thomas Martens, walked into their bedroom.Molly appeared emotional while the photographs were being displayed to the courtroom.The jury also saw photos of Mr. Martens. He was photographed at the Sheriff’s Department. Blood was noted on him at the base of his nails, feet and on his clothes.Testimony continued Monday morning.