Convicted murderer James Dwight Pavatt was denied appeal from the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals this afternoon. The justices voted 5-0 to deny overturning Pavatt's murder conviction and death sentence.
Pavatt was found guilty in September 2003 of conspiring and killing Oklahoma City advertising executive Robert Andrew at his home in 2001. Pavatt's co-defendant and Andrew's wife, Brenda Andrew, also was found guilty of the same charges and sentenced to death at a later trial.
INSURANCE SCHEME
The much-publicized and reported crime involved what prosecutors say was a scheme in which Pavatt and Brenda Andrew were having an affair and planned to kill Robert Andrew and inherit the $800,000 insurance money. Rob and Brenda Andrew had been separated.
During Thanksgiving week in 2001, Rob Andrew went to pick up the couple's children when he was shot and killed in the garage of the couple's home. A jury found Pavatt guilty of shooting Rob Andrew.
Pavatt's trial lasted nearly a month. Brenda Andrew awaits a decision on her appeal. "Scott Cooper
