Prosecution falls flat in 'How to Murder Your Husband' trial after star witness falters

On Wednesday, The Daily Beast reported that the trial of "How to Murder your Husband" author Nancy Brophy for the murder of her chef husband hit a major snag, as the purported star witness put forward by prosecutors — a former cellmate of hers — to claim Brophy had confessed to the killing did not actually say this on the stand.

The trial has been covered by The New York Times, as a bizarre case in which prosecutors allege that she actually committed the act that she referenced in her romance novels.

"As attorneys for the prosecution and defense argued about whether or not the witness, Andrea Jacobs, should be allowed to testify, Multnomah County Judge Christopher Ramras had previously ruled that she could do so only if Brophy’s attorneys introduced evidence that would warrant the state calling her as a 'rebuttal witness' to push back on some information the defense had presented. On Wednesday, Brophy’s lawyers asked what, exactly, Jacobs would be rebutting," reported Winston Ross. "Jacobs would rebut 'the statement that [Brophy] did not kill her husband,' Deputy District Attorney Shawn Overstreet said, by testifying 'that she was so far apart when she shot her husband.'"

However, according to the report, when Jacobs actually took the stand, her account was completely different, and she did not allege any confession from Brophy had been made to her.

"'She told me he was shot two times to the heart,' Jacobs said. 'She showed me the distance, she said it was about, and used her arm span. I said ‘Wow, that must have been close up.’ She said ‘Well it was about this far,’'" said the report. "'Did she say anything about her involvement?' Overstreet asked. 'When we were first talking, she slipped up, and started to say ‘I’ but then switched to ‘It,’ saying ‘It was about this far apart.’'"

"At the end of her testimony, Jacobs insisted she had no desire to be involved in this case, would get nothing out of it and in fact had received a series of threats at the prison camp in Texas, where she’s now incarcerated," continued the report. "'This is not an easy thing to do, and it’s the worst thing when you’re incarcerated is to testify against another inmate,' Jacobs said. 'There’s a certain code of ethics when you’re in person and in jail.'"

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