Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Bonus Podcast: Till Death Do Us Part? Broderick divorce ends in shocking double murder

Episode Date: May 27, 2020

A shocking story of marriage, betrayal, and murder. Today, we’ll revisit and examine one of the messiest divorces in history that dominated media headlines and ended in a double homicide. Presented by Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story. The two-episode premiere event of Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story begins Tuesday June 2 at 9/8c on USA. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. Dan and Betty Broderick, a shocking story of marriage, betrayal, and murder. Today, we revisit and examine one of the messiest divorces in history. It dominated media headlines and ended in a double homicide. Let's jump in. Worked two jobs sometimes. Would babysit and would go out door to door to make sure that they could live decently. She claimed she was so afraid of Dan. I was terrorized by him, she says. Holy moly.

Nobody will ever forget the divorce between Dan and Betty Broderick that lasted five hateful, vicious years with me, an all-star panel to break it down and put it back together again. Joining me from L.A., psychoanalyst to the stars, Dr. Bethany Marshall, at Dr. Bethany Marshall on Insta, Joseph Scott Morgan, professor of forensics, Jacksonville State University and author of Blood Beneath My Feet on Amazon, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter Levi Page, and CrimeOnline investigative reporter Sierra Gillespie. Sierra, tell me about their early life and their marriage.

So the early life, it seemed picture perfect. I mean, Betty did put him through college and law school, all of that. They moved to California, and it was picture perfect. I mean, she did put him through college and law school, all of that. They moved to California, and it was picture perfect. I mean, she was a socialite. They dressed well. They had nice things. Everything seemed to be going as planned for them. Absolutely right.

They gave the appearance of having a very happy home. I mean, these two, everybody knew them. The Brodericks, Dan Broderick III, wife Betty, in all of the society pages in the paper. He was a celeb in the local legal circles. He not only graduated from Harvard Law, also from Cornell Medical School, which set him up to be the prominent malpractice attorney. At that time, he was bringing in over a million dollars a year. She was the perfect wife and mom.

She was in charge of the social calendar, taking care of the home, the yard, the housework, all of their, let me just say, appointments and engagements. It was said that he always looked like he was straight out of a magazine, just dressed perfectly. And the society columnist for the San Diego Union describes her as wearing, for instance, Oscar de la Renta. I'm not talking about just looking good. I'm talking about paying thousands and thousands of dollars to look good. But it all started unraveling when Betty Broderick suspects her husband's having an office affair. This is after 16 years of marriage, after he denies and denies and denies, he files for divorce.

And that set off five years of battles so acrimonious. Their case became known as the single worst divorce case in San Diego County. Now, tell me what you know about this, Sierra Gillespie. Claims that Betty Broderick spray painted the inside of their over quarter million dollar hillside home. Yep. That she rammed her car into Dan's front door, left countless obscene messages on his answer machine, defaced court documents. I mean, what can you tell me about the behavior

over these five years? Yeah, so it was really long and drawn out. I mean, to run her car into his home, that's what she did. So she left hundreds of voicemails on his voicemail box saying really obscene things about him and his wife, Linda. Spray painted the house, and he did file multiple restraining orders against her, and she just seemed to ignore them. She wasn't going to take no for an answer and continued arriving trying to talk to him I guess trying to work it out in some sort of way but it was a very malicious divorce to say the least. Almost as soon as the divorce is finalized Dan Broderick marries his legal assistant Linda Kulkana, and Betty's disturbing behavior, escalating, spray painting the home, ramming her car, leaving one obscene message after the next, everything spiraling out

of control. But Levi Page, what else happened? She even sent his new wife, Nancy, mail mail letters in the mail that contain ads for weight loss supplements and skin care lines as if she needed to become more beautiful she was harassing them that way okay wait right right there tell me what all she would do to drive this couple true the husband cheated with the legal assistant and then denied denied denied, denied, then married her. But what was Betty Broderick doing to drive the two of them, you know, insane? What was she doing? She drove a vehicle through their home one time that she would send profane. Okay, yeah, that would drive me.

