All language subtitles for Dirty John s02e08_English

- Previously on
"The Betty Broderick Story"...

- The number one thing

I loved about you in
the beginning was how much you

loved me and showed it.

- I want to be
a responsible, sensitive

husband, and father,

a who will be missed
when he dies.

- You make me forget
that I'm angry

at the asshole and his whore,

and if I'm not angry,
I'm not gonna make it.

- She's not gonna kill
the golden goose, Richard.

She just isn't.

- I haven't
had anything my way.

Daddy robbed me
of everything I had on earth!

He ------ your whole life
and my whole life!

[overlapping
hostile chatter]

- Crazy...
...the monster...

- If you want to destroy me,
get it over and done with.

- Mrs. Broderick is charged

with two counts
of first-degree murder.

- We enter a plea
of not guilty

and request a jury trial.

- You are the most important
person I have

in the whole universe,
bar absolutely none,

and I'd be lost without you.

[soft dramatic music]

[ribbons rustling]

I don't remember.

I don't remember.

- Do you remember telling
many people

you dumped your kids off
at his house because

if you couldn't be
Mrs. Dan Broderick,

you weren't going
to take care of the kids.

- Not those words.

He had left me alone for months
with the rats and everything.

He didn't offer any help.
I was overwhelmed.

I wanted him to know
how hard the job was

of taking care of these kids.

I wanted him to be involved.

- So you wanted to punish him?

Make his life miserable

by dumping four kids
in an empty home, full-time.

- If that is what
you want to say.

- I'm asking you.
Remember?

- Remember, he wasn't
talking about Linda,

he wasn't talking
about divorce,

he wouldn't mention
the word "separation,"

he just needed his space.

- So then why did you
dump the kids off?

- Your Honor,
I'm going to object.

Argumentative.

If bringing your kids to
their father is dumping them,

that's Ms. Wells' definition.

- Rephrase the question.

♪

- Dear Mrs. Broderick,
I read the articles

about you in the "Register"
and I had to write you.

You have my understanding
and sympathy.

I can personally relate
to the inability

to find proper representation
if the spouse is prominent.

- The fining system stopped
in December of 1986

when a judge said
he could not do that.

If you have a complaint,

you must file
a contempt action.

- I don't remember
about a contempt action,

but I do know a judge said

that Dan couldn't keep money
out of the check anymore.

- At that time he was keeping
money out of your checks,

he was paying you
voluntarily support.

There was no court order

ordering him
to pay you support.

- Correct.

- So if he really wanted
to be a jerk,

he didn't have to
pay you anything.

- Right.

- Dear Mrs. Broderick,

I've been watching you
on Court TV.

When my husband left me,

he was advised
to postpone the settlement

until a change in the divorce
law to the infamous no-fault.

I was a sitting duck
and did not know it,

just like you.

- I would like to have marked
as a series of five checks,

one, two, three, four, five,

which appear to be written
on Broderick's accounts.

People's 53.

Can you, um, identify this
for us?

- A check to me in July, 1985.

- For how much?
- $3,000.

- From whom?
- From Dan.

- And did you put a little note
on the bottom of that?

- Yes.
- What did you say?

- "Thanks, sweetie."

- Dear Betty,

I saw you on the 11:00 news
and thought,

"There but for the grace
of God go all of us

"who have been stripped of our
life as we knew it

"or thought it to be because
of the success of our husbands

which we contributed to."

- [laughs]
- "Or accomplished for them."

- The fact is, Dan Broderick
was very close-mouthed

about the problems between you,
isn't that true?

- Closed mouth to me, yes.

- Close-mouthed
to other people?

- No.

He told his family
and other people

total untruths
about what was going on.

Complete lies,
turning everything around.

Denying anything with Linda,
leading everyone to believe

black was white
and white was black.

- I read
your recent interview.

There are many people who
do not consider you crazy

but who do understand
the possibility

of being driven off-balance
given the circumstances

and degree of fear and stress
and emotional abuse.

