Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - KILLER WIVES: Husband+Girlfriend=Murder

Episode Date: August 7, 2020

Socialite homemaker Betty Broderick seems to have it all, a successful husband, beautiful children, and a beautiful home. That's idyllic image falls apart when Dan Broderick files for divorce then marries his former mistress. What Betty Broderick does next become fodder for multiple books and a Hollywood byline as husband + girlfriend = murder.Joining Nancy Grace today: Jim Elliott - Attorney with Butler Snow, legal counsel for various Georgia municipalities and other governmental entities Psych Dr. Angela Arnold - Psychiatrist, Atlanta Ga Jeff Cortese - Former FBI Special Agent Jennifer Shen - Forensic Pathologist, Former San Diego Police Department Crime Lab Director Ray Caputo - Lead News Anchor for Orlando's Morning News, 96.5 WDBO Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. How does a high-profile lawyer raking in hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, his beautiful trophy wife, and their gorgeous children at home, all end up in the middle of a murder investigation? Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us here at Fox Nation and Sirius XM 111. Take a listen to our friends at Oxygen. When it came time for college, Dan chose prestigious Notre Dame, enrolling as a pre-med major. In 1965, during his junior year, Dan ran into 17-year-old Betty Besheglia, a striking blonde co-ed from New York City who happened to be visiting a friend in South Bend. Betty came from New York and she was in school. She was successful. She was a model. She worked all the time while she was going through

school. Betty was a very intelligent person. She was amazingly quick. She was funny. When Betty met Dan, she was majoring in child psychology at Mount St. Vincent College in New York City. Her brazen personality is charming at first and fun. And he was this quiet, kind of introvert, hardworking, studious guy. And he saw that as almost a compliment to his personality. Betty had an image of her life, which meant that she would also want to be with somebody who was very goal-oriented, very successful.

Still, Betty turned down Dan's first request for a date. You are hearing the story of these two, Dan and Betty, meeting in college. With me, an all-star panel to break it down and put it back together again, how this seemingly picture-perfect family ends up in a murder investigation. With me, Jim Elliott, attorney for Butler Snow, representing multiple municipalities at butlersnow.com. Renowned psychiatrist, Dr. Angela Arnold joining us from the Atlanta jurisdiction, former Fed with the FBI, Jeff Cortese, Jennifer Shen, forensic pathologist and the former San Diego Police Department crime lab director.

And you can find her at Jen Shen forensics dot com. But right now to Ray Caputo, lead news anchor for WDBO. Ray Caputo, so I'm understanding that Dan was also a medical doctor as well as a lawyer? Nancy, this guy was exceptional. I mean, he not only got a medical degree from Cornell, right after that, where most people probably never want to see the inside of a college classroom again, this guy goes on to get a law degree at Harvard. So he was one of the rare people, ambitious types that had an MD and a JD. He was, he was a pretty ambitious guy. You know, to get an MD and a JD to you, Dr. Angela Arnold, psychiatrist joining us out of Atlanta. How long did it take you to get your medical degree?

Well, it takes four years to get a medical degree. That's after college. After four years of undergrad. And then, you know, typically people go on to do an internship and a residency. You know what? I'm having a hard time hearing you. Let me understand what you just said. You said four years undergrad, then four years getting your medical degree. That's eight years. And then how long as an intern or a resident? It depends on what you go into. It can be anywhere from three to seven years to do your internship, residency, and a fellowship after that. And to you, Jim Elliott, attorney with Butler Snow, joining us. Jim, how long does it take to get a law degree?

