Romance Novelist Allegedly Killed Husband for Money

Court documents say Nancy Brophy had taken out life insurance policies on her husband
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 29, 2020 7:42 AM CDT
Romance Novelist Allegedly Killed Husband for Money
In this Sept. 6, 2018, file image from video of her court appearance, Nancy Brophy appears in Multnomah County Circuit Court in Portland, Ore. A lawyer for the self-published romance writer accused of killing her chef husband is asking a judge to seal the woman's jail visitor log.   (Multnomah County Circuit Court/The Oregonian via AP)

Nancy Crampton Brophy was charged with murder in September 2018 in connection with her chef husband's death. Days after her arraignment, it emerged that the 68-year-old romance novelist had published a 700-word essay online in 2011 called "How to Murder Your Husband." In it, she gave five motives for murder—and court documents released Monday accuse her of shooting 63-year-old Daniel Brophy because of one of them: money. The documents state that Nancy Brophy stood to walk away with more than $1.15 million in insurance and worker's compensation money. She allegedly acted as her own agent in obtaining the life insurance policies, which she alone stood to benefit from, reports KPTV. The worker's comp payout was tied to the fact that Daniel Brophy was shot dead early on June 2, 2018, at his workplace: the Oregon Culinary Institute.

KOIN reports the documents say Nancy Brophy was allegedly filmed by surveillance cameras in the vicinity between 6:39am and 7:28am, though she told detectives she was home all morning. The papers also outline prosecutors' theory: that in early 2018 she purchased a Glock 17 Gen4 gun at a gun show and a Glock 17 slide and barrel on eBay. They believe she swapped in the new slide and barrel, killed her husband, then reverted the gun to its original configuration, "thus being able to present a new, fully intact firearm to police that would not be a match to the shell casings left at the crime scene." The revelations came as she sought to be placed under "home detention" due to the coronavirus pandemic. OregonLive reports her bail hearing began Tuesday and will continue Wednesday. (More murder stories.)

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