A U.S. jury has convicted a self-published romantic novelist who once wrote an essay entitled “How to Kill Your Husband” – for fatally shooting her husband four years ago.
Key points:
- Daniel Brophy was murdered in 2018 while preparing to work at a Portland Culinary Institute.
- Court records and witnesses showed that Nancy Crampton Brophy possessed the same make and model of weapon used to kill her husband.
- His self-published essay How to Murder Your Husband was excluded from the trial as it was written in 2011
Jury on Wednesday found Nancy Crampton Brophy, 71, guilty of second-degree murder after deliberating for two days over the death of chef Daniel Brophy, KOIN-TV reported.
Mr. Brophy, 63, was murdered on June 2, 2018, while preparing to work at the Oregon Culinary Institute in southwest Portland.
Police never found the murder weapon
Crampton Brophy possessed the same brand and model of weapon she used to kill her husband and was seen on surveillance camera footage leading to and from the culinary institute, judicial exhibits and forensic testimonies were shown.
Prosecutors alleged that he changed the barrel of the weapon used in the shooting and then discarded the barrel.
Defense attorneys said the gun parts were an inspiration for Crampton Brophy’s writing and suggested that someone else might have killed Mr. Brophy during a robbery that went wrong.
The prosecution said his motive was money
Prosecutors told jurors she was motivated by money problems and a life insurance policy.
But Crampton Brophy said during the trial that she had no reason to kill her husband and that her financial problems had been largely solved by charging part of Mr. Brophy’s retirement savings plan.
Crampton Brophy testified during the trial that her presence near the culinary school on the day of her husband’s death was a mere coincidence and that she had parked in the area to work on her writing.
Crampton Brophy’s explanatory essay detailed several options for committing an inevitable murder and expressed a desire to avoid being caught.
Circuit Judge Christopher Ramras finally ruled out the trial trial, noting that it was published in 2011.
A prosecutor, however, alluded to the subjects of the trial without naming him after Crampton Brophy took office.
Crampton Brophy has been in jail since her arrest in September 2018, several months after her husband was shot.
His sentence is scheduled for June 13. Lisa Maxfield, a Crampton Brophy attorney, said the defense team plans to appeal.
AP