So after your bachelor's degree of four years, then law school is three years at a minimum. So at least three years. Whoa, so this guy, back to you Ray Caputo, has a law degree and a medical degree, correct? Yes, that is correct, Nancy. Whoa, and what about the wife Betty? What does she study? What does she do? Well, that is correct, Nancy. Whoa. And what about the wife, Betty? What does she study? What does she do? Well, she was, she was attending college when the two met early, early on in the 60s. And she was into child psychology, seemed to have a career in front of her. She was studying also to do work with kids. So she had a career in front of her. But like a lot of couples, Nancy, back then, it was, you know,

a one-parent household. You didn't have to have two parents going to work. So Betty decided to stay home with a growing family, and while Dan was in college, they were having kids. In fact, they had several kids before he ever got out of college. So she was that typical housewife. She had her job, but her job was at home. okay so i i couldn't quite hear what you were saying what was she studying to do for a living she was i believe studying child psychology in college and then she had went on and started working as a teacher until she had gotten pregnant okay so she was a teacher right is that what you're saying so So she's a teacher. He's a lawyer slash medical doctor. Rick Caputo, WDBO.

Was he practicing law or did he ever actually practice medicine? He never practiced medicine, Nancy. He got burned out and that's why he decided to go to Harvard Law. But he realized where the money was at. You know, medical malpractice is a big banking industry. And that's what he decided to get into. So he never really practiced medicine, but he did clearly understand it. Okay, and to you, Jim Elliott, lawyer with Butler Snow.

Jim, you just heard Caputo say he knew where the money is. Med mal, medical malpractice. In a nutshell, and don't start talking like a lawyer, what is MedMouth? Well, it's where you would file litigation or submit claims on behalf of any allegedly injured plaintiff that was injured by any kind of health care provider. Most commonly, it's a misdiagnosis, a botched surgery, any of a number of things, but any professional claim of liability against a medical provider. Okay, you know what? Let me break that down in regular people talk.

That means you're suing doctors and hospitals who have lots and lots of money for your misdiagnosis or your mistreatment that you would not have suffered had they properly diagnosed you or treated you. That's big money when you start suing, for instance, a hospital that's part of hospitals all over the country. I remember working on a antitrust case when I was with the feds, and it was against Memorial Medical. Well, I quickly found out they were one such hospital as part of a chain, not all under the same name, all across the country. It was a huge, huge business, health care. So when you've got a med mal lawyer, medical malpractice lawyer, going after a hospital, after doctors who we think make a lot of money.

You're looking at millions and millions of dollars in settlements. Would you agree with that, Jim Elliott? Absolutely. And, you know, someone with a medical degree would certainly have a level of expertise that most plaintiff's lawyers would not. So that would even give him a greater advantage to understand the records, the testimony, the depositions, all those sorts of things. Now, this is what we know about wife Betty. She was born Elizabeth Ann, grew up in a New York suburb, a very nice suburb, had Catholic parents, Frank and Maria,

five siblings. So she comes from a big family. And isn't it true, Dr. Angela Arnold, when you come from a big family, you're more likely to, Dr. Angela Arnold, when you come from a big family, you're more likely to have your own big family? Well, it would certainly be something you were accustomed to and felt comfortable with. So yes, I think you would be more likely to want to have a big family. Yeah, I always wanted four children. Somehow I got a late start after my fiance's murder and ended up having two. But I wanted four. My family had three. And I think when you're used to that, you're conditioned to having a big family. Guys, we're talking about how a picture perfect family ends up in the middle of a double murder investigation. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.

This is what else we know about Betty. Private school, huge wardrobe, beautiful home, country club, went to College of Mount St. Vincent, meets Dan. He was beginning his senior year. They get married and settle down in La Jolla. Now, joining me is Jennifer Shin, forensic pathologist, former San Diego Police Department crime lab director. What kind of area is La Jolla? What is that? I mean, New York City, you think of tall high rises. In Florida, you think of the Sunshine State. What's La Jolla known for? La Jolla is known for stunning homes on a stunning coastline. It is absolutely gorgeous. The homes are huge and beautiful and high up, and they overlook the ocean and the beaches.

