Snapped: Women Who Murder - Amber Andrews

Episode Date: February 9, 2025

Loved ones can't reach a loving father when he agrees to give his ex-wife a chance to reconcile.Season 31, Episode 14Originally aired: Oct 16, 2022Watch full episodes of Snapped for FREE on the Oxygen app: https://oxygentv.app.link/WatchSnappedPodSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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Ontario in the depths of an Atlanta forest, a clash between activists and authorities ends in tragedy. I'm Matthew Scherr, and on my new podcast, We Came to the Forest, we expose the hidden truths behind a shootout that left one activist dead and countless lives forever changed. Binge all episodes of We Came to the Forest ad-free on Wondery+. In the heart of the Bible Belt, a tip leads to a horrific discovery. I'm thinking, how terrible of a crime do I have here in Garvin County?

They take off one of the lids and they see body parts. Police land on a suspect with a harrowing account. He said he broke into his home. He just, you know, blew the door open. He said he was this biker guy that was dangerous and just a bad dude. But with time, investigators uncover the dark truth behind this gruesome vendetta.

More and more evil and more evil and evil things started coming up. She could approach a man and be very sultry. She could get quick results. She had him wrapped around her little finger. He'll do anything that she asked. She just waited and waited till it was her time to strike. ["The New York Times"] A little south of Oklahoma City, Garvin County is the kind of place where folks take pride in their small-town values.

Garvin County, Oklahoma is the little hole on the belt of the buckle of the Bible Belt. We do our best to be hardworking, honest, handshake, agreement, you know, devout and law-abiding. But on August 8, 2012, Garvin County Sheriff Larry Rhodes gets a phone call from the Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation that they have received a disturbing tip from a local man, 31-year-old Van Enblom. Van disclosed that he had seen what he thought was the disposing of a murdered body. Investigators with the OSBI and Sheriff Rhodes convene in an emergency meeting with Van,

the sole focus. Van tells them that the night before, his childhood best friend called him with a chilling request. Van Emlem said that he was called over to help dispose of a body. He originally thought the friend was joking around until he walked into the home and saw the buckets and saw blood running down one of the buckets. He was presented with five-gallon buckets

and a dog kennel. The dog kennel was covered with five five-gallon buckets and a dog kennel. The dog kennel was covered with tarp. Van tells investigators that when he realized what he was looking at, he froze. Was a dismembered body. In a state of shock, Van helped load the buckets and dog crate into his friend's truck. But once he realized that he was now an accessory, he took a stand. Van finally says, you know, I can't do this. You're just going to have to take me home. You're going to have to figure this out on your own. And so he goes home.

Once home, Van couldn't shake what he had just witnessed. It was within 24 hours that Van went to one of our local defense attorneys here in Garvin County and said, you know, I don't know what to do, but here's what's happened. Van disclosed that he had seen what he thought was the disposing of a murdered body, he made the right decision that he wanted no part of this and to come forward. So he was treated as a witness in this case. Van names the killer as 30-year-old Justin Hammer. Authorities press Van for the identity of the victim,

and while he can't be sure, he believes it was a man named Brandon Duran. He knew that there was bad blood between Justin and Brandon. He's like, well, Justin's finally done it. He's finally killed Brandon. So that's how it got found out that Brandon Duran was the potential victim. Brandon Duran was not from Garvin County. He was from California. Investigators reach out to Brandon's friends and family. They quickly learn that no one has heard from him nor his ex-wife Amber Andrews in five

days. Brandon and Amber had gone to Oklahoma. They were at her parents' house. And so little Brando was with them too. I didn't hear from him on the road when he went to Oklahoma with her for five days, which was unusual because my son always had his phone on. phone number. Born in 1980 in San Diego, California, Brandon Duran had an adventurous spirit from the start.