Profane messages. What was the last thing? She would send profane messages, cussing him out over the telephone. And what is really disturbing is she would get the newspaper and cut out the ads for weight loss supplements and weight loss pills or skin care lines. And she would mail it to his new wife, Linda Broderick. I don't know how everything spiraled so out of control, but did anyone think the events could take such a deadly turn? Did Dan and his new wife wonder, is Betty armed? Is she dangerous? And then we arrive at Sunday, November 5, 1989, in the scene of one of San Diego's most cold-blooded murders.

What do we know? Sarah Gillespie, tell me about the night of the murders. So the night of the murders, it actually happened really early in the morning. Buddy had stolen a key and broke into the home. She went inside. Linda and Dan were both sleeping, so she fired shots at Linda first. Linda actually reached towards Dan and said, call 911. He was shot multiple times.

So in all, five bullets were shot. Linda died instantly. And Betty had said that she was going there just to confront them and that she was going to kill herself but rather she killed both of them okay so she somehow managed to finagle a key so it's not like she broke the window in she finagles a key and gets into the home okay levi page what happens when she gets into the home do we know the time of the day or night, Levi? Yeah, Nancy, it's early in the morning, and she goes into the home, and when she shot her ex-husband, Dan Broderick, he did not die immediately.

And his last words to her was, okay, you've shot me. Now you've killed me. Joseph Scott Morgan, professor of forensics, Jacksonville State, and author, Blood Beneath My Feet on Amazon, she had a gun that she had had for two years, a.38 caliber five-shot revolver. What can you tell me about that weapon? Yeah, it is a revolver. It's compact.

It's a five-shot as opposed to most revolvers that are six. I would imagine that it is a short barrel or snub nose, something that's easy to conceal, Nancy. But what I do know is that it doesn't have a tremendous range of fire with accuracy. So what that tells us about the scene is after she was bold enough to break into this home, even though she had a key, She's there illegally. She goes into the bedroom. She had to close that distance. Let's stop right there and take a listen to D.A. Carrie Wells describe what happened next.

No matter what else she wants to say to you now about what happened in that room that morning and what and why her reactions were what they were, the cold, hard facts of what actually happened in the room are indisputable. There is no getting around them. There is no getting around the fact that that first shot into Linda was right through her chest as she lay flat on her back in her bed. If she had time to react at all to the defendant being in there pointing a gun at her, she sure as heck didn't have much. She was still lying there in the bed. She didn't have time to

sit up. She didn't have time to dive off the bed. She didn't have time to do anything to protect herself. That gun was pointed at her heart. The trigger was pulled when it was pointed at her heart, and she could do nothing to protect her life. There is no getting around the fact that the defendant had to then change her aim, change her direction of pointing that gun in order to shoot Dan Broderick in the back. Take a moment to let that all sink in. Now, let's continue to pull back the layers on what happened in the bedroom that morning to Professor of Forensics, Jacksonville State University, Joseph Scott Morgan, who is with us. Joe Scott, piece together the forensics and tell me what you think happens. We know the phone was yanked out of the wall. We know that much had happened at the scene. That goes to preparation and planning, doesn't it, Nancy? That is that somebody shows up with intent to impede the ability to call for help at that point. So there's planning going on here. And listen what counsel said just a second ago. She stated that she didn't have time to raise up. That gives us an

indication of the trajectory of fire, that this woman literally stood over this woman, this other woman, the deceased in bed and fired directly into her chest and then scored a headshot. She turned the weapon and shot her in the head. The husband reactively rolls to one side, probably to raise the alarm, to call, to get away. And she nails him in the back. She fires two more wayward rounds, but he still had enough life within him to proclaim, as Levi mentioned just a moment ago, well, you've shot me, I'm dead. And, and that's, that gives you an idea of how close all of this was. It was, it was, it was a very intimate event. They're on top of one another. And Nancy, I can tell you this from working a lot of these cases, because this is a headshot, the bedding itself would have just been effused with blood. There

would have been blood everywhere. So it would have made it particularly difficult for the investigators at that time to process this scene. Why did she do it? Did Betty Broderick believe she was entitled to happily forever after with her ex-husband footing the bill for her? Take a listen to what Betty Broderick's defense attorney, Jack Early, had to say. He didn't want her to leave. She is somebody that through medical school and through law school worked two jobs sometimes, would babysit and would go out door to door to make sure that they could live decently. When they went to San Diego, she worked nights.

