How to Murder Your Husband

If you’re planning to murder your husband, maybe don’t write an essay called, “How To Murder Your Husband.” I’m Amy E. Feldman.

No shortage of ironies in the murder trial that just concluded in Portland, Oregon. First, that a romance writer was on trial for murdering her husband. Either she doesn’t understand the meaning of romance or maybe he didn’t and that bothered her. Second, she penned an essay in 2011 called “How To Murder Your Husband.” Third, the essay was not admitted as evidence. Well, that one’s not so much ironic as it is legal. 

That’s because a judge has to weigh the probative value of evidence—here, whether a story penned as a tongue-in-cheek essay ten years ago would really shed light on whether the defendant committed the crime—against the prejudice it would create. I mean, when you heard the title, you were already convinced she did it even without hearing any evidence, weren’t you?  But even without it, the jury convicted her. Now she’ll have plenty of time to work on her next book, maybe, “How To Break Out of Jail.”