The Shocking Murder of Rob Andrew | The Christmas Killings hosted by Nancy Grace | Forensic Files

Oklahoma City November 2001 devoted dad Rob Andrew is looking forward to Thanksgiving with his children
Thanksgiving was a big deal to him being thankful for what you have that was who
he was but very quickly tragedy strikes Rob and his wife Brenda in their own home 91 I've been shot my husband's been
shot oh my God there's blood everywhere what monster kills during the holidays those two little kids had no
clue that their world was changing right outside in their very own garage who wants this loving father dead a month
before he was killed his brake lines have been cut that sounds like attemped murder don't you think this was a
planned attack $800,000 that has to be considered as a possible motive for murder no you can't control evil evil
comes to you from from out of nowhere [Music] [Applause] [Music] hello I'm Nancy Grace Oklahoma City at
Thanksgiving and the city celebrates in style parades in the streets friends gather everyone counting down until
Christmas for families in the midst of a breakup it can be awkward and Bittersweet one month before Christmas
two days before Thanksgiving Robert Andrew is alone an advertising executive from Oklahoma he's facing the holiday
season without his wife Brenda [Music] Brenda had filed for divorce but it was not something he wanted he was
heartbroken over that I know that particular Thanksgiving was a big deal to him because he was picking up the
kids and taking them to have Thanksgiving dinner with his family it was going to be a normal Thanksgiving
except Brenda wasn't part of the equation this time but he went over to pick up his
kids that night [Music] and didn't get past the garage 911 I've been shot my husband's been
shot okay you and your husband have both been shot shot you I don't know I don't know they had on black mask
I don't know oh my God there's blood everywhere well the incident happened it's a quiet neighborhood it's a aurban
type neighborhood large homes uh expensive I'm thinking uh you know why is this happening over there Roland Garrett is a
retired detective from the Oklahoma City PD when I drive up the scene I see uh dozen police cars
ambulance everybody's lights is flashing and the lights of the home are on in the garage the garage door is is
raised the overhead garage door is up I met my partner outside the crime scene he said when the officers arrived
at the scene Brenda Andrew was leaning over Rob Andrew her husband there have been two masked guns
gun men that had come into her garage one had a shotgun and shot her husband the other had a smaller pistol
and shot [Music] her she had a uh gunshot wound to the upper part of her left arm Brenda is taken by EMS to the
hospital to get treatment for her gunshot wound in television news Thanksgiving was an easy holiday to work because
there wasn't a lot of news going on this being the exception it came over the scanners and
so we jumped in the car showed up and there were police cars everywhere we heard someone was dead in
the garage and there was another victim he shows up to pick up his kids and he gets killed in the garage
on his way to celebrate a beautiful holiday I'm sure with his family and his children how could that
[Music] happen the kids were found inside the house watching television those two little kids had no
clue that their world was changing right outside in their very own garage so at the time they were removed
from the scene and taken to a neighbor's house [Music] based on the information we received
know it was two suspects so we we had patrolman in the area and we also had a helicopter checking the
area spoke to the neighbors to find out if anybody saw anything or were there any security
cameras No cameras we did have some neighbors that heard something they say sound like a trash can banging or
something uh that's about all they heard the forensic investigators arrived at the scene and they see what we got
there Rob was laying on his back in the garage there were two wounds he was shot
in his neck and in the side of his abdomen there was a bag of tin cans nearby Rob was likely trying to Shield
him self from the second shot in the forensic investigators located a shotgun shell on top of a
minivan that was parked in the garage and a bullet fragment in the door the door which leads from the uh garage
to the interior of the house no weapons were found at the scene at the time I still don't have
much no known reason why somebody would want to come kill this man in his garage
[Music] I got a phone call from a coworker and she said did you hear and she said Rob is
dead and I just felt like [Music] is Indescribable like your soul leaving your body or something it's something
I've never felt before and never have again and hope I never do I knew it would be important to talk
to Brenda Andrew the wife of the deceased I was hoping that she would be able to come up with something to help
lead us to some suspects I go to the hospital and Brenda was still in the emergency room being
treated her condition was was going to be non-life-threatening and she was just sto just sitting there basically
answering my questions she told me they were going through a divorce and he had moved out a
