It Was Simple: The Betty Broderick Murders

About It Was Simple: The Betty Broderick Murders

These were murders that would turn any town on its head, but La Jolla, Calif? That rich jewel by the sea? Thirty years ago, a man and his new wife were murdered in their bed. That’s a long time for a double homicide to stay in the public eye and imagination, but these were no ordinary murders. The killer was the man’s first wife, Betty Broderick. Betty and Dan Broderick had looked like the perfect couple, right up until they weren’t. After four children and nearly 15 years of marriage, after the riches they both worked for were finally within reach, he walked out and began having an affair with his assistant. But divorce ended the Brodericks’ marriage only on paper. “Till death do you part” turned out to be the way it would ultimately end: bitter, savage and fatal. It took two criminal trials to send Betty Broderick to prison, and we’ll hear not only from her divorce attorney, but also from the criminal defense attorney who argued for her in two murder trials, plus the foreman of the jury that convicted her. So many things burned this case into memory: The principals were rich. The jealous killer was, for a change, the woman, not the man. It’s been the subject of TV movies and books. It’s resonated with two generations of Americans -- deserted wives, unhappy husbands. And it’s raised some questions about how divorce laws may contribute to what’s called the feminization of poverty. All of these issues remain critical and controversial in contemporary America today. Thirty years after five bullets, two coffins and one California prison inmate No. W42477, why can’t we look away from Betty Broderick?

Publisher

Los Angeles Times

Category

history · true crime · tv & film

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

19 May 2020

Latest episode

1 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

3 of 9 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   1 Oct 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Introducing: Call Sign Condor: Latino Soldiers Fighting in Ukraine

   Host Carolina Chimoy interviews Latin American soldiers fighting in Ukraine, exploring their motivations, experiences, and search for belonging in this compelling interview.

2. 

   4 Jun 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Introducing: The De Los Podcast

   Fidel Martínez and Suzy Exposito interview cultural shapers on the De Los Podcast, exploring the vibrant Latino experience through music, pop culture, and unfiltered conversations.

3. 

   9 Sept 2025TRANSCRIPT

   Introducing: Pandora’s Box: The Fall of L.A.’s Sheriff

   Pandora’s Box: The Fall of L.A.’s Sheriff is a six-part true crime investigation from the Los Angeles Times about one of the biggest law enforcement scandals in U.S. history. Follow Pulitzer Prize–winning reporter Christopher Goffard as he uncovers how Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca, once hailed as a reformer, became entangled in a shocking cover-up inside the nation’s largest jail system. From FBI informants and jailhouse brutality to corruption at the highest levels, this series reveals how deputies hid an inmate, intimidated federal agents, and ultimately brought down one of California’s most powerful sheriffs.

4. 

   11 Jun 2025

   Introducing: Rebuilding L.A.

   Please enjoy the first episode of the latest from L.A. Times Studios, Rebuilding L.A. L.A. Times reporter Liam Dillon joins us to talk about where we are in the moment as residents assess the path forward. How are people grappling with the decision to rebuild and, ultimately, what factors are playing into those plans? Also, Altadena resident and lawyer Kelsey Szamet shares her very personal story about her efforts to get back home to the town where she was born and raised, and now lives with her own family.

5. 

   9 Jun 2020

   This Has Haunted Me | 4

   Episode 4: One of the most sensational moments in Betty Broderick’s second murder trial was straight out of a TV courtroom drama. As Betty’s defense attorney Jack Earley was asking about her kids’ welfare, he dropped a bombshell: He had witnesses ready to testify that Dan Broderick had talked about hiring a hitman to kill Betty. In the final episode of our podcast, we hear from one man Earley wanted to call to the stand, from the foreman of the jury at the trial, and from fans lobbying for Betty’s release.

6. 

   2 Jun 2020

   You Got Me | 3

   Episode 3: Dan Broderick and his new wife, Linda, were killed in their bed. In jail, Betty behaved like you'd imagine someone would be after an exorcism — a bit giddy, a bit manic. She wasn’t sorry, not for a moment. In the third episode of our podcast, we hear why Betty’s first murder trial ended in a hung jury, learn more about Linda Broderick from a close friend, and begin Betty’s second murder trial.

7. 

   26 May 2020

   Bed, Wed and Dead | 2

   Episode 2: You could look at the story of the Brodericks as one beginning and ending in two marital beds. In 1969, it was Betty and Dan’s honeymoon bed. In 1989, it was Dan’s bed with Linda Kolkena, his new wife of not quite seven months. Betty — displaced, dispossessed Betty and her five-shot nickel-plated Smith & Wesson — saw to it that they would never live to share that bed again. In the second episode of our podcast, we chart the saga of betrayal, separation, divorce and murder.

8. 

   26 May 2020

   A Fatal Shore | 1

   Episode 1: On her wedding day, April 12, 1969, the newly minted Betty Broderick looked romantically toward a future as enchanting as the lace veil around her shoulders. It was all supposed to be so perfect. But then again, aren’t all marriages, at the start? In the first episode of our podcast, we follow Dan and Betty Broderick from their wedding day through their lean student years of hot-plate dinners, the pressures and strains of her nine pregnancies and his two Ivy League degrees, and their ill-fated move to the shores of La Jolla, Calif.

9. 

   19 May 2020

   Introducing "It Was Simple: The Betty Broderick Murders"

   It Was Simple: The Betty Broderick Murders premieres on May 26th.

Inside a recent episode

Introducing: Call Sign Condor: Latino Soldiers Fighting in Ukraine

Published 1 Oct 2026 · Transcript excerpt

[…] I asked Kondor if he's not afraid of living so high up on one of the top floors. I learned during a security training that it's better to stay on a lower floor when you're in a war zone because of the drones. He shrugs. Nowhere is safe, he says. It can happen anywhere at any time. […]

Who has been a guest on It Was Simple: The Betty Broderick Murders

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Leslie Grace
• Sen Dog
• Xolo Maridueña
• Fabrizio Guido
• Empress Of

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

3.8 / 5

1,998 ratings

Spotify

4.4 / 5

58 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 29 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

27

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

75

Contact It Was Simple: The Betty Broderick Murders

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

Shows with a similar audience

• 

  Man In The Window: The Golden State Killer

• 

  Detective Trapp

• 

  What Happened to the McStays?

• 

  WTOP’s American Nightmare Series

• 

  Smoke Screen: My Fugitive Dad

• 

  Over My Dead Body

Questions about It Was Simple: The Betty Broderick Murders