MSNBC reran their documentary on Betty Broderick. That dame still makes my blood boil, even after all these years.
For the uninitiated, Betty is serving time for killing her husband and his new wife. Before dawn on a Sunday morning. As they slept. In their own bed. Betty stole her oldest daughter's keys to Daddy's house, went up the stairs, and plugged them. She then ripped the phone out of her bleeding ex's hand so he couldn't call for help.
Betty likes to portray herself as a feminist icon of some sort. Her husband left her for a younger woman. She felt that she was "gypped" in the settlement. She was upset that she had worked him through college and supported him through the lean years. She was angry, angry, angry.
Poor Betty. Life sucks, don't it? What she fails to mention is that she abandoned their four children on her exhusband's doorstep one night when he wasn't even there. That's perilous, bad mothering even in the best neighborhoods. It was then that he took custody. Even after their separation he continued to pay her credit card bills. For five years (the time it took Dan to be legally rid of this shrew), she drove her Suburban through his front door, left obscene messages on his answering machine (which she knew would be heard by her young sons), broke into their home and vandalized it, as they planned their wedding she stole the bride's guest list from a desk drawer.
Ah yes, the bride. That was Linda Kolkena. After only 7 months of marriage, she was murdered in cold blood while she slept in her own bed. She was only 28 years old. I've included her photos here, not Betty's, because Linda is the one who lost her life.
We live in a nation of laws. Betty broke them. Lots of them. She is a murderer. She killed the father of her children and their new stepmother. She left those children with no one because she couldn't control her rage. And somehow she thinks we women should support her.
There are mothers right here in the Chicagoland area who are raising children without the financial support of the fathers. These women not only don't get $9,000 each month in child support, they often find themselves at the business end of a fist. These women deserve my compassion and support. Not that blowzy old narcissist in California who is right where she should be, behind bars.
And for Linda Kolkena, whose life was stolen just as it was beginning, I say a little prayer.
she's a sociopath. unfortunately they do come in all shapes and sizes, much as some people seem ready to not believe that this is the case. which is what she's really banking on.
ReplyDeleteLinda Kolkena was a cheap, trashy, illiterate bimbo. Dan treated Betty like dirt and both of them deserved what they got.
ReplyDeleteThat is still no grounds for murder, especially vulnerable, defenseless and unarmed and ASLEEP. Linda was a person, like you and I. She wasn't perfect, but she was someone's daughter and only 28. Had she not gotten involved with Dan, not that Dan mistreated her, but put her into Betty's orbit, which had deadly consequences. No, she didn't make the best choices, but Dan was probably very unhappy at that point and Linda was attracted to him,in way only a young, impressionable girl can be, regarding his stature and charismatic personality. It just happened, it may be considered a crime of the heart, but not a crime in any legal sense. I don't know what kind of wife Betty was, but Dan was obviously unhappy as Betty would demand a divorce often early in and throughout the marriage. I do know she was atrocious concerning her kids after the separation, there is tape recorded evidence of that. Linda really doesn't deserve to be called such vile names, especially in death. Betty did plenty of that when Linda was alive. Ultimately, Linda lost her life as did Dan. I do, however, feel more sympathy for Linda. She was young, easily influenced by a powerful older man and maybe a bit naive. Dan, however, commented on Linda's beauty at a party to a colleague, so l am inclined to believe that he was the one initiating things with Linda. Dan was also more exacting and calculating and had enormous standing in the San Diego legal community. Linda's sister plaintively asked when Linda was murdered, " Who will remember Linda"? There are people that do remember her, have some compassion and sympathy for her. You, however, obviously do not, but that's your opinion. I am just stating some facts, however.
