Screenshot/Nancy Brophy
A 68-year-old self-published author of steamy romance novels—including one titled The Wrong Husband—was charged Thursday with murdering her husband in an “early-morning shooting” at the Oregon Culinary Institute, The Oregonian reports. Nancy Crampton Brophy had been married to Daniel Brophy, a chef at the culinary school, for 27 years before the incident. Daniel Brophy was injured in the shooting in June and died at the scene. Crampton Brophy appeared in court on Thursday, and the court approved the prosecutors’ request to seal a court document “that typically lays out the case against a defendant.” Daniel Brophy’s mother, Karen Brophy, said the family was in “absolute shock right now.” According to the newspaper, one of the couple’s neighbors said Crampton Brophy “seemed hardly fazed” after the shooting and “casually” admitted that she was a suspect in the murder. She also said she was planning “to move on.” On her website, Crampton Brophy described her novels as featuring “rugged men [and] strong women,” with many of her works reportedly having characters “dodg[ing] danger while seeking fortune and love.” The newspaper reports that The Wrong Husband tells the tale 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.” Crampton Brophy’s next court date is on Sept. 17.