The 'How To Murder Your Husband' Author's Trial Is Over & Her Work Suddenly Hits Different

Nancy Crampton Brophy, author of the essay How To Murder Your Husband, has officially been convicted of murdering her husband.

A jury in Oregon convicted Brophy of second-degree murder on Wednesday for shooting her 63-year-old husband, Daniel Brophy, in June 2018.

Nancy showed no visible reaction to the decision when the verdict was announced. One of her lawyers announced that they would be filing for an appeal against the decision, reported The Guardian.

The 12-person jury announced its decision after deliberating for two days, Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt said in a press release.

Daniel Brophy, a chef, was getting ready for a day of work at the Oregon Culinary Institute in Portland when his wife apparently shot him in the back and chest, reported the Associated Press.

His co-workers found him the same morning with two fatal gunshot wounds and then called authorities to the scene.

Video surveillance footage shows Nancy driving to the Oregon Culinary Institute before Daniel arrived and driving off shortly after his arrival. By the time the cops showed up, Nancy had already fled the scene.

When an investigation was launched, Nancy told the authorities that she was at home at the time of the shooting. It was soon discovered that she had also purchased a firearm not too long before the murder, and evidence found at the crime scene matched the gun she had purchased.

She was arrested in September of 2018 and had been waiting in custody since.

The prosecution had argued that she killed her husband in order to solve her financial problems by cashing in on his life insurance policy.

Three days after the murder, Nancy went to collect the life insurance policy, which was a $1.4 million payout.

Her team had argued that her husband's retirement savings plan was going to solve their problems, so she had no reason to kill him.

The jury wasn't allowed to read her How to Kill Your Husband essay, but some passages from it are chilling to look back on now.

In her morbid 2011 essay on tips to kill your husband, Nancy wrote, "I find it is easier to wish people dead than to actually kill them."

"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 have it in him/her when pushed far enough."

The essay also includes a few lists that look bad in retrospect. For instance, her No. 1 potential motive for murder is "financial (this is big)," the essay says. She also listed guns as the first possible murder weapon.

"Loud, messy, require some skill," she wrote. "If it takes 10 shots for the sucker to die, either you have terrible aim or he's on drugs."

The opening of the essay also strikes a bad note, considering where she is now.

“As a romantic suspense writer, I spend a lot of time thinking about murder and, consequently, about police procedure," she wrote.

"After all, if the murder is supposed to set me free, I certainly don’t want to spend any time in jail. And let me say clearly for the record, I don’t like jumpsuits and orange isn’t my color.”

Nancy is now awaiting her sentencing trial, which will take place on June 13.