The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted 3-2 on Wednesday, October 14, to deny clemency to James Pavatt. He is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on November 12. If carried out, it would be Oklahoma’s final execution of 2026.
Under Oklahoma law, the governor cannot commute a death sentence unless the board recommends it. With today’s vote, clemency is off the table. Only the courts remain.
The Case
Pavatt was sentenced to death in 2004 for the 2001 killing of Rob Andrew, a 39-year-old Oklahoma City advertising executive and father of two. Prosecutors said Pavatt, an insurance agent, and Andrew’s wife, Brenda Andrew, conspired to kill him to collect on a life insurance policy. Brenda Andrew was also sentenced to death and remains the only woman on Oklahoma’s death row while her appeals continue.
Who Pulled the Trigger?
The defense centered on a contradiction in the State’s own case. At Brenda Andrew’s trial, prosecutors called her the shooter. At Pavatt’s trial, they argued he was. Defense attorneys say the State described Brenda Andrew as the “sole shooter” at least 24 times.
“There is not even credible evidence that James was at the crime,” said Assistant Federal Defender Hunter Labovitz. “For that alone, he should not be executed.”
The most striking testimony came from Mark Haydon, the foreperson of the jury that sentenced Pavatt to death. In a recorded video, Haydon told the board he voted for death because prosecutors said Pavatt was the shooter, and that he no longer believes Pavatt belongs on death row. “Why can’t we just get it right?” Haydon asked. “Why do we have to win?”
Pavatt apologized to the Andrew family for their heartbreak but maintained his innocence of the killing itself. “I am not guilty of shooting anyone,” he said, telling the board he was guilty only of “falling in love and having an affair.”
The defense also presented Pavatt’s Air Force service record and 25 years of clean conduct in prison, where he works as a law clerk. A former commander told the board he would have testified for Pavatt at trial but was never called.
The State’s Position
The Attorney General’s office argued that the two defendants acted together and that either could have fired. “An unrepentant murderer should not be given clemency,” said Assistant Attorney General Jennifer Crabb. Attorney General Gentner Drummond told the board that military service is no defense to murder and that Pavatt spent weeks planning the killing. After the vote, Drummond said, “Justice will be served when the death penalty is carried out on Nov. 12.”
Why It Matters
Two of five board members voted for mercy, and a juror who helped send Pavatt to death row now says the sentence was wrong. The law allows the State to convict both partners in a conspiracy regardless of who fired. It does not require anyone to be comfortable with a State that told two juries two different stories and now asks to carry out a sentence built on one of them.
James Pavatt’s execution date is listed on the Execution Calendar.
Sources: KOSU, News 9, OKC Fox 25.
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