A historic townhouse in the West Village, venerable at 189 years old, continues to captivate visitors with its storied past. This charming home has played host to an illustrious array of residents including the composer of “The Stars and Stripes Forever,” a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, and the celebrity duo Travis Scott and Kylie Jenner. It even served as the backdrop for a notorious mob-run poker incident.

Now, the celebrated red-brick Georgian residence at 80 Washington Place embarks on a new journey as the venue for this year’s prestigious Kips Bay Decorator Show House. Recognized since 1973 as a leading event in high-end design circles, the showcase has raised over $33 million for the Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club, echoing its influence in both philanthropy and upscale interior design.

This historic property is being reimagined by an elite group of 22 designers, including Carrier and Company, Peter Dunham, TORREY, Marmol Radziner, Ten Plus Three, and Nicole Fisher Interiors. Together, they are transforming it into a dazzling modern masterpiece, a creative sanctuary that will be open to the public for a month beginning on September 16.

Nazira Handal, director of special events and corporate partnerships at Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club, expressed her excitement for the project. “When we saw 80 Washington Place, we were immediately struck by its immense potential,” she said. “This beautiful historic townhouse is full of character with its six levels, terraces, a wellness floor, and a rooftop overlooking Washington Square Park. Our designers were thrilled to take on the challenge of reimagining such a diverse and interesting array of spaces.”

The townhouse was recently listed on the market for a striking $21 million, though it was withdrawn from listings in June, keeping its next chapter eagerly anticipated.

It’s slated to go back on the market once the showcase ends, listing broker Melissa Olson, of Douglas Elliman, told Gimme Shelter. 

“It’s currently a construction site, filled with designers running around and lots of plywood. But it’s going to be amazing,” Olson said, adding that when the home returns to market, it will be at a new, still-to-be-determined price. 

While the exact designs are currently under wraps, they will include upgrades to the kitchen and bathrooms, she said.

“Some of the top designers in the world are making it amazing. It benefits everyone, including Kips Bay,” Olson said. 

The current owners purchased the six-story spread for $17 million in cash in 2024 after it had lingered on and off the market for 12 years. It originally asked $31.5 million back in 2012. 

The owners, who wish to remain anonymous, then listed the home for $22.5 million a few weeks after the poker bust last year — and around eight months after they bought it. 

“They didn’t buy it as an investment, but their plans changed,” Olson said.

The six-bedroom home is around 8,700 square feet, and comes with six baths and three powder rooms. It also features four landscaped terraces totaling 1,566 square feet. 

Reimagined after an architectural restoration, the home is now a mix of historic brick, original stone, glass, steel and wood.

The townhouse’s past lives “make for great cocktail conversation,” Olson said.

The home’s glossy present is far from its reality just a few years ago, when neighbors were calling 311, and the ritzy residence was the site of multiple mob-linked assaults, according to an unsealed 2025 federal indictment and related court filings. 

From 2021 to 2023, the townhouse was allegedly the site of rigged poker games backed by the Gambino and Genovese crime families, with the Bonanno family sharing in the proceeds after the game merged with one of its operations in 2023. The games were fronted by NBA stars and coach Chauncey Billups to lure victims, according to the accusations that broke last year. 

Two assaults happened at the home, according to federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York. In November 2022, Bonanno associates allegedly assaulted a gambler over an unpaid debt — and around a year later, two mobsters armed with a gun and a baton allegedly stormed the home and assaulted the game’s organizer. 

The home’s history includes ownership in 1919 by the American composer and band leader John Philip Sousa. It later became a boarding house, where one of its tenants was the Pulitzer Prize winning novelist Willa Cather. In 2021, Scott was renting the townhouse while Jenner, then pregnant with their second child, was mainly residing in LA with their daughter Stormi — although she was spotted staying at the townhouse with Scott during the time he rented it. The now-former couple had no involvement in the alleged poker scandal.

History aside, details inside the six-floor townhouse include a skylight that floods all floors with light — down to the basement media lounge.

A garden floor features a foyer that opens to a chef’s kitchen, along with a double-height great room with a gas fireplace and floor-to-ceiling glass doors leading to a garden made for indoor-outdoor living and entertaining.

