November 5, 1989
-Betty Broderick
Its interesting when the person committing the crime becomes more famous than the victim. In fact, you’d be hard pressed to come up with any victim names when it comes to people like Gacy, or Dahmer. Probably because the criminal had style. Wild as it may be, its true if you think about it. This is an excellent example, put together by my pal Harry. Thanks Harry.
The divorce of Dan and Betty Broderick is quite easily the poster child of a nasty breakup – except in this case, it ended up in murder.
In the beginning, all was peachy keen, when they married April 12, 1969. Want to see the happy couple? Their wedding reception song was Johnny Mathis’ The Twelfth of Never. Ahhhh.
Through the ensuing years, Betty put Dan through law and medical school, so that he could pursue his (financially rewarding) dream of being a medical malpractice attorney. During this time, she also bore him four children – two boys and two girls — a picture perfect family for the good Catholic girl and her up-and-coming hubby.
Dan got lucky when he moved to San Diego and joined the prestigious law firm of Gray, Cary, Ames and Fry. Finally, the Brodericks were able to start living a comfortable middle class life. They bought a two-story tract home in La Jolla on Coral Reef. Life was good, as Dan went to work every day, and Betty played super-mom, toting the kids to school, lessons and generally being June Cleaver incarnate.
Dan decided in 1978 to strike out on his own, opening his medical malpractice law offices. It took awhile, but the money soon began rolling in to the tune of a million-plus every year. Betty thought they had finally made it. But soon a blond problem came into the picture.
Linda Kolkena was a 21-year-old former flight attendant and now a freelance receptionist, working for a variety of companies and law firms. Dan spotted her first at a party in 1983 that he was attending with Betty, commenting to a buddy how attractive the svelte blond was. Funny, she looked a lot like Betty, doncha think? Well, surprise-surprise, soon after Linda came to work for Dan as his personal assistant, funny, she didn’t know how to type. Dan had his very own Misses-A-Wiggins.
Betty continued to play her part of the loving wife of a successful lawyer. Doesn’t Betty look a lot like Meredith Baxter in this photo? That comment will become more ironic later.
Betty began to suspect Linda was more than just a devoted employee, catching Dan on vacation talking with his assistant and more clues, such as that. The shit hit the fan on Dan’s 39th birthday, when Betty came to his office to surprise him with roses and champagne. But Dan was no where to be seen. All she found were balloons and empty wine bottles. And, oh, did we mention? Linda the hose bag wasn’t there either.
In a fury, Betty headed back to the Coral Reef house and proceeded to make a bonfire of Dan’s expensive suits, as her children looked on. Atta girl. Dan continued to deny the affair through 1983, even though he would mutter Linda’s name while he slept. In this time, too, the Brodericks moved into a rental house, while a cracked slab was being repaired on Coral Reef.
Finally, in February 1984, Dan cited the affair as his reason for separating from Betty, but he did not apologize. He moved back to Coral Reef, and Betty was left with the kids in a rental. Needless to say, she was pissed. One time, she stopped over at Dan’s digs to see the kids and spotted a pie Linda had made for him. Well, nothing says, “enjoy” more than by spreading it over his bed and clothes, so Betty obliged. Cool. In return, Dan gave her a restraining order.
That was the beginning of much legal wrangling between the battling Brodericks, but due to Dan’s connections and knowledge, Betty usually got the short end of the stick to the point, the Coral Reef house was sold without her consent. Betty, again, was pissed, so she drove her Suburban through the front door of Dan’s new home (as you do) in the Marston Hills area of San Diego.
And still, Betty was not divorced. Dan was eventually ordered to give her a temporary allotment of $16,000 a month to live off (quite generous, until you realize he was pulling in $300,000 a month.).
Betty also had a bad habit of leaving charming messages on Dan’s answering machine. Here’s just a sample: “This is a message to fuckhead and the bitch. You have one hell of a nerve dumping the kids here on the sidewalk and zooming away without making any attempt to communicate with me about my plans for the weekend. Make me sick, both of you. I have a good mind to dump the kids back on you and drive away. Call me. We have a lot to talk about, asshole.”
Dan and Linda (known affectionately as “the cunt” by Betty) got tired of the messages, and began to fine Betty $100 for every curse word left on their answering machine. One month, after her then $9,000 allotment, she owed Dan more than $1,000. I guess a potty mouth can cost you.
It was all supposedly over early in 1989, when a divorce was granted. But due to a provision in California divorce laws, called Epstein Credits, Dan, a multi-millionaire many times over, only had to pay less than $30,000 to his wife of 20 years. Three months later, he married Linda. Betty wasn’t invited to the nuptials, but security guards were.
The legal wrangling continued, though. On the morning of November 5, 1989, Betty sat at her table, looking at the two most recent letters sent by her ex-hubby’s attorney. One asserted she was not in the right frame of mind to fulfill her custody obligations, while the other slapped her hand for leaving more charming messages on the new Mr. and Mrs. Broderick’s answering machine.
Betty was pissed off and tired. She wrote, “I can’t take this any more,” on one of the letters and left the house. In her purse was a 38 caliber Smith & Wesson (‘Cause it’s got Wessonality!). Heading down Interstate 5, she drove to her ex’s new digs, so that she could “talk” to Dan. Arriving at 1041 Cypress Avenue, she tried to enter the house through the front door, but the key she had taken from her daughter’s purse didn’t work.
