Daniel Broderick III and Linda Kolkena were married on April 22, 1989, in the backyard of their home in the Marston Hills neighborhood of San Diego. A private security firm watched the property throughout the ceremony because Daniel’s ex-wife, Elisabeth “Betty” Broderick, had repeatedly threatened to kill the couple. Less than seven months later, Betty walked into that same house before dawn and shot both Daniel and Linda to death as they slept.
Who Linda Kolkena Was
Linda Kolkena was born in the Netherlands to Dutch immigrant parents who came to the United States in the 1950s. She grew up as the youngest of four children in a strict Catholic household in Salt Lake City, Utah. After high school she worked as a flight attendant for Delta Airlines, then moved to Southern California in 1982.1Oxygen. Who Was Linda Kolkena, Dan Broderick’s Second Wife
She was 21 when she met Daniel Broderick, then 38, while working as a pool receptionist in the San Diego office building where he ran his medical malpractice practice. He hired her as his legal assistant at $30,000 a year despite her having no typing skills or legal experience.2Oprah Daily. Who Is Linda Kolkena Broderick By late 1983 their affair was common knowledge at the office.1Oxygen. Who Was Linda Kolkena, Dan Broderick’s Second Wife In 1985, Dan admitted to Betty that he had been seeing Linda for three years and filed for divorce, ending a 16-year marriage that had produced four children.
Dan Broderick was a Harvard-trained lawyer with a Cornell medical degree who had built one of San Diego’s most successful medical malpractice practices. In 1987 he served as president of the San Diego County Bar Association.3Los Angeles Times. Daniel Broderick Slain in San Diego Home Dan proposed to Linda in 1988 at Dobson’s Bar in San Diego.1Oxygen. Who Was Linda Kolkena, Dan Broderick’s Second Wife The divorce from Betty was finalized in January 1989, about three months before the wedding.
The Threats Leading Up to the Ceremony
Betty’s conduct during and after the divorce had been extreme for years. She threw Dan’s clothes into the yard and set them on fire, smeared a Boston cream pie over his bed and clothing, spray-painted the interior of a home, broke mirrors, and threw wine bottles through windows.4Oxygen. Dirty John: What Really Happened In December 1986 she drove her Chevrolet Suburban into the front of Dan’s house, knocking the door off its hinges. After that incident she was placed in a mental health facility for three days.5Oprah Daily. Betty Broderick Divorce True Story
Dan obtained a temporary restraining order to keep Betty away from his house, car, and office.6Los Angeles Times. The Broderick Saga She repeatedly violated it, leaving obscene voicemails on his answering machine; prosecutors would later play 30 of these recordings for a jury, spanning May 1986 to December 1988.7Los Angeles Times. Broderick Trial Testimony Witnesses at trial testified that she told her children more than once that she would kill their father.
As the April 1989 ceremony approached, the threats sharpened. Betty left a voicemail stating, “You’re making me mad. I’ll kill you.” Witnesses later testified that she specifically threatened to kill the couple during their wedding at the Marston Hills home. She also violated the restraining order to enter Dan’s home and take the guest list for the wedding.8Los Angeles Times. Broderick Second Trial Testimony
In response, Dan hired a security firm to guard the home throughout the ceremony and to monitor Betty’s activities in the days leading up to it.8Los Angeles Times. Broderick Second Trial Testimony Linda had asked a lawyer to prepare restraining order papers against Betty on several occasions before the wedding, but Dan refused to let her file them.6Los Angeles Times. The Broderick Saga
The Wedding Day
The ceremony went forward on April 22, 1989, in the yard of the couple’s Marston Hills home. Linda was 28 years old. During the reception, Dan toasted his new wife: “Her beauty was only exceeded by her sweet disposition.”9Los Angeles Times. Broderick Killing Coverage No disruption by Betty was reported at the ceremony itself.
