An Ordinary Family, Extraordinary Murder Story
Aug. 1 -- For 17 years, Rob and Brenda Andrew led a seemingly ordinary suburban life.
They raised their two children, Tricity and Parker, in a house at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac in Oklahoma City. Then, one night last November, shotgun blasts shattered everything.
"I've been shot," Brenda told the 911 operator. "My husband and I, we've been shot."
Police rushed to the scene to find Rob on the floor, lying on his back with gunshot wounds in his torso and near his neck. Brenda had been shot in the arm. She told authorities the couple had been attacked by intruders wearing black masks.
Nothing was missing from the house, there were no clues about any masked gunmen, and police could determine no motive for the shootings.
Rob, an ad executive whose life revolved around his children, died immediately.
New Life Insurance Policy
From the start, Rob's parents say, they knew something was wrong with their son's storybook romance.
"Right after the honeymoon," said Lou Andrew, Rob's father, "he said she told him she wished they hadn't gotten married. That it wasn't the right thing to do."
Rob's best friend, Ronnie Stump, described the marriage as "unbalanced," saying that Rob was more affectionate toward Brenda than she was toward him. "It was one of those relationships that … they would stay together because of the kids, and work their way through it."
Over the years, the family became very involved in their small Baptist church on the outskirts of the town. That is where Rob and Brenda met Jim Pavatt, a twice-married life insurance agent in his mid-40s.
Rob and Pavatt became friendly, and at the same time, Pavatt and Brenda started teaching Sunday school together.
In March 2001, Pavatt and Brenda suggested to Rob that he change his life insurance policy, and that their new friend, Pavatt, could write it. Rob listened, and his new $800,000 policy named Brenda as the sole beneficiary.
A Bitter Separation
By summer, people were talking: Pavatt and Brenda seemed to be spending a great deal of time together.
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