So, using the old adage (for your FYI),”Try, try, again,” Betty headed around back and tried the door there. Voila! She’s in!
She headed up the stairs to Dan and Linda’s master suite. Opening the door, Betty spotted Linda, who told Dan, “Call the police.” Bang! Bang! Linda finally shut up. Dan rolled out of bed, trying to reach the phone. Bang! No phone calls were being placed that morning, and to ensure that, Betty ripped the phone out of the wall. With this, Betty went back home. Want to see how the master bedroom looks today?
Betty turned herself in later that day. When she appeared in court, the four years of legal wrangling with Dan were evident in her appearance.
Her first murder trial ended in a hung jury, who heard the legal and psychological hell Dan put Betty through, while trying to conceal his affair and come out the victor in the subsequent divorce. The jury foreman was quoted after as saying, “We just wonder why it took her so long.” That had to be satisfying for Betty to hear.
The second trial in October of 1991 was more successful for the state, as the prosecution took off the gloves, ending with Betty convicted of two counts of second degree murder. She is now serving her 32-years-to-life prison term and will be eligible for parole in 2011.
Lifetime (“Television for Women”) made a movie about Betty’s story called A Woman Scorned. It was so popular, a sequel was made about the trial. Oh, and did we mention, Meredith Baxter played Betty? Funny how that worked out. Betty didn’t like the movie because they didn’t consult her for her side of the story.
Got some spare change? Looking to move up? Dan and Linda’s murder house was recently on the market, with a variable range price of $2,895,000 to $3,2250,876. By the way, the master bedroom has been remodeled. Up till the mid-90s, Betty and Dan still — on paper — owned a timeshare together in Warner Springs. Guess neither will be using it.
Update Feb 2015: Fuckhead and Bitch get Death Hagged.
I don’t condone murdering anyone. But let’s be rational. Those two simply mocked and humiliated Betty. Okay, so he decided to screw around with his younger assistant. Welcome to the real world, men do it all of the time. Just pack your bags, get the hell out of the house, let your soon to be ex-wife live well from the divorce settlement, then move on with your new bimbo babe. But a person can only take so much humiliation. It’s too often when someone takes more than they can take off of the mental/emotional abuse then society wants to cry POOR THEM when they get what they deserve.
What planet have you been living on? Oh, I see, it’s the planet on which Betty lies so as to appear as much of a victim as possible because that’s what she likes, and the unaware believe her.
Dan and Linda did not mock and humiliate Betty. Betty relentlessly and viciously harassed Dan and Linda. Your sentence needs to be modified a bit and flipped so it addresses Betty: He decided to screw around with his younger assistant. Welcome to the real world, men do it all of the time. Just pack his bags, say “Good riddance” as he gets the hell out of the house, don’t fire your attorneys, let them fight for you so you get your fair share of alimony and child support, and let him move on with his bimbo babe. Then find your own male bimbo babe.
Betty didn’t do any of that except the last.
Easier said than done! Dan took EVERYTHING from her!.. and, YES.. they did mock Betty.. the children said so!
No need for Guy D. to flip his sentence.
The ONLY victims in this case are the children.
NOT Dan and Linda.
Ha ha, I really don’t come back here that often, but it just so happens I did come back the day after you posted.
Anyway, you know nothing about this case. All you know is that a 37-year-old woman’s husband left her for a 23-year-old woman, and that’s enough to make you take her side and condone murder.
If Betty had not behaved the way she did, she would have had much more child support and alimony than she ended up with. She took everything (well not everything, she was still getting 16,000 dollars A MONTH from Dan) away from herself.
I don’t know where you read or heard that the children said that Dan and Linda mocked Betty, but assuming it’s true, so what? You’re talking about them mocking her in the privacy of their own home where the children could hear. It’s not the nicest action on the part of one parent to mock the other parent in the hearing of their child or children, but it must happen all of the time, and it pales in comparison to Betty dumping the kids on Dan’s doorstep and the horrible badmouthing of Dan she did to the kids and was recorded doing. People mock other people out of hearing of the people they’re mocking every single day all over the world. In what way does that justify harassment and murder?
The next time I see someone saying that two people who were shot in cold blood as they were sleeping were not victims, I’m going to recommend psychiatric help for that person. No, I won’t wait for the next time. Seek pyschiatric help.
Just as an aside….I wonder why it so often occurs that people will say, “I don’t condone murder” and then in their next sentences make it obvious that they are doing exactly that—condoning murder. Perhaps it’s because they don’t understand that “condone” is not synonymous with “endorse”, “advocate”, and “recommend”.
I feel for the kids. That is all.
Well, Betty Fans, I’ve just come from the Dorothy Stratten/Paul Snider page, and then I just had to rush here and let you all know that, thanks to your wise and sagacious comments, I’ve now seen the light.
Most of the commenters there are actually critical of Paul Snider for shooting Dorothy Stratten in the head and killing her! Can you believe it? I can’t. I mean, let’s look at the facts:
1. Dorothy Stratten and Paul snider were married.
2. Paul Snider was an equal part of Dorothy’s success. It was his idea that she should send nude photos to Playboy, and it took him two weeks to talk her into it. If he hadn’t had the idea and done the talking, Dorothy would have been a nobody working at a Dairy Queen and the likes of Peter Bogdanovich wouldn’t have given her a second look.
