'How To Kill Your Husband' Author On Trial For Allegedly Murdering Spouse

Photo: Multnomah County Sheriff's Office

The trial for the Portland, Oregon romance novelist accused of killing her husband began this week, KOIN 6 reports.

Nancy Crampton Brophy, 71, appeared in Multnomah County court Monday (April 4), who prosecutors claim murdered her husband, Daniel Brophy, on June 2, 2018. She's also known for authoring a 2011 essay titled How To Kill Your Husband and several more romance novels, including The Wrong Husband and Hell on the Heart.

"My stories are about pretty men and strong women, about families that don’t always work and about the joy of finding love and the difficulty of making it stay," she wrote on her website.

Daniel Brophy was alone at the Oregon Culinary Institute that morning, where he worked as a chef, according to authorities. Investigators believe Nancy Brophy shot her 63-year-old husband in the head and chest with a 9 mm pistol. Students and another co-worker reportedly found his body less than an hour after the murder.

Reporters say the wife paid tribute to Daniel on Facebook shortly after his death, calling him her "best friend." Three months later, she was arrested and has stayed behind bars since then.

Detectives suspected Nancy Brophy since her vehicle was spotted on surveillance video in front of the culinary institute during the time frame of the killing. Authorities say they haven't located the weapon that was used to kill Daniel Brophy.

Prosecutors believe the 71-year-old author killed her husband to collect over $350,000 in life insurance money from her husband's death. Both the prosecution and defense agreed that the couple was facing financial challenges leading up to Daniel Brophy's murder.

Defense attorneys argued, however, that the Brophys had a healthy and loving marriage leading up to the 63-year-old's death. They also claim the couple also mentored younger couples about how to have a stable relationship.


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