“
The guns are too loud.
Poison may not work.
A hitman could report you to the police
,” Nancy Brophy wrote on a blog in 2011. .
Surveillance videos, possession of a gun barrel, if the elements seem incriminating, a detail - which is perhaps not one, especially holds the attention of the general public: amateur novelist, Nancy Brophy published there at seven years old a text entitled
How to murder your husband
( How to murder your
husband)
.
Read alsoMurders, rapes and kidnappings: details of the cases relaunched by the new “cold cases” center
"
As a thriller writer, I spend a lot of time thinking about murder and, therefore, police procedure,
" she wrote.
“
After all, if murder is supposed to set me free, I certainly don't want to spend time in prison
,” Nancy Brophy signed.
A publication that could have gone unnoticed if the novelist was not indeed accused of having murdered her husband.
The judge, however, decided not to show his essay to the members of the jury.
CCTV footage and gun barrel
Daniel Brophy, 68, died after being shot twice on June 2, 2018, around 7 a.m.
Her body was discovered by students at her workplace, the Culinary Institute of Oregon.
At the start of the investigation, the police did not particularly suspect Nancy Brophy.
She "
was (just) a grieving wife
", explained Detective Anthony Merrill of the Portland Police Department, "
we were sad for her
".
However, the widow's innocence is quickly called into question.
Surveillance cameras from the nearby pizzeria allow them to spot a mini-van, very similar to the one she drives, the morning of the murder.
Other images prove that the novelist was driving her vehicle near the crime scene between 7:08 a.m. and 7:30 a.m., at the estimated time of Daniel Brophy's death.
Also, the police learn that she ordered a slide and barrel assembly on eBay.
An element that she had omitted to mention when she told them that she had a pistol and that could allow her to modify her weapon.
And presumably, the novelist knows about weapons.
In her text, she details with precision the different ways to kill someone, or as she writes “
so that the idiot dies
”.
It lists the different “
options to consider
”;
firearms “
noisy, messy,
(which)
require a certain skill
”, knives “
Blood everywhere.
Yuck
” or even poison, “
it takes a month or two to kill someone.
Plus, they're sick the whole time.
Who wants to hang out with a sick husband?
".
“1) Financial (this is important): Divorce is expensive, and do you really want to divide your assets?
Or if you married for the money, aren't you entitled to have it all?
The downside is that the police aren't stupid.
They look at you first.
So you have to be organized, ruthless and very clever.
Husbands have already disappeared from cruise ships.
Why not yours?
»
Nancy Brophy, "How to Murder Your Husband"
“
Do you really want to share your property?
»
According to several American newspapers, such as
Mail Online
or
The Week
, she should have received 1.4 million dollars when her husband died.
A substantial sum supposed to come from ten different insurance policies.
An amateur writer, Nancy Brophy had never had success in writing.
Although she said in court that she was “
better off financially with Dan alive, than with Dan dead
,” money seems to be the obvious motive.
Especially since she wrote, still in 2011, “
Divorce is expensive, and do you really want to divide your property?
Or if you married for the money, aren't you entitled to have it all?
The downside is that the police are not stupid
”.
Read alsoJustice: the “
cold cases
” center opens its doors
Finally, in her disastrous guide, Nancy Brophy does not say she is made for prison.
"
And let me state clearly, for the record, that I don't like jumpsuits and orange is not my color
."
