THE American wife and father-in-law of a Co Limerick man who died in North Carolina last August have been charged with his murder.
Father-of-two Jason Corbett was found by police with fatal head injuries at the home he shared with his second wife, Molly Martens Corbett.
Officers were responding to a domestic disturbance call on August 2, 2015.
A grand jury sitting in Davidson County, North Carolina has cleared the way for charges to be brought against 31-year-old Ms Martens Corbett and her 65-year-old father Thomas Michael Martens.
Both have been charged with second degree murder and with voluntary manslaughter.
The case was brought before a Grand Jury on 18 December and the documents were sealed during that court session.
The District Attorney had the documents unsealed at a sitting today and the charges were made public.
According to the initial police incident report, the 911 emergency operator was told by the caller, Mr Martens, that "he had been in an argument with his son-in-law and that he had struck him with a baseball bat".
Under US law, a charge of second degree murder applies where a person dies as the result of an assault without premeditation on the part of the attacker.
Voluntary manslaughter applies where the attacker had no intention to kill, but acts during intense emotional or other mental stress, acting so-called "in the heat of the moment".
