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‘How to Murder Your Husband’ author Nancy Crompton Brophy gets life in prison for murdering husband in Oregon

By Michael Ruiz, Audrey Conklin

Published June 13, 2022

Fox News
Fox News Flash top headlines for June 13 Video

The Oregon novelist who wrote an essay called "How to Murder Your Husband" will spend life in prison after a Multnomah County judge handed down the sentence in the shooting death of her real-life husband Monday.

A jury found Nancy Crampton Brophy, 71, guilty of second-degree murder last month at the end of a seven-week trial.

Nancy Crampton-Brophy appears in an Oregon courtroom for her murder trial

Nancy Crampton-Brophy appears in an Oregon courtroom for her murder trial. She is accused in the 2018 killing her husband, Daniel Brophy. (KPTV/Pool)

Facing financial struggles in Oregon in 2018, she shot her chef husband Daniel Brophy, 63, in the back at his teaching job at the now-defunct Oregon Culinary Institute with a 9mm handgun, prosecutors alleged.

In her essay, which the judge did not allow to be introduced at trial, she lists five motives for killing a husband. The first is financial – which she explains, "is big."

‘HOW TO MURDER YOUR HUSBAND’ FICTION AUTHOR ON TRIAL FOR REAL-LIFE MURDER IN OREGON

Nancy Crampton-Brophy mugshot

Years before Nancy Crampton Brophy allegedly murdered her husband, she penned an essay titled, "How to Murder Your Husband." (Multnomah County Sheriff's Office)

"As a romantic suspense writer, I spend a lot of time thinking about murder and, consequently, about police procedure," her essay begins. "After all, if the murder is supposed to set me free, I certainly don’t want to spend any time in jail."

After killing her husband, she sought to collect about $1.4 million in life insurance claims, according to FOX 12 Oregon.

‘HOW TO MURDER YOUR HUSBAND’ NOVELIST ACCIDENTALLY CONFESSED TO KILLING REAL-LIFE HUSBAND: PROSECUTOR

On the morning of the murder, June 2, 2018, She appeared on security video entering the culinary school before her husband. She appeared again leaving just before 7:30 a.m., shortly after her husband’s arrival.

Nancy Crampton Brophy in court

Nancy Crampton Brophy appears in an Oregon courtroom for her murder trial. (KPTV/Pool)

A coworker found him dead in a kitchen about a half-hour later, according to court documents.

The killer won’t be eligible for parole until after 25 years behind bars, FOX 12 reported Monday.

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The trial had been delayed after COVID-19 disruptions, court records show.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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