One detail from the weeks before the wedding took on significance only later. About a month before the ceremony, Betty purchased a .38-caliber revolver and three boxes of ammunition. She testified at trial that she bought the weapon after a divorce hearing in which her $16,000 monthly support payment was suspended and she lost some of her visitation rights.10Los Angeles Times. Broderick Trial: Gun Purchase Testimony Prosecutors argued the timing pointed toward premeditation.
The Killings in the Same House
The hostility continued after the wedding. On the first Friday of November 1989, Dan threatened to file criminal contempt charges against Betty over lewd voicemails. Two days later, in the early hours of Sunday, November 5, 1989, Betty used a house key she had obtained from her daughter Kim, who testified that she had lost it weeks before, to let herself into the Marston Hills home.7Los Angeles Times. Broderick Trial Testimony
She climbed the stairs to the bedroom and opened fire. Linda Kolkena Broderick, 28, was killed instantly by a gunshot to the head.7Los Angeles Times. Broderick Trial Testimony Daniel Broderick, 44, suffered a gunshot wound that punctured his lung and lived for a few minutes. Both daughters later testified that their mother recounted Dan’s final words as some version of “OK, you shot me. I’m dead.”11Los Angeles Times. Broderick Second Trial Witness Discrepancies Prosecutors alleged that after shooting him, Betty pulled the telephone out of the wall so he could not call for help. She fled to the apartment of her daughter Lee and Lee’s boyfriend, Jason Prantil, who described her as “incoherent” and “panic-stricken,” and later turned herself in to police.12Los Angeles Times. Broderick Trial: Children’s Testimony
Trials and Sentence
Betty was charged with two counts of first-degree murder. Deputy District Attorney Kerry Wells led the prosecution, arguing that the killings were premeditated and driven by years of rage and vengeance. Defense attorney Jack Earley countered that Betty had gone to the house intending only to confront Dan and kill herself, and that the case was manslaughter at most.11Los Angeles Times. Broderick Second Trial Witness Discrepancies
The first trial ended on November 20, 1990, when the jury deadlocked 10-to-2 in favor of a murder conviction, with two holdouts for manslaughter. San Diego Superior Court Judge Thomas J. Whelan declared a mistrial.13Los Angeles Times. Broderick Trial: Mistrial Declared The retrial was one of the first cases broadcast gavel-to-gavel on Court TV.14San Diego Union-Tribune. San Diego Judge Retires Known for Broderick Prosecution On December 11, 1991, the jury found Betty guilty of two counts of second-degree murder.15Los Angeles Times. Broderick Case Story Gallery
On February 7, 1992, Judge Whelan sentenced her to the maximum: 15 years to life on each count, to be served consecutively, for a total of 32 years to life. In sentencing, Whelan cited “a high degree of callousness,” specifically noting that Betty had ripped the phone from the wall after shooting Dan.16San Diego Union-Tribune. Killer Broderick Loses Parole Bid Wells told the court, “She is not a martyr. She is a murderer.”17UPI. Former Socialite Sentenced for Killing of Ex-Husband and Wife
Betty was denied parole twice. At her 2010 hearing, Commissioner Robert Doyle told her, “Your heart is still bitter, and you are still angry.”18People. What Happened to Betty Broderick In January 2017 the board denied parole for the maximum 15-year term, leaving her ineligible again until 2032. Deputy District Attorney Richard Sachs called her “an unrepentant woman” with “no remorse and zero insight into the killings.”19Los Angeles Times. Betty Broderick Denied Parole
Betty Broderick’s Death
Betty Broderick died on May 8, 2026, at 3:40 a.m. at an outside medical facility where she had been transferred from the California Institution for Women on April 18 after a fall that fractured her ribs. Her son Rhett said the broken ribs led to an infection that progressed to sepsis.20The Guardian. Betty Broderick, Convicted of Double Murder, Dead The treating physician determined the cause of death to be natural causes, and the San Bernardino County coroner opened a formal investigation.21Oxygen. Betty Broderick Cause of Death Revealed She was 78. Three of her four children were at her bedside, and the fourth joined by FaceTime.22NBC San Diego. Convicted Killer Betty Broderick Dead