Betty Broderick
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Elisabeth Anne "Betty" Broderick née Bisceglia (born on November 7, 1947 in Eastchester, New York) is a former San Diego socialite convicted of the November 5, 1989 murder of her former husband Dan Broderick and his mistress-turned-wife, Linda Kolkena. She was convicted on December 11, 1991 of two counts of second-degree murder, and later sentenced to 32-years-to-life in prison, with her first possible parole date in March of 2011.
[edit] Biography
Betty was the third of six children born to devout Roman Catholic parents Marita and Frank Bisceglia, a social-climbing Irish-American mother and an Italian father who had founded a plastering firm with his brothers. She attended and later graduated from the College of Mount Saint Vincent, a small Catholic women's college in Riverdale, New York, where she earned a BA in child psychology. Betty met her future husband, Dan Broderick, eldest son in another large Catholic family, at a football game between the University of Southern California and the University of Notre Dame, where Dan was an undergraduate. They dated for some time and became engaged later. Dan's family was initially charmed by Betty's beauty, graciousness, and sophistication.
When the couple became engaged, Dan was attending the Cornell University Medical School, located in New York. The couple were married on April 15, 1969 at the Immaculate Conception Church in Eastchester in a lavish ceremony planned by Betty's mother. They honeymooned on a Caribbean cruise and later stayed with friends in St. Thomas. Both Betty and Dan experienced doubts about the marriage during the honeymoon, Betty later complaining about their first sexual experiences among other problems. She returned from her honeymoon pregnant with her first child, daughter Kim, and continued to teach until the day before she gave birth. Afterwards, she quit her job and devoted herself to home and motherhood. She gave birth to four more children Lee, Daniel, Rhett, and an unnamed boy who died four days after birth. It was later revealed she was pregnant nine times between 1970 and 1979 but had two miscarriages and two abortions before having a tubal ligation after the birth of her last child.
After Kim's birth, Dan announced that he didn't want to complete his medical internship and intended to combine his medical training with a law degree. He therefore enrolled at Harvard Law School while Betty held down a variety of jobs to support his studies. Later, the family moved to San Diego, where Dan became a success in the field of medical malpractice. The couple were well known within San Diego social circles and enjoyed a life of increasing luxury. At the same time, the already-problematic marriage deteriorated further. Dan hired Linda Kolkena, a former airline attendant who had become a receptionist, as his assistant and began an affair with her.
Betty long suspected the affair, although Dan denied it for some time. After he finally moved out of the family home (eventually taking custody of the children), and following a lengthy and complex divorce settlement in which Betty felt that she was unfairly treated owing to Dan's extensive legal connections and influence, she became obsessed with her anger towards her ex-husband. Among other behaviors that later worked against her in court, she repeatedly left obscene messages on his answering machine and frequently abused him and his new wife in recorded telephone conversations with her children. Following her receipt of legal threats from Dan's lawyer, Betty purchased a revolver and gained entry to her ex-husband's home in Marston Hills with a key that she had stolen from her elder daughter Kim Broderick. She murdered Dan and Linda while they slept. Dan's last words were, "Okay, you shot me. I'm dead."
Linda and Dan Broderick are buried together at Greenwood Memorial Park in San Diego, California.
Betty's first trial ended in a hung jury when two of the jurors held out for manslaughter instead of murder. Prosecutor Kerry Wells was more successful with the second trial, when the jury returned a verdict of two counts of second degree murder. Betty Broderick was sentenced to two consecutive terms of 15 years to life plus two years for illegal use of a firearm. She would have to serve a total of 21 years before becoming eligible for parole. The Broderick family was outraged that Betty was not sentenced to life in prison, because they felt that she had committed premeditated murder and should spend the rest of her life incarcerated.
[edit] Other Notes
- The song played at their wedding, "The Twelfth of Never", is also the title of Bella Stumbo's detailed book about the murders.
- Broderick's prison number is W42477. She resides at the Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla, California.
- Her story was turned into a Lifetime Television film, called (Part 1) "A Woman Scorned: The Betty Broderick Story" and (Part 2) "Her Final Fury: Betty Broderick, The Last Chapter (1992)". Meredith Baxter portrayed her in the films.
