SAN DIEGO -- Former socialite Elisabeth 'Betty' Broderick was sentenced Friday to 32 years-to-life in prison for the murders of her ex-husband and his young second wife following a bitter divorce battle.
Superior Court Judge Thomas Whelan handed down the maximum sentence of 15-years-to-life for the second-degree murder convictions Broderick, 44, received for the 1989 deaths of Daniel and Linda Broderick, and ordered they be served consecutively.
'We always assumed if she was convicted in San Diego, no matter who the judge was, that they would give her the most time,' said defense attorney Jack Earley, who said he will seek a third trial. 'It was one of the dangers of trying the case in San Diego.'
Dan Broderick, a well-heeled medical malpractice attorney and former president of the San Diego County Bar Association, was shot to death in his bed along with Linda Broderick, his wife of less than a year.
Broderick's defense team argued in two trials that she had been driven over the edge after being cruely dumped by a philandering husband who then used his legal skills and connections to manipulate the long and hostile divorce proceedings.
Broderick's first trial ended in 1990 with the jury split between convicting her of murder or manslaughter.
Deputy District Attorney Kerri Wells repeated her rejection of the mental abuse theory Friday in urging Whelan to impose the maximum sentence on Broderick, who will be eligible for parole in 20 years.
'She is not a martyr,' Wells said. 'She is a murderer.'