Brandon loved San Diego. There's lots of places that kids can just be kids. You know, there's fields and there's horses and there's places they can skateboard and ride their bikes. Brandon's parents divorced while he was young, with his mom living in San Diego and his dad in New Mexico. However, they remained dedicated to their son. We tried to give him the best of both worlds. world. When Brandon was in New Mexico, his father shared his lifelong passion with his son. He started working on motorcycles with his dad at a young age. Every time he would see his dad, he would help him work on his bike. His father had

been a member of the Banditos motorcycle club. He wanted to be just like his dad, and he was really successful at that. By the time Brandon was 25, he was successful enough to make an enduring dream come true. He got his own custom Fly-Rite chopper. It was an amazing, beautiful motorcycle. He had his leather seat with his name stitched on it. He had this big trailer he would cart around his motorcycle. They wouldn't leave his motorcycle anywhere. But in April of 2005, tragedy struck when 25-year-old Brandon lost his father.

His dad went in for a liver biopsy, A tragedy struck when 25-year-old Brandon lost his father. His dad went in for a liver biopsy and he just didn't make it. It was very difficult for Brandon to lose his father. They were very close and it was devastating for him. Still reeling and in need of a fresh start, Brandon loaded up his bike and moved to Vegas. There, he started spending time with the local chapter of the Banditos. Brandon, lift him up! Oh, you guys, lift him up!

It broke him, definitely, because his dad was his hero. My brother wasn't a member of the Banditos Motorcycle Club, but the club saw how it devastated my brother. I think that's why they had a soft spot, besides the fact that he was a legacy, that they allowed him to hang out with them. Less than a year after his dad's death, Brandon found a distraction from his grief

when he met 24-year-old tattoo artist Amber Andrews. Brandon had met Amber on a motorcycle run to Red River. Brandon really was smitten with Amber because she was beautiful. She was attractive, tattoos, the way she dressed. It was just right up Brandon's alley. Within a few months, the two married in Las Vegas, and the wedding was fashioned

after their own rebellious tastes, complete with the date of June 6, 2006. 666. As a local minister, and the authority given to me by the state of Nevada, it is my honor and privilege to announce to you as husband and wife of Brandon, you may now kiss your beautiful bride.

Congratulations. Whoo! and wife of Brandon, you may now kiss your beautiful bride. Congratulations. Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! Soon after, on December 15, 2006, their son Brando was born in the heart of Sin City. Brandon got it. He knew the most important things as to being a father.

But four years into their marriage, it became clear that while Brandon embraced family life, Amber struggled to settle down. She would go out at all hours of the night, and that ultimately led to their divorce. Brandon is granted full custody. The reason my brother got custody is because he was a responsible person. He had a full-time job, well paid, he had a vehicle, he had

all his ducks in a row. Following the divorce in 2010, Amber moved back to her hometown of Meeker, Oklahoma. Brandon also decided to leave Vegas. And that's when he came back to San Diego and I think he was at first living with Cindy, Brandon's mom. In the summer of 2012, after being apart from Brando and Brandon for a year,

Amber showed up in San Diego, hoping to put the past behind them. She said, I want you back. I just, I want that life that we initially had. He loved his wife and he wanted his family unit together. The couple decided to make their fresh start in San Diego. But Amber asked for one favor before their son started school. She's like, can we just take Brando back to Oklahoma

to see my family before he starts kindergarten? Brandon agreed. He had this trailer that he'd pull his motorcycle in and load it up and was on his way to Oklahoma. They were only supposed to be gone for a week, and they went, and my son never came back. to be gone for a week. And they went, and my son never came back. Now, nearly a week after the young family left California,

a man named Van Emblem sits before police, claiming his friend Justin Hammer may have killed Brandon. Van Emblem didn't believe that happened until he saw it with his own eyes and that's when he freaked out. With the passage of time and the potential for someone to be altering the crime scene, that was very important to us to act quickly. With such an extraordinarily violent crime being reported, investigators prioritize finding Justin Hammer.

