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Brenda Andrew is currently serving time in the Mabel Bassett Correctional Center in Oklahoma, where she is still the only woman on the state's death row. In January 2025, Brenda was given a second hearing by the U.S. Supreme Court, with a challenge raised against the integrity of her initial trial.
Andrew was convicted in 2004 of murdering her estranged husband, Rob Andrew. The case was the focus of national attention due to prosecutorial misconduct accusations and the introduction of prejudicial evidence about her private life.
The Supreme Court ruling does not vacate her sentence or conviction. However, this remands her case back to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals for review to decide whether the admission of evidence relating to her s*xual history and character denied her a fair trial.
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Brenda Andrew's case is back in the public eye, as Forensic Files on Oxygen delves into the specifics of her case. The episode is set to air on May 27, 2025. The new legal proceedings and renewed media attention have led to renewed calls for scrutiny of the circumstances surrounding her conviction and prosecution.
Although Andrew remains on death row, her future at law is now doubtful as the courts revisit aspects of her prosecution.
Background of the case
According to Oxygen, Brenda Andrew was found guilty in 2004 of murdering her husband, Rob Andrew, who was shot and murdered in the couple's home in Oklahoma City in 2001. Prosecutors claimed that Brenda and her lover, James Pavatt, conspired to murder Rob Andrew so that they could cash in on his life insurance policy.
Pavatt, a friend of Rob's and an insurance agent, had sold Rob a life insurance policy worth $800,000 before the murder. Andrew and Pavatt were both sentenced to death in individual trials. The prosecution drew heavily on circumstantial evidence, such as witness testimony regarding Brenda's affairs and her motive to profit from the death of her husband.
According to Oxygen, Brenda Andrew claimed that two masked intruders broke into her home and shot Rob, killing him and hitting her in the arm. Forensic witnesses testified that her injuries were self-inflicted, and forensic evidence at the crime scene indicated that she was involved in the shooting.
Controversy over the trial
According to KOSU, Brenda Andrew's trial was contentious because the prosecution wanted to emphasize her private life. Prosecutors presented evidence regarding her s*xual history, dressing habits, and attitude, which her defense argued did not pertain to the murder indictment and only served to bias the jury against her.
For instance, prosecutors flashed her underwear before the jury and asked witnesses if she was a good wife and mother. They also mentioned a book in her house called "203 Ways to Drive a Man Wild in Bed." Andrew's attorneys argued that the focus on her character and way of life eclipsed the real evidence about the crime.
According to KOSU, the Supreme Court concurred that such testimony potentially abused her due process rights, since defendants are shielded from being convicted based on unrelated prejudicial facts at trial. The court's 7-2 ruling in January 2025 returned her case to the appeals court for reconsideration.
Brenda Andrew's current legal status and next steps
According to KOSU, Brenda Andrew remains on death row at the Mabel Bassett Correctional Center as of May 2025. The Supreme Court's recent decision does not necessarily alter her conviction or sentence but mandates that the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals reconsider whether prejudicial evidence presented during her trial deprived her of a fundamentally fair trial.
Should the appeals court conclude her rights were abridged, it could order a retrial or other remedy. According to Oxygen, James Pavatt, her fellow defendant, also sits on Oklahoma's death row. Pavatt had earlier admitted to participating in the murder but asserted Brenda did not participate.
Both cases have been the subject of repeated appeals and legal arguments, mostly over the admissibility of character evidence and the criteria for invoking the death penalty.
For more details, watch Forensic Files on Oxygen.
