On the morning of the murder, police say Nancy Crampton-Brophy told them she was still in bed when her husband was gunned down at work. But then came a shocking discovery: surveillance footage that prosecutors say ties her to the scene of the crime.
The trial of an Oregon romance novelist, who once wrote an essay called “How to Murder Your Husband” and is accused of doing just that in her own life, is nearing its end, with closing arguments expected to begin Monday.
In 2018, Nancy Crampton-Brophy allegedly gunned down her husband in order to collect $1.4 million from 10 different life insurance policies, prosecutors said.
But the defense painted a much different picture of Nancy Brophy — one of a bereaved wife, shattered by the loss of her slain husband of 26 years, Daniel Brophy.
“Nancy Crampton-Brophy has always been thoroughly, madly, crazy in love with Daniel Brophy, and she still is today,” her lawyer said at trial.
In the 2011 article "How to Murder Your Husband,” Crampton-Brophy wrote: “A spouse who commits mariticide will almost certainly become a prime suspect.”
To get off, the wife must “be organized, ruthless and very clever,” the essay continued.
Seven years later, Daniel Brophy, a chef, wound up being brutally murdered inside the kitchen of the Oregon Culinary Institute, where he taught cooking classes.
On the morning of the murder, police say Nancy Crampton-Brophy told them she was still in bed when her husband was gunned down. But then came a shocking discovery: surveillance footage that prosecutors say ties her to the scene of the crime.
The footage shows Nancy Brophy driving by the culinary school around the time of the slaying.
“She is then seen on numerous cameras around the area of the Oregon Culinary Institute,” a prosecutor said.
On the stand, the novelist admitted she was driving the vehicle, but claimed she had no memory of being there.
“What I know in my heart is the reason why I have no memory. It’s because I was stunned by the fact Dan was dead. And I wouldn’t have been stunned if I had been in the building and shot him,” Crampton-Brohpy said.
She pleaded not guilty and flatly denies killing her husband.
