Last night, Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story premiered on USA, and this season of the anthology series follows the true story of Betty (Amanda Peet) and Daniel Broderick (Christian Slater). From the outside, the couple seemed to have a picture-perfect life, but their marriage ended in a messy divorce, and Betty eventually shot and killed Dan as well as his new wife Linda. The murders occurred on November 5, 1989, inside Dan and Linda's home located in the Marston Hills neighborhood of San Diego. Despite being the setting of two second-degree murders, that house is currently valued at a little over $2 million.
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The 3,312-square-foot home, which Dan purchased after leaving Betty, plays a key role in the Brodericks' twisted story. During and after their dramatic divorce, Dan filed several restraining orders against Betty, which prohibited her from stepping foot on his property. Ignoring them, she vandalized the new home and even drove her car into his front door. Both incidences are portrayed on Dirty John's new season.
As viewers will learn, Dan attended Cornell Medical School, and shortly after earning his M.D., he enrolled at Harvard Law School. Throughout his extensive schooling, Betty worked to support their family of six. When Betty was on trial for the Dan and Linda's murders, the public was divided over case. Many sympathized with her for having made sacrifices to support her husband's career ambitions and raise his children only to have him leave her for a younger woman once he became successful. Perhaps, without Betty's help, Dan wouldn't have been able to purchase the stunning home where he lived with Linda. The house, according to Zillow, has five bedrooms, three and a half baths, a pool and spa, and a view overlooking Marston Canyon.
According to San Diego County Homes, 1986 tax records show that the loan amount for the home when Dan purchased it was $400,000. After the murders, the home was sold in 1990 for $1.1 million. In 2014, KGTV San Diego reported it was on the market for $2.1 million, and in 2018, according to Zillow, it was sold once again, this time $2.2 million, to its current owner, the sixth since Dan Broderick.
It's unclear exactly where Dirty John's second season was filmed and which house was scouted by the show's production team to be the setting for Betty's crimes. However, based on an Instagram post shared in October by Maggie Kiley, the show's director, some of the stunts appear to have been shot in the Chatsworth neighborhood of Los Angeles. Kiley's photos showed her and her team working through a stunt with toy cars, which might just be a clue that the scene in which Betty drives her car into Dan's home was filmed in Chatsworth. Regardless of the location, we're sure it was hard to find a home as devastatingly picturesque as the real-life San Diego colonial where these infamous murders took place.
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