couple months prior he got an apartment 3 mil away from their house husband and father Rob Andrew
comes to the home to get the children he's taking them to a Thanksgiving dinner at his parents' home before they
leave wife Brenda asked Rob to check the furnace that night her pilot light on her furnace had gone out and she needed
some help with that as he crouched down to take a look suddenly two masked men appeared in the
garage one fired a shot at Rob she was shot and she was exit in the garage to go back in the
house she went inside called 911 and she went back out to check on Rob and the guys were
gone Brenda was unable to offer any clues as to who the suspects could possibly be she had no clue who would
want to hurt rob you know it could be a home invasion or it could be Rob getting followed home
you kind of Wonder is is this going to be solvable it was all depending on what we
was going to find out about the victim and his [Music] wife Brenda and Rob both grew up in Enid
Oklahoma Rob grew up in a conservative Baptist household with his three brothers Brenda had grown up in a very
conservative household as well everyone knew the story about how Rob and Brenda met it was in Enid in the
summer at the public swimming pool Brenda walked in Rob had always said I saw this cute girl in the
swimsuit and said I'm going to marry her and he [Music] did shortly after getting married the
couple moves to Oklahoma City where Rob has offered the job of his dreams Rob was an advertising executive
for Jordan advertising here in Oklahoma City and he had done very well for himself had a great reputation in this
town and in the advertising World in 1990 Rob and Brenda Andrew start a family of their own first the birth of
their daughter trity then a few years later they welcome a baby boy Parker he was the stereotypical Family Man loved
his wife loved his kids told us all the time how proud he was of all of them I mean he lived for
his family and I know it sounds like a stereotype or a cliche to say that he was the nicest guy but he really was the
nicest guy he did things for people without asking and he didn't expect anything in
return his positivity came from his faith he was a very religious man Rob went on mission trips with his
church they would go overseas and build houses for a village that didn't really have housing and he loved
it Brenda was your typical stay-at-home mom she taught Sunday school she baked brownies with her kids like the perfect
wife and mother Brenda would come up to the office with the kids every now and then she seemed very happy
and devoted to them devoted to Rob they absolutely seem like a strong couple Rob
thought that this was his happily ever after but just two months before Thanksgiving Rob had left the house at
Brenda's [Music] insistance he was heartbroken and living in an apartment and just desperately praying that she would
have uh second thoughts he wanted to stay married to her he still loved her with all of his
heart he believed if he prayed hard enough and kept at it that he could turn her around that that they could they
could be in love again despite the problems in his relationship you know he was he was
really trying to you know take care of his kids and stay a part of their life despite what's going on with him his
wife it seems no one has anything anything bad to say about Rob but when it comes to wife Brenda detectives hear
a very different story Brenda very much put on a June Cleaver sort of role but that wasn't who
she was she looked like the perfect stay-at-home mom Sunday school innocent it was quite the opposite
[Music] Brenda had a lot of skeletons in her closet Thanksgiving is truly a time for
gratitude and for families to gather and give thanks despite his troubled marriage Rob Andrew wants his children
to have a wonderful holiday so who who would want to gun down this Dad Gunn Down In Cold Blood when he's picking up
his children for Thanksgiving dinner detectives speak to those closest to Rob Andrew to learn he is a star
advertising executive his success buys a beautiful home for his family and it all
seems ideal except his stay-at-home wife Brenda is not staying home for all intents and purposes she looked
like the perfect stay-at-home mom it was quite the opposite she'd had multiple affairs with different
men and it starts almost immediately after their marriage as part of the work I did with
Rob we were in the car for two hours at a time at least once if not twice a week
almost every time he would call Brenda and I noticed that they never said I love
you one time I asked him why do you never say I love you on the phone and he told me that she had said soon after
they got married that makes me feel uncomfortable do not ever tell me that again I mean at the time I was newly
married and I couldn't even fathom a world in which I didn't end a conversation with my wife that way uh it
seemed bizarre on subsequent trips Rob would tell me about Affairs he believed Brenda
was having I remember asking what makes you think that he told a story about coming home
and seeing a box on the bed with you know fancy ribbon and he opened it up to look and it was
lingerie and he thought oo you know uh he was looking forward to that but then he never got to see
it the biggest one was they had come back from a trip to Mexico with another couple and Rob strongly believed that