Have faith.

- Did you talk around town
in 1985

about problems between
you and Dan Broderick?

- Sure I did.

Sure I would've
been aghast at the...

lying that had gone on
for so long.

Finding out that Linda
had been in my house?

Sure I said a lot of things
to people.

- That was one of the reasons

you started
to lose your friends.

You didn't talk
about anything else

other than your problems
with Dan Broderick, right?

- I quit all the things
I belong to.

I quit the things at school.

I didn't want
to be around people

when the only thing on my mind

was the next court hearing,
the next trial,

the next whatever.

I was totally under siege

whether I lost everyone
or everyone lost me.

It didn't matter.

[indistinct chatter]

[laughs]

- You went through
the kitchen,

then the hallway
to the stairs.

You went up the stairs.

You knew at this point

you had the gun
in your hand, correct?

- Yes.

I was looking for Dan
and I was very scared.

- And you knew that his bedroom
was right off to the right

at the top of the stairs,
correct?

- Yes.

- When you left
Dan Broderick's house,

you said you drove
to Clairemont.

Is that correct?

- Uh, I--I ended up
on a phone in Clairemont.

I don't--I don't know
how I got there.

- Do you recall
where this phone was?

- Someone asked.
Whoever I'd called.

I looked around.

I know Clairemont well
on a normal day.

I had no idea where I was.

Thank you
for your sweet note.

Seems I have a lot
of people out there

who sympathize with me.

Also, I'm sorry for my
very inelegant stationary.

- Willful needs intentional.

Deliberate means
after careful thought.

And the law is clear.

There is not set amount
of days or minutes required

for premeditation
to have been present.

A cold, calculated judgment
may be arrived at

in a very short period of time.

- Thank you
for your sweet care package.

No one out there has any idea

of what I was forced
to endure.

- It's important
to point out

the fact the defendant
was feeling many emotions

does not mean
she could not form

a premeditated intent to kill.

Feeling emotions
and making decisions

are not mutually exclusive.

In fact, we all do them
both at once all the time.

- This is a story of legal
terrorism and corruption.

Please keep in touch.

Send me things to read and
thank you for the socks.

Sincerely, Betty Broderick.

- ...of the nature
of the allegations.

I was surprised,
in disbelief,

and again hurt...

- You believe this shit?

- Do I believe it?
Yes.

- Guys on there before were
calling her "a woman scorned."

Anita Hill.

They call you that a lot, too.

They like that one.

- Being scorned just means

other people think
you're worthless.

Doesn't mean you are.

- Is there any reason
to believe

that further deliberations
would lead to verdict?

- No.

- Well, I've been instructed
that your deadlocked

and that further deliberations
would be fruitless.

Is this a true statement
from your point of view,

Juror Number One?

- I don't think
anybody thought

she went over there
to kill herself,

but I felt she was provoked.

- Is this a true statement
from your point of view,

Juror Number Seven?

- Talking about him,
what kind of guy he was,

putting him on trial,
I think that worked.

It's probably why
we got hung up.

- Is this a true statement
from your point of view,

Juror Number Ten?

- Yes, Your Honor.

Every human
has a breaking point.

With humans or any animal,

you push 'em to that point,
they're gonna bite back.

I'll be honest,

I was disappointed they
couldn't argue self-defense

on the grounds
that she was abused.

Her mind was battered--
emotionally battered.

They should change the laws
to protect women like she was,

that's what I thought.

After I heard everything,
what took her so long?

[upbeat music]

♪

- 50 letters like that.

75 the week before the
"Ladies' Home Journal" article.

But now, they're from all over.
Philippines, Australia.

They send me money, candy,
cigarettes, from one article.

How can this not be great
for us?

- It is, but you just can't
let it make you too confident.

- One more hung jury,
and they gotta let me go.

How many times
can you try a person?

- Well, we gotta get through
the second trial first.

