New documents in “How to Murder Your Husband” case

PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) – Investigators believe a woman in Oregon accused of murdering her husband planned the murder for years and purchased an untraceable gun kit before his death.

Detectives believe Nancy Crampton-Brophy may have planned the shooting before she posted a 2011 article entitled, “How to Murder Your Husband.”

Those revelations and more were revealed in thousands of pages of court documents Friday.

Crampton-Brophy said “divorce is expensive” and “do you really want to split your possessions?”

It also tells readers “if the murder is supposed to set me free, I certainly don’t want to spend any time in jail.”

On June second of last year, Portland police say the body of Nancy’s husband, chef Daniel Brophy, was found inside the Oregon Culinary Institute, where he’d worked since 2006.

In the dozen search warrant affidavits KATU obtained, investigators said Nancy told them she owned one gun, a 9mm pistol which she bought at a gun show in February of 2018.

They say the two bullets that hit Daniel Brophy did not match that gun.

But investigators said they later discovered that in December 2017 Nancy had bought a kit online from ghostguns.com to make a similar, untraceable version of the pistol.

They also say she bought gun parts like a slide and barrel online and that the gun and accessories match the bullets that hit Daniel.

Police also said Nancy lied about her location the morning Daniel was found.

They say she told them she was at her Beaverton home when surveillance video showed her driving her minivan on Jefferson outside the culinary institute just before Daniel’s body was found.

When Nancy was arrested last September, police say she said, “You’re arresting me? You must think I murdered my husband.”

Investigators also said Nancy told them she’d taken out a $40,000 life insurance policy on Daniel. They later discovered she was the beneficiary on several policies valued at more than $350,000.

Nancy has pleaded not guilty to the murder.

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