One-Hundred Veterans Back Clemency for Air Force Veteran on Death Row

Approximately 100 veterans are vouching for convicted murderer James Pavatt, a former U.S. Air Force service member who is on death row and has a clemency hearing Wednesday morning to determine if he will be executed next month.

Pavatt, 72 and soon to be 73 years of age on Nov. 10, was convicted and sentenced to death in 2001 after murdering 39-year-old advertising executive and father of two, Rob Andrew.

The killing came after trial evidence found that Pavatt and Andrew’s wife, Brenda, began an affair earlier that year. Brenda was also convicted in a separate trial of murdering her ex-husband and sentenced to death, with her conviction and sentence affirmed at all levels.

At 9 a.m. local time Oct. 14, Pavatt—who has been locked up in the Oklahoma Department of Corrections for nearly 25 years—is scheduled to appear in front of the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board.

The clemency hearing will determine whether Pavatt’s execution still takes place Nov. 12, or gets delayed.

The State’s Case Against James Pavatt

Documents provided to Military.com by the office of Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond detail a series of events that ultimately led to the killing of Rob Andrew and the convictions of both Pavatt and Brenda.

The 206-page packet provides 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 motive, they said, was simple: “Pavatt coveted his money, his wife and his children.”

“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 spokesperson for Drummond told Military.com that the attorney general had no additional comment ahead of the hearing.

Pavatt’s affair, according to prosecutors, was about more than just his admiration for Brenda. They painted a picture of how Pavatt killed Andrew so that he and Brenda could financially benefit from the deceased’s $800,000 insurance policy.

The clemency packet alludes to meticulous planning ahead of Andrew’s murder, including failed attempts to kill him—such as when Andrew’s vehicle brake lines were cut.

And while Pavatt has denied his role in the murder, the clemency filings reference a letter scribed by the convicted murderer in which he confessed to killing Andrew after he and Brenda fled to Mexico with Andrew’s children.

‘Murder in Slow Motion’

The clemency packet asserts that 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,” and that was Pavatt.

This all occurred as Pavatt, according to filings, “was married to a woman who adored him,” but “he apparently preferred Rob’s wife.” So much so, in fact, that Pavatt divorced his wife in 2001 so he could be with Brenda.

Pavatt also had grown children at the time, while Rob and Brenda were parents to a 10-year-old and 7-year-old. Brenda reportedly kicked Rob out of their home and Pavatt moved in, even vacationing with her children and moving items like his washer and dryer into the family garage.

The methodology of the murder inflicted by Pavatt and Brenda was described by officials as a “murder in slow motion,” in which they tried the brake lines followed by trying to purchase an off-market gun. While those attempts at the time failed, Rob confided in his best friend on Nov. 19, 2001, that he had a feeling he was going to get killed.

“If they do shoot me, I hope they get me with the first shot,” Rob told his friend. “I do not want to feel any pain.”

The very next day, Pavatt used Rob’s own gun that was given to him by his grandfather to shoot him. While he tried to shield himself from a shotgun blast, Pavatt fired twice. Rob bled to death on the floor of his own garage, by his own firearm.

“Rob Andrew is dead. His children have grown up without him,” the clemency packet states. “His parents died waiting for the jury’s verdicts to be enforced. Pavatt and Brenda did not ride off into the sunset together, although they tried. Pavatt has been living in one prison, and Brenda has been in another.

“You will hear that Pavatt has worked in the prison law library and has no misconducts. Pavatt will probably tell you that he is a Christian who tries to lead other inmates to faith. Pavatt was raised in church, so his faith is not new. It preceded the murder, but it did not stop him from committing the murder.”

Veterans Vouch for Pavatt

Despite the felony conviction and the possibility of being put to death for a heinous crime, some veterans are apparently standing with Pavatt.

Pavatt’s attorneys have said that roughly 100 U.S. military veterans have signed onto a letter of support, relayed to the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board ahead of Wednesday morning’s hearing, according to local FOX affiliate KOKH.

“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,” Hunter Labovitz, assistant federal public defender, told the outlet.

“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.”

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

Art C. Cody, a retired U.S. Navy captain and director of the Center for Veteran Criminal Advocacy, told KOKH that Pavatt’s military service should certainly 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.”