{"id":2409297,"date":"2026-05-09T18:05:43","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T18:05:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2409297"},"modified":"2026-05-09T18:05:43","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T18:05:43","slug":"betty-brodericks-4-kids-were-divided-in-their-support-for-her-in-the-decades-before-her-death-at-78-heres-what-they-said","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/betty-brodericks-4-kids-were-divided-in-their-support-for-her-in-the-decades-before-her-death-at-78-heres-what-they-said\/","title":{"rendered":"Betty Broderick\u2019s 4 Kids Were Divided in Their Support for Her in the Decades Before Her Death at 78: Here&#8217;s What They Said"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div data-article-body=\"true\">\n<h3 class=\"mb-4 text-lg font-bold\">NEED TO KNOW<\/h3>\n<ul class=\"mb-4\">\n<li class=\"ml-4 list-disc\">\n<div class=\"\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Betty Broderick, convicted of killing her ex-husband Dan and his new wife, died in prison at age 78 on Friday, May 8, 2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"ml-4 list-disc\">\n<div class=\"\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Her four kids were divided for decades over her actions and punishment, with some supporting her release from prison and others opposing it<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"ml-4 list-disc\">\n<div class=\"\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Two of Betty&#8217;s children first debuted their split opinions in a high-profile <em>Oprah Winfrey Show<\/em> interview in 1992<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">After decades behind bars, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/where-is-betty-broderick-now-11700881\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:Betty Broderick;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Betty Broderick&quot;}\" class=\"link \">Betty Broderick<\/a> has died at age 78. During an infamous appearance on <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/anne-geddes-says-the-oprah-winfrey-show-was-pivotal-in-catapulting-her-career-exclusive-11911172\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:The Oprah Winfrey Show;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;The Oprah Winfrey Show&quot;}\" class=\"link \"><em>The Oprah Winfrey Show<\/em><\/a>, her kids were memorably divided about their mom&#8217;s punishment, and continued to be in the decades leading up to her death.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Betty was serving a life sentence with the possibility of parole when she <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/betty-broderick-convicted-of-murdering-her-ex-husband-and-his-new-wife-in-1989-dies-at-78-while-serving-life-sentence-11970965\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:died in the early hours of Friday, May 8;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;died in the early hours of Friday, May 8&quot;}\" class=\"link \">died in the early hours of Friday, May 8<\/a>, per the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. She was convicted of second-degree murder with an enhancement for use of a firearm after shooting and killing her ex-husband, Dan Broderick, and his new wife, Linda Kolkena, in their bed on Nov. 5, 1989.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">She also gained national notoriety for the incident, which came after an affair between Dan and Kolkena, and a messy divorce that saw her and Dan, a lawyer, battle over the sale of their family home and custody of their four children: Kim, Lee, Dan Jr. and Rhett.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">In the 1992 <em>Oprah Winfrey Show<\/em> interview, host <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/tag\/oprah-winfrey\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:Oprah Winfrey;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Oprah Winfrey&quot;}\" class=\"link \">Oprah Winfrey<\/a> spoke with <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/where-are-betty-broderick-children-now-11845033\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:two of Betty's kids, Kim and Dan Jr;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;two of Betty'&quot;}\" class=\"link \">two of Betty&#8217;s kids, Kim and Dan Jr<\/a>., who were divided about their mother&#8217;s punishment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Betty was serving a life sentence with the possibility of parole when, per the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, she <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/betty-broderick-convicted-of-murdering-her-ex-husband-and-his-new-wife-in-1989-dies-at-78-while-serving-life-sentence-11970965\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:died in the early hours of Friday, May 8;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;died in the early hours of Friday, May 8&quot;}\" class=\"link \">died in the early hours of Friday, May 8<\/a>. She was convicted of second-degree murder with an enhancement for use of a firearm after shooting and killing her ex-husband, Dan Broderick, and his new wife, Linda Kolkena, in their bed on Nov. 5, 1989.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-0 size-full\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-3 right-3 rounded-full bg-primary p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-primary\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" class=\"flex-none size-4 -scale-x-100 text-primary lg:size-6 [&amp;_path]:fill-current\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M3.1 3.1V11h1.8V6.314l5.392 5.393 1.415-1.414L6.313 4.9H11V3.1zm17.8 17.8V13h-1.8v4.686l-5.393-5.393-1.415 1.414 5.393 5.393H13v1.8z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal dialogue\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed bottom-0 left-0 right-0 top-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-primary hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p><i>Betty Broderick&#8217;s mug shot<br \/>Credit: California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation<\/i><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">At the time, Betty&#8217;s eldest daughter Kim, who also testified against her mom in court, said, \u201cI talk to some people, and they say things like, \u2018Oh, well I relate to her,&#8217; and \u2018After all your father did to her.