- Well, we already know
how to do that.

- Well, if it was just gonna be
the first trial again,

you'd be right, but it won't.

- How different can it be?

They gave us their best shot
and you already saw it.

- I saw a tactical
miscalculation, Betty.

And she skipped over
what happened in the bedroom

and she did it as a reaction
to the defense we mounted

and obviously,
I'm glad about that.

But she won't do it twice.

- The press and the public know

that the prosecution
couldn't convince a jury.

- Yes, right.

And the new jury pool will know
the previous jury hung,

but that means
they also will know

that some wanted to convict.

And the DA's office
is pissed now.

They will go through
those transcripts

with a fine-toothed comb
for Wells to help her prepare,

especially for questioning you.

- [blows raspberry]

Are the boys still coming
to San Diego?

- Of course.

I would've told you
if they weren't.

But their lawyer and a social
worker are still coming, too.

- Fine, I don't care.
They're still my babies.

Uh, when are we gonna
revisit bail?

- Betty--
- Jack, you promised!

You promised
you would argue bail.

- I will, but they will argue
that you are a double murderer,

a danger to society,
and a flight risk,

and they will win.

- They just set bail
for--for--

in Milwaukee,
Jeffrey Dahmer!

I heard it on the radio.

- Impossible bail.
A million dollars.

- But it was set.

Maybe I should've eaten them.

Maybe then my bail
would've been set, too.

- Karen, it's Betty.

Hi.

You know, I escaped.

I escaped and I'm
at the 7-Eleven on Octavia

and I need you to come get me.

And you gotta come quickly
because I--I'm not--

I'm gonna get recognized.

Janet, I need your help.

Yeah.
[stammers]

I escaped from jail with
these other girls, and they--

yes, and then they all
just disappeared

and they left me here.

Can you please come
get me?

Can you come right now?
Right now?

Right now.

[laughs]

I'll be hiding
behind the dumpster.

Just honk your horn
and I'll run out.

Oh, and can you bring
sunglasses and a hat?

Thank you so much, Marie.

No, of course not.

April Fool's.

I said this country

has to redefine
its definition of a weapon.

I said the law has
to take into account

the differences
between men and women

and their respective power--
men have all of it.

I said, you bet Dan Broderick
was a great lawyer,

that's how he could do
to me what he did.

Joe Blow wouldn't have had
the know-how or the clout.

I said I represent

the extremes of what can happen
to women in divorce courts.

- Ah.

And this airs Sunday night?

- Yes.

And next up,
"People" magazine.

- Yeah, I wanted
to talk to you about that.

- [scoffs]
What do you want to talk about?

- I just don't have a
good feeling about it.

- Oh, based on
all the interviews

you've done
for "People" magazine?

- Based on the reporter

giving me a bad feeling
when we talked.

You expect me to honor
your bad feelings.

- I'll take my chances,

and I'll take them with
all the other reporters, too.

- Fine, okay.

[inhales deeply]

I want you to read these over.

The transcripts
of you and Wells.

Now she's gonna be more focused
this time.

She's going to be strategic.

She won't forget to ask you

what happened
in that room this time.

- [inhales sharply]
- Now, she may make mistakes,

but they won't
be the same ones.

You have to be ready.

[binder thumps loudly]

- I know how to tell my story,
Jack, 'kay?

And you should trust me.

♪

- Did she have motive?

Absolutely.

Probably the oldest,
most common motive there is.

Hate.

Pure, intense,

obsessive,
jealous hate.

Being scorned,
romantically rejected

is common to both sexes.

Being angry, hurt,

even wanting some kind
of revenge is universal.

Most people put that hurt
and anger behind them.

You will hear how Elisabeth
Broderick chose not to.

That was a choice she made.

That hate became her life

and she is still filled
with it.

- To really understand
where we get to, what we value,

how we feel, you have
to look at what's inside.

How all the things that happen
to you intertwine.

