Nancy Crampton Brophy, 71, a romance novelist, wrote a blog post in 2011 entitled, ”How to Murder Your Husband.”
On Wednesday, a jury in Portland returned a verdict of guilty on a count of second-degree murder of her husband of 25 years, Daniel Brophy, then 63, in 2018.
The writer wrote a series of novels with titles including, “The Wrong Husband” and “The Wrong Lover.”
The jury deliberated for eight hours after reviewing the evidence. The essay on murdering your husband was dismissed as evidence by the judge, Christopher Ramras, who said that it was written many years before the murder and could create a bias.
But it seems it would be hard to ignore.
Daniel Brophy was killed by two gunshots to the heart on June 2, 2018 at his workplace, the Oregon Culinary Institute in Portland. He was a chef and instructor.
The jury deliberated about whether the novelist had motive. Isn’t the spouse often suspected first? Was she after his life insurance policy? Nancy Crampton Brophy said it wasn’t true that they had financial difficulties. They had alleviated that burden by partially cashing in on one of her husband’s retirement accounts.
When questioned by police, Crampton Brophy said she was at home at the time of the killing. But surveillance videos show her driving to and from the Culinary Institute at the time that her husband was shot. There was a window of opportunity before the students arrived when she could have shot him. He was alone. She changed her statement and said she had a memory lapse. She said she couldn’t remember all the details of the morning. She was there, she said, but by coincidence, doing research for what she said was “artistic inspiration” for her writing while sitting in her car in the parking lot.
The district attorney asked her how she could be sure she didn’t go into the Culinary Institute building if she had a memory lapse. Crampton Brophy replied saying, “I know I didn’t go in the building because I know I didn’t kill Dan. I know that for a fact.”
The gun was never found. Two casings were found near the body. Prosecutors showed that Ms. Brophy owned the same type of gun that was used to kill her husband. They told the jury that she had switched the slide and barrel of the gun and trashed the old ones. Crampton Brophy actually admitted that she had purchased another slide and barrel, but said it was for research in her writing.
“And let me say clearly for the record, I don’t like jumpsuits and orange isn’t my color.”
The defense attorneys insisted the evidence was circumstantial. The jury disagreed.
Sentencing is scheduled for June. One of Ms. Brophy’s attorneys said they will appeal.