&#8217; And they obviously haven&#8217;t been listening because dad didn&#8217;t do all these things to her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cAnd he definitely didn&#8217;t deserve to die, and they shouldn&#8217;t look up at her for doing that,\u201d added Kim.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The exes&#8217; eldest daughter also claimed that after her dad moved out, Betty dropped off her kids one by one on his doorstep with all of their belongings \u2014 her mother&#8217;s way of trying to &#8220;screw up Dad,\u201d Kim said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;I think Mom thought that it was going to be a total disaster and that then we&#8217;d all see that we needed her. And that we can&#8217;t do it without her,\u201d she said on <em>The Oprah Winfrey Show<\/em>. &#8220;And so, basically, she just used us as pawns and took us over there to screw up Dad.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Following her transfer from San Diego County to the California Institution for Women, Betty also revealed to Winfrey that none of her four children had yet been to see her in prison. She asked to include \u201ca small glimpse of what her new home looks like,\u201d the talk show host said before revealing footage of her visit to the facility.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cIt&#8217;s too costly and it&#8217;s too hard for them to get here,\u201d Betty said on <em>The Oprah Winfrey Show<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><strong>Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for <\/strong><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/forms.dotdashmeredith.com\/people-news-inline\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:PEOPLE's free daily newsletter;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;PEOPLE'&quot;}\" class=\"link \"><strong>PEOPLE&#8217;s free daily newsletter<\/strong><\/a><strong> to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><img alt=\"Betty Broderick in court in 1991Credit: San Diego Union-Tribune\/AP Photo\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"320\" height=\"480\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/26rEmbr1bGrTwhyPGHIaMA--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTY0MDtoPTk2MDtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/people_218\/9778e9bc58f62753ac677e19fb91680f\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p><i>Betty Broderick in court in 1991<br \/>Credit: San Diego Union-Tribune\/AP Photo<\/i><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">In a later interview of his own, Rhett opened up to Winfrey, 72, about why he strongly believed his mother should be released from prison, per <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.oprah.com\/oprahshow\/memorable-guests\/4\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:Oprah.com;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Oprah.com&quot;}\" class=\"link \">Oprah.com<\/a>. &#8220;She&#8217;s a nice lady,\u201d he said of his mom. \u201cEveryone here would like her &#8230; if they spoke with her on any topic other than my dad.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;Keeping her in prison isn&#8217;t really helping her,&#8221; he continued of Betty. &#8220;She&#8217;s not a danger to society\u2014the only two people she was a danger to are dead.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Rhett also recalled thinking that he was not \u201creally surprised\u201d after learning of the murder. \u201cOn multiple occasions [my brother and I] went to my dad and said to him that we wanted to live with my mom, and that not having her kids was driving her crazy\u2014and that she could do something extremely irrational if she didn&#8217;t have us,\u201d he said of Betty.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The children continued to be split at a 2010 parole hearing for Betty.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Her daughter Lee \u2014 whom Betty had called just after the shooting, before turning herself in \u2014 testified that her mom should be able to &#8220;live her later life outside prison walls,&#8221; according to <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/betty-broderick-denied-parole-for-double-murder-socialites-son-warns-she-could-be-dangerous\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:CBS News;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;CBS News&quot;}\" class=\"link \">CBS News<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Dan Jr., meanwhile, asserted that &#8220;releasing a lost person into society could be a dangerous mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Read the original article on <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/betty-broderick-dead-her-4-children-were-split-in-their-support-for-her-11970996\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:People;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;People&quot;}\" class=\"link \">People<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source nz.news.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NEED TO KNOW Betty Broderick, convicted of killing her ex-husband Dan and his new wife, died in prison at age 78 on Friday, May 8, 2026 Her four kids were divided for decades over her actions and punishment, with some supporting her release from prison and others opposing it Two of Betty&#8217;s children first debuted [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2409298,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25177],"tags":[471141,471144,471142,471143,22958,365947],"class_list":["post-2409297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celebrities","tag-betty-broderick","tag-california-department-of-corrections-and-rehabilitation","tag-dan-broderick","tag-linda-kolkena","tag-oprah-winfrey","tag-oprah-winfrey-show"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Betty-Brodericks-4-Kids-Were-Divided-in-Their-Support-for.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2409297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2409297"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2409297\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2409299,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2409297\/revisions\/2409299"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2409298"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2409297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2409297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2409297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}