Author Nancy Brophy Trial, Day 4, part 1

Day four of the Nancy Crampton Brophy murder trial in Portland went underway on Thursday, April 7th, 2022. 

First to take the stand on day four was Brian Wilke, the executive chef and president at the Oregon Culinary Institute when Daniel was killed in 2018.

Wilke said he and Daniel were co workers for over 20 years, and when he opened up the OCI Daniel was one of the first instructors he hired. 

On the morning of Daniel's murder, Wilke said that he was getting ready to drive to the school when he received a call from Paul Woodson Bailey. After the call, Wilke immediately went to the school. At the school, he saw a lot of police officers and crime scene tape around the building. Chef Dorothy Sadie Damon was standing in the parking lot and was “not doing well.” The students were still in the student lounge, waiting to be escorted out of the building by police. 

Wilke was the person who suggested to police that they take the students across the street to the administrative building.

Later, Wilke had a walk around the school. He didn't notice anything disturbed or out of place. The only thing that wasn't there normally was the paper medical garbage left behind by the paramedics and EMTs. 

Wilke said that he knew Daniel's routine and figured he was filling the water jug for the students when he was shot. 

He said he saw Nancy at the scene and went over to talk to her. 

“I walked up and I lifted the tape for her and she said, ‘This doesn’t sound good, Brian.’ And I said, ‘It’s not good,’” he recalled. 

He then introduced Nancy to police officers and watch as she stepped into the police RV.

He also said that he saw Daniel's dad at some point at the scene.

Wilke then testified that he didn't have much of a relationship with Daniel or Nancy outside of school.

Wilke said that Daniel never missed a day of work and that he was consistent and seemed to really love his job. He also said that Daniel's father, Jack, worked downtown with the homeless. Daniel and Jack would take leftovers from the school to them.

Wilke's said that he had overheard Nancy telling the police that her and Daniel owned a gun. He said that he and Daniel never talked about guns or school shootings. Daniel didn't seem like a gun man to him.

After Nancy talked to the police for a little while, Wilkes and the police talked about someone driving her home.

Wilkes talked about the drop down ceilings in every room except the Janitorial closet where you could see the roof. He said that there was a crawl space there, but if a person chose to go up there that it was just tile and no substantial enough to support a person's weight. He said that one would need a ladder, which there was one in the building.

There also is a ladder inside the building that goes up through a hatch to the roof. That where the swamp coolers and such are.

Wilke answered questions for police officers on June 2 and spent all day near the campus. He talked about how one of the students had had problems in the past with a relative and there had been a flyer circulated about them so the students and staff could be aware.

Wilke said he’d heard there’d been an intruder in a nearby condominium. He said he didn’t know much about the incident and couldn’t remember exactly when it had happened. He also said that besides that, there had been no break-ins in the area to his knowledge.

He said that after Daniel's murder, he'd call Nancy once or twice a week to check in on her and that went on for a couple of months. In one phone call, he explained to her that since Daniel had died at the school, there were some benefits available to her.  

The next witness to be called was Paul Woodson Bailey.

He worked as the facilities manager and kitchen teaching assistant at OCI. He said he’d known Daniel since he’d started working at OCI in 2006. 

Baily said that the alarm system on the doors was run by Philips Electronics and instructors all had codes to disarm the door alarm system. 

Bailey said not until after Daniel's death were their security cameras in the OCI building. There were only two-way mirror left in the corner of a room from the building’s last tenant. He would sometimes make an act of cleaning the glass to fool the students into thinking there was a camera. 

He said that Daniel would bring a cart of some of his vegetables  he’d sell to the students. The cart is too big to go through a normal doorway and Wilke said he would usually bring it through the garage door on the storage supply room.

Bailey said that Daniel was the primary fieldtrip instructor because he had great passion for the job and he wanted to show the students all the different jobs that was possible for them. Bailey said that he would accompany Daniel’s field trips with his students. He also said that he and Daniel were fairly close and that they spent time together outside of school.

Bailey said he doesn’t remember Daniel ever discussing finances, his plans for retirement, or firearms. 

He said that at one point Oregon Culinary Institute budget grew tighter and there were no raises for faculty members, but no one was forced to stay. People like Daniel stayed because they were passionate about their jobs. 

Author Nancy Brophy Trial Day 3, Part 1

 Author Nancy Brophy Trial Day 2

Author Nancy Brophy Finally on Trial for Husband's Death.

Novelist Who is Charged With Killing Her Husband Still Involved In Criminal Activity Behind Bars

Murder She Wrote

Author Nancy Brophy Trial, Day 3, Part 2.

