Hartman Script Played No Part in Deaths, Police Say

A week after actor Phil Hartman’s wife shot him to death and killed herself, police were reviewing a film script co-written by Brynn Hartman, but said the violent, dark comedy did not appear to have played any part in the murder-suicide.

Los Angeles police detectives interviewed Sherree Guitar, who began writing “Reckless Abandon” with Brynn Hartman three years ago after the two met through their children’s preschool.

“We wanted to know the contents of the script,” said Det. James Gollaz of LAPD’s Robbery-Homicide Division.

“Reckless Abandon” revolves around two women who get involved in a drug operation, Guitar said.

One of the women is a cocaine addict and the other’s husband is slain by a drug dealer.

According to several friends of the Hartmans, Brynn struggled with cocaine and alcohol addiction for many years. One friend said Brynn had checked into a treatment center for substance abuse about a year ago.

Police say Brynn Hartman shot her sleeping husband before dawn May 28, then went to a friend’s house in Studio City for several hours before returning home and shooting herself as police and a friend ushered her two young children out of the home.

Guitar, who has written for sitcoms including “Roseanne,” said she also failed to see significant parallels between the screenplay and the murder-suicide.

“When you’re writing something, it comes from within you,” Guitar said.