A jury in Portland has found a self-published romance author guilty of fatally shooting her husband four years ago. She penned an book titled “How to Murder Your Husband.”
According to KOIN-TV, a jury of seven women and five men convicted Nancy Crampton Brophy, 71, guilty of second-degree murder in the death of chef Daniel Brophy after deliberating for two days.
Daniel Brophy, 63, was slain on the way to work at the Oregon Culinary Institute in southwest Portland on June 2, 2018.
Inside the packed Multnomah County courtroom on Wednesday, Crampton Brophy showed no obvious reaction to the judgment.
One of her attorneys, Lisa Maxfield, said the defense team intends to appeal.
Crampton Brophy was allegedly motivated by money troubles and a life insurance policy, according to prosecutors.
During the trial, Crampton Brophy claimed that she had no cause to kill her husband and that their financial issues had been remedied in large part by cashing in a portion of Brophy’s retirement savings plan.
According to court documents and testimony, she had the same make and model of pistol used to murder her husband and was observed driving to and from the culinary institute on surveillance camera footage.
The gun that murdered Brophy was never discovered. Crampton Brophy, according to prosecutors, switched out the barrel of the pistol used in the shooting and then dumped it.
The gun pieces served as inspiration for Crampton Brophy’s work, according to defense counsel, who also indicated that Brophy was slain during a botched heist. During the trial, Crampton Brophy claimed that her appearance near the cooking school on the day of her husband’s murder was purely coincidental, and that she had parked in the vicinity to work on her writing.