Brenda was having an affair with the other man just the way they interacted during
the trip the way they were always sneaking off together during the trip and it turned out to be
[Music] true she was sinning but yet he forgave her he still wanted to be married to her
he was not about to break that vow that was not something he ever wanted to even
[Music] consider we knew that she was carrying on with some other men but just because
of her doing whatever she was doing with the other gentleman didn't necessarily mean that she was going to be a uh a
killer we got several men we need to speak to we have to make sure that that man wouldn't have a reason to want Rob
gone detectives managed to track down one of Brenda's lovers he's a friend of her husband Rob and his name is
Jim from Jim I found out that he had been involved in a affair with Brenda Jim was going over to the Andrew
home when Rob wasn't [Music] there once Rob knew or found out Rob had actually told him I don't want you at my
house and so he stopped going over there stayed away from Brenda he told me that
it had ended after about 3 months I've thought he was believable I don't think he had any reason to go over
there and shoot robod this story continued to reveal different layers like an onion you're
peeling all of this back and there are so many unknowns people started thinking who's this mystery person could this
person have had anything to do with [Music] it 3 days after Thanksgiving Oklahoma
City PD gets a call from and Rob's next door neighbors Judy and Dean gigstad they've just returned from
Thanksgiving out of town they noticed there were some things in their home that weren't as they left
[Music] them she notices her shoe rack is no longer in her closet it was broken and
placed under her bed they noticed that the attic trap door is slightly a jar as if somebody
has been recently in the attic and that's when she made the realization that somebody was in her
house most likely the same person that killed her neighbor they're thinking that he's
still up there with the you know with the murder weapon and watching whatever you're doing so they call 911
[Music] police do not find an intruder in the house however the search of the gigstad
home reveals surprising evidence we found a 16 gauge shotgun shell on the floor in one of the
bedrooms one of our forensic investigators went to the attic and he located several 22 caliber
bullets when the evidence is analyzed the detectives are informed that the ammunition found in the neighbor's home
matched the two guns that were used to commit the murder and the shooting of Brenda you finding the shell case and in
the home and that things Disturbed will make us believe that the suspect possibly ran over to the G that home and
was actually in the home hiding out while we're at the crime scene investigating this would explain why
there was not much of a trail to follow nobody saw the gunmen running from the neighborhood from the attic there's a
window with a clear view to the garage where this crime was committed so it's very possible that the murderer had been
stalking Brenda and Rob it doesn't take long for police to discover Rob has been in the crosshairs
of a determined killer Oklahoma City Police Department hi there I'd like to report a clim my uh breake lines have
been cut that sounds like attempted murder don't you think welcome back Thanksgiving is one of the
busiest travel times of the whole year so many people leave town to visit family homes are often left
[Music] empty that's when police discover Rob Andrew's killer has hidden in the neighbor's home
[Music] detectives knew that the killer had been in the neighbor's house but there were
no signs of forced entry so the question was how did they get in who had access to this
house the gig stats told the police that their son Jeff had a key to their home they said that their son had came
to the house before they came back from out of town he came over to the house to to grab
something so I knew it would be important to talk to him about why he went to the house and when he
went Jeff's Alibi was his wife and it was Brock solid on the evening of November 20th
they attended a family Thanksgiving he really didn't have any connection to Rob Jeff informed the investigators that the
day following the murder he stopped by his parents' home he was retrieving a playpen that he wanted for his little
baby when Jeff picks up the playpen he just misses crossing paths with the killer who's hiding in his parents' home
it's a premeditated murder plan detective Roland Garrett soon finds out it's not the first attempt on Rob's life
[Music] life one morning in October Rob was backing out of his driveway and noticed that his brakes
weren't [Music] working that's when he realized there was brake fluid in his driveway he took his car to a mechanic
shop where they showed him that his brake lines have been cleanly cut it really seemed as if someone had
purposefully tampered with his car oklah City Police Department hi I'd like to report a clim my uh brake lines have
been cut that sounds like a Ed murder don't you think that same day Rob receives a call
from an anonymous woman and she tells him that he needs to go to the hospital because Brenda had