And La Jolla itself is a very beautiful little beach town. I mean, it is high-end, very wealthy, exceptionally, exceptionally beautiful place to live. And with that is a big price tag. Yes. But, of course, you know, when you look from the outside looking in, here they are with this mansion, the family, the pool, the country club, the works. Why is it? Why can't rich people be happy? I've never understood it. Take a listen to Dave Mack, CrimeOnline.com. Betty and Dan Broderick marry

in April of 1969. Dan Broderick completes his MD degree at Cornell University, then enrolls at Harvard Law School. When he graduates, he's hired by a law firm in San Diego, California, and the family relocates to La Jolla, California. Betty Broderick continues to work part-time selling Tupperware or Avon products while raising four children. In the fall of 1982, Dan hires 21-year-old former Delta Airlines flight attendant Linda Kolkina as his legal assistant. Within a year, Betty Broderick accuses her husband of having an affair. He denies being involved with his legal assistant, but the marriage broke down. Dan Broderick moves out of the home he shares with Betty Broderick and their children in February of 1985. Well, there you go. There you go. You know what, Dr. Angela Arnold? Here she is, Betty, selling Tupperware and Avon to put him, she helped him get through medical and law school.

She worked and paid the bills to get him through school. And had his babies. Tupperware. Can I tell you a story, Dr. Angela? So my dad very often was working the night trick, and he would be gone. So I'd get home from school, and my sister and I would get dinner going. And my mom would get home from work, usually late, and it would be just about that time when the doorbell would ring, and it would be Mrs. Long, the Avon lady. She was a recent widow and was on hard times. And my mom, whatever we were having, we would make another place at the table.

My sister, my brother, my mom, me, and Miss Long. And, I mean, she had the most beautiful face, gray hair, short. And we would all have dinner together. At first, she'd always go, oh, no, no, no, I just couldn't, but we'd talk her into it. When I think of Betty selling Avon and Tupperware to put the husband, Dan, through medical school, and then he decided he was burned out, then he wanted to go to law school? Seriously?

After eight years of med school that she puts him through, then he wants to go to law school? I'd say, you know, take a correspondence class, dear. Go to work. But she puts him through that, has all these children, gets the house straight, and then, I mean, surprise me.

Could it be anybody other than your assistant just surprise me once or the checkout girl at the GNC nutrition vitamin store I mean so he has an affair with the assistant what is that for being grateful your wife has four children puts you through medical school and law school, and then you sleep with the assistant? Nancy, how do we know he ever was grateful about anything that she had done for him? I don't know that he was. He apparently had a very high opinion of himself. There aren't many people who go to... You know, Dr. Angela, Dr. Angela, when I introduce you as a psychiatrist, I expect for you to at least throw some Latin terms at me for Pete's sake. Say, oh, he's a little too pleased with himself. I mean, I can say that. Help me out, Angela. very many people go to law school and then decide that they need to go to go to law excuse me not

very many people go to medical school and then decide they need to go to law school to sue doctors you know what you're right that's the first time i thought of that insight so he goes through eight years of medical school then he decides oh you know what to he double l with that i'm going to sue all these guys i just went to college with. Med mal attorneys do not really like doctors. It's just sort of typical across the board. You know, we're not friends with each other. Okay. And so it says a lot about him that he went to medical school and then decided and then figured out I could make a lot more money suing these suckers than actually practicing medicine. And I'm just going to have my wife support me a little bit more through that. And to me, I'm looking at a severe narcissist here.

Well, the relationship went even more sideways, an already contentious relationship between Dan and Betty. It takes a new twist that November because he, the husband, threatens a criminal contempt charge against wife Betty, who continues to leave, let's just say, lewd messages on his and Linda's answering machine. Uh-oh, did I leave out the part where they get married? Take a listen to our friends at Oxygen. Betty started dating a younger man, Brad Wright.

