One-time San Diego socialite and convicted killer Elizabeth "Betty" Broderick has been denied parole for the second time since her double murder conviction in the shooting deaths of her ex-husband and his bride.
Broderick, 69, was "defiant, smirked, and in complete denial" during the hearing at the California Institution for Women in Corona Wednesday after spending decades in prison for the crimes, according to San Diego County Deputy District Attorney Richard Sachs.
“Her demeanor was basically to be defiant, to smirk throughout the hearing, to act in complete denial, and not understand where she is, why she’s there and what happened," Sachs said.
The hearing lasted all day as each side argued their case and victims gave impact statements.
Sachs said over the course of the day, it became evident that the former La Jolla socialite did not feel remorse for the crimes she committed.
“One of the commissioners just felt she’s inherently working from evil and is evil. And can’t, there’s a certain amount of diabolical thing going on where she can’t see her own role in these criminal offenses," Sachs said.
The Board denied parole; Broderick will have to wait 15 years until she can petition again.
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Sachs called the decision "tremendous" and said justice was served in an "extremely satisfying way tonight."
“She is definitely someone with no regrets, no remorse, unrepentant and completely feeling like they are in the right," he added.
Broderick was convicted in 1991 of second-degree murder and sentenced to 32 years to life in prison for shooting and killing ex-husband Daniel Broderick, 44, and Linda Kolkena Broderick, 28.
At the time, she used a key she took from her daughter prior to the crime and sneaked onto the stairs and up to their bedroom, using a five-shot revolver to shoot into the bed where they slept.
Though the victims dived for cover, three fatal shots hit them, according to the DA. The remaining two narrowly missed.
When her ex-husband attempted to reach for the telephone to call for help, Broderick walked to the bed, grabbed the phone, pulled it from the wall and dumped it in the hallway, out of reach, according to the DA's office.
The socialite has maintained she was driven to kill by a bitter divorce and custody battle.
Her story gained national attention and became the subject of a book and two TV movies.
On Wednesday, the San Diego County District Attorney's office oppossed Broderick's potential release.
"Elizabeth Broderick remains an unreasonable risk of danger to society," DA Bonnie Dumanis said in a statement. "She still has not developed appropriate insight or remorse for these gruesome murders, which she committed with a callous disregard for human suffering."
At her first parole hearing in Jan. 2010, the board decided that then-62-year-old Broderick was unrepentant, had no insight into what she had done and would be a danger to society if she were released. She was denied parole.
“She has not shown any remorse over the years and really, it’s all about her and not about the victims and the families,” District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis said at the time.
Sachs appeared on behalf of the State of California at the Wednesday hearing and argued she remains a risk to society.
