Probably the only reason she didn’t get the DP was because she was a woman, the State they lived in, and the fact that her husband did do her dirty with his young secretary and broke her heart.
She was a real mental mess and she went totally berserk because her whole life revolved around her marriage and home and she saw it that he took all that from her, including her kids.
He was an attorney and set it all up to ditch her.
If I remember, she put him through not only law school but medical school, worked multiple jobs and had three kids. He became a high profile lawyer making big bucks. He met a younger woman and wanted out of his marriage, then put the financial screws to Betty. So everything she sacrificed and worked for was gone. He turned the kids against her, kept the mansion and the wealth.
Not saying he deserved to die, but he destroyed her and I can see the reason she went off. He could have shown her respect and dignity, instead he had to have it all. The death penalty? She got it, but didn’t die.
He was a pig. She couldn’t get good legal representation because of his status in the system. All attorneys were afraid to cross him.
Again ... He was a pig in so many ways tormenting and taunting her to cross The Line.
He probably didn’t deserve to die, though.