Two guest suites take up the third floor, while the entire fourth floor is devoted to a primary bedroom with a fireplace, a private terrace, a spa-like bath and a walk-in dressing room. 

The fifth floor is for wellness, including a home gym, a glass-enclosed sauna and a terrace.

The crown jewel is the roof deck, with a grill, a bar, a dining area, a lounge — and views from Washington from Square Park to One World Trade Center and the downtown city skyline. 

Speculation is swirling around a possible return to the screen for the Duchess of Sussex, as insiders report that she might embrace an acting opportunity upon relocating back to the UK.

Before marrying into royalty, Meghan Markle made her mark as Rachel Zane on the hit American series “Suits,” captivating audiences with her portrayal of a clever attorney for seven memorable seasons.

However, following her final episode in 2018 and subsequent entrance into royal life, the duchess, now 45, put her acting journey on hold, having stepped away from new roles since.

According to entertainment insiders speaking with Australia’s News.com.au, Meghan has been approached for a part in a still-secretive project slated to unfold on British soil.

Although those in Meghan’s inner circle haven’t confirmed these claims to BBC News, the buzz adds another layer to the reasons behind the couple’s planned return to the UK later this month.

Meghan also has a small part in the upcoming US film Close Personal Friends, making a cameo appearance as herself alongside Lily Collins and Brie Larson.

The betting firm Ladbrokes was today offering 80/1 odds on Meghan appearing on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!, 100/1 on EastEnders and 150/1 on Coronation Street.

Before meeting Harry, the duchess had roles in CSI: Miami, sci-fi show Fringe and movies such as Get Him To The Greek, Remember Me and Horrible Bosses. She was also a ‘briefcase girl’ – a model holding a suitcase of cash – on Deal Or No Deal. 

But nearly a decade ago, Meghan confirmed in a joint interview with Harry following their engagement in 2017 that she was happy to pause her acting career.

She said at the time: ‘What’s been really exciting, as we talk about this as the transition out of my career is that the causes that have been very important to me, I can focus even more energy on. 

‘You realise that as you have access, or a voice that people are willing to listen to, [it comes with] a lot of responsibility, which I take seriously.

‘I don’t see it as giving anything up. I just see it as a change. It’s a new chapter. And keep in mind I’ve been working on my show for seven years. We were very fortunate to have that sort of longevity on a series.

‘For me, once we hit the 100-episode marker, I thought, I have ticked this box and I feel really proud of the work we’ve done there and now it’s time to work as a team with [Harry].’

The Sussexes have not yet commented on their reasons for moving back to Britain, but the duchess will continue to run her lifestyle brand As Ever from their new base.

While Meghan has not had an acting role in nearly a decade, she has appeared in several Netflix series as part of the couple’s $100million deal in 2020 which was then watered down to a ‘first-look’ arrangement last year.

These shows included two seasons of her lifestyle show ‘With Love, Meghan’, which was widely panned by critics, and the controversial ‘Harry & Meghan’ documentary, which featured a range of accusations against the Royal Family.

She also appeared as a guest judge on MasterChef Australia last month, after filming the episode in Melbourne in April during a four-day tour of the country with Harry.

Upon their return to the UK, the couple are to live in a non-royal residence outside of London – having already enrolled Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet in British schools.

Decisions about whether taxpayers will foot the bill for their security remain unanswered. Prime Minister Andy Burnham would not be drawn on the security arrangements, saying yesterday that the funding for it was a ‘private matter’.

Harry and Meghan’s decision to relocate to the UK was only relayed to the King on Sunday, three days before the news went public on Wednesday night.

The Sussexes decamped to California more than six years ago amid the turbulent Megxit crisis, which was followed by ongoing family fallouts and a barrage of accusations fired at the Prince and Princess of Wales and the King and Queen Camilla.

The King is said to be glad to be able to spend more time with the Sussex family, but remains adamant they will not be working royals, and there is no half-in, half-out option.

Archie and Lili are expected to start at their new schools in early September, and the Sussexes are keeping their homes in California and Portugal.