They wanted to get him in custody. He's obviously a danger to the community. Coming up, authorities get one side of the story. He had stated that Brandon broke into his home. And learn of a love triangle with a dangerous twist. He said Brandon had made threats that he would essentially have the Banditos take care of him. August 8, 2012. Acting on a tip from Van Enblem, Garvin County investigators believe 30-year-old Justin Hammer

may have committed a grisly murder. Investigators ask Van to help them bring Justin in. They had Van call him as a ruse to set up a time to get together so that they could hang out. And while they were doing that, the police were following him, and when he got to a stop sign, they surrounded him. When we pulled him over that night at 1.30 a.m., Justin was very quiet. Strangely enough, you know, it's almost like I felt like Justin thought I'm caught. Under questioning, police press Justin for the name of his victim. Justin quickly admits it was Brandon Duran, just as Van had suspected.

But he says he didn't want to kill Brandon, he was forced to. I don't want no jail. It's pure self that beats. Justin says around 6 p.m. the day before, Brandon showed up to his house to deliver a message. Was he on his bike? Yeah. What did he want? I don't know.

Did he get into the house? He kicked open the door and he said, hey, Motherfucker, what's going on? What do you want? I don't know. Did he get into the house? He kicked open the door and he said, Hey, mother******, it's your day. Did he have anything with him? Weapons? You didn't see anything? Okay. And he kept coming?

Yeah. When detectives ask what motivated Brandon's threat, Justin reveals a mutual connection between them. Brandon Duran is the ex-husband of Amber Andrews. After their breakup, Amber and Justin Hammer began a relationship. He had stated that when Brandon broke into his home, Brandon said, Amber is with me. He had stated that when Brandon broke into his home, Brandon said, Amber is with me, she's gonna be with me,

we're gonna be a family, and you know, you're basically done. Justin claims he and Amber have seen each other on and off for the past couple of months, and Brandon was insanely jealous. Justin said that Brandon had made threats to him that if he didn't leave him and Amber alone, that he would essentially have the Banditos Smoke Choco Club take care of him.

He says that when Brandon showed up threatening to sic a notorious biker gang on him, he panicked. Justin claims once he realized what he had done, the fear of retribution from the Banditos forced him to conceal the shooting. The Banditos are a one percenter gang. They're considered from the American Motorcycle Association the one percent that is the criminal element. Justin Hammer had told the OSBI investigator he feared Brandon Durand.

Where's all the stuff that you used to clean up? I want you to walk me through step by step. How many pieces did you take off of his body? walk me through step by step, how many pieces did you take off of his body? I didn't count them. I don't know. Justin said he was using what they call a sawzall blade to cut his body into pieces and put into the paint

buckets in dog crate. According to Justin, Van helped him load the remains into his truck. But that's when Van panicked and left. Justin then drove to a pond on the backside of his property where he dumped the buckets and dog crate. Anybody help you? Van wasn't out there with you? No, sir.

He put him in concrete in the buckets, hoping that the concrete would set up and just completely sink the buckets to the bottom of the pond. He also got rid of Brandon's beloved motorcycle. Where's his bike? It's gone. He had contacted a family member of his and asked him if he wanted the parts to a motorcycle

and the family member came and got the motorcycle. He doesn't know anything, he just knows that you got a bike to him. He got no nothing except for the other bit. I called him and told him that somebody brought me a bike that I didn't want. Justin is placed in lockup as a team is dispatched to his property to recover the remains of Brandon Duran. As for the source of the men's rivalry, another team of officers find Amber Andrews and her son safe at her mother's house in Meeker, Oklahoma, 99 miles from where Brandon was killed. Amber is visibly shocked to learn that the father of her child is dead.

She said that she had been with him, that they were contemplating getting back together, and that she was upset. Amber admits that the reconciliation had been bumpy because she hadn't completely cut ties with her on-and-off boyfriend, Justin. because she hadn't completely cut ties with her on-and-off boyfriend, Justin. In fact, only a few days into the Oklahoma trip with Brandon, Amber claims that they'd gotten into a heated argument about Justin.