To know how
Elisabeth Broderick got here,

you have to see who she is
and who Dan Broderick was.

To understand her life,
how she came to be with him,

the promises

and the dreams they had,

and what happened to them.

[soft dramatic music]

[indistinct chatter]

- Obviously,
I don't know what the angle

of your article will be,

but I think them not being
able to reach a verdict

was a sign of total confusion,

which even I have
about this case.

No one--no one--
not me, not anyone,

is gonna vote
for killing someone.

But this story,

it's just such
a desperate situation.

You have people
all over the place.

- I mean, I talked to people
in San Diego, La Jolla,

even my driver
from the airport yesterday

knew all about your case.

He called you
"used and abused."

- I was not in control

and I'm--I'm not as brave
as people think.

Maybe they just see me as the
first in a generation of women

who are not gonna
destroy themselves

when a man in their lives says,
"You're garbage, I'm through."

- One woman in La Jolla said

she thought what you'd done
was important,

that the next Dan Broderick
would think twice,

that sometimes you need
a little prairie justice.

What's Betty Broderick's
opinion?

- You know I can't answer that.

But you know
what the answer is?

[soft dramatic music]

- [indistinct]

♪

- Here.
Right through there.

- Hey, guys!

Hey.

Oh, you're all dressed up.

You want a hug?

Maybe later.

Come sit down.

Sit down.

I wrote down all my questions.
Is that silly?

I just don't want to forget

to ask you anything
about your life.

You guys are so tall.
You got so tall.

- Was that bedroom
to the right at the top

the first one you went into?

- Yes.

- And what did you find?

- I saw both of the bodies.

- What did you do
when you saw them?

- I ran over, got down by Dan,

put my hand on his throat
for a pulse.

It was cold.

I felt Linda's throat,
the side of it,

she was cold, too,
with no pulse.

- Did you see a phone
in the bedroom?

- No, I had seen a phone
on the floor in the hall

as I came up the stairs.

I ran by it.
I didn't know why it was there.

- Did you attempt
to call out on it?

- No, I could tell my looking
the wire was shredded.

It--it wasn't going to work.

- So you went to leave
the house to call the police,

but they were already arriving
there, is that correct?

- Yes, there were
officers walking in.

I said,
"The people who live inside--

"they are upstairs.

"They are...

"both dead.

I'll show you."

- How would you describe how
she felt about Dan and Linda?

- She hated them.

- On a scale of one to ten?
- Over ten.

[inhales deeply]
Ten-plus-plus.

- I told her
she was losing friends.

- She was getting boring.
No one really cared.

And she should redirect,
refocus.

- Did she ever actually
do that?

- No.

- I had a party
at the beach house.

I had some friends, my family,

and I kind of begged her
to keep her mouth shut

about this divorce, but
we couldn't get her to let go.

It was rude and everyone
was sick of it.

- All I know is that
she wanted those children

and she was trying
to gain control of her life

to get it back in order
so that she could have them.

- She told you about
taking the children over

and giving them
to Dan, correct?

- She never would've
given up those children

if she thought
that he would take them.

She used it as a ploy to make
him assume some responsibility

which he had never had
with those kids.

- But she did say,

"He's out there
having a great single life,

why should I take care of the
kids while he's out playing?"

- Yes, but I understood
why she said that.

It was very obvious to me.

- Did she describe
what her attitude was

about being in jail?

- I don't think jail was
too traumatic.

I don't remember
being concerned.

- Just that she had gone
to jail.

- Spent three days, five days,

and it just didn't seem
to be a problem.

- She kind of related it
to being at summer camp.

Away from everyone,
away from everything.

- Can you describe

how she would talk about the
children's' father and Linda

in front of the children?

- In the same terms.

She always referred to them
using the same vulgar names.

- Was that often,
or was that occasional?

- All of the time,
all of the time.

- Did you talk to her
about not doing it?

- She kind of
shrugged her shoulders.