3. Dorothy cheated on Paul with Peter Bogdanovich, and for a while denied she was doing so. We know when it comes to men cheating on wives, they will usually go for somebody younger and better looking, like Linda Kolkena. When it comes to women cheating on husbands, they will usually go for someone wealthier, more famous, and more powerful, like Peter Bogdanovich. Dorothy BLINDSIDED Paul. She was playing BS games with him. She eventually admitted the affair and wanted a divorce. Finally Paul wouldn’t take it any longer. Ergo:
4. Dorothy deserved every bullet Paul put in her body. This is a perfect example of a battered man driven to despair. How can you deny Paul’s devotion, life sacrifices and full support of the wife who was climbing the social and financial ladder? Sadly and unfairly, his side of the story was consistently rejected and shamed. Think of the torture Paul went through.
5. When Dorothy Statten became big time she decided she didn’t need that nobody Paul Snider no more. She decided to get herself a famous director, and that would make her look good for her for superficial colleges. (Oops, I meant “colleagues”.) She messed with the wrong man and he showed her that she couldn’t treat him like he was disposable and put him to the curb. SHE PUSHED HIM TO IT.
6. I just wish that Peter Bogdanovich had paid the price for having an affair with a married woman. Alas, he die of natural causes in January 2022 at the age of 82. Why, oh why Paul, did you not wreak your well justified revenge on him as well? Peter knew that Dorothy was married and didn’t care. He was nothing but a homewrecker, the whore on the side.
7. Paul should have murdered Dorothy before he married her.
8. DOROTHY ENJOYED WATCHING PAUL SUFFER.
I just can’t figure out why most people condemn Paul Snider for shooting and killing the lovely young Playmate of the Year Dorothy Stratten. They obviously need to hang out here, and hang out with the people who know what’s what.
While I don’t agree with the majority of your assertions here, I will add that it was REALLY CREEPY Bogdanovich got with and eventually married Dorothy’s sister.
Betty should be paroled. They deserved every bullet that entered their bodies. Betty needs to lie and say she is remorseful so she can get out. I would have deemed her temporarily insane. I would love to converse with her. She is to every woman who has ever been cheated on, a hero! A woman scorned, indeed.
You know what? I doubt very much that Betty wants to be paroled.
If she were paroled, what would she do? Seriously, what would she do? Get a job? She has no job skills or work experience, and besides, nobody hires a convicted murderer, and besides that, nobody hires a 74-year-old.
Her full time chosen occupation before she was sent to prison was claiming that Dan and Linda harassed her and Playing the Victim. She LOVED that career. But how could she pursue her career now if she were paroled? How could she claim two people who have been dead for over thirty years are harassing her? How could she be The Victim of two people who have been dead for over thirty years? Dumb Betty. You killed your reason for living when you killed Dan and Linda, silly.
What would she do now if she were paroled? Dandle her grandchildren on her knee, assuming that would be permitted (and I would permit it only under strict supervision). How many hours in a month can that fill?
But if she stays in prison, she can hang on to some of her former glory. As long as she’s in prison, she’s remembered by those who bought her victim story and who are outraged by The Terrible Injustice of it all. As long as she’s in prison, she will have her Worshippers. She’s still talked about to some extent. She has something to cling to.
Out of prison, she’s forgotten, and that’s one thing a narcissist can’t tolerate.
So calm down, Crazy Betty Fans. Dry your tears. Your Revered Martyr is exactly where she wants to be.
You made some good points about Linda Broderick staying in prison.
She’s probably better off.
I heard she torpedoed her first parole hearing, going on about being “the original soccer mom”
I read a follow-up article about her in the San Diego Reader some years back.
She is reportedly a model prisoner, and pretty much has the run of the prison. No 23 hour lock downs or anything like that.
She got the Hollywood treatment, but I’ll bet she never saw a penny of that made for TV movie moolah.
Exploited yet again.
She should have let Dan hang himself with his adultery.
California has some of the toughest community property laws in the country.
Calm down Linda fan lol. You must have a lot of time on your delusional hands lmao
It takes me approximately ten to fifteen minutes to type what I do when I come back here to check out what’s new. I realize that’s difficult for the unintelligent to conceive of, given that even if they could string words together the way that I do, it would no doubt take them considerably longer. Nevertheless, as l do have a complete mastery of the written English language, the time I have invested here typing comments has been minimal.
However, there is one internet mystery I have yet to solve: Why, whenever one individual does nothing more or less than give a recitation of facts, does so often another individual say, “Calm down”? What indication is there that the first individual is somehow agitated? Can he or she somehow be seen, through extrasensory perception, pacing, breathing hard, chain smoking, and screaming? lol
Of course, “You must have a lot of time on your hands” is a tired, overused, and unimaginative internet trope, as is “Calm down”. Maybe if you tried very hard, an original thought might come to you. Just a thought.
Now please list everything I’ve said which indicates to you that I’m “delusional”, but be prepared to back it up.
I was locked 🔒 up with Betty at CIW California Institute for Women.. All the buildings have different names, Miller hall was nicknamed ( Killer Miller) The Mansion Sisters, ( Brenda Spencer ) I hate Mondays… and Betty she spoke too a friend of mine , she told my friend that she won’t EVER be let go because her husband was an Attorney!! They all hate me !! That’s a quote . I was in killer Miller for a few months before I was transferred to a different prison…
Totally agree!!!