The day before, she'd had to go to a doctor's appointment, and she claims that once they got down to Garvin County, he got mad at her, took his motorcycle off the back of the truck and just drove off. She claimed that he left in a rage to confront her boyfriend to tell him to back off. After the argument, Amber says she went back to her mother's house to meet a friend.

Erin Smith was a friend of Amber's. She'd gone over to Amber's mother's home to have Amber work on a tattoo. Investigators leave Amber to grieve and meet the other team of officers at the home of Justin Hammer. During the search of the house, they quickly find evidence that seems to contradict Justin's version of events, starting with the claim Brandon kicked the door in. They could tell from the way the door had been kicked that it had actually been kicked from the inside, not from the outside. There is a distinct shoe print on the door. Sure enough, we find a pair of Nike shoes in Justin Hammer's home that had that exact

same pattern on them. Investigators also locate a gun safe. There was a.410 shotgun there, and Justin admitted to using a.410 shotgun. Inside the gun safe, they found the pistol. That was our first indication that two different weapons may have been used. weapons may have been used. Then, investigators find something in the safe that further pokes holes in Justin's story. Right next to that pistol was a list of all of the things they needed to buy to dismember Brandon's body. The buckets, the saw blades, the materials and cleaners to clean up the crime scene. Between the two guns, the staged break-in and now the shopping list, Justin's self-defense

claim is quickly falling apart. This crime was not perpetrated by someone who did it on spur of the moment. Investigators collect both guns for DNA and fingerprint testing. Then they shift their focus to the pond behind Justin's house. Under the cover of night, the team is able to recover the first bucket. They take off one of the lids and they see body parts. In total, they pull five sealed buckets from the pond. As CSI assess the buckets, they find one includes

more than just body parts. The blades that were used to dismember Brandon were found in the buckets. They also locate the dog crate and a nearly indescribable scene. The dog crate, we believe, came from Hammer's property, and that was what Brandon's torso was in. A lot more happened at that house and that was what Brandon's torso was in.

A lot more happened at that house than just a tragic act of self-defense. Back at the station, officers charged Justin with first-degree murder. The medical examiner's office took the buckets, took the dog kennel with the body inside so that we could do an autopsy. Coming up, the autopsy points to a stunning new theory. Someone else may have been involved in the murder.

And investigators learn disturbing details of a romance gone off the rails. He was telling me that she just goes off and hits me and hits me and won't stop. In the 1980s, a rose swept the country. Hey Mike, I really like this white Zinfandel. Well good, good. Now put it down, we're gonna try another one. White Zin became America's top-selling wine. But most don't know that this sweet drink has a sour history.

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It's been 72 hours since Justin Hammer shot his romantic rival Brandon Duran and dumped his dismembered body parts in a pond behind his house. After investigators recover the remains, the medical examiner begins the daunting task of an autopsy. She said that the body was cut up, I believe, into 25 pieces. He was using a sawzall blade to do that, to cut his body. His head, his arms, his legs were cut into pieces. The autopsy reveals Brandon was gunned down not by one weapon, but two.

There were two different calibers used to kill Brandon Durant. They found four bullet holes. Three of them are from the pistol, one of them is from a shotgun. According to the medical examiner's office, the 22 bullets entered the top right of his head over in this area. And then when he was in a side recumbent position, he was already down. And somebody stood over him, Bonnie and Clyde Stile, and shot him in the face with a.410 shotgun. up.

Investigators find it unlikely that Justin took the time to switch weapons after the first three shots. That leaves them with a new working theory. There was the potential that someone else may have been involved in the murder of Brandon Dren. Was Justin covering for someone? He'd made it clear that Van Emblem was not an accomplice. There was no reason not to believe Van Emblem

and what he told us that he witnessed. He gave details that were believable, but it was still unbelievable that he acted alone. With more questions than answers, investigators dig deeper into Brandon's personal life. They start by reaching out to Brandon's family in San Diego to deliver the tragic news. I was writhing on the floor.

