Trial Underway For Author Of 'How To Murder Your Husband' Who’s Accused Of Murdering Husband
A woman who wrote a blog post entitled 'How To Murder Your Husband' is now standing trial for her husband's murder.
Fiction writer Nancy Brophy is accused of shooting and killing her husband Daniel Brophy in 2018.
The 63-year-old's body was found at the Oregon Culinary Institute, where he taught. He had been shot twice, and his wife was arrested three months later and charged with his murder.
Seven years earlier, Mrs Brophy had written a post for a writers' blog, in which she had detailed reasons someone might have for murdering their husband.
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The 2011 publication was one of the first topics discussed when the trail began on Monday 4 April.
However, Judge Christopher Ramras granted a motion from the defence, ruling that the blog could not be admitted to evidence and the jury would not be allowed to view it.
He judged that: "Any minimal probative value of an article written that long ago is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice and confusion of the issue."
In the blog, Mrs Brophy analysed five motives a person might have for killing their spouse.
She wrote: "Financial: Divorce is expensive, and do you really want to split your possessions?
"Or if you married for money, aren’t you entitled to all of it?
"Lying, cheating b*****d: This is a crime of passion. In anger, you bash his head in or stab him with a kitchen knife.
"Fell in love with someone else: Let's say your Church frowns on divorce. You need to be a widow, so you won't fall out of favour with your religion.
"Abuser: This one is tough. Anybody can claim abuse. What is abuse?
"It's your profession: Now we're talking. You already possess both skill and knowledge.
"You have the moral ambiguity necessary to carry it off."
Mrs Brophy went on: "The draw back [sic] is the police aren’t stupid. They are looking at you first. So you have to be organised, ruthless and very clever. Husbands have disappeared from cruise ships before. Why not yours?"
She also discussed methods of murder.
She wrote: "Guns - loud, messy, require some skill. If it takes 10 shots for the sucker to die, either you have terrible aim or he's on drugs.
"Knives - really personal and up close. Blood everywhere. Eww."
The prosecution has claimed during the trial that Mrs Brophy murdered her husband for financial gain, as she stood to receive $1.4m (£1m) on his death.
The District Attorney alleged that the Brophys were spending over $1,000 (£760) a month on life insurance premiums and were in a 'pattern of overspending' and close to 'financial despair'.
The defence claimed, however, that Mrs Brophy actually struggled financially following his death and loved her husband very much.
They said it would actually have been more beneficial had her husband lived much longer, as she would have received their insurance premiums back had he reached the age of 78.
The trial is set to last seven weeks. If convicted, Brophy could face a life sentence of at least 25 years in prison.
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Topics: True crime, US News, Crime
Dominic Smithers