The Prince and Princess of Wales have not reacted publicly to the news. William – the future king – is estranged from his brother following Harry’s controversial claims about the royal family in the wake of Megxit.

A spokesman for the duke and duchess has been contacted for comment today. 

Prosecutors revealed on Thursday that crucial evidence concerning Karmelo Anthony’s supposed history with knives and violence was deliberately withheld from the jury that ultimately convicted him of murder. This disclosure comes as Anthony seeks to secure a retrial.

During Anthony’s hearing for a new trial, lead prosecutor Bill Wirske brought to light allegations about Anthony’s behavior. According to Wirske, on the morning of the stabbing incident, Anthony’s ex-girlfriend approached his school authorities, expressing fear of him.

Wirske further mentioned that the prosecution had in its possession text messages and other documents they believed demonstrated Anthony’s fascination with violence and knife use. Interestingly, none of these materials made it to the courtroom during the original murder trial.

The prosecutor explained that Anthony’s initial defense team had formed a verbal agreement with the state to exclude any character evidence related to Anthony and others, specifically Austin Metcalf and his brother, Hunter, from being introduced in court.

Anthony’s new legal team disputes that account, arguing prosecutors did not honor the agreement and that the dispute affected Anthony’s decision whether to testify.

Anthony’s attorneys argued that jurors never heard material they say could have supported his self-defense claim. They pointed to school records, social-media posts and videos alleging prior aggressive behavior by Austin Metcalf and his twin brother.

The defense cited alleged racist language, prior fights and disciplinary incidents, arguing Anthony knew the brothers could be aggressive.

The material was not presented to the original jury, and the court has not made findings on the allegations.

Retired District Judge Michael Chitty is hearing Anthony’s motion for a new trial Thursday, after Judge Sid Harle removed Judge John Roach from Anthony’s remaining trial-court proceedings Wednesday.

Harle found that a reasonable outside observer could question whether Roach appeared impartial after Roach said in a post-trial television interview that the jury “got it right” and defended several of his trial decisions.

Roach’s removal is a significant win for Anthony’s new legal team, but it does not erase his conviction or sentence. The far more consequential question is whether Chitty will grant Anthony a new trial.

Metcalf’s father, Jeff Metcalf, said Roach’s removal did not change his view of the case because it did not alter the evidence that led to Anthony’s conviction.

“It’s just one step in a long journey,” Metcalf said Wednesday on “The Will Cain Show.” “It doesn’t really change the facts.”

Anthony, 19, was convicted in June of murdering 17-year-old Metcalf, who he fatally stabbed during an altercation at a Frisco track meet. A Collin County jury sentenced Anthony to 35 years in prison.

Before Thursday’s hearing, an estimated 75 to 100 people gathered outside the courtroom, with some raising their fists as lead defense attorney Russell Wilson arrived. One man wore a Black Panther uniform.

Members of the Anthony and Metcalf families sat on opposite sides of the courtroom. Metcalf’s father greeted Wirske before the hearing, and Anthony entered in a navy suit and tie with his wrists shackled.

Criminal appellate lawyer Brett Ordiway said motions to remove a judge are difficult and uncommon, but a motion for a new trial is a much steeper legal climb.

“Granting that motion wipes out the conviction and the sentence altogether and gives Karmelo Anthony a new trial,” Ordiway told News Media. “It is very, very difficult to win these motions in any case, and I would be surprised if they were successful here.”

Anthony’s attorneys argued Roach could not fairly consider the new-trial request because his public comments addressed the same issues they raise in their motion, including courtroom access.

The motion argues Anthony’s trial was not open enough to the public. Cameras were barred from the courtroom and only 27 seats were available for members of the public.

The new-trial motion also challenges the jury instructions, arguing they limited jurors’ ability to fully consider Anthony’s claim of self-defense.

During Thursday’s hearing, Wilson said the defense would present more than 40 exhibits and at least 12 witnesses. He argued that the access restrictions amounted to an unconstitutional courtroom closure and that Roach made critical decisions outside the formal court record.

