Air Force Veteran’s Clemency in 2001 Murder Denied, Execution Scheduled For Next Month

Convicted murderer and U.S. military veteran James Pavatt will be executed next month.

The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board denied his clemency during the Wednesday, Oct. 14, hearing, even as roughly 100 fellow veterans vouched for Pavatt’s life to be spared. The death row inmate is scheduled to be executed Nov. 12, two days after his 73rd birthday.

Pavatt, an Air Force veteran, was sentenced to death for the 2001 murder of Rob Andrew, a 39-year-old Oklahoma City advertising executive and father of two. The trial revealed that Pavatt, once deemed a close friend of the victim, was having an affair with Andrew’s wife, Brenda, who was also found guilty due to her involvement in the murder and sentenced to death.

“James Pavatt plotted Rob’s murder and then, working with Brenda Andrew, gunned down the man who had once been his friend,” Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said in a statement following Wednesday’s hearing. “Justice will be served when the death penalty is carried out on Nov. 12.”

Military.com reached out to Drummond’s office for additional remarks. Officials referred to the attorney general’s statement.

Drummond had been adamant about Pavatt not receiving clemency, saying in the weeks leading up to Wednesday’s hearing that the crime was heinous and that Pavatt deserves his punishment.

“Rob Andrew was gunned down in his own garage, feet from the children he loved, by a man he had trusted as a friend and an insurance agent,” Drummond said in a Sept. 18 statement. “Twenty-five years later, Pavatt still won’t tell the truth about what he did. There must be justice for Rob.”

A Bloody Murder in the Victim’s Own Home

A 206-page clemency hearing packet shared with Military.com ahead of Wednesday’s proceeding shared specific details that paint a picture of a long-term con, in which Pavatt “spent weeks, if not months, plotting with his lover to murder Andrew, a former close friend,” according to Drummond’s office.

The described motive was straightforward: “Pavatt coveted his money, his wife and his children.”

But it wasn’t just about a love affair, as prosecutors described roughly 25 years ago. Andrew had an $800,000 insurance policy.

Initial plans to murder Andrew reportedly ended in failure. One such attempt involved cutting his brake lines.

Andrew became almost sure of himself, according to prosecutors, that he was going to be killed due to the love triangle. According to the clemency packet, Andrew told everyone he knew—his pastor, his divorce lawyer, his marriage counselor, his brother, his friends, a co-worker, a mechanic, an acquaintance, a homicide detective—that his wife “had finally found somebody that would kill him,” alluding to Pavatt.

Meanwhile, Pavatt, according to filings, “was married to a woman who adored him,” though “he apparently preferred Rob’s wife.” Pavatt, whose kids were older than the 7-year-old and 10-year-old that Andrew and Brenda had, divorced his wife in 2001 so he could be with Brenda.

Pavatt was ultimately found guilty of killing Andrew in a crime described by prosecutors as “murder in slow motion.”

Pavatt used a gun given to Andrew by his grandfather to shoot him. After the first shot in the family garage, Andrew attempted to use a bag of aluminum cans to shield himself from the inevitable second shot. Pavatt fired again, leaving Andrew to bleed to death on the floor.

Veterans Vouched For Pavatt, to No Avail

Leading up the clemency hearing, Pavatt’s attorneys said that roughly 100 U.S. military veterans signed onto a letter of support of Pavatt that was provided to the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board.

“The veterans who are raising their voices to urge Oklahoma state leaders to spare Jim’s life in recognition of his distinguished and selfless military service to the United States represent an estimated 750 years of combined military service to this country,” said Hunter Labovitz, assistant federal public defender, according to local FOX affiliate KOKH.

“These voices include generals, one of whom was the Air Force chief of staff. We hope that the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board will heed their call and prevent the travesty of justice that would result if Jim is executed the day after Veterans Day by the state and country that he so honorably served,” the attorney added.

Military.com reached out to Labovitz’s office for comment but received no response.

Art C. Cody, a retired U.S. Navy captain and director of the Center for Veteran Criminal Advocacy, told KOKH in advance of Wednesday’s hearing that Pavatt’s military service should be taken into account in a life-or-death decision.

“The Air Force considered him among the absolute best enlisted airmen and noncommissioned officers of his generation—not an ordinary typical service record, but an extraordinarily distinguished one,” Cody said. “One marked not only by technical expertise, but by an uncommon compassion for those placed under his charge.”