USA Network Betty Broderick, whose story is being featured on Season 2 of "Dirty John," is still alive in real life.
Betty Broderick, whose story is being featured on Season 2 of Dirty John, is still alive in real life. Today, she is 72 years old and currently serving her time at the California Institution for Women in Chino, California, for the double murder she committed in 1989 against her ex-husband, Daniel T. Broderick III, and his new wife, Linda Kolkena Broderick.
Multiple requests for parole have been denied, with her next hearing scheduled for January 2032. It could be pushed up depending on several factors, including good behavior. Broderick was found guilty of two counts of second-degree murder and was sentenced to 32 years to life behind bars.
Betty Broderick Claimed Dan Treated Her With Brutality
In an interview with Oprah Winfrey, Betty Broderick said she was sorry, but still blamed her ex-husband for the murders. “I am sorry about this whole thing, but I’m mostly sorry that Dan Broderick chose to conduct our marriage and our family in his life, the way he did. There was no reason for it, and it was brutality, and we didn’t deserve that,” she said.
Before Kolkena came into the picture, Betty Broderick thought they had the perfect marriage. “We had a lot in common. When we met we were very happy together,” she told Winfrey. “I wanted a large Catholic family and he wanted to be successful.”
“Dan was never a womanizer. I never doubted where he was going. We had total trust in one another–as we should have–because we were committed,” she continued. “But in 1983 I noticed Dan talking about some girl he thought was really beautiful and that was my first clue that Linda Kolkena existed.”
Dan Broderick gaslighted Betty, saying his relationship with Kolkena was professional. “[He] totally denied it, said I was imagining things and that I was crazy and that Linda was a sweet, innocent, young girl and there was absolutely nothing going on,” she said, adding that Dan Broderick claimed, “Oh and by the way, you’re fat, old, boring and stupid.”
Before he left her, Betty Broderick thought it was just a phase. “To me, it was an absolutely classic mid-life crisis and I devoured every book on the subject,” she said about her husband. Betty tried to get Dan to go to therapy and thought his new red Corvette, sunglasses and scarves were ridiculous.
Betty Broderick Claimed She Wanted to Talk The Morning of The Murders
USA NetworkChristian Slater and Rachel Keller in Dirty John
On the morning of the murders, Betty Broderick said she wanted to go to her ex’s home to talk to him and Kolkena. He had restraining orders, and anytime she would go near the house he would call the police. During the Winfrey interview, Betty Broderick claimed she brought a gun to their home on November 5, 1989, because she wanted them to finally listen to her.
When she made their way into the bedroom, Kolkena screamed for Dan Broderick to call the cops. That’s when the gun went off, according to Betty Broderick. She shot Kolkena twice and she died instantly. Dan Broderick was hit once in the chest and said, “OK, OK, you got me” before dying shortly after. Betty Broderick pulled out the phone cord so they wouldn’t be able to call and fled the house.
Don’t miss Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story when the true-crime murder debuts on Tuesday, June 2 at 9 p.m. ET on USA Network.
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