Author of 'How To Murder Your Husband' found guilty of killing her spouse

It took a jury in Portland, Oregon eight hours to convict Nancy Crampton Brophy for the fatal shooting of 63-year-old Daniel Brophy.

Crampton Brophy shot her husband twice through the heart in June 2018 at a culinary institute where he worked as a teacher and prosecutors said she was struggling financially before the incident.

The 71-year-old denied the charge and insisted she had "no memory" of being there. Security footage put her at the scene of the crime, but the writer claimed she was there scouting for ideas for her upcoming novel.

She stood to get $1.4 million through life assurance policies in the event of her husband’s death, but Crampton Brophy said that was not a motive for her.

Investigators said the barrel from the handgun used in the killing was bought on eBay.

Crampton Brophy admitted to buying a pistol, but she said it was for her husband to protect himself when he went mushroom hunting in the woods.

She also claimed that the missing barrel from the gun was purchased as part of research for an unfinished novel.

The Oregonian newspaper has reported that Crampton Brophy’s defence team said they would appeal the second-degree murder conviction.

Attorney Kristen Winemiller told the jury at the trial: "Nancy Brophy loved her husband.

"You can see that in her eyes every time she talked about him. Her eyes lit up, they absolutely twinkled.”

Prosecutor Shawn Overstreet presented evidence showing how Crampton Brophy had planned to kill her husband.

"It's not just about the money. It's about the lifestyle Nancy desired that Dan could not give her," he said during the trial.

Crampton Brophy faces life in prison and will be sentenced later.

Ms Crampton-Brophy was once a prolific novelist who published books such as The Wrong Lover and The Wrong Husband, and in 2011 wrote the “How to Murder Your Husband” essay for the See Jane Publish blog.

The couple had been married for 26 years at the time of the killing.