Said, "That is what they are."

- She worshipped money.
It was her main goal in life.

She loved it more
than her children.

She's a very materialistic
person, always was.

An alcoholic spender.

- So pretty much
a fairly disgusting person

whose main concern was money.

Very few redeeming qualities,

and yet for whatever reason,
this was your friend.

Nothing more.

- Did you ever hear her use the
words, "kill" or "threaten?"

- Yes.

- Can you explain
those circumstances?

- That same context of,

what can you do,
you are trapped,

you are the person
who can't get out

and every time you turn,
the system puts you in a corner

and the frustration was such

she would say,
"I'm going to kill 'em."

And I just sort of
had to nod my head.

- I saw her in person

I would say probably
three times a week.

And I talked with her
probably every day.

- At the time you met her,
did she--

was there an overriding emotion
you would see with her?

- I saw a veil of depression

that seemed to be with Betty
the whole time I knew her.

- Can you describe her,
emotionally,

in the months preceding
November 5, 1989?

- She seemed to be a person
that was giving up on herself.

- Did she say anything
on that call

about why she killed
Dan and Linda?

- Linda was destroying her
family, destroying her life.

I said back to her,
"So you destroyed her?"

She said, "Yes."

- Did she laugh?

- [scoffs softly]
Yes.

♪

- Do you remember how your
family was before they split?

How did it--
- Objection, beyond the scope.

- Overruled.
You can answer it.

- Before my parents separated,

I thought we had
a really happy family.

- He treated us really well.

He wasn't...

good at the fathering thing
at first, but...

he got better.

He didn't know how
to show his emotions and stuff.

I mean, he wasn't perfect,

but he was a really good dad.

[sniffles]

And he tried really hard.

- Did you have any question
in your mind that he loved you?

- I knew he did.

- I can't make this stop.

I couldn't even stand up.

♪

I just didn't know where to go,
who to call, or--

I just didn't know what to do,
so I just left the house.

There was so much going on,
these...

crazy thoughts, this anguish.

My eyeballs were turned around
inside of my head.

♪

The whole world
was inside my head.

I was going to go
to the beach and do it.

I had no life left, anyway.

- Did you end up going
to the beach?

♪

- I left the house
to go to the beach, but...

♪

I never went to the beach, no.

[tense music]

[dramatic music]

♪

- "Asshole,

"Jenjen told me
you're afraid of me.

"You better damn well
be afraid of me

if you keep pulling shit
like this."

- Well--[chuckles]

around the time of the wedding,
she told me that.

[stutters]
I made a joke.

- You thought it was funny?

- Dan Broderick
was never afraid of me.

- How many times was it
you re-read

this Marriage Encounter book?

- Over the years?
- In 1989.

- I'm, I--

a lot, I've read it a lot.

- This was
the Marriage Encounter

that Dan had written to you

about what you felt were the
promises he had made to you--

promises that he had broken.

- Yes.

- So 1989 was
the 20th anniversary

of your wedding
to Dan Broderick,

and the weekend
of November 5th,

when you killed him,

was the anniversary of your
Marriage Encounter,

which was also on
November 5th, correct?

- Yes.

- Was that something
you recognized

as you re-read this
Marriage Encounter book

shortly before you killed them?

- No.

- Where were you
when you made the decision

to not go to the beach,

but to go to Dan Broderick's
house instead?

- I don't know.
- But you made the decision.

You wanted to go to his house
to blow your brains out.

- Well, there were
so many thoughts

going on in my head
at the time.

- When was it you checked

to make sure the gun
was still inside your purse

so that you could
blow your brains out?

- No, the gun
was always inside the purse.

If the purse was there,
the gun was there.

- You found a set of keys.

It didn't occur to you
that these were Tracy's,

who had lost her keys?

- Nobody was missing keys.

- And so you felt
by breaking in

and confronting him in his
bedroom at 5:00 in the morning,

he was gonna be inclined
to give you what you wanted.

