Romance novelist arrested for murder of husband
Cops find woman who wrote escape in How to Murder Your Husband followed her own advice Crampton Brophy seemed to have a knack for writing about murder of spouses Her blog post “See Jane Publish” was made private after enquiries from The Washington Post
Portland, Sept. 12: When Daniel Brophy, a 63- yearold chef was found shot dead at at his workplace at the Oregon Culinary Institute on the morning of June 2, little did anyone suspect his wife Nancy Crampton Brophy to be the killer.
The murder had puzzled police and those close to Daniel Brophy from the start. Students were just beginning to file into the building for class when they found him bleeding in the kitchen. Police had no description of the suspect.
One day later, Crampton Brophy wrote on Facebook.
“For my Facebook friends and family, I have sad news to relate,” Crampton Brophy wrote. “My husband and best friend, Chef Dan Brophy was killed yesterday morning. For those of you who are close to me and feel this deserved a phone call, you are right, but I’m struggling to make sense of this right now.”
Crampton Brophy seemed to have a knack for writing about murder of spouses. The Portland, Oregon- based romance novelist wrote books about relationships that were “wrong” but “never felt so right,” often featuring bare- chested men on the cover. In The Wrong Cop, she wrote about a woman who “spent every day of her marriage fantasising about killing” her husband.
In The Wrong Husband, a woman tried to flee an abusive husband by faking her death. And in How to Murder Your Husband — an essay — Crampton Brophy wrote about how to get away with it. She used to write posts on the blog “See Jane Publish” in November 2011, describing five core motives and a number of murder weapons from which she would choose if her character were to kill a husband in a romance novel. She advised against hiring a hit man to do the dirty work — “an amazing number of hit men rat you out to the police” — and against hiring a lover.
“Never a good idea.” Poison was not advised either, because it’s traceable. “Who wants to hang out with a sick husband?” she wrote.
Crampton Brophy made the post private after inquiries from The Washington Post to the site’s administrators
“After all, if the murder is supposed to set me free, I certainly don’t want to spend any time in jail,” she had written in the post.
In real life, she seemed to follow some of her own advice, at least according to police. Rather than hire a hit man, she allegedly pulled the trigger herself.
Crampton Brophy, 68, was arrested on September 5 on charges of murdering her husband with a gun and unlawful use of death
Daniel to the
Bureau.
She was arraigned on Thursday, appearing in blue inmate clothing, and ordered jailed without bail, court records show. She has not filed a plea, and her attorney declined to comment when contacted by The Post. Police has not revealed the alleged motive. “It’s a big shock. It’s a big shock,” Brophy’s mother, Karen Brophy, told The Post of her daughterinlaw’s arrest. “But we’re not making any statements.” a weapon in the of her husband, Brophy, according Portland Police