Betty Broderick, the California woman convicted of killing her ex-husband and his new wife in a case that captured national attention and inspired multiple films and books, has died at the age of 78.
Officials from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation confirmed that Broderick, whose full name was Elizabeth A. Broderick, died after being transferred from prison to a medical facility on April 18. Authorities said she died the following Friday.
The San Bernardino County coroner is expected to conduct an official examination, though prison officials listed her preliminary cause of death as natural causes.
Broderick had been serving a prison sentence since her 1991 conviction for the fatal shootings of her ex-husband, Daniel Broderick III, and his wife, Linda Kolkena Broderick.
The killings occurred on Nov. 5, 1989, in San Diego after years of a bitter divorce and custody battle. Prosecutors said Broderick used a key obtained from one of her daughters to enter the home before shooting the couple while they were in bed.
Daniel Broderick had filed for divorce in 1985 after beginning a relationship with Linda Kolkena, triggering a lengthy legal and emotional dispute over custody of the couple’s children and family assets.
After an initial trial ended in a hung jury, Broderick was convicted of second-degree murder during a second trial and sentenced to two consecutive terms of 15 years to life, plus an additional two years for illegal firearm use.
During the trial, Broderick admitted to firing the shots but argued that years of emotional turmoil stemming from the divorce and custody battle contributed to her actions.
The case drew widespread media attention across the United States and became the subject of books, television films, documentaries, and dramatizations focused on domestic conflict, divorce, and revenge.
Broderick was denied parole in both 2010 and 2017. During one parole hearing, her children gave differing opinions on whether she should be released, with some supporting continued incarceration while others argued she had changed over the years.