'How to Murder Your Husband' Author Sentencing Revealed for Murdering Her Husband

By Allison Schonter

Nancy Crampton-Brophy, the self-published romance novelist who authored the essay "How to Murder Your Husband," was sentenced to life in prison Monday for the murder of her husband. A jury in May found the 71-year-old Oregon woman guilty of second-degree murder for the June 2018 murder of her husband Daniel Brophy. Crampton-Brophy has the possibility of parole after 25 years in custody.

Ahead of the Monday sentencing, Brohpy's son and Campton-Brophy's stepson, Nathaniel Stillwater, made a statement, telling the author and the courtroom, per NBC affiliate KGW-TV, "the pain you have delivered to us is immeasurable. Your theft of a parent and grandfather for such selfish reasons is unforgivable. You were, to borrow from your catalog, the wrong wife." A letter submitted by Karen Brophy, the mother of the victim, was also read by the prosecuting attorney.

"We will never understand how you can decide that it was an advantage for you to take the life of our son. That he did not deserve to live," Karen wrote in part. "We will never understand how you can decide that it was an advantage for you to take the life of our son. That he did not deserve to live."

During the author's seven-week murder trial, prosecutors claimed that Crampton-Brophy shot and killed her 63-year-old husband at the now-closed Oregon Culinary Institute where he worked in Southwest Portland. She initially purchased an unregistered "ghost gun" assembly kit to carry out the crime, though she ultimately opted for a 9mm pistol, according to The Washington Post. Crampton-Brophy, they said, killed her spouse in order to acquire a $1.5 million life insurance policy. However, her defense attorney argued that she did not benefit from her husband's death. Prosecutors claimed security cameras caught Nancy driving near the culinary school approximately 40 minutes before her husband's death, though she testified the sighting was a coincidence, per CNN. Jurors deliberated for two days before returning a guilty verdict.

Years prior to her husband's murder, Crampton-Brophy in 2011 penned the essay "How To Murder Your Husband." In the 700-word blog post, detailed the various ways for committing an untraceable killing and was separated into sections detailing the pros and cons of killing a husband. Circuit Judge Christopher Ramras ruled the essay could not be permitted as evidence as it was written in 2011, years before the murder, as part of a writing seminar and could unfairly prejudice the jury.

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