Betty Broderick, convicted in infamous 1989 double murder case, dies of natural causes at 78

Betty Broderick, the former San Diego socialite convicted of killing her ex-husband and his new wife in one of California’s most infamous divorce-related murder cases, has died at the age of 78. Broderick died Friday, May 8, at 3:40 a.m. in a prison medical facility, PEOPLE reported, citing a statement from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Officials said the initial cause of death appears to be natural causes, though the San Bernardino County Coroner will determine the official cause later.

As reported by the Los Angeles Times, Broderick had been transferred on April 18 from the California Institution for Women to an outside medical facility. She had been serving a sentence of 32 years to life after being convicted on two counts of second-degree murder.

The case dates back to 1989, when Broderick, then 41, entered the home of her ex-husband, Dan Broderick, and his new wife, Linda Kolkena, and fatally shot them while they slept in the master bedroom of their Hillcrest home, according to the outlet.


The killings followed a bitter and highly publicized divorce battle between Betty and Dan Broderick. Dan, a prominent medical malpractice lawyer and former president of the San Diego County Bar Association, had married Betty in 1969.

During the early 1980s, Betty reportedly suspected Dan was involved in an affair with Kolkena, who worked as his legal assistant and was in her 20s at the time. Dan eventually left Betty and filed for divorce in 1985.

The divorce proceedings became increasingly contentious. As per fox5sandiego, Dan was awarded custody of the couple’s children and retained most of the family’s financial assets. The murders occurred just seven months after Dan married Kolkena.

Over the years, Broderick was denied parole several times while serving her prison sentence. The case later gained renewed attention after inspiring the 2020 Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story, a season of the Netflix true-crime anthology series centered on the murders and the couple’s tumultuous relationship.