American noted family, the wife of TV star Phil Hartman, who shot her husband to death as he slept the night of 28 May 1998, approximately 2:00 AM to 2:30 AM at their home in Encino, CA.
The daughter of an engineer and an owner of a retail shop, she was an average student in an ordinary life. Seeking to find herself, she dropped out of high school, married and divorced Doug Torfin, a telephone operator, and did some modeling in Minneapolis. She moved on the California where she took acting lessons. Along the way, she changed her name from Vicki to Vicki Jo to Brindon and then Brynn.
She was working as a swimsuit model when she met Hartman on a blind date in 1986. He was this confident guy on the way up. They married in 1987 and had two kids. When Hartman got his gig on Saturday Night Live, they moved to a tiny apartment in Manhattan. Brynn took care of the kids, feeling secluded and cut off from the magical world that was opening up to her husband. She attempted self-improvement through cosmetic surgery, looking for a more slender face, a more square chin, a more perfect look for the wife of a successful actor.
As her husband’s career progressed, tensions mounted. With their kids, Birgin, six, and Sean, nine, they appeared a devoted family Deeper investigation revealed that the Hartmans had bitter arguments. Brynn was known to have a temper and be insanely jealous, creating vitriolic scenes and throwing fits. The marriage exacerbated her insecurity and frustration, as Phil was the one on the way up while her strong drive for identity was suppressed,
A recovering alcoholic and drug user, Brynn had been in rehab as recently as five months prior and was reportedly scheduled to go back the week of the tragedy. They were both still trying to make it work at the same time they were defeating themselves. After an argument, Hartman would go to bed and sleep. When he woke up, it was a new day for him, but not for her. She felt increasingly that she could not reach him, that he interacted with everyone else, but was slipping away from her.
After the shooting, Brynn drove to a friend’s house, incoherent and frantic. Her friend calmed her down and they returned to her million dollar mansion. When Brynn locked herself in the bedroom with her husband’s body, her friend called 911 emergency and the police were removing the two kids from the house when they heard another shot. It was Brynn who killed herself with a single shot to the head.
Link to Wikipedia biography