DeleteOh, my poor "anonymous" visitor from Tennessee, "cheap, trashy, illiteracy" is not a death penalty offense in a country of laws. If it was, I wonder what would happen in many a mall on Saturday afternoon. Betty is getting what she deserves NOW, behind bars. Dan did treated Betty like an EX-wife. The $9000/month she received back then is more than $15000/month in today's dollars. (You know that, though, being brilliant enough to comfortably call Linda Kolkena an "illiterate bimbo.") This country is FULL of working mothers who were really abused by their husbands who would LOVE to be treated in this "dirty" manner. They manage to raise their children with dignity, they don't dump them on their ex-husbands' doorsteps, they don't leave vile messages where children can hear them, and they do not -- DO NOT -- murder their spouses and go to prison, thereby leaving their children to grow up without either parent. Although having no parent would probably be better than have a rampaging narcissist like Betty as a sole parent. Your sad attitude is an insult to those women. My condolences to your significant other, who should be afraid to go to sleep without a gun in the nightstand drawer. Have as nice a life as someone with your hateful attitude can have. (I mean, REALLY, leaving a message on a stranger's years-old blog post early Sunday morning? Don't you have anything better to do?)
ReplyDeleteThe Gal Herself, I agree!
DeleteHave YOU nothing better to do with yourself than write novel-length missives on a stranger's site? You didn't know Linda, but I did.
DeleteGet rid of this stupid blog. Who cares about this old case!
ReplyDeleteClearly you do, or you wouldn't have bothered to search "Linda Kolkena" on Google at about 3:30 today ... TWO AND ONE HALF YEARS after I posted this. You sad, silly person.
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ReplyDeleteNone of the three characters in this drama are particularly attractive. For the record, I think Betty Broderick should be in jail and remain there for the rest of her life. I still can't help but think that it's hard to find any murder victims more unsympathetic than Dan Broderick or Linda Kolkena. It's not even Dan Broderick's cheating that bothers me so much; it's the fact that he was dishonest about it for all those years.
ReplyDeleteI agree
DeleteEmilializ, you are right. Not one of the 3 characters are in any way attractive. And they made themselves that way. You are right. Betty is where she belongs. Without a doubt, Dan was one of the lowest of men imaginable. Linda made the choice to become the mistress of a married man. Betty made the choice to let her rage take over her life. Did any one of those 3 so called adults give a thought to the 4 kids? Nope. They are the victims. Not Betty, Dan or Linda.
ReplyDelete60's Gal, Being unfaithful to one's spouse is not grounds for losing parental rights. Nor is infidelity a death penalty offense. We are still a nation of laws, and Betty is still the worst -- a cold-blooded killer who willingly, knowingly left her children without parents. (BTW, I posted this in 2006. Emilializ posted in 2009. This is December 31, 2017. It's amazing how angry people still are about this case.)
ReplyDeleteI've thought a lot about Linda Kolkena since hearing about this case and reading Bella Stumbo's comprehensive book, Until the Twelfth of never. Betty behaved deplorably especially where her children were concerned. But let's talk about Linda for a minute. She wasn't perfect, but was a very young, impressionable girl at the time she got involved with Dan. I saw her picture where she was a girl of about 7 in her Communion dress, there's also a picture of her on Ancestry where she is about 2 or 3. How could she have known this would happen to her because someone's inability to accept rejection? I then watched the trial on Court TV and a photo of the crime scene was showed by prosecutor Kerry Wells. It depicted Dan and Linda dead. Linda laying dead facedown in a pool of blood affected me particularly. She was only 28. To fall in love with a married man is no legal crime and she lost her life, never will be able to have children and grandchildren. I feel for the Kolkena's as well, they lost a daughter, sister and aunt. This case is truly tragic, but Dan and Linda are gone forever because someone's hate and inability to accept rejection. I am sorry Linda that you had such a horrible ending, may you have rest always.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Linda's parents are both gone as well. Her father, Arnoldus, passed away in 2003 and her mother, Everdina, passed away in 1973 from breast cancer a few days before Linda's twelfth birthday. I am sure that was extremely hard for her. She is now with her parents. God bless them.
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