A 73-year-old Oklahoma man convicted of conspiring with his lover to murder her estranged husband was executed Thursday morning, declining to offer any final statement before his death by lethal injection.
Execution Carried Out Without Incident
James Pavatt was pronounced dead at 10:12 a.m. at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, according to the Oklahoma Department of Corrections. Prison officials characterized the execution as proceeding without complications. Pavatt chose not to deliver any last words before the lethal injection was administered. For his final meal, he requested a strawberry milkshake alongside a traditional barbecue spread featuring smoked chicken, brisket, pulled pork, fried okra, baked beans, and pickles.
The 2001 Murder Plot
Pavatt was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the 2001 killing of Rob Andrew, a 39-year-old advertising executive. Andrew was shot to death in his garage while picking up his two young children just before Thanksgiving. Pavatt had been conducting an affair with the victim’s wife, Brenda Andrew, who was also convicted and sentenced to death in a separate trial. Warning signs emerged weeks before the murder when Rob Andrew reported to police that someone had cut the brake lines on his vehicle.
Following the shooting, Brenda Andrew claimed masked intruders had shot her in the arm and killed her husband at their Oklahoma City home. Prosecutors rejected this account, arguing the couple orchestrated the murder together. The pair fled to Mexico with Brenda Andrew’s two children but were apprehended three months later while attempting to reenter the United States.
Final Claims of Innocence and Manipulation
During a clemency hearing last month, Pavatt maintained he was innocent and asserted that Brenda Andrew had manipulated him throughout their relationship. He told the parole board that he only recognized the extent of her manipulation during his trial, acknowledging he understood why jurors believed both were involved in the killing. Prosecutors countered that both defendants bore equal responsibility for Rob Andrew’s death, regardless of which person fired the fatal shots. The execution marked the first of two carried out in the United States on Thursday, with Texas scheduled to execute another convicted murderer later that evening.
Sources
Fox News: Oklahoma man, 73, executed for plotting murder of lover’s husband, offers no last words