Drummond commends Pardon and Parole Board for denying clemency to Pavatt

OKLAHOMA CITY (Oct. 14, 2026) – Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond commended the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board today for denying clemency for convicted murderer James Pavatt. 

Pavatt was sentenced to death for the 2001 murder of Rob Andrew, a 39-year-old Oklahoma City advertising executive and father of two. 

"James Pavatt plotted Rob's murder and then, working with Brenda Andrew, gunned down the man who had once been his friend," Drummond said. "Justice will be served when the death penalty is carried out on Nov. 12."

Evidence presented at Pavatt's trial showed he began an affair with Andrew's wife, Brenda, in 2001. Prosecutors argued, and the jury agreed, that the murder was especially cruel, and that Pavatt killed Andrew for money, pointing to his and Brenda's efforts to gain control of an $800,000 insurance policy on Andrew's life. Brenda was later tried separately, convicted and also sentenced to death for Andrew's murder.

Not all agree with Drummond. Elizabeth Overman of the Oklahoma Coalition Against the Death Penalty said in a statement that the case against Pavatt was "flimsy." She said there was "no solid evidence that Pavatt killed anyone."