been in a car accident Rob this for you I was know that you need to go pick up youra at
Norman Regal Hospital Rob Andrew has a friend drive him to the hospital but when he arrives wife Brenda is nowhere
to be found she's never been in an accident it was just an attempt to get him to drive somewhere quickly and
potentially have a wreck and either kill himself or seriously hurt himself Rob didn't recognize the voice
from the woman that they called him he would have recognized Brenda's voice and it wasn't Brenda so now we got somebody
else involved here we got another player we got to find out how deep they're involved in this and what else did they
do beside make that phone call who is this unknown female caller given Brenda's history of multiple Affairs
perhaps she had upset the wife of one of her lovers police had to consider it was
possibly a female killer is the mysterious caller someone in Brenda and Rob's circle of friends
detectives interview members of their congregation and they uncover a critical new lead we found that they had some
problems at the church Brenda had got in some uh hot water at the church by the way she was dressing she was starting to
wear low cut dresses and and dressed like you know sexy for church that definitely made a lot of them
suspicious Brenda was a uh Sunday school teacher and at one point she was teaching Sunday school with another
gentleman that they were seen by fellow church members at lunch holding [Music] hands his name was James
Pat James Pat was very involved in his church was an insurance man by trade and uh very close with uh a lot of the
people in the church including Rob they even went hunting together James Pat even went to the
Andrew's house for dinner on occasion and was very close with that family it became very evident to the
congregation that Brenda and James were having an affair they were actually asked to step
down as Sunday school teachers as a result of that James was crazy about Brenda just
felt very connected to her and loved Brenda dearly seems like he loved her so much he would have done anything to keep
that love and that relationship going James had left his wife earlier that year for Brenda and so he had every
motive to want Brenda and Rob not to be together James Pat was in the military prior to his Insurance
life so highly skilled highly trained James had training in sniper shooting he was very comfortable around
guns something else about him is that he walked around he bragged about being a Commando and killing a bunch of people
in the military based on the information that we had James provided somebody that we
needed to consider as a possible suspect we made several attempts to reach Mr Pat
calling his home going by uh never located him we eventually got a phone call from
his lawyer who said he wouldn't be making himself available he's not going to come in and
talk and then out of the blue detectives get another phone call from Rob and Brenda's nextdoor neighbor Judy gigstad
suddenly Judy remembered that they also had given a key to their neighbor Brenda
Andrew Brenda and Rob were friends with them for years and anytime they would leave town they would watch over what
was going on so they had a key knowing that Brenda Andrew had a key that she had access to the house and since she
was carrying on with James pach thinking she might be involved could she have been part of
this did she help plan this attack if Rob Andrew is truly giving his wife Brenda the divorce she wants why
would she and James pavot want to kill him detectives focus on the details of Rob and Brenda's divorce looking for a
motive Rob Andrew was kicked out of the house the end of September a couple of months before he was
murdered they had a legal separation he was providing support money for Brendan and kids but the Andrews were in dispute
about a $800,000 life insurance policy Rob and Brenda had taken an insurance policy out for Rob to take
care of Brenda and the kids in case something were to happened to him because they were his
everything but detectives discovered the insurance policy on Rob Andrew was written and prepared by James
Pat $800,000 that has to be considered as a possible motive for murder especially because the very man
that had sold him the policy was now having an affair with his wife Thanksgiving marks the beginning of
the Christmas holiday when people get to spend time with friends and family people they whole deer for Brenda Andrew
this holiday is different for her it's more of a nightmare she's recovering from a gunshot wound her husband has
been murdered and now she's a suspect in his murder and what about Rob Andrew's family they'll never have the
opportunity to share a holiday with Rob instead they've got to plan his funeral it was just really sad to think that
something this horrific happened right before the Thanksgiving holiday where you get together around
the table with your family you get to spend time with your loved ones and he shows up to pick up his kids and he gets
killed in the garage by now rumors are circulating about Brenda's possible involvement in her husband Rob's murder
the feeling going into any funeral is bad enough but Rob's funeral was very strange because everyone was sort of
wondering is Brenda going to show up we were outside of the church and I I just I remember thinking Brenda and his