Wirske countered that Anthony’s trial lawyers consented to the security and courtroom-access decisions now challenged by the new defense team. He said the parties relied on paper filings and off-the-record discussions because of threats, doxxing and efforts to disrupt the high-profile case.

Mike Howard, Anthony’s former lead attorney, testified that the lawyers and Judge John Roach held more than a dozen off-the-record meetings before trial. Howard said Anthony was not present for those discussions and that no pretrial motions were formally filed because the parties used what he described as an “old-school” system of filing materials directly with Roach.

Howard said the defense discussed waiving some public-trial access because of security concerns, but that no Sixth Amendment waiver was made on the record. He testified that the decision not to use an overflow room was tied to technology concerns, not a specific security threat.

Howard testified that the defense understood its oral agreement with the state to allow Anthony to testify, provided the testimony stayed focused on the confrontation under the tent.

But Howard said that changed on the final day of trial, when prosecutors told the defense that the agreement did not cover a testifying Anthony and argued that the defense had already opened the door to character evidence. Howard testified that the dispute led to a heated break in the proceedings and forced the defense to reconsider whether Anthony should take the stand.

Howard said Roach told the lawyers he did not see a legal way to enforce their agreement. The former defense attorney testified that the uncertainty over what prosecutors could raise on cross-examination affected Anthony’s decision not to testify.

Chitty’s timeline is unusually short. Anthony was sentenced June 9, and Texas rules require a judge to rule on a motion for a new trial within 75 days of sentencing. That deadline falls Monday.

“If the judge does not grant the motion by Monday, then by operation of law, the motion will be denied,” Ordiway said.

If Chitty grants the motion, Anthony’s existing conviction and sentence would be set aside. Ordiway said the case would effectively return to the point before Anthony was convicted and sentenced, allowing Anthony to pursue another jury trial or negotiate a plea agreement.

If the motion is denied, Anthony’s legal fight will continue on direct appeal, a process that differs sharply from the fast-moving new-trial request.

A direct appeal is decided by a three-judge panel of the Texas Fifth Court of Appeals in Dallas and can take a year or longer, Ordiway said. Appeals generally focus on legal errors raised and decided in the trial court, while a motion for a new trial gives the trial court an opportunity to correct alleged errors soon after a conviction.

Anthony filed both the recusal motion and his request for a new trial on July 7. Roach referred the recusal request for assignment to another judge under Texas procedure.

News Media has reached out to Anthony’s defense team for comment.

If you’re losing sleep over a looming financial disaster tied to the nation’s rising debt, it’s probably time to redirect your stress elsewhere.

Admittedly, America did brush past some alarming financial benchmarks this week that hardly inspire confidence: the country’s debt soared to an eye-watering $40 trillion, and interest rates climbed to heights unseen in over twenty years.

Currently, 30-year bond interest rates have surged above 5%, with the 10-year bonds ominously approaching that same precarious 5% threshold.

At first glance, these debt dynamics seem dire. The US continues its spending spree, and with neither Democrats nor Republicans keen on addressing entitlement reforms, investors are demanding higher interest rates, or “risk premiums,” to offset the government’s spending tendencies.

The elevated yields hint that inflation might be readying for a leap as well. Bonds, often viewed as stable long-term income sources, are particularly vulnerable as inflation erodes their principal value.

The Iran war is stoking higher gas prices; Trump’s tariff schemes don’t help. As one top bond investor told me “Given what’s going on, (the spike in yield) underestimates” the problem.

The doom and gloom scenario is that the US is facing a debt crisis, one that will spur crippling interest-rate hikes and a massive sell-off in stocks.

But sources tell me that’s unlikely.

For the record, I’m no fan of deficits, particularly ones that run more than 100% of GDP. In theory, there’s only so much capital to go around. The people with the money — foreign investors (a k a the Chinese), hedge funds, US pensions — can’t keep buying our debt forever.

And Uncle Sam now competes with Open AI, Anthropic and every tech company involved in the AI rollout for financing. There are other places to park your money.

Meanwhile, who wants the Chinese to own so much of our debt and have the ability to press the sell button and send rates soaring?

