Betty Broderick Dies at 78 in 37th Year of Prison for 1989 Double Murder
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · May 12
Betty Broderick Dies at 78 in 37th Year of Prison for 1989 Double Murder
5 articles · Updated · The New York Times · May 12
May 8 marked Broderick’s death at a San Bernardino County hospital after she was transferred last month from the California Institution for Women; corrections officials gave no cause.
Broderick had been serving a sentence for fatally shooting her ex-husband, Daniel T. Broderick III, and his second wife, Linda Kolkena Broderick, in their bed in 1989.
Her case drew years of national attention because she admitted the shootings but argued they followed prolonged psychological abuse rather than premeditated murder.
Two trials cemented the case’s notoriety: the first ended with a hung jury, and a second jury convicted her in 1991 on two counts of second-degree murder.
After 37 years, did Betty Broderick die a convicted murderer or a tragic victim of psychological abuse?
Does Broderick's costly incarceration until death at 78 argue for expanding compassionate release programs for aging inmates?
Her children were at her deathbed. How does their final act of forgiveness reshape the legacy of their family's tragedy?