She worked weekends. She worked two jobs so that they could be successful. At that point in time, Dan had no interest in telling her to leave to hang in there to a period of time where she's a different person we all know the difference between our 20s and when we come into our 30s so she puts him through medical school and law school she kept working for them to be successful okay so to dr bethany marshall psychoanalyst joining me out of Beverly Hills. Dr. Bethany, I recall a good friend who had a boyfriend. She worked multiple jobs. She helped him pay his child support. She helped him pay his rent.

She helped him pay whatever he had to pay. And in the end, after he was cheating on her, she called not only him but his parents about paying her back. I don't think it was about the money. I think it was about the sense of betrayal that you break your back to support somebody and then what do they do? I think that's where she's coming from. I do think so too, Nancy. This is a huge betrayal. They marry young. She puts them through undergraduate and graduate school, works two jobs. She has poured her life

and soul into this man. Now, Betty Broderick's defense attorney cited psychological abuse and gaslighting in Betty Broderick's defense. What is gaslighting, Dr. Bethany? Gaslighting is when you treat somebody in such a way that you undermine their perceptions and make them feel crazy. So let's say Dan would say something like, you know what, you look like you put on a little bit of weight. And then she says, ouch, that's mean. Oh, no, no, I was just saying it because I love you. So gaslighting is when you undermine a person's perception. You say things that drive them crazy, and then you deny the fact that you're doing it. You know, to Levi Page and Sierra Gillespie, we just heard Dr. Bethany Marshall say what gaslighting is.

It's like you trigger somebody to agitate them, like you do it on purpose. Did that happen here to Levi Page, Crime Online? So gaslighting is a psychological game. They are victimizing that person, but they're making that person believe that they're crazy for thinking that something wrong is happening or something wrong going on. So the defense claimed that Dan was having an affair and that he told her she was just imagining things, that she was crazy, that she was paranoid. And it turned out that she was right. He was having an affair with his legal assistant. And then after she found out that they had an affair and he left her for his legal assistant, who was much younger, he started saying that it was all Betty Broderick's fault,

that she wasn't pretty enough, she wasn't young enough, he was unhappy in the marriage, and he gaslighted her that way, according to the defense. But would a jury believe Dan Broderick's behavior and alleged gaslighting was enough to let Betty Broderick off the hook for double murder? Let's jump into the trial. Take a listen to Carrie Wells. She claims she was so afraid of Dan. I was terrorized by him, she says. If you're truly afraid of something or someone, you run the other way. You stay away. You don't continually bang them on the head.

That makes no sense, and that's what she was doing. A woman who is truly afraid of what her ex-husband, for example, might do does not intentionally aggravate him, does not intentionally taunt him, does not intentionally demand that he do things now or else, does not express glee over publicly embarrassing him, does not threaten to kill him over and over. This is not a woman who was afraid. She's the one who said in one of those messages, she says to Dan, tells me you're afraid of me. You of the most notorious killers in U.S. history. Was she hell-bent on revenge? I think what was so irritating to so many was she seemed totally unapologetic, even claiming abuse at a high-profile trial.

The media circus surrounding the trial was intense. Describe it to Levi Page, Crime Online. Yes, Nancy, this was a very high-profile case that was televised nationally, and the nation was gripped by it. And Betty Broderick even testified in her own defense, Nancy, that's something that we don't usually see in a lot of trials. And she testified about how he had an affair, that he was abusive towards her, not only physically but mentally and psychologically.