On the other hand, it’s exactly because of AI and those investment options that our economy is humming along. The United States is still an innovator.

Plus I’m not convinced — and neither are my market sources, people like my “Risk and Return” podcast partner Bob Sloan of S3 Partners — that long yields are historically high.

They may be the highest since 2007. But go back a bit further, say to 2002, and both the 10 year and 30 year were trading in the same range.

And yet, the debt at the time was just $6.41 trillion; we basically had a balanced budget. Our debt-to-GDP ratio was half of what it is today, around 57%. So bond yields then weren’t an indicator of economic disaster.

The Chinese could sell all their holdings of US treasuries, but they bought them for a reason: The dollar is still the world’s reserve currency. Selling them would cause massive losses, not just their holdings, but to world-wide markets, hurting Chinese export-driven economy.

The government needs to make smarter choices, that’s certain. In the meantime, though, don’t panic. A $40 trillion debt is nothing to crow about. But at the end of the day, it’s a figure, not a harbinger.

To those who happen to pass by, she appears to be just another expectant mother making her way home from work, one hand gently holding her baby bump and a roll of carpet samples clutched under her arm.

However, beneath the elegant exterior of the glamorous blonde in a light blue dress and wedges lies a dark past. She is a convicted killer, infamous for brutally ending her Irish husband’s life with a baseball bat and a concrete brick, aided by her father, a former FBI agent.

Molly Martens, now 42, is six months into her pregnancy. It’s been 11 years since she murdered the man who refused to let her adopt his children, a detail revealed by the Daily Mail.

Martens made the announcement of her pregnancy via social media, reaching out to fellow expectant mothers for guidance on interpreting her 20-week scan, indicating a due date around the end of November.

Exclusive photographs from the Daily Mail showcase Martens tenderly cradling her baby bump in Knoxville, Tennessee. This marks an astonishing development in a story intensely intertwined with themes of motherhood and her quest to have children of her own.

She has been preparing herself for motherhood, upgrading her car from an aging sedan, to a brand new Hyundai Tucson, a practical family SUV with room for a baby seat.

The exclusive pictures show Martens leaving work at an interior design firm that appears to be her first return to employment since her release in June 2024.

She has also moved in with her toyboy lover, Josh Parrott, who the Daily Mail revealed she was dating back in January.

Martens has moved out of her parents’ house to live with the engineer in Kingston, about half an hour from Knoxville.

Parrott bought the house in October 2025, before the relationship began, and her name does not appear on the deed.

It is the first home she has made for herself since the one she shared with Jason Corbett: the $390,000 house in Meadowlands, North Carolina, that he paid for with the proceeds of his Limerick home and his life savings, and where he died on the bedroom floor.

Martens first made headlines in 2015 when she and her father Tom, now 75, killed Corbett, 39, from Limerick, at their marital home in North Carolina.

The case became the basis for one of Netflix’s most successful true crime documentaries, last year’s A Deadly American Marriage.

Father-of-two Jason was beaten to death with a baseball bat and a concrete brick in the early hours of August 2, 2015, sustaining so many injuries that the coroner was unable to count them all.

Prosecutors said it was because Jason planned to move home to Ireland, taking the children Martens wanted to adopt with him.

The father and daughter served just four years and three months for the voluntary manslaughter of Corbett, after a controversial appeal overturned their second-degree murder convictions.

Both had kept a low profile since their release in June 2024, until Martens returned to social media in January and the Daily Mail revealed her romance with Parrott days later.

When the Daily Mail spoke to him in January, shortly after the romance began, he would not discuss the relationship in detail but said: ‘It’s new and I’m just doing as I’m told right now.’

He was protective of Martens even then. 

‘I just feel bad for her,’ he said. ‘She’s dealt with so much as it is, and it’s something that happened ten years ago and she’s trying to finally move on with her life. And that’s hard to do.’

He added: ‘The experience has been horrifying. I just want to do what’s best for her. I’m not worried about myself, it’s her that deserves a break from it.’

Parrott, an engineer who works for his father’s company, lives just 20 minutes from the $1.1 million Knoxville home Martens shared with her parents after her release. 

