Enlarge image
Nancy Crampton Brophy: Denied murdering her husband
Photo: Dave Killen/AP
An Oregon court has sentenced a writer to life in prison for writing an essay entitled How to Kill Your Husband.
Nancy Crampton Brophy, 71, was found guilty of her husband's murder in May.
The sentence can be suspended after 25 years on probation.
Crampton Brophy had denied the crime.
According to media reports, her lawyers are planning to take action against the court's decision.
According to prosecutors, Crampton Brophy shot and killed her husband at his workplace in 2018 because she wanted to benefit from his life insurance payout.
The couple was in financial difficulties at the time.
She researched and bought a kit for a "ghost weapon" on the Internet.
Later, the author bought a pistol at a gun fair.
Crampton Brophy's attorney argued that the prosecution's evidence was circumstantial, denied the claims of financial difficulties and produced witnesses who testified about the couple's strong and loving relationship.
One of the things the author herself said was that her research into ghost weapons was in preparation for a future novel.
The case had attracted attention mainly because of the essay in which the author wrote, among other things: "The most important thing to know about murder is that any of us is capable of it if we push it far enough".
However, the text was not admitted as evidence.
The author was arrested in September 2018 and has been in custody since then.
bbr/AP