And Dan married his former paralegal, Linda Kolkina. On the surface, it looked like Betty and Dan had both found new loves. And they should have both been happy with their lives. They should have been ready to move on. But everything comes crashing down on the morning of November 5th, 1989. We're responding to the call on a house on Cypress Way. The caller, Brad Wright, tells the dispatcher that the home in question belongs to prominent attorney Dan Broderick and his new wife, Linda,

and the couple needs help fast. Officer Dominic Valleli is the first to arrive. I speak to the gentleman out front, and he tells me he's been inside and he found what he believes is two dead bodies up in the master bedroom. And they've both been shot. In the bedroom, there were two bodies,

a female and a male. The two victims at the scene were Dan and Linda Broderick. I checked for signs of life, and they were both deceased. The female was laying face down with an obvious gunshot wound to the back of her head. The male was kind of half underneath the bed, had a gunshot wound to his chest. Guys, you're hearing our friends at Oxygen describing the crime scene at the home of Dan Broderick and his brand new wife, Linda Broderick. Straight back out to Ray Caputo joining us from WDBO. These two are dead in the home.

But that was the culmination of many, many months of anger and animosity between Dan, the new wife, Linda, and the ex, Betty. Describe to me what happened in the preceding months. Oh, Nancy, I mean, months, you could even say years. I mean, it starts with the phone calls, you know, and these are really vile phone calls. I mean, she's calling Dan every name in the book. And one of them that really struck me was a phone call that was recorded that came out between Betty and her 11-year-old son, where she's having this open conversation that you should not have with an 11-year-old, saying all kinds of vile things about the kid's dad.

The kid's pleading with her to stop saying bad things. And, I mean, she comes out and straight up says, you know, I wish your dad was dead. I wish Linda got drunk and drove off a cliff. Hold on just a moment. The language that was used in front of their children that they had together. Take a listen to this. When you're hoping on getting anything, you better stop saying bad words. Take a listen to this. I just said, and hung up the phone, and he thought it was me, and it wasn't. Who was it? I don't know.

Somebody else must call him. I call him. See what I mean, Mom? You keep on calling him bad words, and it's just going to make things a lot, lot worse. And you won't stop, will you? Until you get your share of money. He's scum, Danny.

He's absolute scum. He has cheated and lied and around. He's scum, Danny. He's absolute scum. He has cheated and lied and f***ed around. There's nothing more. Don't you think being mad for two years is enough, though, Mom? Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. but it's not going to do any good to keep on saying bad words.

It's just going to make it a lot worse. Somebody called up Daddy's kid's s***head and hung up the phone and he thought it was me and it wasn't. Who was it? I don't know. Somebody else must call him s***head. I call him s***head. See what I mean, Mom? You keep on calling him bad words

and it's just going to make things a lot, lot worse. And you won't stop, will you? Until you get your share of money. He's scum, Jenny. He's absolute scum. He has cheated and lied and f***ed around. There's nothing more... Don't you think being mad for two years is enough, though, Mom? Oh, gosh. Dr. Angela Arnold, though, Mom? Oh, gosh. Dr. Angela Arnold, psychiatrist, joining me out of Atlanta.

You heard the little boy begging with the mom. And did you hear how many bleeps we had to bleep with the curse words that she was calling her husband? And he may well deserve them for all I know. But this is a little boy. He sounds like between age five and nine, begging with the mom. And did you hear what he says? Mommy, you won't stop until you get your share of the money. Don't you think being mad for two years is enough?

So those children were exposed to an awful lot in all of this, weren't they? But you know, Nancy, it's been my experience that there are one, you can go one or two ways in a marriage like this. You can fight like Betty Broderick did, or you can become very complacent and silent as the wife and accept all of this that is heaped on you until, you know, until the next step happens, which is typically the man leaving you. She was in a very bad position.

I am not going to say that she did anything right. Of course, it's not right to say these things in front of children, but it does show the level of chaos and what a horrific place this marriage had come to, doesn't it? Well, to me, it seems like there should be some sort of, no matter how much animosity there is between you and your husband, to have your son beg you to stop acting so angry and using bad language about the dad. Of course, it also sounds like the dad

has fed the little boy because, you know, thoughts, because the boy is saying, you're just doing this because you're not getting your share of the money. Now, where did he get that? He had to get that from the dad. Right. So the children are being used as pawns by both of the parents. And what does that do to a child? They'll never be right, will they?

