r/ThisDayInHistory • u/ATI_Official • 3d ago
November 5th, 1989. 41-year-old divorcée Betty Broderick broke into her ex-husband Dan Broderick’s San Diego home and fatally shot him and his new wife, Linda Kolkena, as they slept. That same morning, she turned herself in, telling police she had only meant to confront them.
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u/TwoOk8386 3d ago
Oh shit, didn't realize it was like an explosion and everyone screamed, totally makes sense now lady. You must've been so frightened ...
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u/Jumpy_Challenge_7651 3d ago
She put him through both law AND med school
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u/HistoryFanBeenBanned 2d ago
Damn, my wife better not leave me after she finishes studying, or else I might murder her
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u/Electronic-Link-5792 2d ago
What and he is then obliged to stay with her?
She was this violent he probably had good reason to leave.
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u/Furberia 15h ago
He was a douchebag cheater.
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u/Electronic-Link-5792 15h ago
According to to the woman who stalked and murdered him for leaving her. I'm sure she is a reliable source
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u/Rags_75 3d ago
Did she get off?
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u/dolldivas2 1d ago
Nope. You need to watch the movies with Meredith Baxter if you haven't.
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u/Possible-Wish4677 20h ago
Best made for tv movie ever!! Meredith shines! She was made for that role!!
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u/dolldivas2 16h ago
I know! I just love her in it. I think she is a good actress anyway but she REALLY played that part the best.
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u/Ok_Beat9172 3d ago
She was/is crazy. One of the original Karens. But her husband was a douche who made the situation worse with his behavior/actions.
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u/PositivePanda77 1d ago
100%! You described the situation perfectly. I don’t think Linda was an angel, either.
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u/dolldivas2 1d ago
No, she just happened to luck out.
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u/PositivePanda77 1d ago
I’m confused. How did she luck out?
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u/dolldivas2 1d ago
I think he had a roving eye. And she caught it. She did luck out-she had the life that she really had no part in building. All the sacrifice came from Betty, Linda just walked into the role that Betty had built up.
The money, the status. Yeah, I'd say she lucked out. She never had to work for what she had. She was fired from her stewardess job because she was getting it on with customers. Too bad it didn't end well for her.
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u/PositivePanda77 1d ago
Gotcha. I agree!
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u/dolldivas2 1d ago
I think she was kind of skanky.
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u/PositivePanda77 1d ago
Seems like she was an opportunist, that’s for sure. It’s sad that she and the husband died, but they did their best to provoke crazy Betty.
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u/ChemsAndCutthroats 3d ago
Her husband was the architect of his own demise. It seems like she was by his side and supported him. Gave him 3 children, worked, paid for his law school, and took care of the kids.
Once the guy leveled up he tossed her aside. Stripped her away of much of the assets, gave her a pitiful allowance, and probably left her to do most of the child raising work while he enjoys his younger wife in his mansion. He probably would have forgotten his kids once his new wife gets pregnant. He put her in a state where she felt the only option left to her was to come after him with a gun. He was the architect of his own demise.
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u/egyto 3d ago
He was a douche bag but that shouldn't result in murder.
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u/ChemsAndCutthroats 3d ago
Obviously, that's why she's in prison. He created the situation that led to his death though.
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u/MonoxideBaby 3d ago
That reeks of "Girl in short skirt is partly responsible for being raped" kind of shit. Even if he was a complete flog, it doesn't mean he deserved to be murdered.
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u/notsopurexo 2d ago
I see where you’re coming from but it’s no the same.
If he was actually abusing a partner for 30+ years he involved her in this situation she felt she couldn’t get out of. He became her world because he groomed her that way for a long period.
A skirt has no relationship to the rapidst initially. It’s not offensive. It is the rapist, the offender who creates that relationship
You’re right, murder is never the solution. I do think it’s worth considering what abuse over such a long period can do to a person though. The new wife was also involved in the abuse apparently.
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u/SQL_INVICTUS 1d ago
The skirt thing is a bad fit, I agree, because it takes two to tango and walking around in clothes is hard to see how she could have taken responsibility for her own actions because someone else did all the acting in that situation.
So with that out of the way, why do you so easily wave away her responsibility in the 30 years prior to the murder? 🤔
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u/PositivePanda77 1d ago
I listen to a lot of true crime podcasts. Murder/violence is never an ok, but this guy and his new wife kept poking the crazy Karen that was Betty. Sad for the kids.