Day three of the Nancy Crampton Brophy murder trial in Portland went underway Wednesday of last week. In the afternoon session, the jury got to hear more about Daniel's gunshot wounds.

Multnomah County Deputy Medical Examiner Damon O’Brian was called to the stand.

O'Brian described the crime scene to the court. He said that Daniel was laying on his back with his feet towards the sink with his head was towards the middle of the room. His shirt had been cut and the chest of it removed for CPR purposes.

O'Brian had been told at the scene about the water being running when the first responders arrived. That stuck out to him. He talked about point of interest, one of those being blood transfer, which turned out to be from the CPR. He also said that immediately he saw two injuries to Danie's chest and then later two on his back.

In the center of Daniel's chest, there was an entrance wound and to the left on the midline, there was a partial exit wound. On his back, there was an entrance wound and a partial exit wound where the bullet did not come completely out of the skin. O'Brian also noted that there were noticeable defects to Daniel's shirt that corresponded with the bullet wound in the center of his chest.

Next to be called to the stand was State Deputy Medical Examiner Michelle Taylor Stauffenberg.

Michelle testified about how she noticed the defects in the clothing and said how it seemed to correspond with the bullet holes in Daniel's body. She also said how both bullet wounds would have been fatal. She said that the bullet that entered through his back went through the spinal column, spinal cord, through the aorta and then through the heart. The bullet that entered through his chest also went through his heart and then went down and to the left. Michelle also didn't know which bullet wound happened first.

Leed detective in the case, Anthony Merrill from the Portland Police Bureau, was the final person called to testify that day.

He thought that the homicide call to the school was unusual because it was daytime. He said that he and his partner arrived on the scene around 9:35 a.m. and helped the other detectives oversee the information being gathered.

He said all students at the school that day and students who didn’t show up to class that day were interviewed later.

Merrill said that he checked the building and the surrounding buildings for surveillance video and was disappointed when he found none.

Merrill said that there were no signs of forced entry in the building.  He checked to see if anything appeared to be missing and asked school administrators to do the same. There wasn't anything that appeared to be stolen. To Merril his co-workers, there was no obvious motive for murder.

Merrill talked about Daniel's body. He said it appeared he had been shot first on his back, then fallen onto the floor on his back, and then shot in the chest at close range. 

Author Nancy Brophy Trial Day 3, Part 1

 Author Nancy Brophy Trial Day 2

Author Nancy Brophy Finally on Trial for Husband's Death.

Novelist Who is Charged With Killing Her Husband Still Involved In Criminal Activity Behind Bars

Murder She Wrote

Author Nancy Brophy Trial Day 3, Part One

Day three of the Nancy Crampton Brophy murder trial in Portland went underway Wednesday of last week.

First up was Maxine Borcherding via video call. 

Maxine is a chef, Sommelier, writer, educator, and founder of the Taste and Compare Academy of Wine, Spirits and Food. She worked with Daniel at the Oregon Culinary Institute at the time of his death and in turn had known Nancy for many years as well.

Maxine claimed that on June 2nd, 2018, she received a call from someone she knew who was in the area of OCI. That person said there were police and crime scene tape around the building and the person had heard someone had been shot.

Maxine knew Daniel was working that day and she tried to call him and when he didn't answer she left him voicemail. She then called Nancy and told her what she’d heard. Nancy said she hadn’t heard anything from Daniel and would try to call him. When she couldn’t reach him, Maxine said Nancy told her she would go down there to see what was going on.

Maxine that she had taught with Daniel for many years, both at the Oregon Culinary Institute and the former culinary school, Le Cordon Bleu. She also said that Daniel had taught with a dry sense of humor and sarcasm and that he could be a little rough with his students.

“Dan was an incredibly knowledgeable instructor in many, many areas. If he thought a student worthy of his time and attention, he was the best instructor and mentor that a student could ask for. But if for whatever reason, he was not happy with the students, he could be pretty harsh,” she said.

Karen Brophy, Daniel’s mother, was the second witness to testify that day. 

She said that the morning of Daniel's murder, Nancy told her what was happening at the OCI via phone call. Karen said she had asked Nancy if she was going to go down to the school to see what was happening. Nancy told Karen that she wasn’t going down because of all the police cars and other cars that would be in the area.  Nancy also told Karen that she had been in bed that morning.

Karen described Nancy's voice during the phone call as calm and that “It didn’t sound like she was panicking.” 

After the brief phone call, Karen said she spoke with her husband. And after thinking about everything a little more, she called Nancy back. She told Nancy that she thought should go down to the school to see what was really going on and Nancy agreed.