And this case gripped the nation. They really tried to put the murder victim on trial. Well, from what I understand, she had gotten into the house on one occasion, grabbed her ex-husband's Armani suits and started a bonfire in the front yard, smashed windows, spray painted walls, tried to light the home on fire, drove her car through the front door, ruined the alarm system, left lewd messages. But, you know, at a certain point, if you want leniency, you have to repent. Did nobody see Oceans 11 or Oceans, however many there are? First thing you see, Clooney describing how he was gonna change and you see who I love Sandra Bullock love love love saying the same thing you gotta show the pro board remorse and same for a jury you gotta look like you're sorry or at least for Pete's sake

fake it media circus just ate this up with a spoon. But listen to what happened at trial. This is the trial judge, George McAllister. We are unable to reach a unanimous decision between murder and manslaughter for Dan or Linda Broderick. She's not relieved that the prospect that this has to go, you know, has to go forward again. I'm disappointed. I thought the evidence supported a verdict and was hoping for a verdict. So I'm disappointed. Wow, a mistrial with all that evidence.

What went wrong? But then, second trial. Listen to this. We, the jury, in the above entitled cause, find the defendant, Elizabeth Ann Broderick, guilty of the crime of murder, in violation of penal code section 187, a felony as charged in count one of the information, and fix the degree thereof as murder in the second degree. Victim, Daniel Broderick. With the jury in the above entitled cause, find the defendant, Elizabeth Ann Broderick, guilty of the crime of murder and violation of Penal Code Section 187,

a felony as charged in count two of the information and fix the degree thereof as murder in the second degree. Victim, Linda Broderick. Wow. Okay. Two counts of second degree murder. Betty Broderick still sits in prison to this day defiant and showing no remorse for the murders. Our partners at USA Network have adapted this true crime tale into a TV series, Dirty John, the Betty Broderick story, premiering June 2nd, 9, 8 central on USA. But we want to give our listeners a sneak peek. Take a listen.

In the early morning hours of Sunday, November 5th, 1989, in an affluent neighborhood of San Diego, five shots rang out. Dan Broderick, a prominent localist, affluent neighborhood of San Diego, five shots rang out. Dan Broderick, a prominent local attorney, and his beautiful young wife, Linda, lay dead. The killer? A blonde suburban stay-at-home mom named Betty, Dan's ex-wife. I'm a woman being divorced in America. I have no rights. I'm an obstruction. How did Dan and Betty Broderick go from all-American couple. I want you to feel happy and secure. You are the most important person I have in the whole universe and I'd be lost without you. To victim and killer.

Mom you can't be here. I can't be on a doorstep. You're in violation of a court order, and you know it. Theirs is an epic story of love. We have each other. I'll take care of you the way you take care of me. The number one thing I loved about you in the beginning was how much you loved me and showed it. Marriage. I'm scared.

I don't feel like I'm worth anything. I feel like we are speeding in the dark and I can't see what's up ahead. Betrayal. Betty, what about you? How are you? I'm good. I think Dan's banging his assistant, but I'm good.

I called her today and she answers the phone. Hello? You think you decide who works for me? I said get rid of her by the end of the month or you can get out of this house. I pay for your life. So if anyone's going to be getting out, it's you. And murder. From now on, you come on the Coral Reef property with my permission or you go to jail.

How am I supposed to see my kids? With my permission. I've left messages on the machine with your maid, with your secretary. I just want to ask you something. You're making me mad. I'll kill you. That became a national obsession. Mrs. Broderick is charged with two counts of first-degree murder.

Mr. Carpenter, how does your client plead? We enter a plea of not guilty. And a worldwide media sensation. Elizabeth Broderick imposed the death penalty on Dan and Linda. They didn't get to present their case in front of a jury before she executed them. See how their perfect life all fell apart. To know how Elizabeth Broderick got here, you have to see who she is and who Dan Broderick was. The Golden Globe-nominated hit series Dirty John returns. There's more to you than money, Danny boy.

Is there? Based on the shocking true crime. I'll call the cops. Oh, I knew you. They'll arrest you best you'll have me arrested you'll go to jail this time you'll have me sent to jail starring amanda pete what else am i gonna do what else do i have no kids no money no life and christian slater the only thing betty cares about is money that's the only thing she has ever cared about without

me there isn't any she's not gonna kill the golden me, there isn't any. She's not going to kill the golden goose. She just isn't. Dirty John, the Betty Broderick story. I'm amazed it only took one bullet to kill Dan Broderick. Premieres June 2nd on USA Network. You're listening to an iHeart Podcast.