Well, I have made many replies, so in closing, I will make a statement which is not a reply to anyone specifically.
It is flabbergasting to me how many people jump to the defense of a woman who entered the bedroom of a sleeping couple and shot them dead in cold blood. It is flabbergasting, and disgusting, to me how many people smear these victims and call them vicious names.
I can only surmise that people see a married man having an affair with a single woman and immediately jump on their judgmental high horses, and don’t bother to educate themselves about anything else regarding the case. The number of erroneous statements made here is proof of that.
As for Betty, she is where she belongs and I hope she dies there.
I agree 100% divorce is an option but murder is NOT.
Dan and Linda paid the ultimate price…Sweet justice
This is a tragic example of battered women driven to a despair. In her husbands words she was nothing else but “obstruction”. How can you deny her devotion, life sacrifices and full support of the husband who was claiming the social and financial ladder? She was equal part of the success. Sadly and unfairly, her side of story was consistently rejected, shamed , she was on the way , an obstacle to a new happiness build on her life destruction. Didn’t her life meant something? She is human being, a mother, daughter , loved and adored by many! It had to be sickening and gut wrenching feeling having your own children brain washed and set up agains you. Betsy must be free!!!! She did her sentence multiple times over. Free Betsy!!!!
1. She was never “equal part of the success”. She paid for none of Dan Broderick’s education. While he was getting his second graduate degree, they were poor, it is true. So she did things such as babysitting and selling Tupperware to make ends meet. This was for only about four years. So she babysat and sold Tupperware to make ends meet—-well, if Dan Broderick had not married her he would not have had to worry about supporting a wife and kids while getting his second graduate degree, and then after four years, she greatly benefited from his education and his hard work, not her own.
2. Her “life sacrifices” consisted of babysitting and selling Tupperware for a grand total of four years. Oh yes, what sacrifice lol
3. “Her side of the story” was not “consistently rejected” or “shamed”. Nobody denied that her husband had left her for another woman. She brought her shame upon herself by relentlessly harassing her husband and his girlfriend, later wife. She fired her divorce attorneys because she did not want a great settlement—she enjoyed being the victim far too much.
4. “She is a human being.” Of course she is. And so were the two people she cold-bloodedly killed.
5. “She is a mother.” Of course she is. She is a rotten mother. A bad one. She dumps her kids one by one on Dan’s doorstep, without warning, as a way to use them to try to force him back to her, she brings her son to tears with her vicious, selfish words, all the while he begs her to stop, and you are seriously typing out the words “She is a mother” in the hope of gaining sympathy for her?
6. “She is a daughter” who brought shame upon her parents.
7. Her children were never “brainwashed against her”. If ever they had or still have negative thoughts about her, these thoughts have their roots in Betty’s own behavior.
8. She was never “battered”. You insult women who really are battered when you compare Betty Broderick to them.
And finally, I would suggest you actually research and learn about a murder case before you post about it on a public forum.
Let me guess, when Jeff Bezos left his wife you didn’t think his wife was entitled to anything either. It’s not about whether Betty “built up the business”, it’s about her taking care of the house and kids so he could focus on building up the business! My god you are dense Janice!
I never said that Betty didn’t deserve any compensation for taking care of the house and kids while she and Dan were married. But even after everything she did, and even after giving up the kids by dumping them on Dan’s doorstep without warning, she was still getting $16,000 a month from Dan. I didn’t say I had a quarrel with that, and it could have been a lot more if she hadn’t been so self-destructive, and if it were more, I wouldn’t have a quarrel with that, either.
I objected only to the words “She was an equal part of his success”. That is objectively not true. If he had never married her, there is no evidence that he would not have become as successful as he did. And it is objectively true that if Dan had not worked as hard as he did, and been as intelligent and ambitious as he was, Betty would not have lived the lavish lifestyle she did when they were married, or received anything near $16,000 a month after they were divorced. So she did benefit from his hard work, intelligence, and ambition, as much as he benefited from her work on the homefront. But I would never argue she was not entitled to alimony.
and say that all louder for the folks in the back. ♥
When Dan Broderick became big time he decided he didn’t need that old bag no more. He decided to get himself a some young bootie and that would make him look good for his aging colleges. He messed with the wrong women and she showed him that he couldn’t treat her like she was disposable and put her to the curb.
Betty wasn’t capable of picking up and moving on like the rest of us do after being cheated on and humiliated so she murdered her childrens’ father. She ended up taking way more from her children than Dan ever took from her but her sensitive little ego couldn’t get past her wants/needs/hang ups. Disgusting excuse for a human being. She is rotting in prison, exactly where she should be.
Wow ..let’s hope nobody ever blindsides you hey? He took everything off that woman and left her with $28k plus maintenance for a 5 year period, while Linda and he laughed .. like the juror said . ‘what took her so long’.
So you are seriously defending murder as long as the motive is being “blindsided” and/or not getting what one thinks is one’s just due in a divorce? You’re either kidding or you’re sick. I’ll do you a favor and try hard to believe it’s the former.
JFC Janice find a new hobby.
Nah. This one is fun.
They both deserve it. They gaslighted her, emotionally and financially abused her, and drove her crazy. He wanted her to kill her self but it backed fired. May they rot in hell especially that ungrateful piece of shit Dan.
