‘How to Murder Your Husband’ Author Nancy Crampton-Brophy on Trial for Murdering Husband

Nancy Crampton-Brophy likely thought she was being pretty clever with the title and theme of some of her writing titled, “How to Murder Your Husband.” Who would openly share how they would kill their partner and then actually do it? Nobody right? Crampton-Brophy allegedly did just that, reportedly shooting her husband Daniel in June 2018.

A judge ruled that her blog post can’t be entered as evidence against her in court. The couple had been together since 1997 and married in spirit, never getting legally married until right before when Brophy died.

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According to The Oregonian, District Attorney Shawn Overstreet told jurors earlier in the week that Crampton-Brophy reportedly was motivated “by greed” and sought a $1.4 million insurance policy. Police also felt she was the primary suspect since their investigation in 2018 and “information learned during the investigation.”

NBC News adds that her blog post was barred from the courtroom and from the jury’s notes because it was “old” and “written for a writing seminar,” which was small potatoes compared to the prejudice it could create for the jury.

While this seems like a unique story without any comparison around the globe, you’d be wrong following that line of thought. Travel to Europe and the Netherlands to tap the story of Richard Klinkhamer. His wife went missing in 1991, with her skeletal remains not being discovered nearly a decade later, buried in the property’s garden.

Before that, and a year after the disappearance, Klinkhamer delivered a manuscript to his publisher titledWoensdag Gehaktdag or Wednesday Meat Day, according to Google translate. While that’s certainly a strange title for a book on murder, the contents were called too gruesome and detailed seven ways he could have murdered his wife before her disappearance.

Klinkhamer sold his home in 1997, leading to the morbid discovery a short time later. After the skeleton was removed, Klinkhamer was confronted by authorities and confessed to the killing. He was arrested and charged with murder, earning a sentence of seven years behind bars until his early release in 2003 due to his age and health. He died in Jan. 2016 at 78.