GUILTY OR - Dan Brophy, fatally shot at Oregon Culinary Institute, 2 June 2018 *Wife Arrested*

New Posts

SeesSeas said:
Yes, terrifying. . . 'what you see' is not 'what you get'!
Nancy Brophy is odd, and my initial impression of her is 'ditzy'.
I have watched some of this trial, but focused my attention the past few weeks on Husel trial and Barisone trial. Therefore, to catch up, I am appreciative of your comments, updates by @Niner, and recap by CourtTV.
OR v. Crampton-Brophy: Romance Novelist Murder Trial - Court TV

Another odd female murderer is Lois Riess, also in 2018. Seemingly 'normal' !?! . . .
. . . and then at age 58 murders her husband by gunshot in their Minnesota home, then drives to Florida (gambling along the way) where she meets a stranger - a 59 year-old woman at a hotel on vacation. She befriends the woman and within a day or two, shoots and kills the woman and then steals her car, credit cards, etc. She then drives to Texas, more gambling along her travels, where she seemed inclined to repeat her murderous behavior, but was apprehended in a bar by authorities.
GUILTY - Fugitive Lois Riess, 56, arrested by US Marshals for alleged murders in MN and FL, Mar 2018
Click to expand...
Though Riess also looks like a late-bloomer in the criminality department, I'm not sure people were taken by surprise, since the bank was immediately on top of the checks where she forged the signatures right around the time of the murder, so there must have been some feeling about her that was "off" before.

Nobody has come on the stand and said Nancy was "off" or they didn't like her. So weird. The treachery is mind-blowing. I can't think of another case quite like this.
 
The financial investigator let drop today that NB and DB had been on a Caribbean cruise in 2017. I tell ya, murder by cruise was in her plan. This was actually a cruise organized for murder mystery writers. A previous witness (Woody) actually joked about Dan going on this cruise. I'll have to find the spot where she says murder by cruise is up top of her list of murder possibilities.

While I was looking for that, I found this:

My husband is a chef instructor at a culinary school, but really I watch because I like food. What I’ve discovered is that there is a thin line between being a creative chef and a train wreck – a very thin line.

The source is Nancy Brophy's business web page.

And as I'm reading that blog of hers ^^^^, I'm realizing how nasty she is to people. She tells the story of an interaction with someone wanting to be a writer. Sneer, sneer, sneer. And honestly, though she presented herself as an experienced, published, writer, I see very little evidence of the writing. Except for the last, her novels were published one after the other in 2015.
 
So, the source for the cruise reference is the essay "How to Murder Your Husband".

NB says: "The draw back is the police aren't stupid. They are looking at you first. So you have to be organized, ruthless and very clever. Husbands have disappeared from cruise ships before. Why not yours?"

I tell you, she took Dan on a cruise in 2017. I'll bet murder by cruise was on the agenda.
 
Auntie Cipation said:
It almost feels like she took up writing murder mysteries specifically as a part of some long-game plan to lessen suspicion on herself by making it seem too coincidental, when her husband dies, to suspect the writer of murder "just like in her stories".

MOO
Click to expand...
Woah....the thing is, I agree with you! She might very easily have been planning this already in 2015 when she (self) published her "romantic suspense" books. Indeed, she may have been trying different murder plots to see what her friends thought was a bad plot, too obvious, not devious enough, etc.
I really don't want to read any of her books—she'll end up with a commission, however, paltry—but a title like "The Wrong Husband" reveals that her fantasies continued along the lines of "How to Murder a Husband" even though defense disavowed that "essay" and got it off the record for trial.
 
NB seems to be in the habit of saying things in a kind of "flip" way, as in the blog and "About" on her professional website, Nancy Brophy Writer. This is the kind of person IMO who can then say, "I didn't mean that". This is gaslighting IME. She also did something of the sort when she asked the Det Posey a couple of days after the murder for a note saying she was not a suspect and then kinda blew it off.
If she writes "flip"—as in "How to Murder your Husband"—she can pretend she's not saying what she's saying. "Just joking!" For me, it's very difficult to be around people like that. You never know who they are.
 
These are all very interesting points. I wonder if the cruise reference was one of the big reasons that the defense did not want that blog post that Nancy wrote allowed and argued to excluded it from evidence.

I also had wondered if she had tried on other days to attempt this but was spooked by someone else being around or there wasn’t the window of opportunity.

I will say, I have heard that during witness testimony, she could be heard laughing/chuckling while the witness testifies and she usually moves closer to the witness I.e. the side of the defense table.
 
Oregonlover503 said:
These are all very interesting points. I wonder if the cruise reference was one of the big reasons that the defense did not want that blog post that Nancy wrote allowed and argued to excluded it from evidence.

