Nancy Brophy Trial Enters Second Week After Snow Delayed Start

PORTLAND, OR — The second week of the trial of romance novelist Nancy Brophy who is accused of killing her husband Daniel got off to a late start Monday. The start of the trial was delayed until early afternoon because the snowstorm had made it difficult for people to get the courthouse in Downtown Portland.

Prosecutors said that Brophy stood inside a kitchen at the Oregon Culinary Institute where her husband Daniel was a chef and instructor and shot him twice with a 9mm Glock, killing him.

During the trial's first week, prosecutors called students of Daniel's, his parents, an EMT who was among the first on the scene, as well as a crime scene investigator.

The first day of the trial began with the judge ruling that an essay Nancy Brophy wrote about a decade ago, "How to Murder Your Husband" was not admissible during the trial.

On Monday, with the trial starting at 2 p.m. because of the weather, prosecutors were only able to call three witnesses. They started with a student of Daniel Brophy's followed by one of his colleagues.

Most of the afternoon was spent with Detective Anthony Merrill, the lead detective on the case, testifying before the jury.

While prosecutors had disclosed in court papers that while Nancy Brophy had told them that she had been home the whole morning, her van had been spotted by the culinary institute.

Merrill testified about the moment he realized that something was off. He said that he had interviewed Nancy Brophy for about 45 minutes – the entire interview was played for the jury – and afterward, detectives offered to drive her home.

She declined and Merrill saw her gray Toyota minivan across the street.

After she left, one of Merrill's colleagues showed him surveillance tape from Bellagio's pizza across the street. In the video, a van extremely similar – if not identical – to Brophy's, he testified.

The van first show up at 7:08 a.m. and again and then drove by again 20 minutes later.

He also testified that he felt her reactions were somewhat atypical compared to the reactions of other relatives of people who had been killed.

The trial continues on Tuesday morning.

Weather permitting.