Well said! I feel as though many do not research or listen to the statements made by the children as well. The children stated how she would be verbally abusive to Dan as well as how she would throw things at him during the marriage. There is always two sides to a story and yet the victims can’t speak on their behalf because they are dead. Show some respect everyone, the main victims in this were the children who lost both parents.
They both did her wrong you forgot that demon.
Moron
Where are the crime scene photos? I have looked as well and there is only one, which is of Linda after she’d been shot sprawled across the bed. I read Bella’s book when it came out & I too have always understood why she shot them. I think they deserved it after all they put her through & I’m not one to usually feel that way. Does anyone have Betty’s address? I’d like to see her freed. I think 30 yrs. is enough & I do believe Dan & Linda drove her to shoot them. It took SIX years of torment and cruelty b/4 she broke. She also owned up to it and turned herself in right away. Betty is not evil. She did an evil thing but she was pushed into it. You treat someone like an animal & they’ll bite back eventually.
Oh puhleeze.
Should Dan Broderick have cheated on Betty for two years all the while he saying he wasn’t? No, he should not have done that. That was a wrong thing to do.
BUT that was the ONLY wrong thing he did in this entire saga and it’s something that untold numbers of people have done without having to pay for it with their lives.
“Six years of cruelty and torment”. Yes, there was six years of cruelty and torment, and it was cruelty and torment on the part of Betty Broderick to Dan and Linda.
Yeah, sure, it sucks when your husband leaves you for a younger woman. But it’s happened to untold numbers of women who have then NOT stalked and harassed their former husbands and then NOT gone on to kill their former husbands and their new wives. Plus, we don’t know that much about Dan and Betty’s marriage. It could be that she richly deserved to be left.
For years Betty stalked and harassed Dan and Linda, calling them constantly, leaving vicious voice mails, entering their home, wrecking the furniture, driving her car into their front door! I’ve seen people bemoaning the fact that Dan “took the kids away from Betty.” Again, puh-leeze. She dumped the kids one by one on Dan’s doorstep, a couple of times not even caring that nobody was home when she did and that the poor kid would be left sitting outside on the doorstep until Dan came home. She thought she could force Dan back to her that way. That’s what a sicko and a bad mother she was.
All of the so-called “cruelty” on Dan’s part, such as deducting money from her alimony, was done to punish her for her harassment and as a method of getting her to stop. Which, unfortunately, didn’t work, which it usually won’t when dealing with a psycho like Betty.
Ever heard the tape of the time that Betty’s young son got on the phone with her and begged her to “stop saying the bad words”? And all Betty did was denigrate his father to him and talk about what a great wife and mommy SHE had been? Using profanity to her young son. All the while the poor kid was crying and begging her to stop harassing Dan and Linda? It’s horrible.
Betty has spread the story that she couldn’t get a fair shake in court because Dan was so powerful. This is nonsense. What happened was that Betty would not cooperate with her divorce attorneys and ended up firing them, and why? Partially because she did not WANT to be competently represented, because she wanted then to spread this narrative of the poor abused didn’t-get-a-fair-shake dumped wife. And partially because if she represented herself, she would get to cross-examine Dan herself personally, and she got a sick pleasure out of that.
Betty is a sicko. She’s bats. Her elevator does not go all of the way to the top. She is one taco short of a combination plate. It is very obvious, you can tell just by looking at her and listening to her for three minutes. Meredith Baxter, the experienced actress, was not the least bit capable of capturing Betty’s battiness in the TV movies made about the case.
Betty Broderick COULD be paroled if she were to exhibit the smallest amount of remorse for what she did. But although she says the right words, such as, “I killed two wonderful people”, she is not capable of pretending remorse. She is not remorseful, it’s plain every time she has a parole hearing, and so she will never get out. Look what she did to her life, more importantly, look what she did to her kids’ lives, and she is such a nut case she doesn’t feel remorseful. She is a malignant narcissist who deserves to die in prison.
The only other case that rivals this one as far as sickening smearing of the victims is the Menendez case.
You’re disturbed, really. The way you essentially moderate and try to control this comments section is akin to Betty Broderick, a true control freak. Why not get a hobby/man/pet?
I don’t care much for animals. As the late Meat Loaf said, “Two out of three ain’t bad”.
You must be referring to your brain cells
I do not think murder was the right way to go, but boy did he have it coming. You do not treat a woman like crap after she raises your children, busts her butt to put you through school, then cheat on her, call her fat, old, etc. Everyone gets old, everyone gains a little weight. Then have your younger girlfriend pick on her. You can only push people too far. I feel for Betty. Again, I do not think murder was the way to go, but any idiot could have seen this coming.
Amen. They pushed her to it.
Betty did not “put” Dan “through school”. It’s true that they were strapped for money while he was pursuing his second graduate degree and that Betty did things such as selling Tupperware and babysitting to make ends meet. But that is not putting anyone through school. Dan got a loan to pay for his second graduate degree. So Betty had to do that to make ends meet, well, if Dan had never married Betty he wouldn’t have had to worry about supporting a wife and kids while getting his second graduate degree.
There’s no evidence except Betty’s word that Dan called her fat and old and frankly, she’s so nuts that I don’t believe her. I also do not believe that Linda sent her ads for weight loss aids and wrinkle cream either. Friends of Betty who knew her well believed that she sent those ads to herself, in order to play the victim, and I agree.
Otherwise, see my above post.
So Betty, wasn’t writing Dan papers in Law School? Betty could’ve called Harvard and reported Dan for plagiarism. Bottom Line Dan was wrong.
