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Woman who wrote 'How To Murder Your Husband' essay charged with murdering husband

Paying assassins a bad idea as 'an amazing number of hit men rat you out to police', novelist wrote

Jon Sharman
Wednesday 12 September 2018 16:34 BST
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Nancy Crampton-Brophy, 68, of Oregon, is suspected of killing her husband
Nancy Crampton-Brophy, 68, of Oregon, is suspected of killing her husband (Portland Police Bureau)

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A romance novelist who penned an essay titled “How To Murder Your Husband” has been charged with murdering her husband.

Nancy Crampton-Brophy, 68, is the author of pulp-style books including The Wrong Husband and The Wrong Lover whose covers feature dashing and occasionally shirtless men.

Police in Portland, Oregon, said she was arrested last week on suspicion of shooting dead her husband, Daniel Brophy, in June.

Mr Brophy, a chef, was found dead at the Oregon Culinary Institute where he worked.

Authorities have said he was alone at the school when he was discovered by students and staff.

Mr Brophy, 63, had worked at the school since 2006.

Ms Crampton-Brophy announced the death of her husband on Facebook a day after the killing, saying she was “struggling to make sense of everything right now.”

She was booked into jail on accusations of murder and unlawful use of a firearm.

On her blog, “See Jane Publish”, Ms Crampton-Brophy wrote a post describing five main motives she could use in stories about women killing their husbands in a novel, as well as a series of murder weapons.

Poison was not a good idea, she wrote, because “who wants to hang out with a sick husband?”

Nor was paying an assassin, because “an amazing number of hitmen rat you out to the police”, she wrote, according to The Washington Post.

The author is being held in jail without bail, the paper reported.

Mr Brophy’s mother, Karen, told the Post: “It’s a big shock. But we’re not making any statements.”

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