Trial of La Jolla Socialite in 2 Slayings Begins : Crime: Both sides agree that the suspect killed her ex-husband and his new wife. But did she shoot them in hatred or in fright?
SAN DIEGO — Both sides in the long-anticipated murder trial of La Jolla socialite Elisabeth Anne (Betty) Broderick agreed in opening remarks Monday that she fatally shot her ex-husband and his new wife in their bedroom.
But while the prosecution argued that the killing was the deliberate act of a woman consumed by hate, Broderick’s defense attorneys said it was committed by a woman made emotionally destitute by a bitter divorce and custody dispute that left her without her four children.
Betty Broderick, the defense argued, entered the home only to confront her ex-husband and had no intention of shooting anyone but herself. The shots were fired, the defense said, only when Broderick was startled by her husband’s shouts.
Broderick, 42, is charged with two counts of murder in the deaths last Nov. 5 of her ex-husband, Daniel T. Broderick III, and his new wife, Linda Kolkena Broderick.
She has pleaded innocent and has been held without bail at County Jail in Las Colinas since last November. If convicted, she could be sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole.
When she fired the fatal shots, she felt “every emotion a person could probably feel--fear, depression, anger and hurt,†her attorney, Jack Earley, said in his opening remarks. “What you see is a person who hurts, with no self-esteem, no way of dealing with problems, someone who was acting on emotions thrust on her.â€
Broderick brushed away tears as Earley told the jury of her plight.
She had stared straight ahead and ignored the jury as Deputy Dist. Atty. Kerry Wells painted a different picture, telling jurors that the defendant’s “hatred for Daniel Broderick became the absolute focus of her life,†an obsession that resulted in two cold and calculated murders.
“There was no way (Betty) was going to let them live happily ever after,†Wells said.
Daniel Broderick was a prominent medical malpractice lawyer and a former county bar president.
During and after their divorce, Broderick accused her husband of using his legal influence to cheat her out of her fair share of his seven-figure income.
The couple’s wealth and the highly publicized accusations surrounding their divorce drew to the trial people planning a TV movie, a journalist writing a book, and a Ladies’ Home Journal writer focusing on the “trauma†of a middle-aged woman. Representatives from the TV programs “Hard Copy†and “Current Affair†are expected later in the week.
It also drew more than 100 would-be spectators, including dozens of women who said they identified with the defendant and dozens more simply attracted to the theatrics of a prominent murder trial.
Prosecutor Wells said that killing Daniel Broderick had been an act that his ex-wife had been “talking about, thinking about, deliberating over for a long, long time.â€
She had married him because he was “going to be a moneymaker,†Wells said. When he finally began making big money in the mid-1980s but then began the process of divorcing her, she felt “she was being gypped.â€
And as for Linda Broderick, Wells said, she “had what (Betty Broderick) still felt belonged to her, and only her, and she hated her for it.â€
Two weeks before the killings, Wells said, Betty Broderick told a housekeeper, “I’m either going to make (Daniel Broderick’s) life a living hell or I’m going to kill him.â€
On Nov. 5, she entered the house with her daughter’s keys, Wells said, climbed the stairs, entered the bedroom and began shooting.
The first shot hit Linda Broderick in the chest, Wells said. The second hit Daniel Broderick in the back. The third and fourth missed. The fifth hit Linda Broderick in the back of the head and killed her instantly, Wells said.
Daniel Broderick “essentially was left to suffocate in his own blood and die,†Wells said.
Betty Broderick then ripped a phone out of the wall, left the house, called friends and, on the advice of a lawyer, surrendered later that morning, Wells said.
But, Earley argued, the case was just not that simple.
When Betty Broderick entered the house, she sought only to talk to her ex-husband, who had alternately harassed her, intimidated her and, worst of all, ignored her during the divorce--all part of a calculated campaign to marry Linda Kolkena and convince Betty Broderick she was crazy, he said.
Betty Broderick’s intent, Earley said, was to kill herself if she couldn’t talk to her ex-husband. But, as she stood before the victims’ bed, she heard a yell, “Call the police!†and saw her ex-husband reach for the phone.
Startled, Betty began firing wildly, Earley said.
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
