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There is another case that is similiar to this one, happened in the '90's, I believe. Made the news and many true crime shows. Florida case, upscale community. Linda Jones had her husband Jack killed by "intruders" because he had begun an affair with a young employee of Linda's who had been living with them on Linda's invitation. Gal was 18, hell, their 2 daughters were the same age or older than this girl. Anyway, same situation, Linda tried to keep her man, he was playing mind games with her, treated her like crap after she tried everything to "change" herself, so similiar to Betty's case. Linda reminds me of Betty, both 40ish, plump, and I think "blondes".
Even if Dan and Linda were conniving people (and it sounds like they did their best to upset her) I can't understand how Betty thought killing them would help her or the kids, except she just wanted them gone....Father dead, mother in prison, how is that a good solution? 4 children left in a horrible situation, I don't think she cared about the effect this was going to have on them, unless she thought she would be aquitted after all she put up with (focus on her again)
I feel sorry for what she went through but you just can't kill people because you hate them.
I will have to read that new book, because there was psychological abuse which could have set Betty off the deep end, again not justifying her action but she may have not been in her right mind after all the emotional abuse. Emotional abuse is covert, takes years to build up, and often results in a lashing out when the spouse finally breaks down.
Are you saying Betty Broderick was emotionally abused during the marriage?
You realize she gave him the power to be put in that position by working to pay his way thru medical school he never completed, only to change his mind and go to law school and then she worked to pay for that too?
Discontinued her own career so she could pat herself on the back for both of their successes and reap the rewards. All this so she could have a successful husband at her side to feed her own narcissism.
Narcissists don't allow themselves to be abused. She got exactly what she wanted out of the marriage and thought he should be indebted to her. Unfortunately, life doesn't always go as planned, but Bettys narcissism blinded her into thinking she was still in control. Thats where her anger and rage came from.
You have to remember though that what she did as far as supporting Dan through college was very common back then. Women were supposed to know their place.
I know many women who were in the same position (older than me) but things seemed to work out better for them.
In this case, Dan knew what buttons to push and ultimately used it against her.
This world would be so much better if people realized that they loved each other once and there could have been a more caring exit strategy on his part.
Unfortunately, what some of these men do is parade the new girlfriend around in front of the ex or ex to be and that is equally hurtful.
Both parties should have acted a bit more grown up IMO.
Are you saying Betty Broderick was emotionally abused during the marriage?
You realize she gave him the power to be put in that position by working to pay his way thru medical school he never completed, only to change his mind and go to law school and then she worked to pay for that too?
{Yes, because she loved him and at that point wanted to help. No wife expects to be thrown under the bus after this.}
Narcissists don't allow themselves to be abused. She got exactly what she wanted out of the marriage and thought he should be indebted to her. Unfortunately, life doesn't always go as planned, but Bettys narcissism blinded her into thinking she was still in control. Thats where her anger and rage came from.
Narcissism is WAY over used and recently psychiatrists have revised its definition. In general I am sick of "narcissism" as a medical or psychological term. Emotional abuse is NOT black and white and this thing escalating was not all Bettys fault.
Dan was educated and an attorney, he knew what happens in nasty divorce cases, imo he fueled the flames and created a disaster for himself.
He could have walked away. But apparently he did not, and rubbed Betty face in his new marriage, and dragging the divorce settlement case through court.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion, in this case her final actions were wrong, But Dan had the intelligence to foresee what he was doing was wrong and should have taken the high road.
No two people are alike, if a person is enraged, it is not intelligent behavior to feed off of it.
Narcissism is WAY over used and recently psychiatrists have revised its definition. In general I am sick of "narcissism" as a medical or psychological term. Emotional abuse is NOT black and white and this thing escalating was not all Bettys fault.
Dan was educated and an attorney, he knew what happens in nasty divorce cases, imo he fueled the flames and created a disaster for himself.
He could have walked away. But apparently he did not, and rubbed Betty face in his new marriage, and dragging the divorce settlement case through court.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion, in this case her final actions were wrong, But Dan had the intelligence to foresee what he was doing was wrong and should have taken the high road.
