PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – An expert witness who evaluated Nancy Crampton Brophy’s mental state and whether she and her husband Daniel Brophy had an abusive relationship testified in court Tuesday.
Psychologist Patricia Warford’s testimony occupied most of the morning in the 17th day of Nancy’s murder trial. Nancy is accused of murdering her husband Daniel at the Oregon Culinary Institute on June 2, 2018.
Warford said she interviewed Nancy for about 10 hours to conduct her evaluations, read and listened to police interviews, and reviewed statements from people who knew Nancy well or who had lived with her. She also read text messages exchanged between Nancy and Daniel between 2016 and the time of his death.
KOIN Coverage: Murder trial of Nancy Brophy
In her testimony, Warford said Nancy has no history of mental illness and no history of substance abuse.
“She tends to be independent. She tends to be fairly forthright. She’s going to tell you directly. She tends to be cognitive. She’s a thinker. She’s not somebody who is going to be overly emotional,” Warford said, describing Nancy’s character traits.
Warford also answered questions about the Brophys’ relationship and whether it seemed abusive to her.
In order to determine if a relationship is abusive, Warford looks for things like contempt between a couple or one person demonizing the other. She said psychological and verbal abuse are much more common than physical abuse.
After reviewing more than 200 pages of text messages exchanged between Daniel and Nancy, and reviewing statements from their close friends and relatives, including Nancy’s niece who lived with them for a year, Warford said she believes this was not an abusive relationship.
“There’s nothing to imply domestic violence,” she said.
Warford said Nancy and Daniel’s text exchanges seemed mundane. The only one that stood out to her as being someone critical was a text where Nancy told Daniel he left the car door unlocked again and reminded him she leaves papers in the car.
The text messages showed humor and fondness between the couple, Warford said. She also noticed ongoing inside jokes.
The only other person to testify Tuesday morning was Shana Greenlick, someone who worked for Nancy’s catering company in the 1990s and stayed close to both Nancy and Daniel throughout the years.
She still works in the culinary business and said she always looked up to Nancy and Daniel as mentors. She said they had a loving relationship and were dedicated to each other.
Warford will continue testifying after the lunch break Tuesday.