True Crime with Kimbyr - PART 1 The Heartbreaking Andrew Family Murder - Robert & Brenda Andrew - True Crime Stories | Deep Dive

Episode Date: December 26, 2025

What could drive someone to destroy an entire family? On True Crime with Kimbyr, we explore the devastating Andrew family murder, uncovering the shocking events that led to Robert and Brenda Andrew’s deaths. With compassion and investigative insight, Kimbyr examines the motives, warning signs, and hidden dynamics behind this heartbreaking crime. From unsettling discoveries to the emotional fallout, True Crime with Kimbyr dives deep into a story that haunts both the victims’ community and the nation. Prepare for a gripping, emotional journey into a case that challenges our understanding of trust, family, and betrayal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hi everyone. Welcome back to my channel. My name is Kimberlea. If you've never been here before, nice to finally meet you. Own it all. Pay off your home, travel for life, drive a Ferrari. In celebration of the world premiere of the Monopoly Big Board Buckslot machine by Aristocrat Gaming, Yamava Resort and Casino at San Manuel is giving one person a $1.6 million dream package. The biggest prize in Yamava's history. Club Serrano members can earn daily instant prizes and secure a spot in the finale May 29th. Don't pass go and own it all. Only at Yamava, celebrating its 40th anniversary.

You in? Details at yamava.com must be 21-20. Please gamble responsibly. Monopoly is a trademark of Hasbro. Hasbro is not a sponsor of this promotion. Today's story has gotten to my head this week and I am still trying to recover from the pure evil that I have learned about. When a family is involved in horrific circumstances, it always affects me to a more intense degree. And today's story involves the Andrew family, mother Brenda, father Robert, and their two, children, Tricity and Parker. Before they became a family, the story begins with Brenda and Robert as individuals. So let me introduce you to Brenda Evers before she became Brenda Andrew. Brenda was born and raised in Enid, Oklahoma, to Donald and Rose May Evers. They were both devout Lutherans. Donald served in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War from 1953 to 1957, and then he married Rose in 1958, a Trinity

Methodist Church. Enid, Oklahoma is in the northwest. It's about an hour and a half away from Oklahoma City, and it's actually known as the Wheat Capital of the United States. I wouldn't necessarily call it a super small town like some of the other ones that have talked about because there was about 40,000 people living there at the time, but it was compared to other parts of Oklahoma. So I'm still going to give it that small town label, if you will. The Evers were a middle class family. Don Garfield County Courthouse and Rose was working as an administrative assistant for a local lumber company called Long Bell Lumber Company of Inid. Rose decided to quit to become a stay-at-home mom when the Evers first child Kimberly Dawn was born on September 16th, 1961. Just over three years later,

Brenda was born on December 16th, 1963. The Evers also had a son, John Jay, who was sadly described by the family, has severely mentally impaired. Both Kimberly and Brenda helped Rose with their brother John, and the Evers were unconditionally loving to those around them, in part because of how dedicated they were to their Lutheran faith, unwavering in their devotion to the church, helping others holding regular prayer groups in their home, and gathering for family meals.

Brenda was shy. She was cute, petite, she was a quiet little girl, who was always meticulously and modestly dressed, with her clothing buttoned all the way up. She was dedicated to getting above average grades in school, attending church throughout the week, and spending most of her time helping care for her brother, John. People who knew the Evers described them as stepping right out of a 1950s sitcom.

Brenda's close friend, Eileen, Zander Littlefield. She would spend a lot of time with the Evers, and she too came from the same upbringing, the type of household that valued the image that they portrayed to everyone around them. But even Eileen noticed that Brenda was different from the other kids. She was not interested in talking about boys, but preferred to focus on playing the trumpet and doing well in school. She was one of the only friends in their friend group who got straight A's. Brenda respected her parents and followed in her mother's footsteps acquiring skills in cooking and sewing,

which really did not help to widen her social circle. Many of her friends thought that she was a little bit odd. However, Brenda was a good friend. She loved to help others. She was always the first one to offer her assistance, so it was easy to count on her. Brenda was part of the church choir, and she went to a Lutheran grade school. She was involved in a lot of youth group activities. The Ever Sisters were members of ongoing ambassadors for Christ, which is an evangelism program

