Betty Broderick

(She changed the spelling of her first name after taking a French class) (1915–1998), who owned a successful plastering business with relatives.

Her mother was Irish American and her father was Italian American.

The Bisceglias were strict parents, and much was expected of all the Bisceglia children.

As Broderick later recalled, she was being trained to be a housewife since the day she was born, or as she recalled: "Go to Catholic schools, be careful with dating until you find a Catholic man, support him while he works, be blessed in your later years with beautiful grandchildren".

She also recalled that her schoolfriends were raised in similar situations as hers, giving her little chance to rebel.

She was the third of six children born to Marita (née Curtin; 1919–2007) and Frank Bisceglia.

Elisabeth Anne Broderick (née Bisceglia; born November 7, 1947) is an American woman who murdered her ex-husband, Daniel T. Broderick III, and his second wife, Linda (née Kolkena) Broderick, on November 5, 1989.

Betty Broderick was born Elizabeth Anne Bisceglia on November 7, 1947, and grew up in Bronxville, New York.

Broderick graduated from Maria Regina High School, in Hartsdale, New York, in 1965.

She graduated from the College of Mount Saint Vincent in the Bronx, where she earned a degree in early childhood education through an accelerated program.

Her credits also earned her a minor in English.

In 1965, Elisabeth (Betty) met her future husband, Dan Broderick (1944–1989), at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana.

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.

Dan and Betty met at a dance at Notre Dame.

He was a 21-year-old medical student and at 17 years old, she was pursuing her degree at the College of St. Mary's. "Dan never once wavered from his goal of making me his wife. He would wait, he would do and say whatever was necessary—even agreeing with me when he didn’t and doing things I wanted to do when he didn't—until he had me. Nobody ever used the terms 'obsessive-compulsive' or 'stalker' back then, but that is what he was."

The couple married on April 12, 1969, at the Immaculate Conception Church in Tuckahoe, New York.

Betty returned from the honeymoon pregnant with their first child, daughter Kim (b. 1970).

She gave birth to four more children: daughter Lee (b. 1971), sons named Daniel (b. 1976) and Rhett (b. 1979), and an unnamed boy, who died four days after birth.

After Kim's birth, Dan completed his M.D. degree.

He then announced his intention to combine his medical expertise with a J.D. degree and enrolled at Harvard Law School.

Betty was the main provider for the family while Dan attended law school with the help of a student loan.

Dan was quickly hired by a law firm in San Diego, California, and moved his family to the San Diego community of La Jolla.

Betty continued working part-time, often selling Tupperware or Avon products while raising the children.

In the fall of 1982, Dan hired 21-year-old Dutch American Linda Kolkena (1961–1989), a former Delta Air Lines flight attendant, to be his legal assistant.

As early as October 1983, Betty suspected that Dan was having an affair with Linda, but Dan denied it.

Against Betty's wishes, Dan moved out in February 1985.

He eventually took custody of their children after Betty left the children on his doorstep one by one.

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.

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.

The divorce was finalized in 1989, four years after Dan filed the petition.

Betty Broderick's behavior became increasingly erratic.

She left hundreds of profane messages on Dan's answering machine, and ignored numerous restraining orders that forbade her from setting foot on Dan's property.

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.

On April 22, 1989, Dan and Linda were married.

At a second trial that began on December 11, 1991, she was convicted of two counts of second-degree murder and later sentenced to 32-years-to-life in prison.

The case received extensive media attention.

Several books were written on the Broderick case, and a TV movie was televised in two parts.

In 2020, an 8-episode miniseries was produced and aired about Broderick.