PORTLAND, Ore. — After 26 days of witnesses, timelines and testimony, the murder trial of romance novelist Nancy Crampton Brophy is nearing its end. Closing arguments began Monday.
Crampton Brophy is accused of shooting and killing her husband Daniel Brophy, an instructor at the Oregon Culinary Institute, in June 2018.
In its closing arguments, the state hammered home to jurors that Crampton Brophy lied about her whereabouts the morning of Daniel's murder. Prosecutors zeroed in on the Brophys financial issues, posturing that money was the motive for the killing. Throughout the trial, prosecutors showed video of Crampton Brophy's van in the area around the Culinary Institute around the time of the murder.
"The person who went in there was not just lucky. It was not just a random attack," said deputy district attorney Shawn Overstreet. "It just happened to be at the exact same time that Nancy Brophy just happened to be at the culinary school, using the exact same weapon, same make and caliber that Nancy Brophy happened to own."
The defense maintained the Brophys were so in love that Nancy would never kill her husband, and disputed the prosecution's claim that the couple were having money issues. Attorneys argued Nancy would have been better off financially if her husband would have lived, and that Crampton Brophy had no true motive to kill her husband.
"The bottom line is, Nancy Brophy was far better off with Dan Brophy in her life," defense attorney Lis Maxfield said. "Even if you look at pure economic terms, ignoring the love, she was better off with Dan alive."
The trial will continue Tuesday for the state's rebuttal of the defense's closing arguments.