The Author Of 'How To Murder Your Husband' Is Now On Trial For Her Husband's Murder

The author of an essay about how to kill your husband is now on trial for her husband's murder, and you just know the prosecution will be checking her work for receipts.

Nancy Crampton Brophy, 71, is accused of fatally shooting her chef husband, Daniel Brophy, in the back and chest on June 2, 2018, in Oregon, the Associated Press reports. She was arrested and charged with his murder in September of 2018, three months after his death.

Authorities alleged that she killed her husband in order to get a $1.4-million payout from his life insurance. She has been in custody since her arrest, but she previously pleaded not guilty to her murder charge, and the case is now before a court as of Monday.

Crampton Brophy is a self-published romance novelist, and she once wrote an essay titled "How To Murder Your Husband."

You might think that would be relevant here, but on the first day of her trial, the judge deemed the essay inadmissible as evidence in the case.

"Any minimal probative value of an article written that long ago is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice and confusion of the issues," the judge said, according to CBS.

Investigators say Brophy was found dead in his culinary school classroom and that there were no signs of force, struggle or robbery. They also say that Crampton Brophy's minivan was spotted driving into and out of the area on traffic cameras around the time her husband was killed.

Crampton Brophy has written quite a few books, which she has listed on her website. On the "about" page of her site, she talks about her husband, who seems to have been alive at the time of writing.

"Like all marriages, we've had our ups and downs, more good times than bad," she wrote.

The trial of Crampton Brophy is set to last seven weeks.