Truth is stranger than fiction, as we’re frequently reminded, but sometimes truth and fiction can be one and the same. That may be the case in the case of Nancy Brophy, a novelist who once wrote a blog post entitled “How to Murder Your Husband” and who is now on trial for possibly murdering her husband.
According to Vice, Nancy Brophy, an Oregon-based novelist who writes romantic crime novels with, as per her website, “rugged men, strong women and a good story,” is alleged to have killed her husband, Daniel Brophy, in 2018. Prosecutors believe that Nancy fired two shots into Daniel’s chest using a ghost gun, or a hand-made firearm constructed so as to be untraceable. In Nancy’s case, she’s accused of creating a hand-made Glock.
To make matters stranger, in 2011 Nancy wrote a blog post entitled “How to Murder Your Husband.” She opened the post by saying that “as a romantic suspense writer, I spend a lot of time thinking about murder and, consequently, about police procedure.” She also laid out which weapons one ought not to use so as to evade the police, as per Vice:
Brophy also categorizes ways to off your husband. Among them are: guns, which she says are “too loud and noisy”; knives, which are too bloody; a garrote, which requires too much upper-body strength; and poison, which she seems to endorse. The prime suspect, ruminates Brophy, is almost certainly going to be the spouse, especially if they stand to collect a large sum of money.
One of the comments on the blog reads, “I’m calling Dan to make sure he’s alright.”
The judge, however, tossed the blog post as evidence, claiming it was too far removed to how Nancy allegedly really did kill her husband. (For one thing, Daniel was not poisoned.)
At the time of his death, Daniel was 63 and the couple had been together since the early ’90s. After his passing, Nancy began receiving portions from his multiple insurance policies, which added up to a whopping $1.4 million. Three months after his death, Nancy was charged with second-degree murder. She faces life in prison.
(Via Vice)