Jail informant claims murder defendant admitted killing husband

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ A woman accused of murder admitted she killed her estranged husband and thought she wouldn't get caught, her former Oklahoma County jail cellmate alleged Friday. <br/><br/>Brenda

Saturday, July 3rd 2004, 11:33 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ A woman accused of murder admitted she killed her estranged husband and thought she wouldn't get caught, her former Oklahoma County jail cellmate alleged Friday.

Brenda Andrew opened up to Teresa Sullivan during the three months they were in the same pod, Sullivan testified.

``She told me that her and Mr. (James) Pavatt killed her husband for the money and the house,'' Sullivan said. ``She told me she was assured she would get away with it.''

Prosecutors allege Andrew, 40, and Pavatt, her lover, conspired to kill Rob Andrew so they could claim an $800,000 life insurance policy.

Rob Andrew was shot to death Nov. 20, 2001, when he went to the home he shared with Brenda Andrew to pick up their children for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Sullivan, now being held at a federal medical detention center in Fort Worth, Texas, said Brenda Andrew told her Pavatt shot her in the arm that night. Andrew said masked gunmen shot her and Rob Andrew, an advertising executive.

The day before Rob Andrew's funeral Brenda Andrew and Pavatt left with the Andrew children for Mexico, evidence has shown.

Defense attorney Greg McCracken questioned Sullivan's credibility, saying she made up her testimony in order to receive help with her prison sentence, and lied to get better medical treatment.

``Isn't it true that you'll do anything or say anything to get your sentence reduced?'' McCracken asked.

``No, sir,'' Sullivan said.

Sullivan is serving a 74-month federal prison sentence after pleading guilty to a charge of possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute.

Also testifying was Pavatt's daughter, Janna Larson, who said she found out in the summer of 2001 that her father and Brenda Andrew were having an affair.

``He had told me that Brenda had asked him to kill her husband or if he knew someone who could do it,'' Larson said.

Larson said Pavatt asked her to call Rob Andrew and tell him to rush from his office in north Oklahoma City to Norman Regional Hospital to pick up his wife one day.

Police have testified Larson made the calls the same day Rob Andrew discovered the brake lines on his car had been severed. Rob Andrew took a rental car to the hospital but didn't find his wife.

FBI agent Kurt Stoner testified that the agency provided a cellular telephone to Larson so they could track calls coming from her father. Stoner said most of the calls Larson received came from an area near Cancun, Mexico.

The testimony marked the end of the first month of Brenda Andrew's trial.

Pavatt was convicted in September of killing Rob Andrew and sentenced to die.