Martens attended Farragut High School in the same grade as his older sister.

Martens wed Corbett in June 2011, after meeting him in 2008 following the death of his first wife Margaret, known as Mags, from an asthma attack.

Corbett had been left widowed at 30 with a 12-week-old baby daughter, Sarah, and a two-year-old son, Jack.

Martens, then a 24-year-old former beauty queen, was hired as their nanny. The couple fell in love and moved to Meadowlands, North Carolina, for a fresh start as a family.

But tensions over Martens formally adopting the children began to simmer, with Corbett reportedly becoming increasingly unhappy and considering a move back to Europe, which would have left Martens with no access to them.

Her failure to have a baby of her own is one of the key pressures that investigators believe caused a rift between the couple.

Corbett spent $25,000 on fertility treatment for his wife. During a family trip to Ireland in August 2014, he confided in his sister Tracey that the bill had left him with money worries.

Martens did not travel with them, with Corbett telling his sister she was having treatment back in America.

He also told his sister something more disturbing: that he doubted her repeated claims of miscarriage were real, and that he was not sure she had ever been pregnant at all.

In the year prior to Corbett’s death, Martens was allegedly shopping around for ‘superior sperm’ on Craigslist to have a child behind her husband’s back.

The Irish Independent, which obtained documents from prosecutors, reported that friends of Martens claimed she wanted ‘upper crust’ sperm, a plan funded by her parents.

According to Brian Carroll, author of A Deadly Marriage, which is based on his four-year investigation into the case, police records show Martens told neighbors her parents had given her $10,000 to buy fertility drugs. 

One neighbor she asked to store them cut off contact with her.

Her father had reportedly been encouraging his daughter to divorce Corbett for some time.

Emails released as part of the investigation show Martens mocked her husband over his ‘loser sperm,’ as well as tormenting him over his weight.

She also admitted placing recording devices around the family home and car, in an attempt to document Corbett’s alleged psychological and physical abuse.

At the time his body was discovered, paramedics said Corbett was cool to the touch, which prosecutors argued suggested the Martenses had delayed contacting emergency services to ensure he could not be saved.

In their closing statements, the prosecution claimed Martens ‘bashed Jason’s skull’ after learning he wanted to take the children back to Ireland.

Alan Martin, the assistant district attorney in Davidson County, told her 2023 sentencing hearing that she had married Corbett ‘in full and open contemplation of divorce’ in order to secure custody.

The marriage, he said, was ‘loveless’ and ‘a lie.’ For Martens it was ‘all about the kids’ and the ‘clock was running out.’

Within two weeks of the killing she withdrew $17,500 to pay lawyers to fight for the children, separately from her criminal defense team. She had been preparing that application for at least eight months.

Judge Brian Shipwash, who stripped her of the children 15 days after the killing and sent them home to Ireland, later said he believed Martens felt a ‘deranged entitlement’ to them.

Martens has always maintained the killing was an act of self-defense, and that Corbett was physically and emotionally abusive during their marriage.

The former nanny and her father were convicted of second-degree murder at their first trial in 2017 and sentenced to 20 to 25 years. The convictions were overturned on appeal in 2021.

In October 2023, they accepted a plea deal for voluntary manslaughter on the theory of imperfect self-defense or defense of another, and were sentenced to four years and three months.

Martens pleaded no contest and Tom pleaded guilty, with both walking free in June 2024.

Martens initially rented a basement apartment near the family home because parole conditions barred father and daughter from living together.

But after a year of supervision, both were released from the system, allowing her to move back in and travel internationally again.

Corbett’s daughter Sarah Corbett Lynch, now 19, told the Daily Mail in January that she took comfort from the fact Martens had no children in her life.

‘I was a child victim of coercive control and abuse, so it is genuinely a relief to know there are no children involved now, because I know what that kind of control can do to a child,’ she said.

‘While she may be free to rebuild her life, our family is left living with the permanent consequences of what happened.’

Sarah, who won Biography of the Year at the An Post Irish Book Awards for her memoir A Time for Truth, added: ‘Wherever she goes, the truth will always find her.’

