Broderick Begins Term in Frontera; Transfer Possible

Former La Jolla socialite Elisabeth Anne (Betty) Broderick, convicted of two counts of second-degree murder, left a jail in Santee on Wednesday to begin serving a prison sentence of 32 years to life.

For the next four to six weeks, Broderick will be housed in the California Institution for Women in Frontera, 45 miles east of Los Angeles. She could remain in Frontera or end up being transferred to Madera or Stockton, a spokesman for the prison said.

Broderick, 44, has been in the Las Colinas jail since Nov. 5, 1989, when she killed her ex-husband and his second wife by sneaking into the bedroom of their Georgian-style home just before dawn and firing five shots from a .38-caliber revolver.

Her first trial ended in a hung jury, with 10 jurors opting for a murder conviction and two holding out for manslaughter. Several jurors in the second trial said afterward that they had been leaning toward a manslaughter conviction but agreed to compromise on second-degree.

Superior Court Judge Thomas J. Whelan gave Broderick the maximum sentence possible, saying the murder of two people “showed a high degree of callousness.” Broderick must remain in prison for at least 18 years before becoming eligible for parole.

Covered by almost every major women’s magazine, as well as ABC’s “20/20” and a flock of television talk shows, the Broderick case became a cause celebre for middle-aged wives whose husbands leave them for younger women, and for divorcees claiming emotional abuse.

Interest in the case remains high. “The Betty Broderick Story,” a made-for-TV movie, will air Sunday night on CBS, with actress Meredith Baxter playing Broderick. Three publishers plan books on the case.

Lt. Floyd Huyler, a spokesman for the California Institution for Women, said Broderick arrived in Frontera on Wednesday morning and “will undergo a thorough review of all case factors. At the end of the four to six weeks, we’ll determine her destination.”

She will be kept from using a telephone, except in emergencies, Huyler said, and will have access to psychotherapy at any institution, whether she remains in Frontera or is transferred to newer facilities in Madera or Stockton.

Huyler said that, for the time being, Broderick will be housed among Frontera’s other women, who include three members of the Manson family and Brenda Spencer, a teen-age sniper from San Diego who in 1979 killed two men and wounded eight children and a police officer.

Broderick claimed she had been driven to homicide by years of legal maneuverings on the part of her ex-husband, a prominent medical malpractice attorney and past president of the San Diego County Bar Assn., who ended up with custody of the couple’s four children.

Daniel T. Broderick III, 44, and Linda Kolkena Broderick, 28, his former legal assistant, began an extramarital affair in 1983, before being married in 1989, months before the slaying. By the time of his second marriage, Daniel Broderick’s divorce was the talk of La Jolla.

Betty Broderick said she was given four hours’ notice on the sale of the home she shared with her husband, that a judge officiating in the couple’s dispute openly referred to Daniel Broderick as a “good friend,” and that tricky legal tactics drove her “crazy.”

Betty Broderick was granted $16,100 a month in alimony shortly before her husband’s death “until or unless the court rules otherwise”--which she thought might happen. She said that because she supported him through medical school and law school, she was entitled to the full $16,100-a-month award granted by the court.

Court records indicate that Daniel Broderick was making more than $100,000 a month at the time of his death. His ex-wife threatened him repeatedly--but only, she said, in response to his threats--and as a result, he engineered numerous restraining orders and contempt citations.

Betty Broderick claims she drove to her ex-husband’s home intending only to confront him and his new wife over a new round of perceived legal threats. She said she became frightened into shooting the couple, instead of herself, when Linda Broderick yelled: “Call the police!”

Betty Broderick called a Times reporter on Saturday, saying she was angry because Kathy Broderick, the ex-wife of Daniel Broderick’s brother and legal guardian of Betty Broderick’s two sons, had changed her phone number without telling her the new one.

Just last week, Kathy Broderick was granted permanent custody of Danny, 16, and Rhett, 12. Betty Broderick said part of the agreement is her being allowed to phone the boys once a week.

“My son Danny is having his 16th birthday on Sunday,” Broderick said, “and I only want to be able to say, ‘Happy birthday, Danny, from Mom.’ ”

A friend of Betty Broderick’s said Wednesday that the phone snafu was straightened out by Monday and that Betty Broderick had called Danny and Rhett at Kathy Broderick’s home in Colorado.

“I just want to be able to reach Danny before I leave for prison,” Broderick said. “You never know how much you’ll be able to call once you’re there. I just wanted to give Danny my love and wish him well. Sixteenth birthdays are special things.”