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"How to Murder Your Husband" writer pleads not guilty in husband's slaying

Mystery writer accused of killing husband
Oregon murder-mystery writer arrested in husband's death 01:32

PORTLAND, Ore. -- A self-published romance writer accused of killing her husband has pleaded not guilty. CBS affiliate KOIN-TV reports that Nancy Crampton-Brophy, 68, was arraigned Monday. Crampton Brophy once penned an essay titled "How to Murder Your Husband."

She's accused of shooting her husband of 27 years, Daniel Brophy, at the Oregon Culinary Institute. Daniel Brophy was a well-liked instructor there. He was alone in a kitchen early on June 2 when he was killed, and there were no obvious suspects.

He was found dead in his classroom when students began arriving, KOIN-TV reported. The 63-year-old had worked at the school since 2006.

Crampton-Brophy has written steamy romance novels filled with murder mysteries, the station reported. Among the titles are "The Wrong Husband," "The Wrong Brother" and "The Wrong Hero."

Crampton-Brophy announced the death of her husband on Facebook a day after the killing. She said she was "struggling to make sense of everything right now."

Before her arrest, neighbor Don McConnell, who shares a fence with Crampton-Brophy in Beaverton, told KOIN-TV that he had asked her whether she had heard anything about the investigation. "She said, 'No, I'm out of the loop,'" McConell said.

"I went, 'Well, what do you mean?'" McConnell told the station. "She says, 'Well, they consider me a suspect.'"

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