Betty Broderick is an American prisoner and she is currently worth $0. She was a housewife and had never taken up any gainful employment before she went to jail. She is the ex-wife of the late Dan Broderick III, a successful lawyer whom she murdered alongside his second wife, Linda Kolkena, in November 1989.
Betty has been in prison for over 33 years since she was convicted of shooting and killing both her ex-husband, Dan, and his then-new wife following a rather acrimonious divorce. She was sentenced to 32 years imprisonment and has not yet been released.
How Much Is Betty Broderick’s Net Worth?
As already stated, Betty Broderick is not worth anything in monetary terms. The chief reason for this is her obvious incarceration. The American penal structure is made in a way that does not empower convicts financially while still in prison. Apart from this reason, another reason why Betty Broderick does not have a traceable net worth is that she never really worked—both before her marriage and after.
Born Elizabeth Anne Bisceglia on November 7, 1947, in Eastchester, New York City, USA, Betty had a normal upbringing for the time. Her father, Frank Bisceglia, is Italian while her mother, Marita Bisceglia, is an Irish-American.
She had a very conservative upbringing and even though she was educated—first at Eastchester High School, then at College of Mount Saint Vincent (1965), an unnamed Catholic women’s college located in the Bronx, and finally at the University of Notre Dame (where she met Dan)—Betty never put her skills to use. She and Dan Broderick got married in 1969 and conceived almost immediately after.
Four more children followed in quick succession, successfully killing any chance for her to do anything besides take care of the homefront. It remained that way for Betty until her divorce in 1985. Her net worth never grew and she remained jobless for the entirety of the time when she was a free woman.
What Was Betty’s Net Worth While Her Husband Was Alive?
While her husband, Dan Broderick was alive, Betty was still not worth much. Although there is no report on whether she earned any salary even as a housewife, she is reported to have been worth $0. According to several reports that followed Betty Broderick’s divorce and murder trial, she didn’t work while she was married to Dan. This put her personal net worth at a rather insignificant figure far below that of her more successful husband.
Betty’s statement regarding the situation of her finances was that she opted to stay at home and look after their four kids in exchange for compensation. At the time, Dan completed his law school education and began working, and he was the sole breadwinner of the family. He reportedly had student loan debts to pay, which made Betty decide to give up her chance to start a career in order to enable him to get his life back on track.
How Much Was Betty Broderick’s Husband Worth?
According to The Los Angeles Times of California, Daniel Broderick was said to have had a net worth of approximately $60,000 at the time of his death. When he was alive, he was a very book-smart man. He obtained two degrees: A medical degree from the prestigious Cornell University and a law degree from Harvard Law School.
When he was done with school, he got a job at Coral Reef and relocated with his family. Being an unusual sort of professional—a doctor and a lawyer—he was well sought after by the public and reportedly earned up to $1 million per year before his and Betty’s marriage crashed.
His net worth diminished significantly after he got married for the second time to Linda. Dan was reportedly worth over $1.5 million at the height of his dual medical and law practice. After his divorce from Betty was concluded, his net worth saw another decline because he was ordered to pay Betty the sum of $20,000, but the amount wasn’t very significant.
The $20,000 was given to Betty as spousal compensation for the periods that she was unable to legally earn in the marriage. Dan Broderick wasn’t exactly a super-rich man, but he was wealthy enough to maintain a comfortable lifestyle for his family.
Betty Broderick Does Not Work From Prison
After her arrest and imprisonment in 1990, Betty was sentenced to 32 years in prison. She was declared eligible for parole in the years 2010 and 2017 but was denied both times because she didn’t appear remorseful enough.
Some media sources revealed that Betty did gain some form of employment pre-imprisonment, but they were solely for the purpose of supporting her family while her then-husband was still in school. After she was found guilty of two counts of second-degree murder and sentenced, Betty was stripped of her right to work as well as other basic rights.
She is currently in jail and her employment status has remained the same. Opinions regarding the scandalous incident have varied as some members of the public berated Betty Broderick for refusing to get to work after the divorce. When asked why she committed murder, Betty said that her ex-husband drove her to it.
The amount she asked for in court—$1 million in total settlement and a $25,000 monthly spousal support cheque—was rejected and as such, she left the union with only $28,000, which was much less than she had hoped for. This enraged Betty and led her to plot the murders.
Did Betty Inherit Her Husband’s Estate After His Murder?
The simple answer to the question is Dan’s children. You might recall that Dan and Betty had four kids whom he gained full custody of after the divorce. Well, after his death, his children inherited his estate—all except one child.
The four Broderick children are Kim Broderick, Kathy Lee Broderick, Rhett Broderick, and Daniel Broderick IV. All the children except daughter Lee got a share of their father’s wealth. Lee was reportedly written off of her father’s will shortly before his tragic death.
While there is no direct reason given as to why he took that action, a report by the Los Angeles Times newspaper revealed that he told his daughter of the decision he made just less than a year before he was murdered.
Lee did not believe him at the time and was surprised when she realized he had gone through with the decision to leave her out. Considering that Lee was one of the two children who clamored for Betty’s release, her steadfast loyalty to her mother might have been the catalyst for Dan’s brash decision.
The rest of the children shared Dan’s estate, which was estimated to be worth anywhere between $60,000 and $1.6 million in monetary terms.