I was... My whole world ended. My children are my everything. My mom got the call. She was hysterically saying, he's dead. They killed him. And I'm like, what are you talking about? And she had to reiterate, your brother is dead.

And she had to reiterate, your brother is dead. Investigators asked Brandon's family about his affiliation with the Banditos. Justin Hammer portrayed Brandon Duran as just a bad dude. Brandon Duran wasn't that. He was a motorcycle enthusiast. My brother wasn't a member of the Banditos at all. He wasn't even a prospect, he was just a supporter. The reason he was allowed to hang out with them is because he was his dad's legacy. They tell investigators that the only person Brandon had ever had issues with was his ex-wife

Amber. According to his family, Brandon's relationship with Amber had been marred by violence and infidelity from the start. When he was in Las Vegas, he would call me quite a bit. And the phone calls were always, I don't know what to do with this woman. She would purposely start a fight so that she could go and leave and do what she wanted to do.

When she would come home, she would have smeared makeup, and her hair would be messed up up and she'd still be wasted. He was telling me that she just goes off and hits me and hits me and won't stop. Brandon divorced Amber in 2010 and was awarded full custody of their son. Him gaining full custody of Brando obviously shows that he was not the aggressor. We didn't hear from her for a while and we were so grateful. And I kind of was afraid to ask if you heard from her, but I didn't want her to be around. But in July 2012, over a year after their divorce was final, relatives say Amber came back into Brandon's life

begging for one last chance. My brother, being the responsible, loving father and husband that he was, he said, yeah, let's do this. I don't want my son to have a broken home. Having reconciled, Amber wanted to take their son to Oklahoma to visit her family. When they were leaving here in San Diego, he put his motorcycle in the back of his truck and strapped it down, and that's how it got out there. The family tells police Brandon planned to work on the bike once he got to Oklahoma.

It wasn't working. I'm not sure what was wrong with it, but it wasn't a quick fix kind of thing. To authorities, the fact that Brandon's motorcycle wasn't running raises an immediate red flag. A negated Amber story. That, oh, the last I knew is that he rode off on the motorcycle because he was mad. It also negates what Justin said. He didn't drive up in the motorcycle to Justin's house if it's not working. If Brandon didn't ride off on his motorcycle to confront Justin. What happened to him?

Amber told investigators that after Brandon left, she went to a doctor's appointment. We called the doctor's office and confirmed that she never made it there. We now had another party, Amber Andrews, in this equation. We knew that she may have been involved. We felt like there was more to the story. Authorities reach out to Erin Smith, Amber's alibi for the night of the murder. Erin tells police that when she arrived at Amber's mother's house that day, both Amber and Brandon were there. During the tattoo, Erin says that Amber gets a ding

on her cell phone, gets a text message. And she goes and looks at the phone. She goes, oh, we've got to go. Erin agreed to watch the couple's son. Amber hurried Brandon out the door for what she said was a doctor's appointment around 3 p.m. Aaron realized as soon as the couple left that Amber took Aaron's phone by mistake and left her own phone at her mom's with Aaron. Aaron was calling her own phone with Amber's phone. And the phone itself was completely turned off.

It was not normal that her phone would be off and not be active for eight to nine hours. Coming up, Erin's interview leads to a disturbing conclusion. Erin said that she looked disheveled, she looked exhausted, that her hair was all messed up. She really had no alibi when the homicide was taking place. Authorities in Garvin County, Oklahoma are honing in on Amber Andrews as a possible accomplice in the murder of her ex-husband. Amber's alibi for the night, her friend Aaron, says Amber showed back up at her mother's

house around 11 p.m. after leaving Aaron to babysit her son for nearly eight hours with no explanation. It just struck me odd that she shows back up at home in the pickup absent Brandon and absent the motorcycle. Aaron said that she looked disheveled. And Aaron inquired, well, where's Brandon? She said, well, we got to a fight and he got in his motorcycle and left. Then Amber made a strange request. And she's like, oh, by the way, do you have a receipt?