The Corbett family have never accepted the sentences, describing the plea deal as an injustice that left them with no room for closure or peace. 

In a post on the Justice for Jason Corbett page in January, after Martens returned to social media, they wrote that she was ‘still the same killer in 2026 as you were in 2015.’

Marking the anniversary of his death this month, Corbett’s family wrote that 11 years had passed since he was ‘cruelly taken,’ but that time had ‘done nothing to dim the bright light he left behind.’

His greatest legacy, they said, lived on in Jack and Sarah, who carry ‘his strength, his spirit and his smile’ with them, and who he would have been proud of.

They signed off: ‘Forever loved, forever missed and never forgotten.’

Sarah herself posted: ‘People often ask me what you were like and I always tell them you were my biggest cheerleader,’ she wrote. 

‘I think about all the times you stood at the side of the pool cheering me on even when I was doing the wrong stroke. You never cared about getting first place, you just wanted me to know you were proud of me.’

She added: ‘I will forever be proud to be Jason Corbett’s daughter.’

In a statement to the Daily Mail, Jason’s eldest child, Jack, expressed concern over Martens having a baby of her own.

‘I have zero interest in Molly Martens’ life,’ the 21-year-old said. ‘But where there is a child involved – I can only hope they are born healthy and grows up safe, protected from ever experiencing the kind of harm Sarah and I lived through. 

‘Given what I experienced growing up with Molly, I am deeply concerned for that child. I cannot pretend otherwise.

‘I am still recovering, 11 years on, from the abuse my sister and I endured for years. It broke me. I will never fully heal. 

‘I have already stood before a court and spoken about my fear that another innocent child or another family could potentially endure the pain and trauma that my family has endured. That fear comes directly from what I lived through myself. 

‘I can’t predict what will happen in the future, but I know what I experienced. My fear is that another child could one day find themselves living through something similar. I can only hope that this child is safe and that if concerns are raised, they are listened to and acted upon.’ 

Neither Martens nor Parrott responded to the Daily Mail’s request for comment. 

A fresh court filing has surfaced, shedding new light on the defense strategy of Alex Murdaugh, who stands accused of having previously murdered his wife and son. This document suggests the defense might have misrepresented the results of his lie detector test.

Released on Wednesday in Colleton County, South Carolina, the filing accuses Murdaugh’s lawyer, Dick Harpootlian, of potentially misleading practices, as detailed by state prosecutors.

In 2023, Murdaugh was initially found guilty and condemned to two consecutive life sentences for these homicides. However, in a twist this past May, those verdicts were vacated after evidence emerged that court clerk Becky Hill had improperly swayed jury members.

In an August 14 hearing, Harpootlian asserted, “Mr. Murdaugh passed a polygraph with flying colors, using the same examiner. It might become relevant in this upcoming trial.”

Prosecutors argue that when Murdaugh was initially tried in 2023, he never took a polygraph, or lie-detector, test.

The time that he did in fact take a lie-detector test was after the trial in the fall of 2023. He took the test with the FBI when he was under investigation for serious financial crimes.

The new document says:

“Defense council’s claim on the record at the hearing that defendant Alex Murdaugh passed a SLED [South Carolina Law Enforcement Division] polygraph as to the murders, much less than any governmental polygraph on any subject, is categorically false, and clearly said for no other reason that an attempt to prejudice this court and the public.”

Read the filing below.

In response to the state’s filing, Harpootlian emailed a letter to Judge Debra McCaslin on Thursday saying that he incorrectly stated in court that Murdaugh had taken a polygraph and passed “with flying colors, saying he had mistakenly conflated several facts. 

Harpootlian said, “I want to offer my apology to both the court and state for any confusion I may have caused.”

Here is the letter:

Murdaugh is scheduled for his new trial in April of next year. That trial will not take place in Colleton County.

On Friday, McCaslin ruled the retrial must move out of Colleton County, but she did not yet mention a new location.

It’s possible the retrial could be in Richland County, as Murdaugh’s defense recently pressed to move it – arguing the possibility of a larger jury pool in a new location.