children were not [Music] there they actually held the service for about an hour hoping they would show up
and they [Music] didn't who doesn't show up to their own spouse's funeral and doesn't let the
kids come to their dad's funeral how heartless do you have to be at that point when she didn't show up the
funeral I knew she had fled I was like she is leaving town we received a phone call and we're
advised that Brenda and the kids were not at the funeral so we went by the house to see if they were there or they
weren't there detectives go to James Pat's home next they discover he's also packed up and gone can't reach them on
the phone can't find them anywhere they didn't vanished with Brenda's disappearance is
looking more and more likely she is James pavot's accomplice in Rob's murder investigators still don't know the
identity of the woman who called Rob when his brake lines were cut but can't they go from just suspecting Brenda to
proving she's actually involved in husband Rob's murder detective Roland Garrett comes up
with a plan and the forensic science needed to make it work when I spoke to to Brenda down at the hospital I
collected her clothing for evidence she had some gunshot residue on her blouse so we had it analyzed Brenda
sustained only a minor wound which is a little odd considering that her husband had been shot twice with a shotgun and
that she had only been shot by a smaller caliber weapon in the arm The Gunshot was found to be a close
contact wound with which means it was uh 2 to 4 in away from her skin when the gun was
fired what this meant to the investigators is that she was shot at close range not from across the garage
as she had told [Music] them forensic evidence also showed that blood spatter found on Brenda's jeans
belonged to rob it indicated that she had to have been close by with within a foot or so
of her husband when he was shot and killed so that tells us that the second shotgun blast that he received came from
her and when she shot him it splattered back onto her jeans just 3 weeks before Christmas the
last piece of the puzzle falls into play we get a phone call from an attorney that wants to bring a witness in and
talk to us and that witness is James Pat's daughter and she has some information for
us her name was Jan Larson we found out that she was the woman that had made the phone call
telling Rob to drive to the hospital Rob need to go pick up your at Norman Hospital she said she was asked to do
that Our Father Janet didn't know all the details of what was happening in that relationship between Brenda and Rob and
her dad James Pat she was coerced into doing it that was probably the last piece of
evidence that we needed at the time we were able to get a warrant for both Brenda and James provide for Murder One
detectives contact the FBI and very soon an international Manhunt is underway for
wife Brenda Andrew and Her Lover James pavot daughter Jana lson agrees to work with authorities she tells them
everything she knows and the same day as Rob Andrew's funeral James Pat actually
showed up at her house and he had Brenda Andrew and the kids were with him they were outside in a van he got on her
computer and he was looking up what countries wouldn't extradite back to the United States it seems Brenda Andrew and
James pavot are planning to celebrate another holiday Christmas with the children South of the
Border they left Jan Larson's house in vehicles heading south they were headed to Mexico what she thought and we also
knew that they didn't have a lot of money uh most of the money had already been frozen in their accounts and
eventually the money may run out and it might help us capture the detectives were doing everything they could to look
for them and it went on for [Music] months it was a tough Thanksgiving and a tougher Christmas in a way because they
were gone nobody knew where they were were they alive we didn't know everyone was really concerned for
the [Music] kids but also just wanting Justice for Rob and it with every day they were gone
it was just more and more infuriating that they were going to get away with [Music]
it after the brutal murder of her husband Rob Brenda Andrew and her sex partner James pav fought take her two
children they flee to Mexico during the holidays Rob Andrew's family and friends
are forced to spend Christmas not just without him but without his children too meanwhile detectives are piecing
together the details of Rob's [Music] murder what happened on the night of November 20th 2001 was predetermined
Brenda had planned this she knew that Rob was coming to to pick up his children she asked him to come into the
garage and light the pilot light knowing all long that she was luring him to his
death and Pat was already in the garage he came around probably from behind the minivan shot him with the first
shot she took the shotgun shot him with the second shot and then vat took the 22 and shot her in
the [Music] arm he left the house go next door she went in the house CAU out one
more I've been shot my husband's been shot okay you and your husand have both been shot yes who shot
you I don't know was I don't know they had on black mask I don't know oh my God there's blood
everywhere it was some evil a lot of evil going on with Brenda she was all about money she wanted that insurance