Where did you hear that nonsense? From Betty herself? If it was such a deep, dark secret that Harvard must never know about, who else would know except Dan and Betty? So it must have been Betty who told. And she’s a crazy liar. Nuff said. Nobody with a brain would believe that Betty was capable of writing a law paper that would pass in a Harvard law class.
“Bottom Line Dan was wrong”. I assume you mean he was wrong for having an affair during the last two years of hs marriage. Sure, and for that you believe he deserved to be shot and killed in cold blood. All the while you pass over Betty’s relentless harassment and the damage she did her children without a word. Priceless.
You must be a family member. I agree she should not have killed them, but she has served her time. I doubt seriously she would hurt anyone else. Also, I do think she worked while Dan attended medical school & law school. They had four lovely kids. Don’t say if he wouldn’t have married Betty who he stated she was going to marry her.
Janice, you need to find something else to do. You are a bore.
Correction: Don’t say if he wouldn’t have married Betty, he would not have had to support her and four children. They both dragged their kids through the dirt and he stated to all of his friends and family that he was going to make Betty his wife!! Plus, I cannot stand cheaters. True, she should have moved on, but she chose a different path.
End of story!
“Chose a different path”. What a quaint, innocent-sounding way to refer to cold-blooded murder.
To alleviate your boredom, I feel it my duty to point out that nobody forces you to read anything that I type.
I have plenty to do, and I do it, during the weeks and months between my posts on this forum. It doesn’t take me long at all to shoot down the nonsense which is rife on this page, leaving plenty of time for responsibilities and leisure time activities.
He had it comin’
He had it comin’
He only had himself to blame…
I betcha you would have the same
Amen he push that woman into that crime. He wa a very self-loathing evil son of a Bitcccch a real mind player with the games. So in the end he got just what was coming to him, his side whore.
I agree, she was subjected to Dan’s BS games, he wanted to live with Linda but control Betty’s happiness. He was deplorable, her actions were reactions to his abuse. I think Betty should be out, she is 75, up in age, done 30 years. Let her go and have the last 10 years of her life in peace.
Control her happiness? LOL. Betty had a boyfriend and even after all of the harassment she had put Dan through, even after being sick enough to fire her divorce attorneys so she could question Dan in person in court, even after she didn’t have custody of her kids because she dumped them one by one on Dan’s front porch, she was getting $16,000 dollars A MONTH from Dan.
What Dan wanted to control was HIS and LINDA’s happiness. He wanted a life for himself and for Linda without Betty’s vicious harassment. And for that, they both paid with their lives.
Betty needs to die in prison and be thankful she didn’t fry.
Janice, give it a rest already and move on with your life. You’re over the top and have to have the last word. Talk about obsession.
I was thinking the EXACT same thing! Hello Kettle….Meet Black!
Janice appears to be on the path of Betty…..
Gets fixated on one thing and it’s her way or the Highway. OBSESSION!
Yep. Just call me the WaPo Practical Gal of Findadeath.
(Practical Gal was a defender of Harry and Meghan who answered every single critical comment about them in the WaPo comments sections.)
That betty broderick is so rude and so maen mother she dan and linda broderick got married and rising kid dan and linda broderick together with him and his family and his wife were sleeping together and we had lunch and dinner tonight are you gonna call betty broderick so maen mother and bad linda broderick is good mother for children and she loves dan so much fun and that stay away from betty broderick so maen and
Murder is not the solution but I can understand why Betty reacted – you can only take so much abuse. Dan and Linda got what they deserved and Betty is paying for her crime. Linda paid the price for having an affair with a married man of 4 kids. Sad for the kids.
Horrible situation. I read someplace that Betty is consistently getting turned down for parole because of a failure to acknowledge her crime and express remorse for her actions. Clearly she never learned how to tell a good lie, and clearly each member of that parole board thinks that magic words spoken during a game of make believe is somehow an acceptable use of my tax dollars.
Betty was a psychotic freak and deserves to be in prison. She couldn’t handle it, and was obsessed with her X. She should have moved on but didn’t because she was a weak, psychotic freak.
Let that happen to you and let’s see what you would day then?
You’re absolutely right!
I will step right up and say that if my husband left me for another woman, while I am sure it would be a difficult time in my life, I would not mercilessly harass them, dump my kids on them without warning, and finally kill them. That’s not hard to know or to say.
Maybe Dan was an abusive manipulator who paraded his whore to everyone while gaslighting his wife. Brought it on himself.
Linda’s family… is that you?
You should put yourself in her shoes. I am betting Betty said to herself at one point that she could never harm a soul. Think about the torture this woman went through. I sincerely hope nothing like this every happens to you.
I used to think she was crazy too….UNTIL IT HAPPENED TO ME! I totally understand her now. TOTALLY.
Nancy, you are correct.
Betty was a psychotic freak and deserves to be in prison. She couldn’t handle it, and was obsessed with her X. She should have moved on but didn’t because she was a weak, psychotic freak.
You sound naive and must live a very easy life to bot understand what was going on here. Happy for you:)
Betty should have murdered Danny boy before she married him
Betty deserved better. Not a reason to murder, but I understand why she did it. Dan was a
P I G!!
