People Vs. Betty Broderick - A Case From My Past

I'm often asked if I ever worked any "famous" cases while working as an Evidence Technician and an Investigative Technician. Actually, I've had a few.

The most famous case I suppose is the case of Betty Broderick. On November 5, 1989, Betty murdered her ex-husband Dan and his new wife Linda (Dan's former law assisstant.) She had put Dan through medical school and then law school only to have him leave her years later for a younger woman (Linda) who remarkably looked a lot like Betty did when she was younger.

In the early morning hours, Betty snuck into her former house, went upstairs and shot Dan and Linda while they slept in their bed. As Dan tried to reach the phone to call for help, she ripped out the phone cord from the wall. They died in their bed.

As a side-note, San Diego Deputy DA Kerry Wells (who was assigned to prosecute Betty at both trials) and I had a long discussion about whether it was proper to use the word "snuck" or "sneaked" during the closing arguements of the second trial. I believe we decided on "snuck" whether it was right or wrong. It just sounded better to us. :)

The case drew a lot of attention from the press because women all over the US identified with Betty as someone who put up with a lot to support her husband through his climb to becoming a brilliant attorney only to find herself tossed out for a younger woman. Was Betty wrong to murder them for what he had done to her?

As the Investigative Technician assigned to the case for the San Diego District Attorney's Office, I was responsible for preparing all the courtroom exhibits for the Broderick case. This included preparing all photos taken by the San Diego Police Department of the crime scene as well as the autopsy photographs and to create new supplemental photographs and video of the crime scene to be shown in court. In addition, I was responsible for preparing the numerous audio tape evidence that was used in court of the various messages Betty had left on the answering machine to Dan and Linda.

We actually went to trial twice since the first trial ended in a hung jury. But we were able to convict Ms. Broderick of two counts of Second Degree Murder the second time around. She is currently serving 32 years to life imprisonment in California and is eligible for parole in 2011.

There were two made-for-TV movies of the Broderick case in which Meridith Baxter (of "Family Ties" fame) played Betty in both movies. Stephen Collins (7th Heaven) played Dan Broderick. The first movie was called, "A Woman Scorned." It was so popular that a sequel was made of the trial and was called, "Her Final Fury." And no... nobody played me in either movie... :)

Oprah Winfrey interviewed Betty and you can read some information about that on Oprah's site. A book was also written about her called, "Until the Twelfth of Never: The Deadly Divorce of Dan & Betty Broderick." A&E also did a one hour special on Betty called, "American Justice - A Woman Scorned: The Betty Broderick Story."

For more information on Betty, here's a Yahoo search for Betty Broderick, and a Google Search.

I'll reserve my comments on the case, but if you really want to know what I think about it, just ask me. I'll tell you in person.