for teens, and they also worked at a Lutheran summer camp. When she got into middle school, Brenda's mother allowed her to enroll in baton, twirling class when she was in seventh grade. These classes were held at the twirling academy every Wednesday night at 6 p.m. and she was part of the twirling group of about 10 other girls her age. Brenda's mom let her do this because it was a safe and wholesome sport and it let Brenda be a part of what the other kids her age were doing like going to football games without getting into trouble because unlike everyone else, when the game was over, Brenda would go straight home. Even as she got older into high school, this remained her routine. She would go out to

the football games, twirl her baton or play trumpet in the band, but never go out to the parties with the other kids afterward. She didn't drink and she never smoked or did anything like that. She was very conservative and it was clear to everyone around her. She conformed to what her parents believe was expected of a young girl her age. It wasn't just that though. Brenda was taught to be quiet and private because of her brother John's condition. It made Kimberly and Brenda strong individuals, but they were taught to be careful and guarded. I think there might have been a stigma of some kind about children who were different back then, which is actually very unfortunate and sad. Keeping up appearances could have been important to the Evers. Rose was involved

in the Lutheran's Women's Missionary League, as well as other Lutheran social and charitable groups, that were associated with her church community. So I am sure that she had a reputation to uphold when it came to her family. In 1977, when Brenda was around 15, Rose went back to work as church secretary for Redeemer Lutheran Church. So not only was the Evers religion and part of their daily lives, but it was also part of Rose's work life and her career. It was when Brenda was a senior at Chisholm High School that she met Robert Andrew for the first time. In order to understand what drew these two together and how they became a couple, I have to introduce you to Robert. Robert, Dale Andrew, was also born and raised in Needed, Oklahoma.

He was born September 19, 1962, to father Eugene Russell Andrew, who went by his initials E.R. And his mother, Llewellyn Andrew. E.R. and Llewellyn had children back to back, except their youngest child Tom, who came about eight or nine years after Robert. The first was Bill, and a couple years later you had Tim, followed by Robert, their third child, and later younger brother, Tom. Robert grew up in a very wholesome family with strong family values. He had a happy childhood, but it wasn't without stumbling blocks. However, he could lean in on his older brothers and his family for support. They were a very close family.

It's nice having siblings that are not too far apart in age because you can enjoy things together, but even Robert's younger brother, Tom, enjoyed skiing and hanging out with his older brothers. E.R. and Llewellyn raised their boys into fine gentlemen. However, when Robert was a child, he wasn't as athletically inclined as his older brothers. It was almost like his body was fighting against him. He was awkward, and he hid that with his humor and his creativity. The physical struggle began with his eyesight. This made sports somewhat of an issue.

You know, you can't keep your eye on the ball if one of your eyes wanders. That can be a problem. Depth perception was a real issue for Rob. So we ended up having to get glasses and do special eye exercises so he was able to gain control over that eye. I'm kind of surprised he wasn't offered some kind of surgery. Maybe back then this was the route that doctors took because it was less risky. I'm not sure. But I've seen people who have had a wandering eye like that get surgery.

or have like a patch over one eye so they could build the strength. Over the years struggling with this physical obstacle, Rob had built other qualities about himself, and these qualities would make him successful in his future. Short stories, telling jokes, and having his entire family laughing out loud at the dinner table. I think personality is so important. It's better to have this personality and be physically attractive

than just be physically attractive alone, or it can help if, you know, you know, you're not so fortunate in the looks department. It's a really good quality to have to be funny and personable and be able to command a room. Robert actually attended the same high school as Brenda. However, he was a year older. So after graduating, he attended Oklahoma State University. And he was studying for a degree in advertising and marketing.

It was while he was a student there that he met Brenda, who was still, like I said, a senior in high school at the time. Brenda knew Robert's younger brother, Thomas. And Brenda had grown up a lot since the last time I talked about her back when she was in middle school, twirling her baton and playing the trumpet. By this time, she was turning heads of every guy in her small town. But there was one guy that she kept asking Thomas about, his older brother, Robert. And Tom had to help his big bro out and let him know there's this really cute girl that comes to the community pool in town. He said, next time you're home, you two should meet. And they did.

