Daniel and Linda Broderick were married in April 1989 and by November 1989, they were dead, shot to death in their sleep by Daniel’s first wife, Elisabeth “Betty” Broderick.
Dan Broderick and Linda Kolkena were happy newlyweds — until his ex-wife Betty Broderick shot them dead in a jealous rage. Oxygen/YouTube Linda Kolkena began dating Dan Broderick when she was 21 years old — and he was still married to Betty Broderick.
Divorce soon followed and Dan got sole custody of their four children, which wrecked Betty. In 1989, the former Mrs. Broderick went into the home of her former husband and his new wife and shot them in their sleep. Betty and Dan’s relationship was already rocky when Dan met Linda Kolkena in 1983.
Linda Kolkena is played by Rachel Heller in the USA series Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story. Kolkena was a flight attendant-turned-receptionist who worked for Daniel T. Broderick III, a medical malpractice lawyer. In April 1989, Kolkena married Broderick.
When did Betty Broderick and Linda Kolkena meet?
Betty and Dan’s relationship was already rocky when Dan met Linda Kolkena in 1983. Linda was 21 and worked as a flight attendant for Delta Airlines before she got a job as a receptionist at the building where Dan Broderick’s …
Dan and Linda are buried side-by-side at the Greenwood Memorial Park in San Diego (via Find a Grave .)
In the book ” Hell Hath No Fury ,” Betty’s statement in court regarding Linda read, “She wasn’t a lawyer. She wasn’t even a secretary; she couldn’t type. He needed a lot of help, and I couldn’t see that she was the person to help him.”. Betty then gave Dan an ultimatum to fire Linda or leave the home.
Linda was scared that Betty would retaliate during the wedding and asked Dan to wear a bulletproof vest during the ceremony, as reported by Oxygen. Dan did not want to wear one but hired extra security at the home as a precaution. The wedding pushed through without a hitch, and they went to the Caribbean for their honeymoon.
He said that Dan was captivated by Linda’s beauty, but the attraction wasn’t merely physical. Spencer described Linda as being funny and having “a wicked sense of humor,” which was in contrast to Dan’s quiet personality. Despite being opposites, though, the two were a good match.
Dan filed for divorce from Betty in 1985. He was ready to move on with his life and pursue a relationship with Linda after his toxic marriage to Betty. In an interview with Fox News, Dan’s friend Spencer Busby described Linda and Dan as a couple. He said that Dan was captivated by Linda’s beauty, but the attraction wasn’t merely physical.
Linda Kolkena and Dan Broderick were married less than a year before their untimely demise. The two were shot dead by Dan’s ex-wife, Betty Broderick, and their story has been the subject of shows, including the second season of “Dirty John,” one of Netflix’s true crime features, which depicts the events that led to Kolkena and Broderick’s murder.
When did Betty Broderick get married?
On November 5, 1989, months after the divorce was finalized, Betty entered Dan and Kolkena’s bedroom, and fatally shot them both. The couple had been married in April of that year. Kolkena was just 28-years-old. Today, Betty Broderick is serving out a sentence in prison.
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Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story winds up to a tragic finale. On November 5, 1989, Betty–using her daughter’s key—broke into Marston Hills mansion that Dan and Kolkena shared. She walked to their bedroom and fatally shot them both with a .38 revolver.
Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story, the second season of the Dirty John anthology series, unspools the true events of what Oprah called “one of America’s messiest divorces .”. Dan and Betty Broderick were a wealthy San Diego couple whose acrimonious, five-year-long divorce process made national news. While Dan and Betty, who are captured by …
Supposedly, Kolkena sat on the lap of a male passenger while she was on a flight, off-duty. In 1982, Kolkena moved to Southern California to be closer to a boyfriend. While in Califorinia, Kolkena took a job as a freelance receptionist in the same office building as Daniel’s law firm.
Before she was a receptionist, she was a flight attendant. Like Betty and Dan Broderick, Kolkena was born into a strict Catholic family. Her parents were Dutch immigrants who came to the United States in the 1950s, per Bella Stumbo’s book, Until the Twelfth of Never.
She is described as being a “ teenaged office bimbo ” in the book that inspired the series, Until the Twelfth of Never, and is mentioned just once in this People overview of the case from 1991. At least in Dirty John, Kolkena becomes a fully formed character, drawn into Betty and Daniel’s chaotic swirl.
Today, Betty Broderick is serving out a sentence in prison. Her story has been the subject of an Emmy-nominated movie, three books, multiple documentaries, and now, a Dirty John season. In contrast, Kolkena’s story is rarely told—except for how it intersects with the Broderick family.
How old was Linda Broderick when she met Dan?
Linda Broderick once grew up in a strict, religious home before moving to San Diego and meeting Dan Broderick at the age of 21, but the couple’s marriage would be cut short in a flurry of bullets. Oxygen Insider Exclusive! Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, sweepstakes, and more!
The couple told friends they wanted to have children and planned on starting a large family of their own. Dan proposed to Linda in 1988 after dropping to one knee in front of a crowd of attorneys, paralegals, and legal secretaries at the popular Dobson’s Bar.
Forbidden Romance. The spark between the young secretary and Dan had been undeniable. One of Linda’s friends later told Stumbo that Linda had thought Dan was “a god,” and Betty recalled overhearing Dan tell a friend that his new co-worker was “beautiful” at a party in 1983.
Although Linda’s friends say she had urged Dan to be honest with Betty that the marriage was over, other accounts suggest that Linda wasn’t so innocent. One day, Betty received an anonymous letter in the mail containing a photo of Dan and Linda with the words, “Eat your heart out, bitch.”.
When she got to the upstairs bedroom, she fired her .38-caliber revolver, striking Linda once in the chest and once in the back of the head, killing her instantly.
When Linda (portrayed by Rachel Keller) was 21 years old, she was working as a pool receptionist in the same building where Dan had his successful law practice, according to the book “ Until the Twelfth of Never ” by Bella Stumbo.
Friends described Linda as a natural comedian who used to get laughs by reciting the airline instructions she had memorized as a stewardess. Other friends later said the couple breathed new life into one another.
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