Daniel Brophy, 63, was shot to death at the Oregon Culinary Institute in June. Police now say Nancy Crampton Brophy, author of “The Wrong Husband” and other titles, pulled the trigger.
Nancy Crampton Brophy was a writer of steamy self-published romances whose collection included a book titled “The Wrong Husband.”
Her spouse of more than 25 years, Daniel Brophy, was a beloved chef at a Portland culinary school.
They lived a quiet life together in the suburbs, raising chickens and tending a big garden.
Then came a plot twist that could have been taken from one of her many drama-filled novels.
Authorities on Thursday charged Crampton Brophy, 68, with murdering her husband in what until this week had been a baffling early-morning shooting in June at the Oregon Culinary Institute with no suspects.
The kitchen killing rattled faculty and students at the Goose Hollow campus, which held a candlelight vigil attended by hundreds two days later.
Yet one of the couple’s neighbors said Crampton Brophy seemed hardly fazed in the weeks after her husband’s death. She casually admitted police considered her a suspect and planned to move on.
Crampton Brophy appeared in court in a blue jail uniform to hear the charge against her. She said little, except to confirm the spelling of her name and quietly conferred with her attorney.
Police and prosecutors remained silent on possible motive. In a rare move, a judge approved a request by prosecutors to seal a court document that typically lays out the case against a defendant.
“The family is in absolute shock right now and we are not making any comments,” Karen Brophy, Daniel’s mother, told The Oregonian/OregonLive.
Crampton Brophy’s books featured “rugged men, strong women and a good story,” the author wrote on a personal website. Their paperback covers depicted handsome heroes — and at least one heroine — with chiseled bodies and dark coiffed hair.
Her larger-than-life characters often dodged danger while seeking fortune and love. A synopsis of her 2015 novel “The Wrong Husband” tells of a woman who escapes an abusive and powerful spouse during a shipwreck in the Mediterranean and who later falls for one of the men sent to find her.
“In writing fiction, you dig deep and unearth portions of your own life that you’ve long forgotten or had purposely buried deep,” Crampton Brophy’s author page said . “Granted, sometimes it is smarter to change the ending.” Her husband, 63, was found wounded by gunfire in a kitchen of the school on Southwest Jefferson Street on the morning of June 2. He later died at the scene.
An admired teacher and peer, he had worked at the school since 2006 and eventually became a lead instructor. The institute’s website described him as an expert in marine biology and mushrooms as well as a master gardener with an offbeat sense of humor.
Crampton Brophy had announced the death of her husband on her Facebook page the day after it occurred saying she was “struggling to make sense of everything right now.”
She described Brophy as her best friend and mentioned the candlelight vigil scheduled the next day in his honor.
“While I appreciate all of your loving responses, I am overwhelmed,” the post said. “Please save phone calls for a few days until I can function.”
Police on Wednesday arrested Crampton Brophy at her Southwest 108th Avenue home in Beaverton and booked her into the Multnomah County Detention Center.
Brent Weisberg, a DA’s office spokesman, said releasing more information about the case at this point could jeopardize the ongoing investigation.
A woman who answered the phone at Oregon Culinary said the school had no statements to share on the developments.
No one immediately responded to messages left at a Vancouver insurance agency or a Southeast Portland catering business, where records indicate Crampton Brophy used to work.
“Everyone that knows her, especially those closer to her than myself are sick at heart,” said Anna Brentwood, a fellow writer who has known the couple for 20 years. “We are hoping the police are wrong and just going after the easiest target.”
Crampton Brophy and her husband had been married for 27 years, court records show. They were inseparable and appeared to be very close, Brentwood said. The two were even in a catering business together in the past.
The couple’s suburban home was bucolic, filled with turkeys, chickens and “a fabulous vegetable garden,” according to the author’s website.
Don McConnell, a neighbor of six years, said he and others who lived nearby thought Crampton Brophy had an unusual reaction to her husband’s death.
“She never showed any signs of being upset or sad,” said McConnell, whose backyard borders the couple’s home. “I would say she had an air of relief, like it was almost a godsend.”
McConnell said at one point this summer he talked to Crampton Brophy about how strange it was that the killer targeted Brophy while alone at work. The neighbor wondered aloud what the motive could have been.
“It sounded to me more like a disgruntled student who had a thing with your husband,” McConnell recalled telling the widow. “I said, ‘Are they (the police) keeping in touch with you?’
“She said ‘No, I’m a suspect,'” McConnell said
Crampton Brophy showed no emotion as she spoke, he said. She told him she was getting ready to move.
“I thought she must have been one tough woman to handle that the way she did,” McConnell said.
In addition to her romance novels, she also published nonfiction books. One of them, “Plotting Your Story Arc,” provides a series of tips for aspiring writers.
On her website, Crampton Brophy mentions that she’s married to a chef. “We’ve had our ups and downs, more good times than bad,” she writes.
Her author’s bio also includes a short anecdote about the moment she decided she was going to marry her future husband.
“I was in the bath.
