A romance novelist who blogged about different methods for murdering one’s spouse now stands accused of killing her husband — and her how-to guide is inadmissible, a judge ruled earlier this week.
Before the jury entered the courtroom for opening statements, Circuit Judge Christopher Ramras ruled that prosecutors could not introduce “How to Murder Your Husband,” which details different ways to kill a spouse and not get caught, as evidence after defense attorneys argued it was merely “circumstantial.”
“I find it easier to wish people dead than to actually kill them,” Nancy Crampton Brophy wrote in the 2011 essay. “I don’t want to worry about blood and brains splattered on my walls. And really, I’m not good at remembering lies. But the thing I know about murder is that every one of us has it in him/her when pushed far enough.”
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Brophy was arrested on Sept. 5, 2018, on a single count of murder after surveillance footage was used to link her to the death of her husband, Daniel Brophy. The writer is accused of shooting her 63-year-old husband out of greed, seeking to cash in his $1.4 million life insurance policy.
The couple was going through financial troubles, with about $10,000 available at the time of his death. However, her attorneys argued greed could not have been a factor, as her financial standing only deteriorated after her husband’s death.
“Nancy Crampton Brophy has always been thoroughly, madly, crazy in love with Daniel Brophy, and she still is today,” said Lisa Maxfield, her defense attorney, in opening statements.
The writer’s blog post outlines different motives for murdering a husband, with a particular focus on financial troubles.
“If you married for money, aren’t you entitled to all of it?” she wrote. “The draw back is the police aren’t stupid. They are looking at you first. So you have to be organized, ruthless, and very clever. Husbands have disappeared from cruise ships before. Why not yours?”
Different murder methods offer positive and negative aspects, with higher-skill weapons such as guns creating messiness and knives causing blood spatters, according to the essay. Poison could take too long, strangling requires upper body strength, and hit men could turn on you, she continued.
“What if killing didn’t produce the right results? Would they do it again?” she wrote. “Whoa, there’s an idea for a story.”
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Brophy is set to take the stand in her own defense in a murder trial that is expected to last seven weeks.
