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Why Do Killers Like Kouri Richins And Nancy Brophy Expose Themselves?

25 min · 7 de jul de 2026
Portada del episodio Why Do Killers Like Kouri Richins And Nancy Brophy Expose Themselves?

Descripción

A recurring feature of certain high-profile spousal homicide cases is the perpetrator's apparent compulsion to control the public narrative — and, in doing so, to expose themselves. This look back examines that pattern through two convicted cases: Kouri Richins and Oregon novelist Nancy Crampton-Brophy. After Eric Richins died, Kouri produced a children's book about a father who dies and watches over his children, then appeared on morning television performing the role of grieving widow. Prosecutors said she had killed him. Crampton-Brophy took the same impulse to an extreme. In 2011 she published an essay titled "How to Murder Your Husband," which surveyed methods and stated, in its opening line, that if a murder is meant to set her free she has no wish to spend time in jail. Seven years later, her chef husband Daniel was shot twice and killed at the culinary school where he taught. The essay was excluded from her trial as too old and prejudicial; a jury convicted her of second-degree murder regardless. The segment analyzes what links the two. Crampton-Brophy owned the same model of firearm used in the killing and was captured on traffic cameras near the scene in her own minivan; she had published her thematic preoccupation with spousal murder under her own name. Richins built and broadcast a public persona of grief atop a crime she was later convicted of committing. The throughline, the segment argues, is a need for recognition that ultimately undermines concealment. We revisit where the Richins case stood at the time of our reporting, treating both convictions as the legal findings they are. Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/ [https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/] Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1 [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1] Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ [https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/] Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ [https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/] Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod [https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod] X Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePod [https://x.com/TrueCrimePod] This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice. #KouriRichins #NancyCramptonBrophy #EricRichins #DanielBrophy #TrueCrime #UtahMurder #SpousalMurder #NarrativeControl #MurderConviction #HiddenKillers

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7 de jul de 202634 min
episode Why Do Killers Like Kouri Richins And Nancy Brophy Expose Themselves? artwork

Why Do Killers Like Kouri Richins And Nancy Brophy Expose Themselves?

A recurring feature of certain high-profile spousal homicide cases is the perpetrator's apparent compulsion to control the public narrative — and, in doing so, to expose themselves. This look back examines that pattern through two convicted cases: Kouri Richins and Oregon novelist Nancy Crampton-Brophy. After Eric Richins died, Kouri produced a children's book about a father who dies and watches over his children, then appeared on morning television performing the role of grieving widow. Prosecutors said she had killed him. Crampton-Brophy took the same impulse to an extreme. In 2011 she published an essay titled "How to Murder Your Husband," which surveyed methods and stated, in its opening line, that if a murder is meant to set her free she has no wish to spend time in jail. Seven years later, her chef husband Daniel was shot twice and killed at the culinary school where he taught. The essay was excluded from her trial as too old and prejudicial; a jury convicted her of second-degree murder regardless. The segment analyzes what links the two. Crampton-Brophy owned the same model of firearm used in the killing and was captured on traffic cameras near the scene in her own minivan; she had published her thematic preoccupation with spousal murder under her own name. Richins built and broadcast a public persona of grief atop a crime she was later convicted of committing. The throughline, the segment argues, is a need for recognition that ultimately undermines concealment. We revisit where the Richins case stood at the time of our reporting, treating both convictions as the legal findings they are. Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/ [https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/] Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1 [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1] Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ [https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/] Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ [https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/] Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod [https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod] X Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePod [https://x.com/TrueCrimePod] This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice. #KouriRichins #NancyCramptonBrophy #EricRichins #DanielBrophy #TrueCrime #UtahMurder #SpousalMurder #NarrativeControl #MurderConviction #HiddenKillers

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