A woman scorned, one of California’s most notorious killers, died Friday while serving a life sentence for the double murder of her ex-husband and his new wife. Elizabeth “Betty” Broderick died at 78 on May 8, 2026, after being placed on life support for her condition. 

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) said the coroner will determine the cause of death, but the initial ruling is that of natural causes. 

Life of The Broderick’s

Before that horrific evening of November 5, 1989, Betty Broderick and her husband, Dan Broderick, seemed to have the perfect life. They had four children together, raised them in what appeared to be a loving home, while Dan served as a lawyer in the medical malpractice field.

What people did not know from the outside looking in was that their marriage struggled, and there was a lot of anger. In the early 1980s, Dan hired a new receptionist at his practice, Linda Kolkena, with whom he began having an affair. In her 2015 memoir, Telling On Myself, Betty claimed she was aware of her husband’s affair with his 20-something employee.

Dan filed for divorce in 1985 to be with his affair partner, and due to his rank in the legal field, he supposedly received the upper hand in the divorce, which was “putting a housewife in the ring with Muhammad Ali,” as Betty described to the Los Angeles Times.

On the morning of November 5, 1989, Betty was distraught. She lost custody of her four children, watched her ex-husband sell their family home without her receiving a dime, so she did what she felt was right. Betty shot and killed her ex-husband and his new lover in their bed.

No Denying Betty’s Actions

Betty confessed to shooting Dan and Linda and was taken to jail, held without bail. Her first trial began in 1990 and was highly publicised. While she never denied her actions, she justified them. She claimed to be a victim too, driven to murder by the years of alleged psychological abuse. 

She claimed the first-degree murder charge was unjust because the killings were not premeditated. She never intended to kill them. “I am not going to turn around and say someone else did it, or I didn’t do it. My lawyers hate it because there is no law that says I can defend myself against his type of onslaught. [But] he was killing me,” Betty said at trial.

Two of the Broderick’s children testified, with one supporting Betty’s claims about her ex-husband, while the other spoke more negatively of her mother. The family’s housekeeper also took the stand, sharing how Dan’s moods would affect the whole house, and the children were more on edge when he was home.

Two Trials, One Outcome

The first trial ended in a hung jury after they could not reach a unanimous verdict. Two jurors did not believe the murder charge was just and were pushing for manslaughter, so the judge was forced to declare a mistrial. 

At her second trial in 1991, experts testified to Betty’s mental disorders, such as narcissistic personality. The jury was able to come to a verdict in this one, convicting Betty of two counts of second-degree murder. She was sentenced to two terms of 15 years to life, one for each count, to be served consecutively. Additionally, she was given two years for illegal use of a firearm.

Her first chance at parole in 2010 did not go as smoothly as one might have assumed. It was a five-hour hearing where Betty recalled how her “whole world fell off its axis” when she lost custody of her children. “The voices in [her] head to completely take over,” she said. 

Her daughter, Lee, wanted their mother to come live with her, to be released. But her other children were concerned about her lack of accountability and that she might be a danger. Betty continued to justify her actions until the day she died.

Death of Betty Broderick

Over three decades have passed since Betty Broderick was convicted of her crimes. Her son, Daniel Broderick, said that she suffered from a series of septic infections and a serious fall that broke multiple ribs. He and his siblings sat by their mother’s side while she lay on life support when she died.