Where Are Betty Broderick’s Children Today? Inside the Lives of the 4 Kids Left Behind After Their Mother Murdered Their Father and His New Wife

Betty Broderick was once seen as the picture-perfect American wife: a devoted mother living in a luxury home in La Jolla, California, with her successful attorney husband and their four children. But behind the image of wealth and perfection was a marriage filled with betrayal, rage, obsession, and emotional destruction — one that would ultimately end in one of the most infamous double murders in true crime history.

More than 35 years after Betty shot and killed her ex-husband, Dan Broderick, and his young new wife, Linda Kolkena, while they slept, the case still fascinates America. And now, following Betty’s death in prison at age 78, attention has once again turned to the four children caught in the middle of the nightmare that destroyed their family forever.

Betty met Dan Broderick when they were young and married in 1969. For years, she stayed home raising their children while Dan completed medical school before eventually becoming a highly successful malpractice attorney in San Diego. Their family appeared to have everything: money, status, beautiful homes, and a glamorous California lifestyle.

But behind closed doors, the marriage was already unraveling.

In the early 1980s, Dan began an affair with Linda Kolkena, his much younger legal assistant. Betty reportedly suspected the relationship long before Dan admitted it, and the betrayal pushed their marriage into chaos. According to later interviews and testimony from the Broderick children, the household became consumed by screaming matches, emotional warfare, and growing instability.

In 1985, Dan officially left Betty and filed for divorce. What followed was an explosive legal battle that Betty later described as hopelessly unfair. Dan, one of the most powerful attorneys in San Diego, allegedly used his wealth and influence against her during the divorce proceedings. Betty famously compared fighting him in court to “putting a housewife in the ring with Muhammad Ali.”

As the divorce dragged on, Betty’s behavior became increasingly erratic. She left furious voicemails for Dan and Linda, vandalized property, and at one point even drove her car into Dan’s front door. Meanwhile, their four children — Kim, Lee, Daniel Jr., and Rhett — were trapped between two parents whose hatred for each other was spiraling out of control.

Years later, daughter Kim Broderick described a childhood filled with fear, screaming, and emotional trauma. She accused her mother of throwing objects, physically lashing out, and using the children as weapons against their father. But another daughter, Lee Broderick, later claimed that Dan himself was extremely controlling and that the entire family feared making him angry.

Then came the night that shocked the country.

On November 5, 1989, after receiving another legal threat from Dan warning that she could face jail time for continued harassment, Betty reportedly snapped. In the early hours of the morning, she used a key taken from daughter Lee to enter Dan’s home.

She walked directly into the bedroom where Dan and Linda were sleeping.

Then she opened fire.

Linda Kolkena died almost instantly. Dan Broderick was shot in the chest and died at the scene. After the killings, Betty reportedly called one of her daughters before eventually surrendering to police.

The case exploded into a national media frenzy almost immediately. America became deeply divided over Betty Broderick. To some, she was a cold-blooded killer consumed by jealousy and revenge. To others, she was a woman psychologically destroyed by years of betrayal, humiliation, and emotional manipulation.

The first trial ended in a mistrial after jurors failed to reach a unanimous verdict. But in 1991, Betty was convicted on two counts of second-degree murder and sentenced to 32 years to life in prison.

What made the story even more heartbreaking was the damage left behind for the Broderick children.

Over the decades, the siblings became deeply divided over their mother. Some believed she had paid enough for her crimes and should eventually be released. Son Rhett Broderick publicly defended Betty on national television, arguing that she was no longer a danger to society.

But Daniel Broderick Jr. strongly disagreed. During parole hearings, he warned that releasing Betty could be “a potentially dangerous mistake.” Kim Broderick also testified against her mother during the second trial, claiming Betty had planned to kill herself after the murders but ran out of bullets.

Despite multiple parole hearings, Betty was repeatedly denied release from prison. Officials reportedly believed she showed little genuine remorse and continued blaming Dan for what happened even decades later.

Still, the public obsession with the case never faded. The Broderick murders became the subject of books, documentaries, podcasts, and eventually the hit TV series Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story, introducing a new generation to the tragedy and reigniting debate over whether Betty was a monster or a victim herself.

Then, in 2026, shocking new details emerged about Betty’s final days behind bars.

According to her son Daniel Jr., Betty suffered a serious fall in prison that reportedly left her with broken ribs. Soon after, she developed multiple infections and sepsis, leading to a rapid decline in her health. She was transferred from prison to an outside ICU and eventually placed on life support.

Daniel later revealed that before her death, Betty “could no longer communicate.”

On May 8, 2026, Betty Broderick died at age 78.

Perhaps the most emotional detail of all was what happened at the very end: all four Broderick children reportedly came together to be with their mother during her final hours. Some were physically at her bedside, while another joined through FaceTime — a final reunion for a family shattered by one of America’s darkest true crime cases.

More than three decades after the murders in La Jolla, the Broderick case remains one of the most controversial stories in American criminal history. It wasn’t just a murder case. It became a national argument about marriage, power, betrayal, divorce, emotional abuse, revenge, and the devastating consequences of a family falling apart in public.

And even now, America still cannot agree on one haunting question:

Was Betty Broderick a cold-blooded killer… or a woman completely destroyed by betrayal?