Did you go out tonight? And she goes, I'm really needing your receipt to show that I was up here. She just thought, well, no, I don't have a receipt. Why in the world do you need a receipt if you haven't done anything that you need to conceal? Police secure phone records for both Erin and Amber's phones. It's clear from the records that Amber turned Erin's phone off when she left her mom's house at around 3 p.m. and it wasn't turned back on until an hour before she returned. So Amber had a period that she really had no alibi for and we know now that that's when

the homicide was taking place. On Amber's phone, investigators find a single text message from Justin at 3 p.m. The exact time Amber rushed Brandon out the door for the alleged doctor's appointment. The text message was a text message from Justin Hammer that said the ink is ready. We think that was code for everything's ready, get Brandon down here so we can murder him. While Erin's statement and the text message all point to Amber's involvement, authorities still can't place her at the crime scene.

And calls to Amber's friends reveal that her reconciliation with Brandon was fake. It was, in fact, a ruse and not to get her family back together, but so that they could kill him. One thing that the friends that were interviewed had always said is Amber would work up Justin and really bad mouth Brandon. It would get him fired up up and he'd start saying,

you know, I'm gonna kill that MFR. And then Amber would chime in, yeah, we're gonna kill him, you know. And he even said, I'm gonna shoot that in the face. We knew that she may have been involved, but we did not have any evidence to make an arrest of Amber

in this case. Investigators revisit the evidence collected during the search of Justin's home. They hone in on the macabre shopping list found in the gun safe. Investigators compare the handwriting to a signed document Amber had left in Justin's home. They did hand-running analysis. They compared and they were similar.

And this was her hand-running on both. Further proof comes when investigators contact the local hardware store. They find Justin Hammer on surveillance footage the night before the murder, purchasing the items from Amber's list. Justin Hammer was on video buying the buckets, buying reciprocating saw blades of several kinds.

He was driving his pickup, and that evidence that Ace Hardware, in the video at Ace Hardware really solidified. This was a very deliberate and planned murder of Brandon Durand. With only circumstantial evidence against Amber, prosecutors first focus on Justin's trial and conviction. He really wanted us to focus on Justin's trial and to get Justin Hammer's case through

the criminal justice process so then we can then focus solely on Amber. For two years, prosecutors prepare for Justin's trial while Amber remains a free woman. The Department of Human Services had taken custody of Brando when this happened, because when it happened, of course, his father's murdered, and his mother was being questioned by police. In July of 2014, Justin Hammer's trial gets underway. Even though a mountain of evidence says otherwise, Justin takes the stand and continues to claim that he acted alone and out of self-defense.

Justin never ever threw Amber under the bus, never implicated Amber at all. He attempts to explain the two different guns used to kill Brandon. Justin Hammer did say that he had used two weapons, one in each hand. Kind of strange that, you know, someone acting in self-defense would get two different type weapons. That was odd in itself. When confronted with the footprint evidence, Justin has a new explanation for what happened. He tried to then say that Brandon forced the door open with a shoulder.

Justin also claims that the items on the list written by Amber were intended for a home improvement project, not to cover up a murder. He just so happens to buy these things right before he kills Brandon. We didn't think that that was very credible. In the end, the jury agrees. They find him guilty of murder in the first degree. He was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. We really felt like justice was served with that sentence.

But investigators and Brandon's family worry that justice won't be served when it comes to Amber. I was very worried that she would get off. A lot of times women do, because they just don't believe that a woman can be capable of this kind of thing. But I was not going to stop. Coming up, investigators and prosecutors

fight for the chance to see Amber in court. She orchestrated this whole thing. She was very good at manipulating men, a master of it in fact. I don't think there was any stopping Amber Andrews. October 2014. After Justin Hammer is convicted of the 2012 murder and dismembering of Brandon Duran, authorities remain determined to see his alleged co-conspirator, Amber Andrews, behind bars.