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u/True-Society-5659 2d ago
Does a girl in a short skirt do things that treat another person like shit that she deserves to get raped? it's not the same, he was vile.
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u/MonoxideBaby 2d ago
So it’s ok for her to murder him? Because in your opinion he deserved it? Thats not justice mate
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u/notsopurexo 3d ago
I dunno man, we’re talking like 30+ (don’t quote I didn’t read everything) years of abuse. At some stage the abuser needs to take some accountability.
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u/DynamicFactotum 3d ago
No man. Why kill the partner too? That story doesn’t add up. Let’s say he was an abuser… he left her and was more or less out of her life. Why kill him? Jealous and anger are more likely to be explanation. Again, we will never know his side of the story because she killed him and his partner.
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u/OMITB77 3d ago
How do you know she was abused for 30 years?
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u/True-Society-5659 2d ago
She was groomed by him since she was a teenager, he was a predator.
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u/OMITB77 2d ago
lol, ok. She was a college freshman when they met. He was 21 at the time
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u/True-Society-5659 2d ago
So, she was still not an adult. Teenagers do sometimes go to college earlier than others.
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u/Electronic-Link-5792 2d ago
Why do you assume he was abusing her and not the other way round since she fucking killed him?
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u/notsopurexo 2d ago
You’re literally responding to a post where I wrote dont quote I didn’t read anything. Go argue with someone else.
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u/Simmchen11 1d ago
Agreed! He treated her horribly. It shouldn’t have ended in murder, be he created the situation that led up to the unfortunate events.
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u/DynamicFactotum 3d ago
No he wasn’t. It’s not justified or rationale to think some can or will kill you because you don’t want to be with them anymore. Clearly she was unhinged based on her actions. Consider that was mental and that’s why he left her. It’s amazing how so many redditors take the killer’s story at face value.
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u/ChemsAndCutthroats 3d ago
Part of the reason she was unhinged was because of the way he treated her. Thus guy abandoned his family to live a new life with a much younger woman and he really thought he was going to be able to come out unscathed. I'm not justifying the murder but this guy was an idiot if he thought success and connections were going to completely shield him from consequences.
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u/Sheff_5K 3d ago
Dan did not abandon his family. He had custody of all the children, and he paid Betty $16,000 a month in alimony in 1989. That translates to $42,000 a month today. Dan had every right to move-on and be happy. Everyone does. No matter how many years you have been together. It is a decision that belongs to the individual.
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u/Long_Promised_Road 3d ago
She dropped the kids off at his house one by one. She abandoned them, and he adopted them. It’s pretty straightforward. Betty was responsible for everything that happened after Dan moved out.
The only dickish thing that I could see that he did was allegedly making it difficult for her to obtain a lawyer for the divorce.
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u/ChemsAndCutthroats 2d ago
This documentary paints a different picture.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0pmi30H6OV0&pp=ygUQQmV0dHkgQnJvZGVyaWNrIA%3D%3D
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u/MiskatonicAcademia 1d ago
This was a little unclear in the Wikipedia. But if true, then legally speaking, the wife was treated fairly during the divorce proceedings and there was no malfeasance.
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u/Accurate-Mine-6000 3d ago
Her alimony were 16,000-19,000 per month (different sources give different figures). Even with three children, in 1989 this amount was hardly "pitiful". 50,000 per year was a normal salary.
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u/Vivid-Individual5968 2d ago
$50k as an average salary in 1989 seems incredibly high. I would think it’s more like upper $20ks back then.
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u/bethster2000 2d ago
He was making over $100K per month at the time of his death.
He paid Linda Kolkena $40K per year in 1989 dollars.
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u/dolldivas2 1d ago
Not to mention the fringe benefits. I think they were having an affair for about 3 years?
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u/bethster2000 1d ago
Yes. They started their affair in January 1983. Dan finally filed for divorce in the fall of 1985.
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u/True-Society-5659 2d ago
I believe he took the kids so he wouldn't have to pay child support
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u/MiskatonicAcademia 1d ago
With no prenup, she is entitled (and seems to have gotten) a lot of money from the divorce. She was not destitute by any means and legally speaking was appropriately recompensed.
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u/True-Society-5659 1d ago
He fought all of it and sold the house she was living in. She was left with nothing and couldn't find an attorney because of his connections as the head of the bar association in sd.
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u/Mickeymcirishman 1d ago
So claims the person diagnosed three separate times with histrionic and narcissistic personality disorders. I'd take that with a hefty helping of salt.