“It’s a thin line between love and hate”
I feel no remorse for Dan or Linda. No, Betty should not have murdered them but Dan deserved to have his a** whipped a time or 2. Linda knew that he was married and didn’t care. She wanted the lifestyle and Betty out. Betty supported this jacka** while he was in med school and law school and barely saw him once he began to practice.
As Dan moved up in status, he lost interest in Betty and I question if he was merely using her to take care of him and put on the appearance of a happy marriage for his benefit. He wanted to move up in affluence less Betty. I wish she had played it cool because had she done so, eventually, what Dan did with Linda, he would do to her. Once he married his mistress, her sidechick position would have been up for hire.
Dan wanted to make Betty look like the crazy one to cover up his affair and used his legal largess to manipulate the system and get rulings without Betty’s consent. Well Dan and Linda, how’d that work out?
While I don’t condone the murder, I can definitely understand the rage behind it.
That was very well put, very well.
Well said, and I firmly believe had Dan lived, he would have done the same thing to Linda at some point.
Look. People do not deserve to be killed for dissolving marriages and/or for having affairs with married people.
Sure, Betty should have played it cool, but Betty is a mentally ill malignant narcissist, so she was unable to do so. And given the fact that she IS a mentally ill malignant narcissist, I really have to lean towards believing that she was not a good wife to Dan, and thus that Dan was not completely to blame for the breakdown of the marriage.
I’d be careful about saying you understand the rage behind the murders. You really don’t want to keep company with a sicko like Betty.
First pic is not Linda, that’s Betty
She who boffs her boss and wrecks a family. Linda made choices that landed her where she is today.
Ridiculous. Nobody is choosing death by having sex, no matter who it is they are choosing to have sex with.
Also, I don’ t believe for one minute that Dan and Betty were happy as pigs in a sty before Linda entered the picture, and that everything would have been happily-ever-after Pink Palace Nirvana if only Linda hadn’t entered the picture. Happily married men do not leave their wives for other women. Happily married men WILL have affairs with other women, but they will not leave their wives for their affair partners. Only unhappily married men do that. No outsider can wreck a family. Only the family members can do that.
I read the Bella Stumbo book a long time ago. Linda Kolkena had been a flight attendant, but she was fired ‘for cause’ — whatever that was. I can hardly believe she was Dan Broderick’s soul mate; i assume he was tired of Betty, and he fell for the first willing pretty face that came along. (‘He searched and searched all over the world for the perfect helpmeet, and — what an amazing trick of fate! She was sitting right there at the receptionist’s desk!’) I assume he would have been bored with Linda eventually and married the next willing pretty face that came along.
BTW, Meredith Baxter did a great job of capturing Betty’s angry hysteria. Amanda Peete is fine, but she doesn’t seem to be playing a woman driven to murder.
I dunno…sounds to me like that Betty was at least as much of an asshole as the other two were. At least.
NO HE ENJOYED WATCHING BETTY SUFFER. I have a friend who’s father was an attorney in San Diego back in the 80’s when this happened, and he said basically dan Broderick, for the most part, was bar none, the most powerful attorney within the legal community in San Diego at that time. He was president of the San Diego bar association and he won EVERY case he fought and he was friends with most judges. That’s why he was able to use his power to destroy Betty. He took EVERYTHING from her, after she helped put him through law and medical school. if she wanted to live in peace, she felt that she had to get rid of them….she’s in prison, but no more degradation by the man YOU put through law and medical school, and his teen whore airline stewardess secretary trophy wife is done ✅ too
You’re very accurate about that and I totally agree. Dan was a a sociopath, not Betty. Betty was simply driven out of her mind by all the pettiness and cruelty. Dan could have treated her better and agreed to divide their assetts 50-50. Abd it made me sick to see her rotten,shallow kids on Dan’s side ! I read that Linda the slut bag sent photos of fat women to Betty in the mail.
Bunch of angry chicks on this page
…..and a butthurt male, apparently.
Yet here you are commenting.
Yep. Have zero remorse dan or Linda. Sucks they died but actions have consequences for everyone….l including those who get murdered
That’s nonsense, no matter what your friend’s father claimed. It’s well documented that Betty was able to hire, and did hire, very well qualified divorce attorneys who very capable of taking on Dan Broderick’s attorneys in court and could have won Betty a more substantial settlement than she received, BUT she refused to cooperate with these attorneys and fired them. Why? Because she didn’t WANT a better settlement, because if she got one, she wouldn’t be able to play the victim to the extent she did.
That, and her sick mind was just lusting after the chance to personally question Dan in court.
Also, she did not put Dan through law and medical school. His parents paid for his first post graduate degree and he got a loan to pay for the second. So let’s put that nonsense to rest please.
Dan did not take EVERYTHING from Betty. Betty took EVERYTHING from herself, including her own children, because she LOVED playing the victim for the world. She WANTED to be the victim. She didn’t have to be. She’s a sick sick woman.
Also, slut shaming isn’t cool.
But the loan was in both their names. She was still paying her share until the day he died.
That is still not “putting” him “through school.” The point of a loan to pay for education is that it is repaid after graduation, when it’s assumed that the person who received the loan will obtain employment, and presumedly better employment than if he or she had never received the education the loan paid for, and be able to afford the payments.
During the years 1973 to 1985, the years when Dan had obtained that employment and he and Betty were still living together, she did not work outside the home. She was benefiting from his employment, so it was fair that she should be technically responsible, through being married to him, for half of the loan payments.