With no fiscal evidence against Amber, we didn't know if that would happen. Prosecutors take Amber's case to a multi-county grand jury. That grand jury heard the evidence against her and rendered an indictment for murder in the first degree, felony desecration of a corpse, and felony conspiracy. In April of 2015, nearly three years after Brandon's murder, Amber is arrested at her mother's home. After they arrested her, prosecutors spent almost two years building this case. They were able to basically very patiently cross all their T's and dot their I's

to make sure they had the goods on her. In the spring of 2017, Amber's trial is finally underway. She pled not guilty. The defense was simply that she was not there, she did not do it, and she had no prior knowledge that it was going to occur, that Justin Hammer acted at his own volition. Prosecutors counter by painting Amber not only as an accomplice, but the mastermind. Amber is a woman who was very good at manipulating men to get what she wants.

A master of it, in fact. She just used this Justin Hammer guy to do her dirty work for her. It was Amber, prosecutors allege, who lured Brandon to his death on August 7, 2012. I believe Amber Andrews convinced Brandon to go to Justin Hammers with me. I'm done with him. I have belongings there. Let's go get my belongings.

And I think that's how she lured Brandon to Justin's, where actually Justin was lying in wait for Brandon to murder him. Where he's been shot by, we believe, Justin, with Amber shooting him as well. And then they together help dismember the body. The fact that Amber's fingerprints weren't on the guns doesn't diminish her guilt in the eyes of the law. They never proved whether Amber is the one that fired the.22 pistol or the shotgun. They didn't have to place her as one of the gunmen. If you aid in a bet in premeditated homicide with a malice of forethought, in the commission

of a crime with a firearm, it's first to pre-murder. It's for a screamer. When it comes to Amber's motive, prosecutors allege it's nothing less than pure evil. I think she was resentful that Brandon was a better parent than she was, that he was more stable, provided a better life for little Brando, and I think she wanted Brando at all cost. She killed him because he had full custody.

She couldn't win anymore through the courts or any other way. So she killed him to get Brando. She wanted to have him a possession. I win. I get Brando. You lose. I don't think there was any stop being Amber Andrews. In the end, the jury sides with the prosecution. I was very pleased that she was found guilty, and they saw past all the charade that she was putting up. On murder in the first degree, she got a life without parole sentence.

On desecration of a corpse, she got seven years. On conspiracy, she got 10 years. So Amber will die in prison. While Amber's conviction was a long-awaited victory for Brandon's family, the real triumph lies in how they've chosen to move forward. She might have taken my best friend, but he lives through Brando every single day. And this kid is amazing. He's so much like his dad. He has this quiet confidence, that humility. He is always looking out for the other guy. He is a leader beyond compare.

I try to live as good a life as I can, live my life for him. I know his family does the same. Justin Hammer is serving his life sentence at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary. Amber Andrews is currently housed at the Mabel Bassett Correctional Center in McLeod, Oklahoma. Neither are eligible for parole. Brando is being raised by Brandon's family. At 24, I lost my narrative, or rather it was stolen from me. And the Monica Lewinsky that my friends and family knew was usurped by false narratives, callous jokes, and politics.

I would define reclaiming as to take back what was yours. Something you possess is lost or stolen, and ultimately you triumph in finding it again. So I think listeners can expect me to be chatting with folks, both recognizable and unrecognizable names, about the way that people have navigated roads to triumph. My hope is that people will finish an episode of Reclaiming and feel like they filled their tank up. They connected

with the people that I'm talking to and leave with maybe some nuggets that help them feel a little more hopeful. Follow Reclaiming with Monica Lewinsky on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. Listen to episodes everywhere on February 18th.