Bio

Brenda Evers Andrew was born on December 16, 1963. She grew up in a small town in Oklahoma in a Christian home. As a girl she was a baton twirler. She did not go to the parties other kids attended because she did not smoke or drink.

She married her high school sweetheart, Robert "Rob" Andrew. She became a stay-at-home mother and the couple had two children, Tricity and Parker. Brenda also taught Sunday school at their church.

Official records describe her as a white woman about 5 feet 3 inches tall with brown hair and brown eyes. She had a low abdominal scar from a c-section and a small birthmark on her chest.

Murder Story

On November 20, 2001, Robert "Rob" Andrew, 39, went to his estranged wife's home to pick up their children. Brenda Andrew asked him to come into the garage to light the furnace pilot light. Moments later, Rob was shot and Brenda suffered a gunshot wound to her arm. Brenda called 911 and told police that masked intruders had attacked them in the garage.

Emergency personnel found Rob on the garage floor. He had been shot twice with a shotgun and could not be revived. The two children were inside the house watching television. Brenda was taken to a hospital for treatment of the arm wound.

Police investigation showed Rob had been shot with a 16-gauge shotgun. A spent 16-gauge shell was found in the garage and other 16-gauge shells of the same brand were found nearby. A .22 caliber bullet had struck Brenda's arm. Investigators found .22 caliber rounds in a neighbor's attic and a .22 round in a car linked to James Pavatt. Rob's 16-gauge shotgun was missing from the home.

Investigators found that Brenda Andrew and insurance agent James Pavatt were involved in a relationship. Pavatt had sold Rob a large life insurance policy. Evidence at trial showed attempts to change the insurance ownership and forged paperwork related to the policy. In late October 2001, someone severed the brake lines on Rob's car. Rob reported the damage and became suspicious. He tried to change the beneficiary on his insurance policy.

Brenda and Pavatt left the state before Rob's funeral, taking the two children and fleeing to Mexico. They were arrested on February 28, 2002, while trying to re-enter the United States near Hidalgo, Texas. Pavatt was tried first, convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy, and sentenced to death in 2003.

Brenda Andrew was charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. She was tried and convicted by an Oklahoma County jury. The jury found aggravating circumstances, including that the murder was for remuneration. On September 22, 2004, Brenda Andrew was formally sentenced to death for first-degree murder and received a separate ten-year sentence for conspiracy.

Court records list Brenda Evers Andrew as ODOC# 483397. Her date of birth is December 16, 1963. The case classification noted parricide with the motive listed as to collect insurance money. She remains the only woman on Oklahoma's death row.