Murder of Daniel Brophy
{{short description|2018 death of American chef}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Daniel Brophy
| image =
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| birth_date = {{Birth date|1954|06|27}}
| birth_place = Valley City, North Dakota, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2018|06|02|1954|06|27}}
| death_place = Portland, Oregon, U.S.
| death_cause = Homicide
| other_names =
| occupation = {{hlist|Chef|Culinary instructor}}
}}
Daniel Craig Brophy (June 27, 1954{{spaced ndash}}June 2, 2018){{cite web|url=https://obituaries.neptunesociety.com/obituaries/portland-or/daniel-brophy-7885746|work=Neptune Society Obituaries|title=Daniel Craig Brophy|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20220613011837/https://obituaries.neptunesociety.com/obituaries/portland-or/daniel-brophy-7885746|archive-date=June 13, 2022}} was an American chef and culinary instructor who was found murdered at the Oregon Culinary Institute in Portland, Oregon. On May 25, 2022, his wife, Nancy Crampton-Brophy, was found guilty of second-degree murder for his death. She was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Murder
On the morning of June 2, 2018, Daniel Brophy left for work at the Oregon Culinary Institute, where he was a teacher. Students arrived later and found his body in a kitchen, dead from two gunshots. The death was investigated as a homicide.
Investigation
{{Infobox criminal
| honorific_prefix =
| name = Nancy Crampton-Brophy
| honorific_suffix =
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| image =
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| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1950|06|16}}{{cite web|last=Sparling|first=Zane|work=The Oregonian|url=https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2022/05/spotlight-shines-on-oregon-romance-novelist-accused-of-killing-chef-husband-who-is-nancy-crampton-brophy.html|date=May 23, 2022|title=Spotlight shines on Oregon romance novelist accused of killing chef husband: Who is Nancy Crampton Brophy?|archive-url=https://archive.today/20220613013423/https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2022/05/spotlight-shines-on-oregon-romance-novelist-accused-of-killing-chef-husband-who-is-nancy-crampton-brophy.html|archive-date=June 13, 2022|url-status=live}}
| birth_place = Wichita Falls, Texas, U.S.
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| occupation = Writer
| known_for = Convicted murderer
| criminal_charge = Second-degree murder
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| motive = Acquisition of life insurance policy
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=Nancy Crampton-Brophy=
Suspicion later fell on his wife, Nancy Crampton-Brophy (born June 16, 1950). Crampton-Brophy, the daughter of two lawyers, was born and raised in Wichita Falls, Texas, and a graduate of the University of Houston. She met Daniel Brophy after moving to Oregon in the early-1990s and attending the Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Portland, where he worked as an instructor.
Crampton-Brophy had told investigators during the initial investigation that she had walked the dogs and had a shower on the morning of the incident. In 2020, investigators found traffic camera footage that showed her driving to and then departing from the culinary school during a 13-minute window when the homicide happened. Crampton-Brophy amended her story and said she had no memory of such a drive, and that she was likely on a coffee run that she forgot about due to the stress of the day's events.
=Trial and conviction of Crampton-Brophy=
Nancy Crampton-Brophy was indicted for her husband's murder and was put on trial in April 2022 before the Multnomah County Circuit Court.{{Cite web |date=2022-04-05 |title=Romance novelist goes on trial in fatal shooting of spouse |url=https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-portland-crime-oregon-arrests-80484ab764d163465a722af12f60ca98 |access-date=2023-08-09 |website=AP News |language=en}} Crampton-Brophy was the author of several self-published novels including The Wrong Husband and an online essay titled "How to Murder Your Husband", which increased public and media interest in her husband's murder.
At trial, the prosecution assembled a case built on circumstantial evidence that they said indicated Crampton-Brophy was the murderer. They argued that her false account of her whereabouts on the morning of the murder indicated her account was untrustworthy. For motive, prosecutors alleged that Crampton-Brophy was in financial distress and killed her husband for several life insurance policies totaling around $1.4 million as well as sole ownership of the $300,000 house.{{Cite news |date=2022-06-13 |title='How to murder your husband' writer sentenced for murdering husband |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-61786575 |access-date=2022-06-16}} Forensic evidence indicated that Daniel Brophy had been shot by two bullets from a Glock pistol. The prosecution entered evidence that Ms. Crampton-Brophy had purchased a receiver blank kit of parts from the Internet. She conceded that she had bought a slide and a barrel for a Glock pistol via eBay.{{cite news|publisher=Court TV|title=OR V. CRAMPTON-BROPHY: ROMANCE NOVELIST MURDER TRIAL|date=May 19, 2022|url=https://www.courttv.com/news/or-v-crampton-brophy-romance-novelist-murder-trial/}} She contended that the purchase had been made with her husband's support, that she had given the gun to her husband to protect himself while looking for mushrooms, and that the gun components were for research on a new novel involving a woman who carefully acquired gun parts.
Nancy Crampton-Brophy was convicted of second degree murder on May 25, 2022.{{cite news |last=Baker |first=Mike |date=May 25, 2022 |title='How to Murder Your Husband' Writer Convicted of Murdering Husband |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/25/us/novelist-nancy-brophy-murder-husband.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=May 26, 2022}} She received a sentence of life imprisonment on June 14, 2022.{{cite news |last1=Paúl |first1=María Luisa |title='How to Murder Your Husband' writer sentenced to life for killing husband |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/06/14/how-to-murder-your-husband-life-sentence/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=14 June 2022}}
Media depictions
In 2023, Lifetime filmed an adaptation of the murder of Daniel Brophy called How to Murder Your Husband: The Nancy Brophy Story. The film stars Cybill Shepherd as Nancy Brophy and Steve Guttenberg as Daniel Brophy.{{Cite web|url=https://www.etonline.com/how-to-murder-your-husband-trailer-see-cybill-shepherd-as-novelist-nancy-brophy-exclusive-196077|title='How to Murder Your Husband': Watch Cybill Shepherd and Steve Guttenberg in the Trailer (Exclusive)|website=ET Online|first=Stacy|last=Lambe|date=December 16, 2022|access-date=January 15, 2023}}
In January 2023, the case was covered by the A&E series Taking the Stand.
In May 2024, Wondery started a 6-episode podcast called Happily Never After: Dan and Nancy.
See also
References
{{reflist|30em|refs=
{{citation|title=Oregon Romance Novelist Allegedly Killed Husband for $1M Insurance Policy: Prosecutors|author=Christine Pelisek|work=People|date=April 29, 2020 |url=https://people.com/crime/oregon-romance-novelist-allegedly-killed-husband-insurance-money/}}
{{cite news|title=She wrote an essay titled 'How to Murder Your Husband'. A murder trial followed|author=Clémence Michallon|date=April 6, 2022 |newspaper=The Independent|location=London|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/nancy-brophy-husband-murder-trial-b2052226.html}}
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brophy, Daniel}}
Category:2018 in Portland, Oregon
Category:2018 murders in the United States
Category:June 2018 crimes in the United States
Category:21st-century American trials
Category:Deaths by person in Oregon
Category:People murdered in Oregon