- He was gonna be inclined
to listen to me.

- And in fact,
that's what you testified

as to why you took the gun,
right?

It had nothing to do
at this point

with wanting to kill yourself.

- I took the gun
inside the house

so that he would listen to me.

If he wouldn't listen, then
I was going to kill myself.

- You went to the back
of the house

so you could sneak up
on him, correct?

- I know I had the sensation
of screaming.

I don't know if I screamed,
"stop" or "no"

or if I just screamed,
or if no sound came out.

It was just a sensation.

- You never testified last time
about any sensation, did you?

- Well, you never asked me
about anything

that went on
in that room last year.

- You never testified
about on the drive there

feeling like your eyeballs
were turned backwards,

the whole world
inside your head, did you?

- It's the same story,

maybe I'm just
explaining it better this year.

- Maybe you're
embellishing it better.

- Objection, Your Honor.
- Sustained. Argumentative.

- I walked into the room.

I testified that it was dark

because that's
how it appeared to me.

I moved, they moved,
and the gun went off.

Just when I tensed,
like that.

I don't remember
pulling the trigger

once, twice, three, four.

I don't remember
pulling the trigger at all.

- This was not an automatic.

This was a revolver.

You have to pull
the trigger each time

in order to shoot the gun.

So you're saying you just

tensed, like that, once?

- Yes, and it just went off.

- And then you just
tensed like this twice,

and then you just tensed
like that three times,

and then you just tensed
like that four times?

[tense music]

- Uh, it must've been
in my right hand.

- And when you entered
the room,

how were you holding the gun?

- [sighs softly]

- I would assume it was
at my side.

- Okay.

So when Linda moved,

you had to bring that gun up

and point it at her
in order to shoot her, right?

This tensing reflex action

didn't make the gun go off
in the floor, did it?

And after you tensed once
and shot Linda,

you then had to change your aim
in order to shoot Dan.

Dan was not in the same
position Linda was in

when you shot her, was he?

- I didn't see them.
It was dark.

- Are you denying you had
to change your aim

in order to shoot Dan?

'Cause he's on the other side
of the bed.

- I did not change aim.
I did not move.

I did not move the gun.

- You never intended
to kill yourself

with any of those five shots

pointed at Dan and Linda
in the bed, correct?

- I thought about it after,

but there weren't
any bullets left in the gun.

- Well, you had testified
you were going to confront him

and if it didn't work, you
were going to kill yourself.

Now, obviously if they're
rolling away from you

yelling, "Call the police,"

the confrontation
isn't working.

But that gun never made it
up to your head, did it?

That gun only went
to their bodies, didn't it?

After you shot them,

you didn't immediately
leave the room, did you?

- Yes, I did.

- That's not the
immediate thing you did

after shooting them, was it?

[soft dramatic music]

♪

- I went to get the phone.
- Okay.

You had to walk
all around the bed

where Dan
is lying on the floor.

You had to walk
through this area

to grab the phone
and pull it out of the wall,

didn't you?

You indicated this morning

that you'd not been able to
tell anyone how sorry you were.

Isn't it true that
since you've been in jail,

you've written hundreds
of letters?

- Maybe over the whole time.

- Many letters every day
to friends, family,

newspaper reporters,
celebrities.

There wasn't anything
preventing you

from talking
about your feelings

in any of these letters,
was there?

- I've testified I wasn't free
to express any feelings

because I knew the letters were
copied going in and going out.

- You wrote a letter
to Amy Wallace

at the "Los Angeles Times"
from jail, correct?

- Correct.

- "You have the general idea,

"but the chronology and facts
are all twisted.

I'll call, we'll talk.
Only I know the whole truth."

- I was just correcting
her article.

I wouldn't have expressed
the feelings I'm talking about

with a newspaper reporter.

- You made a specific
correction with Amy Wallace.

You indicated Jennifer
had testified

that you said Dan had said,

"Okay, okay,
you shot me, I'm dead."

