Brenda Andrew : The only woman on Oklahoma’s death row

Brenda Andrew was raised in a Christian household in a small Oklahoma town. She was a baton twirler during her school years but did not attend parties with her peers due to her aversion to smoking and drinking.

After marrying her high school sweetheart, Robert "Rob" Andrew, Brenda became a homemaker and mother to their two children. She also taught Sunday school classes. However, she experienced a midlife crisis and ultimately separated from Rob.

The Affair and the Disaster

At the church, Rob’s wife Brenda taught Sunday school with life insurance agent James Pavatt, and by 2001 the pair were having an affair.

Brenda had carried on multiple affairs throughout their marriage. Even before their 1984 wedding, when she and Rob were engaged, Rob had driven past a motel and seen her with an ex-boyfriend.

In late 2001, Brenda expelled Rob from their Oklahoma City residence and initiated divorce proceedings, which included limiting his interaction with their two children.

On November 20, 2001, Rob made an entry in his spiritual diary, expressing his hope for a happy future that included a relationship with his children, a loving bond with family and friends, and a home filled with worship, laughter, and love. Tragically, this was to be his final journal entry. On that same day, while attempting to collect his children for the Thanksgiving weekend, he was fatally shot.

Brenda, who had sustained an injury to her arm, called 911 at 6:20 p.m. to report the incident, exclaiming that she and her husband had been shot. Brenda was treated and released from the hospital, while Rob's family only learned of his death after watching the 10 o'clock news that night.

THE INVESTIGATION

The investigation conducted by the police into the crime promptly uncovered that Brenda had been engaging in an extramarital relationship with James Pavatt, who was also her church member, a fellow Sunday school teacher and an insurance salesman. It was revealed that James had sold Rob a life insurance policy worth one million dollars.

It was later revealed that while Rob, the deceased, was fixing the furnace pilot light, James Pavatt approached him from behind and shot him with a 16-gauge shotgun. Despite Rob's attempt to defend himself with a bag of empty soda cans, Brenda took the gun from Pavatt and shot her husband in the chest. Brenda later used a .22 caliber pistol to shoot herself in the arm. To cover up the crime, Brenda falsely reported that they were attacked by masked intruders.

THE MOTIVE

Brenda who used to be an absolute sweetheart and a dotting mother to her children suddenly began to change for the worse. As Brenda reached the age of 40, she went through a "mid-life crisis", which led her to engage in several extramarital affairs. One of these affairs was with James Pavatt, who was also a Sunday school teacher and a member of the same church as the Andrews.

Pavatt, who worked as a life insurance agent, had socialized with Brenda, Rob, and their children, and had recently sold a million dollar life insurance policy to Rob. Pavatt got divorced from his wife, Suk Hui, during the summer of 2001. Brenda Andrew also filed for divorce in late September of the same year.

According to published reports, about a month before the shooting in November 2001, Rob Andrew had reported to the police that his vehicle's brake line had been severed. He suspected that James Pavatt, his insurance agent, and Pavatt's wife were attempting to kill him for the insurance money. Following the discovery that his brake lines had been tampered with, Rob Andrew had asked James Pavatt about removing Brenda as the beneficiary from his life insurance policy. However, Pavatt falsely informed him that he had no control over the beneficiary since Brenda was the owner of the policy.

The day before Rob Andrew's funeral, James Pavatt, Brenda Andrew, and her children went on the run, on a fugitive journey that took them to Mexico. Tricity and Parker Andrew, Brenda's children, were allegedly drugged and taken along for the ride. After three months, Pavatt and Andrew were arrested as they attempted to cross the border back into the United States.

THE VERDICT

James Pavatt was first tried on August 25, 2003, and on September 16, 2003, he was convicted of First Degree Murder and Conspiracy to Commit First Degree Murder. Later, on October 21, 2003, he was sentenced to death. His ex-wife said, "He wasn't the same Jim I knew for nine years. He was the most kind person while we were married. Something was not right with him."

Brenda Andrew was found guilty of Conspiracy to Commit Murder and First Degree Murder on September 22, 2004, and she was sentenced to death despite the efforts of her attorney to portray her as a model citizen without priors . Brenda Andrew is the only woman on death row in the state of Oklahoma.

While an execution date has not been set for Andrew, Pavatt is scheduled to die on July 11, 2024.