About an hour later, Karen called Nancy for a third time and asked her what was going on. Nancy said that she was "in the car talking to the police" and "It was Dan." Karen said she was devastated and didn’t remember any more of the conversation. 

Officer Cassandra Wells was the next to testify.

She was one of the first Portland Police Officers that arrived at the crime scene. She said that the call came over the radio was a “code 3,” meaning police had to respond immediately with lights and sirens to the Oregon Culinary Institute. She said that she heard dispatch say that there were suspicious circumstances with the shooting victim and that they were still working on them.

Wells said that it took about three minutes to arrive to scene. When she arrived, a paramedic told her the victim had two bullet holes in the chest and that there was a bunch of students in the breakroom with their hands on the tables.

When Wells entered the breakroom, she told the students to keep their hands on the tables and stay where they are. Wells testified that she was trying to figure out who the shooter was. She said that everyone looked terrified, and she realized that she needed to call for more officers to the scene. She said that once the rest of the officers arrived, she directed them to help secure and clear the building.

Once Daniel was pronounced dead, the police escorted the students across the street to a school administrative building making them leave their belongings behind.

Wells said that when Nancy arrived at the scene, Wells stood with her after she learned her husband was dead. She said Nancy started crying immediately so Wells gave her a hug and stayed with her until detectives relieved her.

Author Nancy Brophy Trial Day 2

Author Nancy Brophy Finally on Trial for Husband's Death.

Novelist Who is Charged With Killing Her Husband Still Involved In Criminal Activity Behind Bars

Murder She Wrote

Author Nancy Brophy Trial Day 2

 

Day two of the Nancy Crampton Brophy murder trial in Portland went underway last Tuesday by calling three former Oregon Culinary Institute students to the witness stand.

The first witness to testify was Courtney Arias. She was a pastry student at the Oregon Culinary Institute at the time of the murder. She remembered the student door being locked that morning and waiting outside for Damon to open it. Which was out of the ordinary, because Daniel Brophy usually had it open by then.

Once the door was opened and students went inside, she said everything seemed fine at first and then all hell broke loose.

“And then all of a sudden I heard ‘Help me!’” Arias recalled, crying as she testified. “At first I thought they were joking, and then I saw one of my classmates Katie run past the window, because we have a window in our classrooms, and she ran past it on the phone, and she’s on the phone 911.” 

She said she then went into the kitchen where everyone was and saw Daniel on his back. Then she left the kitchen and then waited by the lockers. She didn’t realize Daniel had been shot until she and other students heard it from a responding police officer or paramedic.

Miranda Bernhard was the second witness to testify. She was a student of Daniel's at the time. She had arrived early the day of the murder. She said that it wasn't unusual for the door to be locked because sometimes Daniel would forget to unlock it. What she did find strange was that a garage door on the side of the building was open. Typically, it was only opened for deliveries. 

When she went into the school and Daniel's body was discovered, Bernhard remembered seeing Clarinda Perez kneeling next to him and doing chest compressions. 

Bernhard volunteered to keep other students out of the kitchen. She prevented a man who was a student from entering. 

Once in the kitchen, Bernhard remembered a table being askew, like it was out of place. Usually, the two tables in the kitchen would be in a row.

Bernhard said she learned about the gunshot from overhearing it from one of the policemen's radios. When the people in the building were asked to sit around the tables in the student lounge and place their hands on the tables, Bernhard realized the seriousness of the situation.

Clarinda Perez was the third witness to take the stand. Besides being a student, Perez was a medical assistant at the time of the murder. She said that she had arrived early of the day in question because it was a final exam day. Perez thought it was unusual for the door to be locked on such an important day.

She walked to a nearby Starbucks and by the time she returned to the school, the door had been opened and students were filing in. 

Once inside, Perez said she went to fill her water bottle and noticed the water container was not in its usual spot. Daniel normally had the water container filled, along with the coffee, and ready for students. 

She walked into the Kitchen 1. The lights were on, and she heard the water running. That’s when she saw Daniel lying on the floor. 

 Perez checked Daniel and found him responsive. She then ran to the doorway and yelled for someone to call 911. 

Perez immediately began CPR. 

“His chest was really squishy,” Perez testified in between sobs “and I thought I had broken a rib because as I continued to do compressions, my hands started getting full of blood.”

She said that she had no idea he had been shot. She thought she fractured his ribs, but continued compressions because she’d been taught to not stop. She said no blood was visible before she started compressions. 

When the EMTs and paramedics arrived, she stopped compressions and sat against a stove in the kitchen with her ears covered for a long time before going outside. 

