PORTLAND, Ore. — A judge on Wednesday denied the bail request for a Portland romance novelist accused of killing her husband, a beloved chef instructor at the Oregon Culinary Institute.
Lawyers for 69-year-old Nancy Crampton-Brophy argued she should be moved out of jail and into home detention during the COVID-19 pandemic. They said she was “at risk of imminent death in jail” because she has underlying medical conditions, including diabetes, that could lead to serious complications if she was infected with the coronavirus.
After two days in Multnomah County court, a judge denied bail for Crampton-Brophy.
“Judge Christopher A. Ramras found the presumption strong that the defendant is guilty and therefore denied her release from custody,” the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office said.
In his arguments for why Crampton-Brophy should remain in jail, Multnomah County District Attorney Rod Underhill provided details of the murder of Daniel Brophy and why his wife is the suspect.
Underhill argued the couple was getting by month-to-month financially and Crampton-Brophy stood to gain about $1.5 million from life insurance policies, an accidental death worker’s compensation claim and the couple’s house if her husband died. He said investigators believe Crampton-Brophy lied about where she was the morning her husband died, tampered with the gun they believe was used to kill Daniel Brophy and wrote a troubling article titled “How to Murder Your Husband.”
Daniel Brophy was found dead inside the Oregon Culinary Institute near downtown Portland on June 2, 2018. He had been shot twice.
Crampton-Brophy’s trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 28.