Oklahoma executed James Pavatt on Thursday, Nov. 12, at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, Attorney General Gentner Drummond said. Pavatt had been on death row for the 2001 shooting death of Rob Andrew, who worked in advertising in Oklahoma City, was 39 and had two children.
On Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court turned down Pavatt's request to stop it. His application for a stay of execution went to Justice Neil Gorsuch, who referred it to the full court, and the court denied it along with his petition for review. The order lists no dissents.
"Justice has been served for Rob Andrew who was taken from his children and his family far too soon," Drummond said after the execution. "I pray that his family finds some sense of peace after 25 years of grief."
The attorney general's office says the trial evidence showed that Pavatt and Brenda Andrew, Rob Andrew's wife, had started an affair that year. Prosecutors told jurors the killing was especially cruel and was done for money, citing the couple's push to get their hands on an $800,000 life insurance policy on her husband. The jury agreed.
Brenda Andrew was convicted in her own trial and also received a death sentence. Her appeal reached the Supreme Court, which on Jan. 21, 2025, threw out a federal appeals court ruling against her and sent her case back for further review. Justice Samuel Alito concurred in the result, and Justices Clarence Thomas and Gorsuch dissented.
Clemency was denied 3-2
The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board heard Pavatt's clemency request on Oct. 14. The board's minutes show that his attorney, Hunter Labovitz, made the case for clemency, four speakers appeared on his behalf, and Pavatt addressed the board by video from the penitentiary. Drummond and three members of his staff argued against it.
The five board members voted 3-2 to deny clemency.
Texas has an execution set the same day
Texas also has an execution scheduled for Thursday. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice's schedule lists John Rubio, 46, who was sentenced to death in Cameron County. The department's summary of the case says Rubio and a co-defendant, Maria Angela Camacho, killed Rubio's 2-month-old daughter, his 1-year-old son and Camacho's 3-year-old daughter on March 11, 2003. The next Texas execution on the list is set for Nov. 19.
Gallup's latest poll on capital punishment, which Edit USA covered on Nov. 10, put support at 49%, the first reading below a majority since 1971.
