Betty Broderick, the woman whose fatal shooting of her ex-husband and his new wife in 1989 captivated the nation and spawned multiple films and books, has died while serving a life sentence in California. She was 78.
Broderick was transferred to a medical center on April 18 and died the following Friday, according to the state corrections department. Preliminary findings indicate natural causes, though the San Bernardino County coroner will conduct a formal investigation.
On the morning of November 5, 1989, Broderick entered her ex-husband Dan Broderick's Hillcrest home using a key she had obtained from their daughter weeks earlier. Once inside, she climbed to the bedroom and fired a .38-caliber revolver at Dan and his new wife, Linda Kolkena, a former flight attendant. Both were shot three times and died from their wounds.
The shooting came after Broderick received a letter from Dan's attorney warning of potential contempt-of-court charges if she continued harassing her ex-husband and his wife. During trial, she testified that the letter triggered her fury "like a fuse."
Broderick and Dan married in 1969 and had four children together. Their marriage unraveled in the early 1980s when Dan began a relationship with Kolkena, whom he had hired as a legal assistant. Though he initially denied the affair, Dan separated from Betty in 1985 and filed for divorce. The custody battle that followed proved contentious, with Dan ultimately gaining primary custody while Betty retained visitation rights.
A jury found her guilty of second-degree murder in 1991, and she received a sentence of 32 years to life. She was moved to the California Institution for Women in February 1992.
Rhett Broderick, the couple's youngest child, told the San Diego Union-Tribune that his mother had fallen in prison weeks before her death and fractured her ribs. The injury led to an infection that developed into sepsis, which proved fatal. He said three of his four siblings were present when she died, while the fourth participated via video call.
The Broderick case became the stuff of cultural mythology, generating HBO documentaries, television movies, and true-crime books that explored the toxic dynamics of divorce, infidelity, and the violent eruption that followed.
Author James Rodriguez: "The Broderick story was always as much about American marriage and its collapse as it was about a double homicide, which is why it never stopped resonating."
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