Author Nancy Brophy Finally on Trial for Husband's Death.

Novelist Who is Charged With Killing Her Husband Still Involved In Criminal Activity Behind Bars

Murder She Wrote

Author Nancy Brophy Finally on Trial for Husband's Death.

Back in 2018, in southwest Portland, Oregon, romance novelist, Nancy Crampton-Brophy was accused of killing her husband, chef Daniel Brophy. Nancy allegedly walked into Oregon Culinary Institute on June 2nd, 2018, between 7:21 a.m. and 7:28 a.m., shot her husband in the back and in the chest from close range and then went home. Daniel was found on the floor in the kitchen by students arriving for class that morning.

This last week her trial started.

Nancy Brophy Trial Day One

Judge Christopher Ramras announced that Nancy's blog post from 2011 “How to Murder Your Husband” would be excluded from evidence. 

In their opening statements, prosecution and the defense both agreed that Nancy and Daniel had financial difficulties in 2017. 

The prosecution said that at the time of Daniel's murder, the couple was struggling to pay their $1,530 mortgage while also paying more than $1,000 each month in life insurance premiums. On top of all that, Nancy was spending a large amount of money on firearms putting the couple “on a path of financial ruin”. 

The defense said the couple had come up with a plan to accommodate for the delayed commission Nancy received from her Medicare sales that year. Also, Daniel had taken out a loan out against his retirement, which was something he’d done before and paid back, and that he was allegedly prepared to do again. 

The prosecution then moved on the topic of Nancy researching ghost guns online back in late 2017.  

The prosecution alleged that that act of researching guns was one of the first steps Nancy had taken towards plotting Daniel’s murder. 

The defense claimed it was part of her research for a new novel she was planning.

Besides researching ghost guns, Nancy also had purchased a ghost gun build kit. 

The prosecution claimed that Nancy couldn't assemble the kit and she sought out and purchased one at a gun expo in Portland. After realizing the slide and barrel from the first gun wouldn’t fit on the lower frame of the gun, she ordered another slide and barrel from eBay. Investigators found the first two guns Nancy purchased, but never found the slide and barrel. 

The defense claimed that Nancy had purchased several unusual items in the past for research for her novels and that purchasing a gun wasn’t out of the ordinary for her. They also said that Nancy had been inspired to buy a gun after hearing how many of her relatives owned guns, and after reading and hearing about the multiple mass shootings that happed in 2017-2018. She also wanted Daniel to take a gun with him when he went mushroom picking.

The next topic was life insurance policies. 

The defense detailed about Nancy and Daniel both having invested in life insurance for decades and that Nancy had also worked for insurance companies. 

In 2015, Nancy worried that she might die in a surgery that she had to have and so life insurance became a big concern of hers at the time.

The prosecution that cashing in on Daniel's life insurance policies that totaled $1.4 million could have been Nancy’s plan to remedy the situation with her finances. And that Nancy asked the detective for a letter to send to a life insurance company that would exonerate her as a suspect in Daniel’s murder, so she could receive $40,000 from one of his life insurance policies. 

Finally, both the prosecution and the defense said that by all accounts that Nancy and Daniel seemed to be in a happy and healthy marriage.

The first two witnesses were then called.

Kathleen Dooley was the first witness called. She is currently an educational assistant for an elementary school. She was a student at Oregon Culinary Institute, where Daniel was an instructor at the time of the murder. She was the person who called 9-1-1 that day. She said another student had found Daniel dead on the floor and yelled for her to dial 9-1-1. As Dooley was calling 9-1-1, she was trying to find the only other instructor in the building at the time, Dorothy Sadie Damon. She found Damon in the guest restrooms and the pair went back to where Daniel was lying on the floor.

The 9-1-1 call was then played in court. In the call you can hear Dooley say that another fellow student was preforming CPR.

Dorothy Sadie Damon was the next witness to take the stand. She was the pastry instructor and shared the same building as Daniel who was the culinary instructor. Damon stated that she was in the restroom washing her hands when she heard loud voices in the hall. She rushed out into the hall and saw Doolie on the phone motioning for her to follow. She then followed Doolie down the hall and into the kitchen where his body was lying. According to Damon, students were gathered around Daniel. One student was performing CPR. She said none of them could figure out what was wrong and they didn’t realize Daniel had been shot. Eventually, she said “it was obvious that Dan was gone.” Soon after realizing this, emergency medical personnel arrived at the school.

Novelist Who is Charged With Killing Her Husband Still Involved In Criminal Activity Behind Bars

Murder She Wrote