Those poor children. How you just be able to depend on your parents, first and foremost on your family, and then on your parents to give you a sense of safety in life. And that safety helps you develop your self-esteem and who you become. So this has been totally ripped out from under these children's feet i mean when you when you grow up in that and you're exposed to that as a child what does it do to you the child as you grow up and you start having relationships maybe your marriage well they they never have, those children never have a sense of calm or a sense of completeness. Or what?

People are not going to be able to lean on them. They don't feel a sense of security. Their sense of security has been robbed. I mean, isn't it true, Dr. Angela, that when you grow up, you seek out the same environment that you had growing up? When you're an adult, that's what you're looking for, whether you realize it or not. That's exactly right, because it's so internalized. It's internalized from the time you're very young. So what else can you look for?

You think that's what a family is that that's what a family structure is made of don't you if that's all you've ever seen well this little boy whose voice you just heard in audio recordings begging mommy not to be so angry well he was right take a listen to our friends at oxygen snapped based on. Based on the position of the bodies, authorities try to piece together what happened. The first shots were fired, as the police understand it, into Linda Broderick. It was clear that Dan obviously heard the shots, so he started rolling off the bed. Dan was shot through the lung, through the back. There were two bullets in Linda.

There's one bullet in Dan. There's one bullet in the wall behind them. There's one bullet in the nightstand next to them. It's a total of five shots. And since no shell casings have been left behind, investigators believe the murder weapon was likely a revolver. The caliber weapon used to murder Dan and Linda was a.38 caliber. Aside from the two bodies, authorities find only one other disturbance in the bedroom.

We found some ripped wires from the wall, telephone lines. And I walked in the hallway and there was the telephone. It looked like it had been taken from the nightstand and out of Dan Broderick's reach. This person ripped the phone out of the wall, took it out into the hallway and dropped it. That would have obviously prevented him from calling for help. So what we see is not only what appears to be a rage shooting, but a certain amount of planning.

Because the phone is ripped out of the wall, so the murder victims can't possibly call for help. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. We are talking about a marriage that blows up into double murder. Take a listen to our friends at Oxygen. Everything comes crashing down on the morning of November 5th, 1989, when Dan and Linda are found shot to death in the bedroom of their Hillcrest mansion. Linda was shot in the chest and in the back of the head. There's no question that head wounds are instant.

You get shot in the head, you're pretty much gone. The same can't be said for Dan, who suffered a single gunshot wound to his chest. I noticed there was white broth coming out of the wound. And if you get shot in the lung, you don't die right away. Basically, you bleed to death. And it blocks your air. He was alive. The medical examiner estimated around 20 minutes.

You are hearing about the shooting deaths of Dan Broderick and his new wife, Linda Broderick. The way that they were shot in bed, lying there, most likely asleep, that the new wife was shot first, that there were multiple gunshot rooms, gunshots all around the room, and that the phone had been ripped out of the wall. To Jeff Cortese, former special agent with the FBI, what does that tell you about the mindset of the killer? There was a lot of passion is what that would tell me. You know, five shots fired, three hit the targets, intended targets, two missed, relatively close proximity, you know, would suggest a certain amount of passion behind those firings. I mean, there probably wasn't a lot of movement. It was, like I said, close proximity, shooting the wife first, you know, all point to a pretty impassioned effort.

Guys, take a listen to this. 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, and 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. Veteran defense attorney, an attorney with Butler Snow representing multiple municipalities. Jim Elliott, do you hear what the lawyer is maneuvering right there? The time it took between the shootings for her to change positions and then shoot her husband. That goes to premeditation.

That she had time to put the gun down, call it all off, and leave, but she didn't. That's right. I mean, that's what the focus was on was the degree of murder. This would be construed as by the jury, by the courts. Premeditation, our intention being would take it to the first degree, and as I understand California law, second degree murder indicates no premeditation or intention on that. So premeditation under the law can be formed in the twinkling of an eye. It can be formed in an instant, the time it takes you to pull a gun up and pull the trigger. That's how quickly

premeditation can be formed. And you hear the lawyer describing how Betty Broderick shoots the new wife as she's asleep in bed, then pivots, moves positions, and goes after her husband. Under the law, that is time for premeditation to form. Premeditation equals murder one. Listen to this. And she tried the front door, but it wouldn't work, so she went around to the back door with the key. Did she tell you whether or not the key worked in the back door? Yes.

