New York State native Elisabeth ( Betty ) Anne Broderick was born on November 7, 1947; she was a homemaker before being convicted of the murder of her ex-husband and his second wife. Second-degree murder charges were filed against her, and she received a sentence of 32 years to life in jail.
Betty Broderick’s net worth is unknown. In early 2019, sources tell us she has a net worth of zero because she was sentenced to prison and lost all of her income as a result of this. It was widely publicized and became a hot-button issue. In the wake of the murder and subsequent trial, many novels have been written.
Early Life, Education, and Marriage
Betty was born and raised in Eastchester, New York, the third of six children whose parents were devout Roman Catholics of Irish and Italian descent. Her father ran a successful plastering business with family members. Since she was a child, her parents instilled in her a strong desire to stay at home and raise a family. After graduating from Eastchester High School in 1965, she enrolled at Mount Saint Vincent College.
Early childhood education was her major at a modest Catholic women’s college in the Bronx. An accelerated curriculum allowed her to complete the degree with a minor in English. The University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, is where she met her future husband, Dan Broderick, who was also from a Catholic family with Irish roots. They got married in 1969, and she was pregnant with their first kid when she returned from their honeymoon. With four more children, the last of which died just two days after delivery, they would have six children in total.
Betty Broderick Marriage Breakdown and Divorce
While attending Cornell University and Harvard Law School, Betty’s husband took out student loans to pay for his education. The family’s financial needs necessitated her taking on the role of primary breadwinner while he was still in school. A number of companies were interested in hiring her spouse because of his dual training in medical and law. The family relocated to the adjacent Coral Reef after he received his first job, and she continued to work part-time while he earned his reputation.
Her husband was a malpractice lawyer who made a lot of money, so she became a stay-at-home parent to take care of the kids while he worked. It was assumed that he was having an affair with Linda Kolkena, a former stewardess, when he employed her as a paralegal in 1983. As a result of Betty’s accusations that her husband had cheated, their marriage ended. When the divorce was finalized, he moved out of the house and finally took custody of all of the children. It was eventually discovered that he had an affair, which led to a lengthy and drawn-out divorce battle that was resolved four years later.
The Murders
Betty’s conduct deteriorated into violence and irrationality at the end of the divorce procedures. The ex-wife bombarded her ex-answering husband’s machine with dozens of profanity-laced messages and repeatedly violated many restraining orders by showing up on his property. It included driving her car into the front of the house, which was vandalized. Despite his ex-misbehavior, wife’s her ex-husband married his paralegal in 1989 despite his reservations.
Using a stolen key from her daughter, Betty broke into the house when Linda and Dan were sleeping and shot them both — Linda was dead instantly, while Dan was still trying to reach for a phone. In the wake of her daughter’s phone call, Betty handed herself in and did not deny that she had fired the shotgun. That she had no intention of murdering the couple and that her act was not premeditated was a claim she made in court.
Betty Broderick Trial
When Betty went on trial, her defense was that she had been an abusive wife for years and had been pushed to the brink. Prosecutors painted her as a killer who planned her ex-death husband’s over an extended period of time. According to the prosecution, she was not a victim of domestic violence because she received financial assistance following her divorce. The first trial resulted in a hung verdict with two jurors holding out for manslaughter alleging a lack of intent after a psychologist found that she had personality issues. A mistrial was proclaimed and a retrial was conducted a year later, but the defendant was found not guilty this time around.
There were no new witnesses or witnesses in this trial because it was a rehash of the earlier trial. Prosecutors on this occasion were more better at getting two counts of second-degree murder from the jury. Two consecutive terms of 15 years to life, plus an additional two years for illegally using a firearm, were imposed on her. Since then, she has been incarcerated at the California Institution for Women, where she is currently serving her term. Three times she has been denied parole.
Pop Culture Effect
After the killings and the trial, Meredith Baxter was nominated for an Emmy Award for her portrayal of Betty in a two-part television film that followed. An episode of “Deadly Women” depicted the murder as well. Before and after her trials, she was granted a slew of magazine and television interviews, including appearances on “Oprah,” “Hard Copy,” and others. Not counting magazine articles, at least four novels have been written about her. An episode of “Law & Order” was also inspired by it, and an episode of “My Favorite Murder” was also based on it.
Read Also: Jack Hartmann Bio, Wiki, Age, Height, Wife, Kids, Net Worth and Songs