Inside Death Row — June 2021
Sunday School Mom on Death Row
The story of the only woman on Oklahoma’s Death Row.
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Brenda Andrew was just 38 years old when she murdered her husband for $800,000 in insurance money. In partnership with her lover and fellow Church member, she lured her husband into her garage and the pair shot him twice. Brenda Andrew had previously failed to kill her husband when he noticed that his car’s brake line had been severed and reported to police that he believed he was being targeted in a murderous conspiracy.
After a brief stint on the run, mother-of-two, Brenda Andrew was convicted and sentenced to death.
She is now the only woman on Oklahoma’s death row.
Brenda Andrew married her childhood sweetheart, Rob Andrew, and together they had two children; Parker and Tricity.
Brenda was a homemaker and Rob worked as a well-paid executive. The couple were active Church members; Rob was a deacon and Brenda taught in Sunday School.
Things began to go wrong for the couple in the early 2000s as their relationship deteriorated. Rob moved out and Brenda began seeing other men. One of Brenda’s relationships was with James Pavatt who the couple knew from church.
Also a church deacon, Pavatt worked in insurance and he and Brenda grew in closeness, even taking the Andrew children on vacation to Mexico.
During their church life, Rob and James Pavatt had also been friendly. Rob had trusted his fellow deacon enough to purchase a life insurance policy from him. With encouragement, Rob had increased the value of his insurance package, which named Brenda as the beneficiary, to $800,000.
With Brenda, Rob and Pavatt all members of the same church, North Pointe Baptist is reported to have suggested to Pavatt and Brenda Andrew that they withdraw from church life as Rob and Brenda were still married.
At some point, Rob became suspicious of his wife and her new partner and he attempted to change the beneficiary on his life insurance. Pavatt lied to Rob and told him that he couldn’t alter his policy to name his brother as beneficiary instead of Brenda. At this point, events took a turn towards the…
