The first season ofDirty Johnhit the small screen like a ton of bricks. Starring Eric Bana as con artist John Meehan and Connie Britton as Debra Newell, the woman who would fall head-over-heels in love with him, only to realize too late the horrible mistake she made, ended in violence — just like the real case the episodes were based on. It’s been a year-and-a-half and the show is back, but this time around,Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Storydigs its teeth into the brutal true-crime tale of the rise and tragic fall of socialite couple Betty and Daniel Broderick III.
Amanda PeetandChristian Slaterlead the cast in the anthology series' second installment as Betty and Dan, and by the looks of things, their story will be just as unhinged, if not more so. But to truly appreciate the drama as it’s about to unfold, one has to wonder what exactly happened in the first place? The answer to this question is filled with potential storyspoilers, so read on with care.
On June 18, 2025, Betty Broderick, who was planning on committing suicide, decided to head to her ex-husband’s home to try and hash things out. They were married for 17 years, had been divorced for three years, after a heated trial that lasted five. Using a key she stole from her daughter, Broderick entered the house, and, instead of talking with her ex, she fired off five bullets from the 0.38 caliber pistol she claimed she was originally planning to use on herself, killing 44-year-old Dan Broderick and Linda, his new 28-year-old wife, in their bed.
This was a brutal end to what had outwardly seemed like an idyllic marriage. The two had met when Dan was still in college while Betty was, erm, still 17 years old. That detail aside, theirs was a love-at-first-sight situation. And while Dan worked long and hard to get his medical malpractice law career off the ground, Betty did whatever she could to financially support him through his schooling.
“I was pregnant nine times in 10 years and had five children (one died),” she said during her murder trial, per theLos Angeles Times. “I baby-sat other people’s children at our home during the day, and went out to work nights in department stores and restaurants as a salesperson and a waitress so that my husband could study during the evenings at home.”
This detail was one of the driving factors behind her growing rage as, in Betty’s eyes, her husband’s eventual career success would never have happened without her epic sacrifices. Broderick became a powerful lawyer in his field and was even once the president of the San Diego County Bar Association.
Betty and Dan’s lifestyle leveled-up once Broderick’s professional work took off. According to the same Los Angeles Times article, the couple moved 12 times in seven years to support Dan’s studies as he took summer jobs before moving to their Coral Reef home, which had “five bedrooms, three bathrooms, three garages and two family rooms, a large yard, a pool, Jacuzzi, swings and a trampoline. They also had five vehicles, she said, ‘an MG, a Gazelle, a Corvette, a Jaguar, and a Suburban for me and the kids.'”
Betty admitted they were awash in privilege, claiming the family:
“…traveled to Europe once a year, took frequent ski trips, cruises, island trips, and often paid the expenses of couples traveling with us, always first class. There were unlimited funds for trips with the kids, summer camps, etc. I entertained frequently and extravagantly, including two to three large parties (200 or more) per year, and had people in for dinner at least once each week.”
But things weren’t all sunshine and roses behind-the-scenes and when Dan hired Linda Kolkena as his new office assistant, suspicions about his infidelity steadily grew in Betty’s mind.
Dan never admitted to any extra-marital affair, but it was during this time that Betty’s behavior began to get erratic. Eventually, he would file for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. And during the five year period that the court proceedings lasted, Betty’s violent tendencies began to escalate. A short list of her episodes includes setting fire to her estranged husband’s tailored suits, breaking into his new home multiple times while the children were home to vandalize the walls, destroy the television, shatter the mirrored closet door and smear a cream pie on the bed.
And then there’s the one time she decided to drive her car directly into the front of his house, armed with a butcher knife and a gas can. The family was sitting down for dinner when this occurred.
Broderick filed a restraining order against his wife, and she was arrested multiple times and even put in a psychiatric facility for observation. Meanwhile, Betty’s new living situation was a downgrade from the posh existence she had grown used to with Dan. And without custody of her children, the rage and resentment only grew. In her mind, Daniel Broderick III wouldn’t be the highly-influential lawyer he became, without her hard work. And this was the thanks she got?
“He traded me in for a younger model and stole my kids,” Broderick toldPeople. “He sued me to death… My story is relevant to millions of women.”
The morning of August 06, 2025, found Betty Broderick planning to head to the beach to put a bullet in her head. She decided to kill Dan and Linda, instead. Betty claims she doesn’t remember firing the gun, but accepted her guilt saying: “I don’t know that it was a conscious act. I had no idea I fired five times.” The case ended up being more polarizing than originally expected, as she told her side of the story, painting a darker picture of her ex-husband, claiming years of domestic psychological abuse.
“He took my home, my kids, my money,” Betty toldThe New York Times. “His was the white-collar way of beating you. If he had hit me with a baseball bat, I could have shown people what he did and make him stop.”
Betty Broderick was the subject of two murder trials, the first of which ended with a hung jury as two of the jurors cited a lack of intent in the crime, suggesting the murders weren’t premeditated. A year later, Broderick went through a second trial and was found guilty for two counts of second-degree murder. Betty received two consecutive terms of 15 years to life. She’s been denied parole three times for showing no signs of remorse and continues to serve out her sentence at the California Institution for Women.
The highly sensationalized story was previously turned into the 1992 made-for-TV movieA Woman Scorned: The Betty Broderick Storywhich earned starMeredith Baxteran Emmy nomination. The USA series will obviously cover the same subject matter, but the perspective given inDirty John’s second season strays from the harsh tone of its predecessor (Baxter’s Betty as a full-blown narcissist) and gives a sympathetic lens to the story, while Peet brings a layered, heartfelt, tortured performance as Betty.
Not only does this installment explore Betty’s emotional struggles in maintaining a household for her husband while parenting their four kids, it dives deeper into the pressures she faced in pleasing her parents, giving her husband all the loyalty and support she can muster, all while doing her best to walk the successful socialite walk.
Nearly 30 years later, the story of Dan Broderick’s murder is still compelling and Betty Broderick’s story is still being told. She will be the subject of an upcoming episode of Oxygen’s true-crime series,Snappedon July 15. And, of course,Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Storywhich had its two-episode premiere on Tuesday, June 2 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on USA.