I also had wondered if she had tried on other days to attempt this but was spooked by someone else being around or there wasn’t the window of opportunity.

I will say, I have heard that during witness testimony, she could be heard laughing/chuckling while the witness testifies and she usually moves closer to the witness I.e. the side of the defense table.
Click to expand...

I haven't heard the chuckles, but now I will check.

Yes, she frequently moves closer to the witness when the witness is testifying. She stares endlessly, too. Several witnesses were visibly spooked, including (in the first two days) her mother in law, students, the woman police officer, and the least likely, the fraud investigator from SAIF, who also complained on the stand that she was badgered in the hallway by defense attorneys.

If I had come across NB in my life, I could totally see myself getting taken in by her. That's scary to me, too. That I could just not notice that someone is dangerous.
I guess the detectives experienced something the same when they said they were "totally shocked" that it could be Nancy.
 
Last edited:
What do y'all think of this....? That NB was able to pull the wool over people's eyes because of DB's exceptional cooking? For instance, she would invite her writer friends over (they have been testifying) for dinner. It sounds like DB dished up an extraordinary spread of amazing things. Very special. How would NB look in this context? She might have been very popular! They might have come to believe she was very likeable! Because what's not to like if you're hosting dinner with fabulous foods matched to everyone's needs? I can see where NB's extroversion (versus his introversion) would come across as super welcoming...
 
Well that's a bummer... And you are probably right @RickshawFan - probably the defense - as they weren't too ready for their case it seemed to me too.

Can someone give a 10% synopsis on that article - I can't access it... EU rules & all. TIA! :)
 
Niner said:
Well that's a bummer... And you are probably right @RickshawFan - probably the defense - as they weren't too ready for their case it seemed to me too.

Can someone give a 10% synopsis on that article - I can't access it... EU rules & all. TIA! :)
Click to expand...
There's almost nothing in that article....

First paragraph:
The trial of a self-published romance writer accused of fatally shooting her chef husband has been paused temporarily because of a positive COVID-19 test.

Otherwise, rehash of the backstory.
 
No one in this trial has talked about who NB is as a person. The plan was to have her testify, but I dunno if that's still on the schedule. She would not be helping herself in the least IMO.
But moi? I'm hoping she'll testify so we all can dissect the crime!
 
Defense had better be careful what they wish for when they bring up tax returns, 'cos they were fraudulently filed. "Management" filed taxes joint as though married, but they weren't married until right before she killed him. Several witnesses (e.g. Day 3 and 4) say they were shocked to find out the couple wasn't married all those years.

The financial accountant investigator (Day 11-12) said he didn't have access to tax returns. I wonder if the judge had ruled against them being in evidence, and this wasn't a matter of prosecution not tasking him with analyzing the taxes?
 
Here's a source for the couple's tax status before they got married shortly before DB's death:

The Brophys held a large wedding ceremony in 1997 but weren’t legally married until shortly before Daniel Brophy’s killing when they signed the official paperwork in Washington County, Maxfield said. In the meantime, though, they had filed taxes as a couple.


Novelist who wrote ‘How to Murder Your Husband’ goes on trial in fatal shooting of longtime spouse in Portland

This source is actually a good summary of the case, if anyone wants to catch up.
 
I guess the trial is back live tomorrow.

I feel compulsively enthusiastic for NB to get the maximum possible penalty and a lengthy lecture from the judge.
The judge in the Larry Nassar case would do a great job with the takedown, I feel.

I feel compulsively enthusiastic about this because what NB did seems an extreme example of treachery and betrayal. She also seems to have been planning it for a long time, years, maybe. And no one saw this coming.
 
Last edited:
RickshawFan said:
I feel compulsively enthusiastic about this because what NB did seems an extreme example of treachery and betrayal. She also seems to have been planning it for a long time, years, maybe. And no one saw this coming.
Click to expand...
RSBM
I really do agree with you, and @Auntie Cipation. I think in the past few years she was doing 2 things - trying to get him to marry her, and planning his murder. I know it seems unlikely, but stranger things have happened. Does she have anyone on her side to vouch for "what a lovely person" she is - sister, niece, friend? If not, that's pretty telling IMO.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

DNASolves

Who is Escambia County John Doe (1989)?

Members online

... and 149 more.
Total: 3,893 (members: 150, guests: 3,743)

Online statistics

Members online
150
Guests online
3,743
Total visitors
3,893
Totals may include hidden visitors.

Forum statistics

Threads
592,295
Messages
17,966,846
Members
228,735
Latest member
dil2288
Back
Top