A self-published romantic suspense novelist, who once wrote an essay entitled “How to Murder Your Husband,” has been convicted of murder by a jury in Portland in the fatal shooting of her husband four years ago.
Writer teaches other authors “how to murder your husband”
Readers of suspense and thrillers expect high-stakes stuff, which usually means someone has to die. The writer’s job is to try to make the manner of death fresh for the reader, while still realistic.
In November 2011, romance novelist Nancy Crampton-Brophy wrote an essay giving some tips to other writers, entitled “How to Murder Your Husband.” The how-to was published on the See Jane Publish blog, the Independent reported.
“As a romantic suspense writer, I spent a lot of time thinking about murder and, consequently, about police procedure,” the instructional piece by Crampton-Brophy begins. “After all, if the murderer is supposed to set me free, I certainly don’t want to spend any time in jail.”
The instructional piece described five core motives for having a character kill her husband, VT.co reported. Crampton-Brophy listed the best weapons for carrying out the crime while advising hiring a hitman to carry out the task. However, she added one caveat: “An amazing number of hitmen rat you out to the police.”
Author’s husband found shot dead 7 years later
Seven years after writing the “how to murder your husband” piece, author Crampton-Brophy’s husband was found shot dead at his workplace.
On June 2, 2018, Daniel Brophy, the 63-year-old husband of author Nancy Crampton-Brophy, was found around 7:30 AM with gunshot wounds to his chest and back. He had apparently been shot shortly after he arrived for work at the Oregon Culinary Institute where he taught, KGW8 reported.
Crampton-Brophy told police she was at the couple’s home when the shooting occurred, the New York Post reported.
Perfect plan spoiled by suspicious actions after murder
The author may have devised the perfect plan for murdering her husband, but it was her actions in the aftermath that raised suspicions with police.
Only days after the shooting, Crampton-Brophy allegedly asked police if they could provide her with a letter that stated she was not a suspect in her husband’s murder. The reason being she wanted to collect on his life insurance policy worth $40,000. At least, that’s what she told them.
But as investigators would learn, the life insurance policy on Crampton-Brophy’s husband was actually $1.5 million.
However, what ultimately led to Crampton-Brophy’s arrest was the discovery by detectives that she had been in the vicinity of the crime scene on the day of the murder.
Mention of “how to murder” essay excluded from trial
In the trial, Crampton-Brophy’s essay on “How To Murder Your Husband” was excluded by the judge because it was written in 2011, seven years before the murder.
“Any minimal probative value of an article written that long ago is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice and confusion of the issues,” Judge Christopher Ramras said, KOIN reported.
“How to murder your husband” author found guilty of murdering her husband
On May 26, 2022, a jury in Portland, Oregon found author Nancy Crampton-Brophy guilty of the second-degree murder of her husband, chef Daniel Brophy.
When the jury read the verdict, Crampton-Brophy displayed no visible reaction, NBC reported.
Prosecutors portrayed Crampton-Brophy’s motivations as money problems and a life insurance policy, something the author disputed saying the couple’s financial problems had been largely solved by cashing in a chunk of Daniel’s retirement savings plan.
But other strong evidence told another story. Crampton-Brophy owned the same make and model of gun used to kill her husband. She was seen on surveillance camera footage driving to and from the Culinary Institute where Daniel worked on the day of his murder.
However, police never found the gun that killed Daniel. Prosecutors argued she swapped out the barrel of the gun used in the shooting, then discarded the barrel.
Defense attorneys argued that the gun parts were used for inspiration in Crampton-Brophy’s writing. Crampton-Brophy’s defense attorneys portrayed the murder as a robbery gone wrong and said they plan to appeal the ruling.
Crampton-Brophy’s sentencing is scheduled for June 13, 2022.
