A socialite notorious for the murder of her former husband and his new wife has passed away at the age of 78 while serving her sentence in a California prison.
The California Department of Corrections confirmed Betty Broderick’s death, which occurred on Friday, to the Daily Mail.
In the weeks leading up to her death, Broderick had been transferred to a medical facility to receive a higher level of care, as reported by the department. Details regarding her health condition remain undisclosed due to privacy laws.
Authorities have indicated that Broderick’s death was due to natural causes, with the precise cause to be determined following an autopsy.
In November 1989, Broderick was convicted of fatally shooting her ex-husband, Dan Broderick, aged 44, and his new wife, Linda Kolkena, aged 28, while they slept.
The couple’s relationship had been strained following Dan Broderick’s affair with Kolkena during the 1980s, after he and Betty had raised four children together.
Dan and Broderick filed for divorce in 1985 after 19 years of marriage. He married Kolkena, a flight attendant, in 1989.
Kolkena had been hired by Dan as a legal assistant to help with his marital woes with his wife. He denied the affair until they got divorced.
Betty Broderick (pictured in her most recent mugshot from 2023) died on Friday in a California prison. She was determined to have died of natural causes
Betty, 73, became a household name when she shot dead her ex-husband Daniel T Broderick III and his second wife Linda (pictured together), the woman he had left her for, in November 1989
Betty and Dan are pictured together on their wedding day. They were married for 18 years
The former couple fought hard in their divorce over the custody of their children, which Dan was eventually granted. They also battled over who kept their family home.
The proceedings caused Broderick to fall into a depression before killing the new couple.
She was convicted of two counts of second-degree murder in 1991 and sentenced to two consecutive terms of 15 years to life in prison.
Broderick attempted to get parole several times while in prison, but was denied.
In 2017, she was described as ‘defiant’ and ‘completely unrepentant’ by the San Diego County Deputy District Attorney Richard Sachs.
That same year, Broderick wrote a letter to the Murder Made Me Famous podcast and claimed that she was a ‘political prisoner’ and claimed that the murders were due to domestic abuse.
The Daily Mail has reached out to the Department of Corrections for comment.
In 2020, the Daily Mail revealed secret letters written by Broderick to her boyfriend, where she was begging for money and affection.
Broderick was convicted of two counts of second-degree murder in 1991. She is pictured in court in this 1989 file photo
Broderick (pictured) shot her husband and his wife in their bed in 1989
This December 1991 file photo shows Betty Broderick being led by marshals through the hallways of the downtown San Diego County Courthouse during her trial
Betty smiled in court as the jury read its verdict. She is pictured alongside her attorney, Jack Earley
Betty had begun dating boyfriend Bradley Wright before committing the murders and he was the one who discovered the bodies of her victims.
The letters were dated from 2003 to 2006, and they shed a light on Broderick’s time in prison and her turbulent relationship with Bradley, who stayed in touch with his murderous girlfriend and sent her money well after her sentencing in 1991.
The secret stash of love letters were unearthed in a storage unit in San Diego, California, in October 2020 along with checks Bradley sent to Broderick’s daughter and money order receipts.
She gushed over her lover in the correspondence.
In one letter, from April 2006, she wrote: ‘If I had a penny for every time I think of you, I’d be a millionaire many times over.’
The mother-of-four insisted that Bradley was her perfect man in another message.
‘I was thinking of what I’m looking for in a man – since you are not available – well the list was a description of you! You’re exactly the guy! Da**it.’
She also urged Bradley to leave his partner for her and encouraged him to ‘sneak’ away and visit her in prison.
In 2020, the Daily Mail revealed secret letters between Broderick and her lover
He had sent her money and photographs. She gushed over him in her letters even though he had moved on and was with another woman
The secret stash of love letters were unearthed in a storage unit (pictured) in San Diego, California, in October along with checks Bradley sent to Betty’s daughter and money order receipts
The never-before-published letters from 2003 to 2006 shed a light on Betty’s time in prison and her turbulent relationship with Bradley (pictured), who stayed in touch with his murderous girlfriend and sent her money well after her sentencing in 1991
‘If you want to live in [unclear] with me, like you say you do, going back to Lisa is not how that’s gonna happen.
‘I can’t believe you don’t come here! It’s been years! Now that she’s back to work, maybe you can sneak away?’
A photograph of a bride and groom was discovered with the secret stash of letters, implying that Bradley had moved on and married another woman despite the contact with his killer ex behind bars.
Betty even took it upon herself to dispense relationship advice to Bradley and asked him to seek professional help in her letters from prison.
‘Sorry to hear your life is a mess. I don’t want to come back to a mess,’ she wrote.
‘Did you go to counseling? Whatever patterns you have will continue for better or worse.
‘You know the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. I should know!’
Dan and Betty had married in 1969 and Dan went on to graduate from Cornell medical school and Harvard law school and established a successful medical-malpractice law firm.
Broderick fell into a depression during her and her husband’s divorce proceedings. Pictured together during happier times
Betty was sentenced to 32 years in prison for the murders. Some claimed Kolkena looked like the younger version of Betty. Betty is pictured in her youth right and left in a mugshot
Betty and Dan (pictured together) married in 1969 and Dan went on to graduate from Cornell medical school and Harvard law school to establish a successful medical-malpractice law firm
However, as Dan chased his star career, Broderick grew resentful that he neglected her and their children.
Over the years their marriage crumbled, and by 1983, Broderick accused Dan of having an affair with Kolkena, who some claimed looked like the younger version of her.
On one occasion Broderick visited her husband’s office on his birthday and found the remnants of a party.
But her husband was nowhere to be found. A receptionist told her Dan and Kolkena had gone out for the day. Outraged, Broderick went home and burned her husband’s clothes in a bonfire.
Dan later admitted to her that her suspicions were right, that he had been having an affair with Linda for the past two years.
In 1985, Dan filed for divorce. And in 1989, he married Kolkena, but the tensions between the newlywed couple and Broderick only intensified.
Broderick went on a rampage, including defacing the couple’s former home, ramming her car into his front door and leaving obscene messages on his answering machine.
She also repeatedly told their children that she would kill him.
Betty’s story was also portrayed by actress Meredith Baxter (pictured) in A Woman Scorned in 1992 for CBS, receiving an Emmy nomination for the role and more recently in Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story
Amanda Peet as Betty Broderick in Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story
In return, Dan had Broderick arrested and placed in a mental facility, as well as obtaining a restraining order against her, and barring her from entering his property, which she repeatedly ignored.
Seven months after Dan’s remarriage, Broderick broke into Dan and Kolkena’s home on November 5, 1989, at around 5am and shot them both dead.
Betty’s story has since been turned into TV shows. Betty was played by actress Meredith Baxter in CBS’ 1992 show A Woman Scorned.
More recently her story was explored in Netflix’s season two of Dirty John where Amanda Peet played Betty.
