How To Murder Your Husband writer gets life in prison for husband’s murder

She was found guilty of shooting her husband for a life insurance payout.

How To Murder Your Husband author Nancy Crampton Brophy has been sentenced to life in prison for murdering her husband. The 71-year-old was first convicted of second-degree murder on 25 May after a seven-week trial for killing her husband at his workplace in Portland four years ago, Her sentence on Monday includes the possibility of parole, after 25 years. Prosecutors said Crampton Brophy shot Dan Brophy, aged 63 at the time, inside the now-closed Oregon Culinary Institute, where he worked as a chef, because she wanted to gain financially from his life insurance. They say the romance writer was struggling to pay her mortgage and the insurance would pay out a total of $1.4 million if her husband was to pass away. The case drew global attention due to the irony of the fictional essay Crampton Brophy had self-published years earlier about murdering her husband. It was not allowed to be used as evidence in trial. However, prosecutors did not need it. Jurors were shown surveillance footage of Crampton Brady driving to and from the Institute at the time of the crime. Prosecutors also told the jury that about how the couple had been facing financial difficulties at the time of the murder and Crampton Brady had researched and purchased a 'ghost gun' online. Ghost guns are unserialised and untraceable firearms that can be bought online and assembled at home. Crampton Brophy’s attorney said the purchase of a ghost gun was research for a new novel. She also brought in witnesses who testified that the couple had a good, loving relationship. Crampton Brophy took the stand to say she and her husband had both purchased life insurance policies as part of their retirement planning. The jury decided that Crampton Brophy had indeed murdered her husband for financial gain.