You told Amy Wallace
no, that's not right.

He said,
"Okay, you got me. I'm dead."

Right?
- Right.

- Didn't you just testify
earlier today

that you don't remember him
saying anything?

- What I testified to today

is that I don't really know
what happened in that room.

It was--
it was flashes of things--

- Excuse me.
You answered the question.

Let me just ask you this.

If you don't remember what
happened in that room,

how could you correct
the "Los Angeles Times"

about what happened
in that room?

[soft tense music]

♪

You wrote another letter
to a friend

where you said,
"Whatever the future holds,

"I'll be okay.

"I've chosen the path of peace,

and I finally have it."

♪

- I don't remember
saying that, but...

yes, it's been more peaceful
for me--

[sniffles]

being in jail.

- No further questions.

♪

- Anyone can see that
she doesn't know who she is.

How much she wants
to please people.

And how hungry she is

for love.

- If those tapes
of Betty and her kids

don't prove she went nuts,
then what does?

She's sick.
She needs help.

- But you know, I don't know
if she can get well.

Not now.

I think she just needs
to get old.

- It's okay to have
an emotional response

to this case.

You may find you disagree
with each other,

maybe passionately,
about your feelings.

I think you should acknowledge
those feelings.

Get them out and then
when you're done feeling,

it's time to start thinking

because that
is why you are here.

- If you think of
the people you live with,

they see everything about you.

Your worst and your best.

The habits that you
wouldn't dare show the public.

You give them who you are.

- I'll concede, Dan Broderick
was wrong in leaving his wife.

[soft tense music]

No men should ever
leave their wives.

All marriages
should be blissfully happy.

- I'm wearing a suit.

For you, there's no telling
how I dress at home.

What I do, what I'm like
when I feel good or bad.

♪

But she knows.

- I'll concede,

Dan Broderick should've given
Elisabeth Broderick more money.

He should've given her
everything she demanded.

But that assumes
it would've mattered.

Would another closet full
of clothes

with the tags still hanging
on them have made a difference?

I'll concede, Dan Broderick
should've given her the kids

every time she asked for them

no matter what
she was doing to them,

no matter that she had

handed them over to him
in the first place.

I'll concede,

Linda Kolkena should
never have gotten involved

with Dan Broderick.

Should never have loved him,
married him.

Should never have responded
to Elisabeth Broderick's venom.

She should've been perfect.

And she wasn't.
And neither was Dan.

But the verdict forms you'll
be filling out do not read,

"We the jury find Dan and Linda
Broderick were perfect people."

- And that's what hurts.

I trust that you are with me.

I'm giving you who I am.

When you break that trust,
that should bother you.

That should hurt.

Your betrayal
of someone who was there.

♪

But then you find

that is probably the history
of the world.

Just the way people
look at things.

- "Whatever the future holds,
I'll be okay.

I have chosen the path
of peace."

♪

Killing two people,

including the father
of her children,

gave Elisabeth Broderick peace.

♪

[hammer clicks]

[screaming]
- Call the police!

- When you commit a crime
that is inherently dangerous,

when you bring a loaded gun
into a house,

there is a danger
that someone will get hurt,

someone will get killed.

But if you say
at that point in time,

"I believe there was
a reasonable doubt

as to intent to kill,"

that is
involuntary manslaughter.

If you say I believe
there was the intent to kill,

but the person was acting
on emotion,

acting on what
they had been through?

Ladies and gentlemen,

that is voluntary manslaughter.

- The judge said this
is not a death penalty case.

That is not true.

Elisabeth Broderick imposed
the death penalty

on Dan and Linda.

They didn't get to present
their case in front of a jury

before she executed them.

She made that decision
on her own.

Being hurt doesn't give you
the right to do that.

Justice calls that
first-degree murder.

[door buzzes]

- Hmm, hmm.

- Don't cheat.

- I didn't.
- You were about to.