She said that it worked. She went into the house and up the stairs and around the TV room now that would bring her into the end of the back entrance way into your dad's bedroom is that correct yes and did she tell you what she did next she said she shot the gun one time, but it fired five or six times. She told me that she didn't know what had happened because the drapes were drawn and it was completely dark. I was asking her if she had hurt anyone, if there was any screams or blood or anything like that. She told me that she didn't think that she had hurt my dad because he had sat up and said, all right, you shot me, I'm dead.

Okay, obviously to you, Ray Caputo a lead anchor, WDBO, she has now gone to her daughter and told the daughter that she shot her husband and thinks she left him alive. Of course, pulling out the phone so he couldn't call for help. But why would you go to your daughter and detail the murder of the stepmother and the husband? Why? I mean, did I get that correct? Isn't that the daughter speaking? Yeah, Nancy. But this is a pattern of behavior with Betty that she is interjecting her child or children into the middle of adult problems.

So we talked about the phone call earlier with the son, the 11-year-old. This is a pattern. This is par pattern for her. This is par for the course for Betty to say things like this to her kids. And I think what she might be hoping is that she is communicating through the children back to the husband, but clearly it's not working well and it's disenfranchising the kids. Guys, I want you to take a listen. Is this a surprise? Did we not see this coming?

Take a listen to San Diego News 8 reporter Mary Ann Cushy. Another emotional day of testimony from the eldest of the four Broderick children. 20-year-old Kim tells our mother harbored intense anger toward her father for years, even before the couple was divorced. Kim testified how her mother, Betty, once grabbed Daniel Broderick's clothes from the closet and threw them out to burn. She went to the garage and grabbed a can of gasoline and poured it all over her. It was a huge pile of things. And all of the underwear, she dumped it all over the drawers and the balcony as well.

And then she lit it with gasoline and then she went and got black paint and poured it over all the ashes. But the accounts of rage and fury didn't stop there. Kim said her mother once smeared cake on her father's bed and scrawled obscenities with lipstick on the mirror in his house. And another time when Betty drove into the front of his Marston Hills home. A car came through the house. Not through the house, it hit the door, and it sounded like a chainsaw, and I ran out the back door. When you look at their history, burning Dan Broderick's

clothing in the front yard, scrawling curse words in the mirror of his new home, crashing her car through the couple's home. I mean, Jim Elliot, I'm surprised she wasn't put in jail for that, driving your car through the couple's home. But she wasn't. She was out, able to murder her ex-husband and his new wife as they lay in bed asleep.

Plenty of warning signs. He certainly would have thought like some intervention at some point by law enforcement or by whomever else would have perhaps not led to the escalation. Oh man. Guys, take a listen now to what happened in court. With the jury in the above entitled cause, find the defendant Elizabeth Ann Broick, 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 perent a, a felony as charged in count two of the information and fix the degree thereof as murder in the second degree. Victim Linda Broderick. Trey Caputo, lead news anchor WDBO. Where is Betty Broderick today? Nancy, she's in a prison where a lot of people think she belongs. She was up for a parole hearing about three years ago in 2017. And you'd think that spending all that time in jail would have caused Betty to be a little bit more repentant. But in her hearing, it was a lot of the same old stuff that we were hearing. Her claiming she was a victim and that she killed Dan in self-defense after years of abuse.

But her own kids didn't even agree with her and her own kids. Two of her four children testified against her in a parole hearing saying that she needs to stay in jail for the rest of her life. Betty Broderick coming back up for parole. Hopefully, she'll stay behind bars. Nancy Grace, Crime Story, signing off. Goodbye, friend. This is an iHeart Podcast.