No two people are alike, if a person is enraged, it is not intelligent behavior to feed off of it.
In my opinion, Betty Broderick was not an emotionally abused women during there marriage. She had total control of their marriage until he found another women.
I'm not sure Betty wasn't equally responsible for the divorce settlement dragging on.
When you want war, war is what you get. Its not mature or the right thing for either party, but its not uncommon in divorce.
Last edited by virgode; 03-15-2012 at 02:45 PM..
Reason: edit
Betty's entire identity was wrapped up in being "Dan Broderick's wife". Once that "identity was gone, she literally had nothing to draw on to create her own self, for years, her life was focused on helping him gain education and status.
I can relate to Betty. I will admit to having elaborate homocidal fantasies about killing my ex, during and after our divorce. Betty just went the next step to actually performing the fantasy. She was enmeshed and co-dependent on her husband.
What is the difeerence between a person who "thinks" about an act, and the one who goes ahead and does it? I am not sure.
Betty felt like Dan took away everything. It was her perception. She could not control this, and it drove her crazy.
I think women who kill their husbands get judged more harshly than men who kill their wives, INMO.
Its easy for the media and some to be dismissive of psychological abuse. It is not an excuse for murder, Virgode, but no one knows for sure whether Betty was emotionally abused unless you are her doctor or psychiatrist. I NEVER assume because alot of "seemingly" normal marriages, are not. I know because I was in one myself, unfortunately.
Asking a lot of questions regarding your whereabouts.
Being way too demanding.
Getting highly upset when you are unable to meet his/her demands.
Constant shouting and banging the stuff around.
Trying to perform sexual activities forcibly without your consent.
Drifting you away from family and friends by being way to possessive and jealous.
Trying to dominate you every time.
Taking decisions on your behalf without consulting.
A slap or hit on your body is NOT normal!
Blaming you for his/her worries and troubles.
When it comes to women in abusive relationships, the statistics are even more shocking and disturbing. Read on the following statistics to know the consequences of being quiet and tolerant.
A woman is physically assaulted every nine seconds in the United States according to the Family Violence Prevention Fund Report 1994.
According to the Surgeon General 1992, relationship/ domestic violence is the leading cause of women injuries in women aged between 15-44 in the United States, which was more than rapes, muggings and automobile incidents when combined together!
According to Commonwealth Fund survey 1998, Nearly one-third of American women report being physically or sexually abused by a husband or boyfriend at some point in their lives.
According to the Journal of American Medical Association 1992, Over 50% of women killed in the United Sates were killed by male intimate partners or ex-partners. Also, 22-35% of women visiting medical emergency rooms are there from injuries resulting from ongoing abusive relationships.
According to the Commonwealth Fund 1993, 3.9 million American women, either married or living with a partner,were physically abused. Also, 20.7 million were emotionally or verbally abused by their partner.
In 2003, 30% of the female murder victims in the United States were slain by their husbands or boyfriends. - Uniform Crime Reports of the U.S. 1996, Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2003 (January - June).
According to Barbara Hart, National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, 1988, Women who leave their batterers are at 75% greater risk of severe injury or death than those who stay.
The National Institute of Justice, July 2000 states that it is estimated that 503,485 women are stalked by an intimate partner each year in the United States.
Every 2 out of 3 female victims of violence and physical assault, were related to or knew their attacker.- From the research of U.S. Dept. of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics, "Violence against Women: A National Crime Victimization Survey Report, January 1994"
According to a national survey Kathleen C. Basile, Prevalence of Wife Rape and Other Intimate Partner Sexual Coercion in a Nationally Representative Sample of Women, 17 Violence and Victims 511 (2002) , 34% of women were victims of sexual assault by a spouse or intimate partner
Out of all women murdered with a firearm, almost 2/3rd were murdered by their intimate partners. The number of females shot and killed by their husband or intimate partner was thrice as higher than the total number of women murdered by male strangers using all weapons combined in single victim/single offender incidents in 2002.
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A long time ago