[Music] money weeks turn into months hope fading that Rob Andrews Killers will ever be
brought to Justice the warrants were out for the arrest of Brenda and James but they were no longer in the country it's
much harder to capture somebody when they're out of your jurisdiction once they cross the border
they warn was going to be something that Mexican authorities could arrest them on but then at some point James Pat
started calling Jana she had a conversation with her father who was in Mexico with Brenda
they were running out of money and didn't know what to do the FBI worked with Jana to lur James
and Brenda back to the United States where they could be arrested Janna promised her dad that she
could get them money James pavot is out of options the couple on the run and they need money he agrees to his
daughter's plan and he returns to the US police notify border officials to be on the lookout
[Music] 3 months after the murder they came back to the border and one of the border
patrol agents was familiar with the bulletin that was out we got the phone call they were
captured they were taken into custody and charged with the murder of Rob Andrew the kids were found unharmed and they
were sent to be with Rob's family it was such a relief to hear that knowing that Brenda and James were
caught but knowing the kids were safe that was even [Music] better James Pat's trial was first it
lasted a few weeks the key witness at the trial was a V daughter Jan you always wonder like you know the
jury doesn't know Rob like I know Rob are they going to get it right we always worried that they're going to get away
with it but luckily they didn't James was convicted of the first-degree murder of Rob Andrew and he
was sentenced to death August 2004 Brenda Andrew's trial begins when I saw her again at trial she
didn't have any remorse in her face or her actions I think the timing of Brenda's
crime was purely opportunistic she knew that Rob was going to come and get those
children for the holiday and he would probably have his guard down here is a father showing up to get his kids
on his way to celebrate a beautiful holiday with his family and his children and
just how could you do that I mean I do believe in evil and I do believe she is evil within a month
Brenda Andrew is found guilty for the murder of husband Rob and she is sentenced to the death penalty having
here to found that defendant Brenda iers Andrew guilty of murder in the first degree fix her punishment at
death when I heard that first James was found guilty and then especially when Brenda was found guilty uh I was
overjoyed I was so happy that they didn't get away with it as clever as she thought she was all the steps they had
taken they underestimated the way things work to orchestrate and commit a crime killing the father of the children
Thanksgiving time it had to be a a evil vindictive person you know you reap what you s
James pavot is currently sitting on the Oklahoma death row awaiting his execution date Brenda Andrew waiting for
her execution date in the Mabel Basset CI Correctional Institution in McLoud Oklahoma she's currently the only woman
on death row in the entire state of Oklahoma I think about Rob every Thanksgiving it's just impossible not
to he sort of embodied the idea of the holidays the spirit of the holidays you know being with your family being
thankful for what you have cherishing those times that that was who he was so I always want to think about his life
and not his death and be thankful for uh the time that I did get with [Music] him what should have been a wonderful
and joyous holiday Shattered by cheating infidelity and murder a horrible and tragic end to the marriage of a loving
dad an evil wife and her ruthless sex partner I'm Nancy Grace thank you for joining us here on the Christmas
killings [Music]

Brenda Andrew and estranged husband Rob are attacked inside their home and Rob is shot dead. Brenda describes two masked men as their assailants. When police have trouble tracking them down, they think the killer could be someone closer to home.

Hosted by Nancy Grace, The Christmas Killings is a true crime docuseries that blends merry with mystery as it delves into holiday-season homicide investigations.

Brief Summary

Rob Andrew was murdered by his wife Brenda and her lover James Pat just before Thanksgiving 2001, leading to their eventual capture and trials.

Key points

Tragedy Strikes Before Thanksgiving. Rob Andrew, a devoted father, is shot in his garage just before Thanksgiving.
A Heartbroken Husband. Rob Andrew faces the holiday season alone after his wife files for divorce.
A Web of Affairs. Brenda Andrew's multiple affairs complicate the investigation into Rob's murder.
A Shocking Discovery. Neighbors find evidence suggesting the murderer may have hidden in their attic.
The Mystery Caller. An anonymous woman calls Rob, warning him about a supposed accident involving Brenda.
Brenda's Alibi Unravels. Forensic evidence suggests Brenda was at the scene of Rob's murder.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Evil comes to you from out of nowhere.

Commentary on the unexpected nature of violence.

1:06WatchApr 24, 2025

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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