- Let's see.

[door opens]

[tense music]

♪

- We, the jury
in the above entitled cause,

find the defendant,
Elisabeth Anne Broderick,

guilty of the crime of murder,

felony as charged in count one
of the information.

And set the degree thereof
as murder in the second degree,

victim Daniel Broderick.

We, the jury
in the above entitled cause,

by the defendant,
Elisabeth Anne Broderick,

guilty of the crime of murder,

a felony as charged in
count two of the information

and set the degree of thereof
as murder in the second degree,

victim Linda Broderick.

Ladies and gentlemen
of the jury,

are these your verdicts
as I read them?

- Yes.

It was clear
right from the beginning

that another mistrial
was possible.

One juror right off said that

she would never vote
for first degree.

She would hang the jury
before she ever did that.

- For four days, they shouted
their heads off at me,

but I just didn't believe
that Betty went in with malice.

He flipped her out.

He killed her first--
her spirit.

And that's just
how it appeared to me.

- People were yelling, crying.

Until lunch today even,
there were still holdouts.

- So how did you
reach a decision?

- Uh, we, um,

listened to that
one phone call again.

Betty with her son,
who was crying.

We all held hands and, uh...

we just got there.

- I mean, I've been around
the corner once or twice.

I know what pain feels like.

As a woman,
you have to bear a lot of it

or you are just lost
from the beginning.

What I did for Betty
was the right thing for Betty.

Second degree.

She'll be out in four
or five years, don't you think?

- Maximum sentence Betty
could get is 32 to life.

- No.

No, I--I can't--
I can't believe it.

No, if I thought she was--
if I--

if she was gonna get anything
more, I would've hung in.

And Judge Spiller
won't do that.

No, he's kind.

He'll--I'm sure
he'll be lenient.

I thought he was
just wonderful.

- The physical evidence,
which is uncontradicted,

shows she intentionally aimed
at both people.

It's not just the pulling
of the phone out of the wall

but the carrying of it
into the hallway

that shows a high degree
of callousness.

Therefore, the crime
of second-degree murder

in count two, I'll select
a term of 15 years to life,

consecutive to that imposed
in count one.

[gavel bangs]

[soft dramatic music]

♪

- He was smart and fun
and ambitious,

and so was I.

I don't know what we really
thought of each other.

All I know is

we were exactly what we
thought the other one

was supposed
to be looking for.

Back then?

I remember dancing.

Our songs.

We had songs we would dance to
over and over.

[chuckles]

Great makeout music.

♪ You ask how much I need you

♪ Must I explain?

♪ I need you, oh, my darling

♪ Like roses need rain

♪ You ask
how long I'll love you ♪

[telephone rings]

Hello?

- I have bad news.

- Oh, well, that's not
the kind I like.

[chuckles]

- Coral Reef house is sold.
I'm sorry.

Dan got a court order

and went in front
of a judge this morning.

- I understand.

Hey, boys!
Can you come set the table?

As soon as I mash the potatoes,
we'll be ready to eat.

♪

- This is calendar number
three, Broderick v. Broderick.

Mr. Broderick and his
attorney, Douglas Layton,

are present,
as is Elisabeth Broderick

and her attorney,
Robert Munro.

♪

[indistinct chatter,
phones ringing]

- Reception,
how can I help you?

Please hold.

♪

Can I help you?

- I'm Betty.

Mrs. Broderick.

♪

Wait, wait, wait.
Come back, come back.

We're gonna go home.

♪

Are you sleeping with her?
- [sighs]

- Are you?

- [sighs]

I'm in love with her.

♪

- ♪ Must I explain

♪ I need you,
oh, my darling ♪

♪ Like roses need rain

♪

♪ You ask
how long I'll love you ♪

♪ I'll tell you true

♪ Until the twelfth of never

♪ I'll still be

♪ Loving you

Someone else needs this phone.

[door buzzes]

[door slams]