Death Do Us Part – Part 2

Betty Broderick was raised to become a wife and mother. She’s achieved these goals, and was living the high life in the swanky La Jolla neighbourhood of San Diego, California with her husband, Dan, and their four children – Kim, Lee, Daniel, and Rhett. But in 1983, Betty’s idyllic (and highly hostile) marriage came crashing down around her. Part one can be found here.

Dan had spent years in private practice at his law firm handling everything by himself until it became too much work for just himself, and the receptionist. In the fall of 1983, Dan hired 22-year-old Linda Kolkena as his legal assistant, after watching her work as a receptionist for a while.

Betty was livid. She knew Dan was having an affair with Linda. But Dan denied it repeatedly. Until November of that year.

On November 22nd, 1983, Betty went to Dan’s office with champagne and roses as a surprise for his 39th birthday. She was hoping to salvage what was left of their failing marriage. However, the office was empty. It held remnants of a birthday party, with decorations, cake, an empty bottle of wine, and two glasses. Betty left Dan’s office, and asked the receptionist where he was. She was told that Dan had left with Linda around lunch time, and hadn’t been back yet.

Betty decided to wait. Dan would come back. She was sure of it. But he never did. Betty drove home, gathered all of his hand-tailored suits and clothes, threw them on the front lawn, and then set them on fire. Betty had had enough.

But she still let him come home. He continued to deny that he was having an affair, but Betty was certain that he was plotting and biding his time. He began heavily gaslighting her, telling her that she was crazy and imagining things. Betty would tell anyone who would listen that Dan told her he was bored of her. She said he would call her old, fat, boring, ugly, and stupid. But still, Betty wanted to hold on.

In February of 1985, Dan finally moved out. Betty didn’t take it well. She’d been left with the children. But that wouldn’t stand for long.

One by one, Betty left her children on Dan’s new doorstep. Kim was dropped off first after an argument where Betty told her to pack her bags. She was left on Easter, and had to wait on Dan’s doorstep for hours before he came home. Kim’s siblings all followed in due course.

Betty told friends and neighbours that she did it in order to show Dan just how difficult parenting was. He’d never done it himself, you see. It had all been left to Betty. She also held out some hope that the children might make Dan realize that he was missing his whole family. It didn’t work. Betty made it absolutely impossible for it to work.

In June of the same year, Betty started going off the rails. She went to Dan’s home and proceeded to trash the master bedroom. She broke mirrors, and used black spray paint to spray the walls, curtains, and brick fireplace. Betty still hoped for reconciliation, after all that. Good Catholic wives and mothers didn’t get divorced. But Dan was done.

On September 21st, 1985, Dan filed for divorce after 16 years of marriage. Betty flew into a rage. She went to Dan’s home, broke in, stole a cream pie from the kitchen, and smeared it all over Dan’s master bedroom. But that wasn’t enough. Four days later, Betty returned and threw wine bottles through two windows. She even managed to break a sliding-glass door.

In July of 1986, Dan went to court, attorney in tow, in order to make the divorce final. Betty raged. She didn’t have an attorney. She screamed and spat that Dan had turned all the good attorneys against her. She claimed there wasn’t a divorce lawyer in all of California that dared go up against Dan Broderick. She sounded unhinged. She was coming apart at the seams. The divorce was not finalized on that day. And Betty was just getting started.

Betty’s increasingly erratic behaviour continued to escalate. She left obscene messages on his answering machine, calling him names, and even attacking Linda – who was now living with him and the children. In another fit of rage, Betty tried to drive her car through Dan’s front door – not a care for who was inside, or whether she’d injure her children or not.

Betty was certain that Dan was poisoning them, and their entire social circle, against her. She claimed that he used his influence in the legal community to win sole custody of their children, depriving her of her right as a mother. She conveniently forgot that she was the one who left them there in the first place. She also conveniently forgot that she often, so very often, told her children that she would kill their father.

Betty also neglected to mention that she was receiving $16,100 a month from Dan as part of the separation agreement. As her behaviour continued to escalate, Dan attempted to control her actions. For various infractions, he would withhold some of the monthly spousal support. Dan even went so far as to obtain a temporary restraining order against Betty in order to keep her from the house.

