[3] Betty Broderick was born Elizabeth Anne Bisceglia[note 1] on November 7, 1947, and grew up in Bronxville, New York.
[4] She was the third of six children born to Marita (née Curtin; 1919–2007)[5] and Frank Bisceglia (1915–1998),[6] who owned a successful plastering business with relatives.
[citation needed] She graduated from the College of Mount Saint Vincent[4][7] in the Bronx, where she earned a degree in early childhood education through an accelerated program.
[8] In 1965, Elisabeth (Betty) met her future husband, Dan Broderick (1944–1989), at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.
[9] Dan was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the eldest son of a very large Irish Catholic family, whose parents had a similar outlook to the Bisceglias.
In the fall of 1982, Dan hired 21-year-old Dutch American Linda Kolkena (1961–1989), a former Delta Air Lines flight attendant,[12] to be his legal assistant.
Betty claimed that Dan confessed he had in fact been having an affair with Linda, and a long, drawn-out, and hostile divorce ensued.
By this time, Dan Broderick had become a prominent local lawyer, serving as the president of the San Diego Bar Association.
Betty claimed that Dan made it extremely difficult for her to find a lawyer willing to represent her in the divorce, which put her at a distinct disadvantage.
[13] Betty also believed that Dan used his legal influence to win sole custody of their children, sell their house against her wishes and cheat her out of her rightful share of his income.
[15] She vandalized his new home, and even drove her car into his front door despite the fact that their children were inside the house at the time.
[8] After the wedding, Betty Broderick claimed that Linda taunted her by mailing her facial cream and slimming treatment ads.
Broderick's defense was that she had been a battered wife, claiming that she was driven over the edge by years of psychological, physical, and mental abuse at the hands of her ex-husband.
[20] The lead detective in the case was Terry DeGelder[21] of San Diego Homicide, who provided testimony for the prosecution.
[22] Broderick's first trial ended with a hung jury when two of the jurors held out for manslaughter, citing lack of intent.
Prosecutor Wells was successful the second time around; the jury returned a verdict of two counts of second-degree murder.
Guest star Shirley Knight was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.
Karen Kilgariff covered the case in episode 103 of My Favorite Murder, recorded live in San Diego.
The second season of the TV series Dirty John features the story of Betty and Dan Broderick from the early years through the homicides.
[32] On July 15, 2020, Oxygen aired a special episode of Snapped devoted to the Betty Broderick case.