Ex-Wife Who Killed Prominent Lawyer Seeks Parole 18 Years After High-Profile Conviction
Updated: Depending on which version you believe, Elisabeth Anne “Betty” Broderick was either a woman driven to murder by the relentless litigation tactics of her well-connected ex-husband, a successful California trial attorney, or a self-centered drama queen unable to come to grips with her anger over a divorce that left her a mere $16,000 a month on which to live in a comfortable La Jolla home.
Now, nearly two decades after her high-profile 1991 second-degree murder conviction for attacking both Daniel Broderick III, 44, and his new wife and legal assistant, Linda Kolkena Broderick, 28, as they slept in their home, she is seeking parole, reports CNN (the news story has since been rewritten to include the fact that parole was denied). At age 62, she has been jailed longer than she was married to her ex-husband, a malpractice lawyer who held degrees from both Harvard Law School and Cornell School of Medicine and was a former president of the San Diego County Bar Association.
The subject of multiple true-crime books and two made-for-television movies following a retrial televised on Court TV, she is faulted by some for portraying herself as a victim and failing to express what they see as sufficient remorse. However, “the test is whether she poses a risk for society,” says attorney Scott Eadie, who is representing Broderick in her parole effort.
About 200 individuals have written in her support he tells CNN. Asked about the remorse issue by the news agency he says “It’s her hearing. Hopefully she’ll show remorse and insight into the crime.”
However, it appears that she may not have helped her cause much with her testimony today at a parole hearing in Chino, Calif., according to a breaking Associated Press news story.
During what the AP describes as “a long rambling commentary,” Broderick said she didn’t remember what happened on the 1989 day when she shot the two in their bed, but felt she had to kill them or kill herself and “couldn’t let them win.” She has previously said she meant to kill herself that day even as she entered their home in violation of a court order, according to CNN.
And, indeed, she was denied parole at the conclusion of the hearing, due to her anger and lack of remorse, as detailed in a subsequent ABAJournal.com post.
She is serving a sentence of 32 years to life.
A Los Angeles Times web page provides links to the newspaper’s coverage of the case between 1989 and 1992.
Updated on Jan. 22 to accord with subsequent coverage that Broderick was denied parole.