Betty didn’t listen. She continued to make crude phone calls. She continued to make threats against Dan and Linda. She continued to spiral. Even her children, pleading with her to stop, couldn’t get through to her.

In June of 1988, Linda Kolkena announced to her friends and family that she and Dan Broderick were engaged. They were ecstatic. Linda brought out a whole new side of Dan – a side they’d never seen before when he was with Betty. Dan was happy, jovial. He was committed to starting fresh. He had some hiccups with the parenting aspect of his new start – he kicked Kim out of the house when she turned 18, and then later relented and let her stay – but he was trying. He was doing all of the things he’d never done while married to Betty. And he was doing them because he wanted to.

Dan wanted to spend time with his children and his fiancée. He wanted to be home in time for dinner. He wanted to be happy. He wanted to put his marriage to Betty behind him, once and for all.

In 1989, the Broderick divorce was finally finalized. Betty lost all sense. The phone calls and obscene messages increased in intensity and volume. She ignored restraining orders, and continued to call Linda every name in the book. She continued to make threats. She bought a Smith & Wesson revolver.

Dan and Linda got married on April 22nd, 1989. They were so afraid that Betty would interfere, Dan hired private security. Thankfully, the wedding went off without interference.

On November 5th, 1989, Betty received legal documents. The documents told her that Dan wanted to file criminal contempt charges against her. She just wouldn’t stop leaving messages on the machine, and the newlyweds were absolutely sick of it. Betty saw red.

Betty drove to Dan and Linda’s home near Balboa Park in San Diego at 5:30AM. Using the key she’d stolen from her daughter, Lee, Betty let herself into the house. She went to the master bedroom, and started shooting.

Linda (28) was killed instantly, two bullets hitting her in the head and chest. Dan (44, a couple weeks shy of his 45th birthday) took a bullet to the chest, and began reaching for the phone before he collapsed. More bullets hit the wall and nightstand.

Betty fled. And she took the phone and answering machine with her. She contacted Lee, and Lee’s boyfriend, who in turn convinced her to turn herself in to police.

Betty denied that she went to the house to kill Dan and Linda. She claimed that she went there to talk. But when Linda saw her and screamed “Call the police!” Betty panicked, and the gun went off. Flimsy, but Betty hoped it would stand up at trial.

At trial, Betty’s attorney claimed that she was a battered wife. Attorney Jack Early told the court that Betty had suffered from years of psychological, physical, and mental abuse. He said it had driven her mad.

Prosecutor Kerry Wells saw Betty as a calculated murderer who had planned her moves to the very last detail.

The court of public opinion was divided. Many women saw themselves in Betty. Many women did what Betty had done – give up lives and career aspirations in order to support husbands and children. They couldn’t blame Betty for lashing out when, to use colloquial vernacular, Dan traded her in for a younger wife.

However, others definitely saw her as a mean, calculated woman. She had no right to torment other humans the way she had, no matter the circumstances.

The first trial ended in a hung jury. Betty was being charged with murder. 10 jurors voted for that, while two held out for manslaughter. Betty Broderick was retried a year later.

This time round, the jury came back with two guilty verdicts for second-degree murder. Betty Broderick was sentenced to two 15 year terms in prison, to be served consecutively, as well as two additional years for illegal use of a firearm. In total, she was sentenced to 32 years in prison.

In January of 2010, Betty put in her first request for parole. She was denied in November of 2011, and again in January of 2017.

The board declared that she showed no remorse or understanding of her actions. She was unrepentant, claiming that Dan and Linda had driven her to commit murder. She has never taken responsibility for her actions.

She will next be eligible for parole in January of 2023. She will be 84 years old.

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Sources:

Till Murder Do Us Part: Dan and Betty Broderick’s divorce played out over five vicious years – Amy Wallace – LA Times Magazine
How Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story‘s Characters Compare to Their Real-Life Counterparts – Kenny Herzog – Vulture
Morbid: A True Crime Podcast – Episode 47 – Betty Broderick Minisode
Betty Broderick Wikipedia page