Betty Broderick, Dan, Children and Linda Kolkena

Dan Broderick Marries Betty

Betty & Dan Broderick

Betty was born, Elisabeth Anne Bisceglia in Eastchester New York. In 1965, Betty met her future husband, Dan Broderick, while attending college. The couple were married on April 12, 1969, in a lavish Catholic wedding, and Betty returned from her honeymoon pregnant with her first child, daughter Kim. She gave birth to four more children: a daughter called Lee, two sons named Daniel and Rhett, and an unnamed boy who died two days after birth. Her children were her life and Betty became the ultimate stay at home mom. Her life consisted of picking up her children from soft ball practice, ballet lessons, and entertaining her four young children at home with crafts, and sleep overs.

Dan was in medical school when Betty married Dan and he was almost finished when he had a change of heart. Somehow Dan lost interest in medicine and gained interest in Law. Its seems that Dan was disenchanted with the limitations that doctors were having imposed upon them, such as managed care, HMOs and the ultimate threat of government healthcare. Doctors were being pushed around by big business and as a result, the amount of reputable medical professionals was dwindling away. Dan wanted to earn a lot of money and do it in a straightforward way. His disenchantment with what was happening to the medical profession lad Dan to become cynical in general, and Dan decided that he could make straightforward money by suing people who graduate from medical rather than working as a medical professional and being pulled apart by greedy lawyers.

Dan's father was kind enough to support his sons education but refused to pay for another expensive education after Dan had practically completed his long haul in medical school, so Dan and Betty paid for it by themselves. 

Betty Broderick Struggles For her Husband and Children

With her husband working and going to school full time, Betty seldom saw Dan Broderick. She was busy taking babysitting jobs so that she could take car of her children and make money at the same time. Her life was as unglamorous as can be. Four young children of her own, and other tiny tots being unloaded on her every morning. Betty was seldom seen in anything other than sweats or jeans. Her hair was stringy most of the time and she seldom wore makeup. Her life revolved around children and their well being. Betty enjoyed being a super mom but longed for more time with her husband. She was planning for the future, knowing that with patience and hard work, Dan would become a success and she would have time to relax when she was approaching her forties.

Betty was pleasantly relieved when Dan started his own practice and began to earn a reputation as a powerful attorney in the exclusive La Jolla area in San Diego. The money began pouring in when Dan won his first million dollar case. The Broderick's were now living on easy street, buying a large home, and taking skiing trips. For Betty, it seemed that almost immediately after things started to smooth out for she and Dan financially, things became disastrous emotionally.

Dan Broderick at work

Dan was seldom around and colder emotionally than ever. When Betty decided to rekindle their romance by showing up at Dan's office for his fortieth birthday unannounced, she discovered that he was out with his young secretary, Linda Kolkena. Betty confronted Dan about his affair and sited Dan's showing up late from work repeatedly, and not being affectionate with her while Dan denied everything and told Betty that she was imagining everything.
This led Betty to some crazy behavior. She burned all of Dan's expensive suits in a huge bonfire and on another occasion, and regularly called him names in public.

Linda Konkena

Linda was Dan's secretary who could not type and managed to be promoted to legal assistant. She had arrived at the perfect job. She could come and go as she pleased, she was over paid and her boss bought her a brand new sports car. Linda was not going anywhere. She loved her boss, Dan Broderick, and she now had a taste of the good life. She wanted it all! Linda fantasized about marrying Dan Broderick, living in a mansion with him and having his children. The only obstacle was Mrs. Betty Broderick and her four children.

Betty was tugging Dan on one end and Linda was tugging at Dan on the other side. Dan attempted to break it off with Linda several times, but Linda was persistent. She kept pleading with Dan until he finally gave in to his emotions for Linda and admitted to Betty that he had been seeing Linda for several years.

Betty was a loose cannon. She could not tolerate Linda enjoying the lavish lifestyle that she had worked so hard to earn. She felt as though she had worked for twenty years and someone else was getting the paycheck. She was not the same by all accounts. She was not the level headed supermom the socialites respected, she was now, "crazy Betty" who swore like a sailor, talked endlessly about Dan and his mistress and could not move on.

Dan and Betty had one of the craziest divorces in La Jolla history. Betty was awarded a handsome alimony settlement but that was not good enough for Betty. She wanted revenge.She could not tolerate the idea that Dan and his sleazy secretary were going to ride off into the sunset to have a family and live in the lap of luxury when she had spent her youth in sweats covered with baby food and jelly.

Dan and Linda

The Second Broderick Wedding & Murder

Linda had waited years, endured rejection and a sloppy divorce to reach this point in her life. She was now going to be Mrs. Dan Broderick, and live in his mansion in the best part of La Jolla. She planned her wedding, wore her beautiful white dress and walked down the isle. Betty Broderick was never far from their minds. She still found reasons to call Dan and leave endless messages calling Linda names. Betty was sulking on their wedding day, and her downward emotional spiral was growing more and more out of control. Even Betty's close friends had abandoned her, and as Betty was also discovering, people like money and power. Dan was the one with the money and power. This led many of their mutual friends to side with Dan and Linda, leaving Betty to brood.

The Murder Hoouse

Betty had purchased a gun one month before Dan was married to Linda. It has been speculated that Betty planned to go to the wedding and shoot the bride and groom. Betty must of thought better of doing this, or perhaps she knew that the couple had heard of her purchase and she would be unable to complete the deed. Whatever her reasons, she did not attend the wedding and the bride and groom were unscathed. Seven months into Dan and Linda's marriage, Betty shot and killed the couple while they slept. The murder occurred around 5:30 am on the morning in1989, two days before Betty's 42nd birthday. Two bullets hit Linda in the head and chest, killing her instantly, one bullet hit Dan in the chest as he was reaching for the phone, Dan was 44; Linda was 28.

Betty turned herself in to the police, and never denied that she had fired the gun five times. Betty's explanation at two trials was that she had never planned to kill Dan and Linda. She claimed that she went temporarily insane while standing in their bedroom and seeing them asleep in bed together. Her account of the murders, at her second trial, was that, that she was startled by Linda screaming, "Call the police!" and, immediately fired the gun.

Linda and Dan Broderick are listed as buried together at Greenwood Memorial Park in San Diego.


Read more about the Broderick murders click here.

The bedroom where Linda and Dan were murdered