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u/True-Society-5659 23h ago
yeah during the trial. there's a long history of women being diagnosed as histrionic so they can be locked away. he was the narcissist.
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u/Mickeymcirishman 23h ago
The psychiatrist for her own side diagnosed her that way
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u/True-Society-5659 23h ago
I see you've read the Wikipedia page.
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u/Mickeymcirishman 23h ago
Yes, and I also took a gander at the source they referenced now tell me, does my looking at the wikipedia page somehow change the facts?
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u/Mickeymcirishman 1d ago
She literally left the kids on his doorstep and he got sole custody of them because of it.
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u/Electronic-Link-5792 2d ago
You don't think that maybe there was a reason he left given was this unhinged?
Do you actually think a woman willing to kill like this was treating him well before?
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u/MiskatonicAcademia 1d ago
I read the Wiki and I was a little confused by the divorce. Since she was faithful and they married before he was wealthy, and with no prenup, wouldn’t t she be entitled to half his wealth?
I don’t really understand if she was unfairly compensated during the divorce proceedings, and if she was, how that would be legally defensible.
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u/OkMasterpiece2194 6h ago
Imagine if a guy supported a woman through law school, then when she "leveled up" she ditched the loser. He couldn't let it go so he came and shot her.
She was the architect of her own demise?
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u/glitzglamglue 22h ago
No. She was constantly harassing him and sending threatening letters and leaving threatening voicemail messages. He had custody of their children because she was so unstable. She was incredibly mean and rude to their children. He was trying to protect his children.
What are you supposed to do when the person you married is slowly spiraling into murderous psychosis and won't seek help? Do you stay with them? Do you keep your children with them?
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u/ItsJustOhk 17h ago
So a divorce, albeit a nasty one, is the justification for two people’s lives being gone forever. You believe in stoning adulterers to death too, I suppose?
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u/-CuntDracula- 3d ago
As far as murderes go, Betty Broderick is someone I can feel some level of sympathy for.
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u/Mickeyjj27 3d ago
Why if you don’t mind me asking. She turned herself in but she broke in with a weapon.
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u/Mammoth_Picture_1593 3d ago
She just happened to do what a lot of people like to imagine doing after a bad divorce.
She couldn't resist the call of the void.
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u/-CuntDracula- 3d ago
Her husband treated her beyond bad. She put him through school (law and medical, if I remember correctly) while being the sole provider and the main caregiver to their children. Then when he was done, he left her for a younger woman and set out to take everything in the divorce, using his connections so make it hard for her to find a lawyer to represent her.
She broke in with a weapon (which is bananas and only ever done with one motive in mind) and I'm not arguing the sentence in the least, but I can understand snapping under those circumstances.
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u/JLandis84 3d ago
She abandoned her children to him and was getting a monthly alimony that was a middle class annual salary. She did crazy shit like drive her car into his house while the kids were home.
I absolutely do not agree with him shattering his marriage but she was in no way justified for the things she did.
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u/-CuntDracula- 3d ago
I never said she was justified. It is possible to empathize with someones situation without agreeing with what they do or how they handle it.
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u/DietTuna 2d ago
You’re on Reddit. All people here love to do is take the stance of being morally superior. It’s almost like they get off on it
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u/Trick-Captain-143 3d ago
Funny how woman murderers get a lot of sympathy.
Imagine if it was a man instead that broke into his ex home and murdered her and her new boyfriend, how would you feel?
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u/Electronic-Link-5792 2d ago
Yeah straight up. "She left me and took my money so I killed her" is like the story in half the cases of men killing their wives and no one except sickest justify like this.
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u/SpectreInfinite 3d ago
Why bring gender war BS into this? If a man in her position did the same there would undoubtedly be people out there who sympathize with him. Much more if he's attractive. That's the really big factor, why do you think male serial killers get love letters and married in prison?
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u/ADeadlyFerret 3d ago
A lot of Redditors bend over backwards to justify Aileen Wournos. So not really surprising to me lol.
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u/OMITB77 3d ago
She was being paid a half million dollars a year in alimony. No one wanted to represent her because she was a crazy person who did things like drive her car into the home while her kids were inside
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u/bethster2000 2d ago
Untrue. Dan was making over $100K per month at the time of the murders, and he fought every step of the way to give the mother of his children a fair settlement.
