Nancy Crampton Brophy, 68, wrote the essay “How to Murder Your Husband” in 2011, years before being arrested for killing her own husband in a kitchen in Portland. Brophy allegedly took herself up on what she wrote and offed her husband, but unlike the advice in her essay, it seems she isn’t getting away with the crime.
As reported by People, in the essay, Brophy wrote that because she is a romantic suspense writer, she spends a lot of time pondering the act of murder and the consequent police procedure that follows the crime. She wrote that if that murder was supposed to set her free, she certainly didn’t plan on spending any time in jail.
Romantic suspense author arrested
Brophy was arrested and taken to the Multnomah County Detention Centre last week on the charge of allegedly fatally shooting Daniel Brophy, the man she had been married to for 27 years. Daniel taught at the Oregon Culinary Institute and was found dead in the kitchen at the Institute on 2 June. The early morning shooting baffled detectives and no suspects were found.
However, while police and the prosecution are keeping silent on Brophy’s possible motive after she appeared in court facing murder charges.
Essay might provide clues to the murder
As noted by the Washington Post, Brophy’s 700-word essay was published on her blog, See Jane Publish on 4 November 2011. There were several motives for murder mentioned in her words, including an abusive relationship, greed, and infidelity.
Which of those motives actually led to the crime is still unknown. Under financial motives, she wrote how expensive divorce is, asking if people really wanted to split their possessions.
When trying to access the blog See Jane Publish, it has now been marked as private, possibly due to all the attention the author is getting.
Romance novelist accused of murdering husband reportedly wrote essay: 'How to Murder Your Husband' https://t.co/QkH0OBC9SC pic.twitter.com/5sM8UYmhT9
— Fox News (@FoxNews) September 12, 2018
Among her self-published books is one with the ominous title “The Wrong Husband,” which also gives hints as to how to carry out a murder, using knives, guns, poison or hitmen.
She did, admittedly, write that she finds it “easier to wish people dead” than actually carry out the crime. She said she doesn’t want to have to worry about brains and blood splattered all over her walls. She also said she wasn’t any good at remembering lines, which is problematic when being questioned by police.
Brophy wrote that the one thing she does know about murder is that we all have it in ourselves “when pushed far enough.”
Author of How To Murder Your Husband arrested on suspicion of 'murdering her husband'...https://t.co/ZUn81JLlJq pic.twitter.com/Iakx0XOmRt
— LADbible (@ladbible) September 12, 2018
Her 2015 novel “The Wrong Husband” tells the story of a woman in an abusive relationship who manages to escape her powerful spouse when their ship gets wrecked in the Mediterranean.
The romantic story tells of how the woman fell in love with a man sent to rescue her. While that book, and several others she wrote, had a happy ending, the 2911 essay could have caught the attention of police.