Nancy Brophy sentenced to life in prison for murder
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Nancy Crampton Brophy, convicted May 25 for killing her husband at the Oregon Culinary Institute in 2018, was sentenced to life in prison Monday.
Judge Christopher Ramras, who presided over the trial, said Crampton Brophy will be considered for parole after 25 years.
Crampton Brophy is a romance novelist who once wrote a blog titled, “How to Murder Your Husband.” (That blog was not allowed into evidence during the trial.)
The sentencing included impact statements from Daniel Brophy’s family members and a former Oregon Culinary Institute student. Crampton Brophy did not make a statement before the sentence is imposed.
The first impact statement was a written statement from Daniel Brophy’s mother, Karen Brophy. In it, she said she and her husband couldn’t believe it when Crampton Brophy was arrested in September 2018 for the murder of her son. She said Crampton Brophy took a part of their family and she hopes Crampton Brophy finds God’s grace.
The second statement came from Clarinda Perez, the Oregon Culinary Institute student who performed CPR on Brophy after students found him on the floor of a kitchen on June 2, 2018.
During Crampton Brophy’s testimony in her own trial, she said the students and staff at OCI were not as impacted by Brophy’s death as she was. Perez addressed this in her statement.
“All of us were affected that day and to hear her say that we went on with our lives and that nothing happened, that we weren’t affected is a true statement and reflection of what a cold-blooded murderer she is,” Perez said.
Bill Brophy, Daniel Brophy’s brother, also made a statement emphasizing what a great loss his brother was to their family.
The final impact statement came from Nathaniel Stillwater, Daniel Brophy’s son. He emphasized that his father provided so much for Crampton Brophy and was her biggest supporter, all while she was plotting to kill him.
“You are a monster and I’m ashamed that I have to admit to my children that people like you walk among us undetected,” Stillwater said. “You lived in the shadow of a great human being.”
Judge Ramras and the attorneys in the case determined a restitution hearing for the case will take place at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 12.
Crampton Brophy, 71, took the stand in her own defense during the trial that lasted about seven weeks. Though her defense attorneys laid out the case that the prosecution only had circumstantial evidence to tie her to the killing, the jury found that evidence connected her to the murder beyond a reasonable doubt.
A key part of the trial was the gun Nancy Crampton Brophy owned.
Investigators say they never found the slide and barrel or gun that fired the two bullets that went through Daniel Brophy’s heart. Two casings were found near his body, but the slide and barrel from the handgun and ghost gun build kit found in Crampton Brophy’s possession did not leave markings on casings that matched those found at the scene.
Complete coverage of the murder trial of Nancy Brophy
However, Crampton Brophy admitted during the trial that she had purchased another slide and barrel. She said this gun part was for research and that it must have gone missing while people moved her belongings out of her house while she was in jail.
In their opening statement and closing arguments, prosecutors speculated that Crampton Brophy used a spare slide and barrel on another gun frame she possessed to commit the murder, then disposed of the slide and barrel to avoid it being found and used for evidence.
Detectives collected an assembled Glock 19 handgun and a Glock 17 ghost gun build kit from Crampton Brophy. They determined Brophy was killed by some sort of a Glock handgun.
After deliberating for about a day-and-a-half, the jury unanimously agreed Nancy Crampton Brophy was guilty of the sole count she faced.
Daniel Brophy was killed June 2, 2018. Nancy Brophy was arrested in September 2018 and has been in jail ever since.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