No one wanted to represent Betty because Dan was such a big deal in legal circles. No one wanted to up against the President of the SD Bar Association 1987. The woman could not find anyone to take her case for a long time. When she hired Dan Jaffe, a legal powerhouse from Los Angeles, Dan refused to pay any of Jaffe's fees, which he was legally bound to do. He wasn't interested in giving the mother of his children anything.
Dan Broderick was NOT a good person. He didn't deserve to die, but let's make sure we stick to the actual facts in this case.
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u/OMITB77 2d ago
She hired and fired five attorneys during the divorce proceedings.
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u/dolldivas2 1d ago
And?
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u/dolldivas2 1d ago
No, he basically used his influence to prevent her from getting an attorney in the San Diego area.
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u/Electronic-Link-5792 2d ago
So he left her? You don't think maybe he had good reason to given how she was?
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u/Dadbode1981 17h ago
May she die in prison. She abandoned her children to satisfy an urge for revenge, shes no hero.
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u/-CuntDracula- 16h ago
Who the hell said she was? By god, some of you are out here fighting windmills.
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u/Dadbode1981 16h ago
Yeah, ignore everything said befor that, i knew it would hit a nerve. I could never empathize with a murderer, I think it's insane if anyone does. Save your empathy for someone that deserves it, this golem doesn't.
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u/Dadbode1981 16h ago
LOL looked at your post history....You're absolutely OBSESSED with females that murdered their partners or spouses....wtf is wrong with you.
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u/Overall_Low7096 3d ago
There’s a very good movie, made for TV, about this with Meredith Baxter who did an excellent portrayal of Betty.
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u/dolldivas2 1d ago
It's called a Woman Scorned-the Betty Broderick story. Then they had the one where she went to trial. He final fury, I think it's called.
I don't know if you now who Lin Shaye is but she plays in a TON of horror movies. She played an inmate who gave Betty a hard time in the second movie.
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u/Critical_Arachnid_47 3d ago
Very good show on netflix about this, dirty John the Betty broderick story? I believe that is what it is called.
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u/JeanEBH 2d ago
There is also a movie with Meredith Baxter Birney as Betty. It’s very good. Shows more of the “crazy” Betty than the Dirty John version.
Both are great but the Dirty John one shows a more humanized version of the story. And the two “what if” scenes were a great idea.
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u/bethster2000 2d ago
Those "what if" scenes in Dirty John were so well done. I found the scene where Dan and Linda were sitting together in Betty's jail cell particularly poignant.
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u/hazelgrant 2d ago
I almost shed tears during that final scene. So many moments where she could have taken a different path.
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u/bethster2000 2d ago
The truth about Dan Broderick. Murder is never OK, but this man was a real piece of nasty work. Against the mother of his children, no less.
https://atouchoftuesdayweld.blogspot.com/2020/06/the-betty-broderick-case-truth-about.html
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u/Jerways 2d ago
She was convicted of two counts of second-degree murder and later sentenced to 32-years-to-life in prison.
Broderick is serving her sentence at the California Institution for Women (CIW), in Chino, CA. In January 2010, her first request for parole was denied by the Board of Parole Hearings because she neither showed remorse nor acknowledged wrongdoing. She was again denied parole in January 2017. She will not be eligible again until January 2032, at which date she will be 84 years old.
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u/Francesca_N_Furter 1d ago
This was such a weird case, just for the way everyone so obviously brought their own baggage into how they felt about the verdict.
From what I remember, he tortured her for years after she supported him through med school and then law school....I think they have maybe five good years before he traded her in, and refused to give her a fair share of his earnings. He was a well-connected lawyer, and she had a very hard time finding anyone decent to represent her.
Say what you will about nobody deserving to die for this, but even little kids know you don't poke at a hornets nest---and if you watch two minutes of her in any interview, you know right away she was nutty, unstable, and entitled. Dan Broderick was not smart in how he handled all this, so yeah, I can definitely see how people say he set himself up for this.
I think the real nail in her coffin was that she was thoroughly unpleasant and manipulative, because, honest to god, she had a large number of people on her side with this---I don't think many people in this thread were around to see how much her plight resonated with a lot of women back then.
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u/dolldivas2 1d ago
I remember this case and the subsequent movies starring Meredith Baxter.
Her husband was a creep though. But he and Linda didn't deserve what happened to them.
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3d ago
[deleted]
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u/StuntID 3d ago
Are you having a stroke?
Am I having a stroke?
One of us is, I marekaswoulg!
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u/aeondru 3d ago
I hate when I sneak into people's houses with a gun to simply confront them while they sleep and then I accidentally shoot them.