Brynn Hartman

About Brynn Hartman

Brynn Hartman (born Vicki Jo Omdahl) (April 11, 1958 – May 28, 1998) was the wife and murderer of actor and comedian Phil Hartman.

Born in Thief River Falls, MN to Donald Gene and Constance Faye (nee Arnold) Omdahl, and had a brother and two sisters. In 1977, she married Douglas Iver Torfin, but they soon later divorced. In 1986, she met comedian / actor Phil Hartman of Saturday Night Live (SNL) fame, on a blind date set up by a friend, at a party; the two began courting one another. At the time of their meeting, she was working as a Catalina swimsuit model. On November 25, 1987, she married Phil Hartman. They had two children: Sean Edward Hartman (born 1987) and Birgen Hartman (born 1992).

Brynn acted in small roles on television and film, playing a waitress in the Elijah Wood film North and a Venusian on 3rd Rock from the Sun. She can also be seen during the early 1990s opening credit sequence of Saturday Night Live, having dinner with Hartman. At the time, Phil's career was near its highest point.


On May 28, 1998, she killed her husband in his sleep, shooting him three times with a revolver. Around 2am or 3am, she drove to her friend Ron Douglas' house, and confessed, but he did not believe her. At 6:20am, the two of them drove back to the Hartman home where Douglas discovered the body. Douglas subsequently called the police, who arrived on the scene to escort the two children out of the house. Before the police attended to her, Hartman went back into the bedroom and killed herself with a second revolver, shooting herself in the right eye.

Phil Hartman's divorce attorney, Steven Small, stated in a CNN article that Brynn's anger management problems may have contributed to the murder/suicide. In a 1998 People Online article, Small also stated that the couple argued over her alcoholism, her addiction to cocaine and the impending divorce. Each was unhappy and accused the other of not allowing a divorce. According to an article on the website FranksReelReviews.com, she combined cocaine, alcohol, and Zoloft at the Hollywood restaurant Buca di Beppo the night of the murder/suicide.

According to Phil Hartman's friend and colleague Jon Lovitz, Brynn Hartman had been sober for 10 years until five months before the murder, when comedian Andy Dick reintroduced her to cocaine.