An online essay entitled How to Murder Your Husband was written by a romance novelist. She was convicted of the murder of her husband.

After a seven-week trial, Nancy Crampton Brophy (71) was convicted of second-degree murder.

After 25 years of confinement, her sentence will include the possibility to be paroled.

Prosecutors claimed that Dan Brophy was shot by Crampton Brophy at the Oregon Culinary Institute in Portland, Oregon, where he worked in 2018. He died because Crampton Brophy wanted to receive money from his life insurance payout.

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Also, the prosecution told jurors that the couple were in financial difficulty at the time of the murder. She said she had purchased a “ghostgun” kit online and later bought a Glock 17 handgun from a gun show.

Crampton Brophy’s lawyer argued that the evidence of the state was circumstantial, and denied the claims of financial difficulty.

Witnesses were also called to testify about the strong and loving relationship between the couple.

Crampton Brophy, who took the stand, stated that her husband and she had both purchased life insurance policies as part their retirement planning. She also said they had a plan for reducing their debt.

She said that her research on ghost guns was done in preparation for a novel.

After it was revealed that Crampton Brophy had once written an essay about murdering her husband, the case of Crampton Brophy gained international attention.

This essay covered several methods of committing untraceable murders and how to avoid being caught.

Circuit Judge Christopher Ramras exempted the essay from trial, pointing out that it was published in 2011.

After Crampton Brophy took to the stand, a prosecutor mentioned the essay’s themes but did not name it.

Since September 2018, she had been held in custody.