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The Deadly Divorce of Dan and Betty Broderick
In the early morning hours of November 5, 1989, Elisabeth “Betty” Broderick broke into the home her ex-husband shared with his wife of six months, Linda, and with a .38 caliber handgun, put a brutal and bloody end to the most contentious divorce San Diego had henceforth seen.
Depending on who you believe, Betty was a monster who finally exploded on the tolerant Dan or Dan had terrorized Betty for years, physically, mentally and legally.
What is not in dispute is that Dan and Betty’s marriage began to unravel in 1983 when he hired Linda Kolkena as his personal assistant. Linda, who had been almost eight years old when Dan and Betty married in 1969, was a younger version of Betty: tall, blonde and pretty. Having been fired from Delta Airlines as a flight attendant due to what was deemed inappropriate behavior, she had been a temporary receptionist at Dan’s law office when he spotted her. It’s unknown exactly when their affair started but it was certainly in full swing by the time he promoted her from a temporary receptionist with no legal background to his paralegal (a move that did not go well with others in his office, for obvious reasons).
Betty, who had pushed Dan to hire more help so that he could be present more at home, swung from relief that he had hired a personal paralegal to downright fear when she saw who he had hired. Her suspicions would prove to be correct although Dan would lie to Betty for more than three years about the true nature of his relationship with Linda, telling his wife she was crazy and delusional for even suggesting that his relationship with Linda was anything but professional. Dan may have been attempting to keep his girlfriend under wraps but Linda had no such hesitation, reportedly freely talking about their affair and their plans together around the office.
This uncomfortable situation went on for years, with Betty and Dan residing in the same house and Dan alternating between going to marriage counseling with Betty and continuing to see Linda not only at work but also in the condo he had helped her purchase. He was also criticizing his wife’s appearance, sending Betty on…