This is exactly the situation that occurred with my husband and me (although my husband certainly didn’t pull in the millions that Dan eventually did), and I have never believed that I put my husband through school.
During the years between the separation and the divorce being finalized, Dan paid the loan entirely himself. The judge ruled when the divorce was finalized that Betty did owe for half of the loan payments, but even after that deduction, she was receiving 16,000 dollars a month from Dan.
She had benefited from his education, not only during the years they were together but also during and after their divorce (how many divorcees do YOU know who receive 16,000 dollars a month from their ex-husbands?) so there was nothing unfair about that. And it is not the same as working your fingers to the bone to pay for an education as it is obtained, with no future payment obligations, which is what people imply when they say she “put him through school.”
By the way, SC, it was very noticeable when I first read your post that you viciously insult any woman who doesn’t abide by your standards when it comes to their sexual behavior. I’m sure you’d love it if that could be codified into law. But it took a second reading for me to really notice the words “airline stewardess secretary”. Enlighten us, please. Are the professions of flight attendant and secretary worthy of contempt and scorn? Are we to spit upon anyone who holds those positions? Also, are you aware that nobody uses the words “airline stewardess” any longer, but rather they say “flight attendant”? I’m sure you didn’t use the words “airline stewardess” because your opinion is that those words sound less respectable than “flight attendant”. No, impossible.
I agree with you Ian. Betty Broderick was definitely wronged by her ex-husband. But instead of holding her head high and walking away, she wallowed in it. She murdered her children’s father. I have no sympathy for her; she is no better than her ex.
Yes, I absolutely think there’s a sickness present in both parties– Dan and Betty.
I imagine that each of them was damaged long before they met each other and became a couple, by either their parents’ or society’s expectations, values, beliefs, or patterns of familial interaction. People tend to be attracted to others who repeat the (messed up or healthy) intimacy patterns that they have grown up with; in other words, dysfunction seeks out and is attracted to dysfunction.
I think Betty and Dan probably had a very messed up relationship from the start but kept it together, mostly out of necessity–college/professional school–long enough to accomplish things and get through the hurdles they thought life and society expected of them. Once Dan was no longer reliant on betty to take care of the family and hold down the home front/kids, bc he was finally making the big bucks, he decided it was ok to do whatever he wanted to do, completely indulge his whims/desires.
He likely always was an incredibly manipulative narcissist and she likely had/has an equally dysfunctional personality disorder……….
We will never know the exact details of what went on between them w/100% certainty or neutrality, but I don’t think this is a case of 1 person being sick/crazy and the other a victim. It’s 2 sick ppl manipulating, hurting and feeding off each other to the point of tragedy.
UG, just casually perusing this website, I had no idea I’d be moved to post on this topic…….
I for one don’t feel sorry for the fuckhead and the bitch; Linda Kolkena was nothing more than a homewrecker, the whore on the side
They got what they deserved….
You’re exactly right! Linda Kolkena’s sister put up a remembrance page for Linda in 2004 but it was rife with all of the Slut’s shenanigans like twirling on a passenger’s lap while a flight attendant which she got fired for, deliberately busting up a family to the point Kolkena’s sister had to pull the site down!
You rejoice that a murdered woman’s sister had to witness her sister’s memory smeared and that it was to the point that she had to take down a remembrance page? Says a lot about you and none of it good.
Have a feeling that Dan woulda outgrown Linda anyways. There are always younger, prettier young receptionists cum paralegals who actually know how to type. Just saying.
You’re as sick as Betty is.
You should be ashamed of yourself, smearing murder victims and slut-shaming to boot. Nobody can wreck a home except the people in the home. The marriage had broken down in everything but name by the time Dan began his relationship with Linda, and whether that was Dan’s fault, Betty’s fault, or the fault of both, we’ll never know for certain, but most likely it was the third of those possiblities.
I have been searching for their crime scene photos and cannot find any.
Love the site! Keep up the good work!..any chance you can add some lost but not forgotten stars…?Howard Hughes??
Next December 2020 Netflix is airing a short series about their marriage and the murders. Mmm can’t wait. Love your site, wish you’d add more stars to it though that have passed away years ago, example James Gandolfini awesome actor ! RIP.
Have you seen the Dirty John one? It’s amazing and finally shows Dan and Linda for the assholes they were. Betty was driven to this.. and why didn’t Dan fix the security system after Betty rammed the front door? It had been 3 years and would’ve saved their lives.
Betty fooled everyone
Did she, though? Seemed like Dan was the devious, sneaky, fooling type.
Smearing these victims is disgusting behavior.
Blaming Dan for not fixing the security system all the while passing over Betty ramming the front door without comment, lol. Because if HE had done THAT, it “would’ve saved their lives”. LOL. You know what else would have “save their lives”? Betty not being a murdering sick maniac, that’s what.
You’ve brought “blame the victim” to comical levels.
Can we say troll Janice? You should be able to since that’s what you are. Who would post this often about this other than you, a narcissist with a mental disease? Oops, just gave you an opening for more garbage from you. Enjoy yourself Janice. lol
Hmmm, well, I almost made a respectful reply to your post above, but now that I’ve seen this one, I see you’re not worthy of that. I have to laugh at you who, with no provocation, used the words “narcissist with a mental disease” calling me a troll.
Come back when you have something pertinent to say. Once I’ve read your words of wisdom on this case, the end result of your reasoning skills, I’ll enjoy watching hell freeze over.