was love at first sight, but really, Robert was smitten by Brenda's beauty. He thought Brenda was absolutely stunning. He couldn't keep his eyes off of her. Rob would later tell friends that he was at the community pool during the summer. He looked over and saw Brenda in her swimsuit and she looked so good that he couldn't help but approach her. Brenda was only 19 at the time. Rob lived about an hour and a half away because he was attending Oklahoma State, but they did start seeing each other and eventually they do become exclusive. After graduating high school, Brenda moved away to attend St. John's Lutheran College in Winfield, Kansas. But a year later, she transferred to Oklahoma State University to be closer to Rob. He was serious about his studies

and spent his time working on various school projects. Rob wrote for the university newspaper, the old collegian, and he was also actively involved in OSU's advertising club. In 1980s, In 1984, Robert graduated with a degree in advertising and marketing. And that same year, he proposed to Brenda. And of course, she said yes. Robert had a similar wholesome upbringing as Brenda. He was intelligent, funny, good-looking, and he just graduated with a degree. He was planning to go into a lucrative advertising career.

It was all the qualities that someone like Brenda was looking for and a guy that she knew her parents would approve of. Besides, they were in. inseparable. They seem to be the perfect couple, especially based on the way that they both grew up and their belief systems. Brenda just really thought that Rob was husband material, someone that she could start a family with. So after they both graduated, they lived in Oklahoma City and got married June 2nd, 1984. Brenda was interested in a career in finance while Rob was actively looking to break into the advertising industry. He was offered a job at an advertising company in Texas, so he and Brenda relocated there. And Brenda ends up landing a job that she really likes. Things are going well for the

couple. Rob is excelling at work. Brenda has made some really solid friendships in town and she loves life away from the Bible Belt and she was living in a place with a good old Southern hospitality. It was a nice change for her. It was exciting. It enabled her to be her own person aside from her family. And I've experienced this. I don't know if you have, but you become your own person. you step away from your parents. Especially if you have parents like Brenda who kind of, you know, kept her in her own little shell and her own little bubble.

Because back in her hometown, everyone knew her. And they probably expected her to act a certain way and be a certain way because of her past and her upbringing. But as an adult, getting away and being on your own, to become your own version of yourself, it can be very empowering. It was as though Brenda was really coming into her own

and feeling independent. Brenda and Rob were, about to go through their first struggle as a couple. It wasn't something they couldn't figure out. Why I mentioned this is because many times when we see shows about cases or we read about them, we only hear about the good things and I think we all know that no relationship is perfect. Let me explain. Just as they were putting roots down in Texas for the last couple years, Rob admits to Brenda that he missed being back home. He dreamed of working for a very prominent advertising firm back in Oklahoma City called Jordan Advertising Associates. Their client list

included his alumni, Oklahoma State, as well as energy giant, one okay. The position he wanted was a high-paying one with a lot of room to grow, but Brenda wasn't thrilled. She was happy. She was content. She was growing. However, Rob, he wasn't even offered this position yet. He would I'd call her regularly to talk to the president and CEO, Jeanette Gamba, to ask whether or not there were any openings, but no such luck. However, Brenda knew that it would be a possibility, and she wasn't exactly hoping it would happen. But it did happen. In 1988, after two years of checking in with Jeanette, she finally informed Rob that they had a position to offer to him. It was an exciting time.

This was his dream. He had worked so hard to get here, and it was all coming together, except it wasn't. Brenda couldn't leave. Instead of making it into more of an issue, they made a compromise. Rob didn't even know if he was going to like this job, or if he was going to like being back in Oklahoma. So Brenda would stay in Texas while Rob moved back to Oklahoma until he knew for sure that this is what he wanted, and that this was what was best for the couple. So the pair lived apart for a few months until Rob made the decision.

to stay at Jordan. He relayed all the positives to Brenda, which included being close to their families, and they planned to start their own. So it made sense for them to move back, and Brenda agreed. It was hard for people to disagree with Rob. He was always so good at making sense of things. There is something so extraordinary about Rob, and it's what drew people to him and made them love him and respect him. It wasn't just hard work, intelligence, a sense of humor. It was the principles that drove him to be who he was. Getting to know Rob and his family through this research I did changed me as a person because it taught me something that he shared with so many others. Any chance he got, hope and persistence. It sounds ordinary, but what made these lessons unique was where they came

from for Rob, two books that he kept in his desk drawer at his office. You may be familiar with one or both of them. The first one I remember from my childhood. Dr. Seuss's green eggs and ham. This is what I thought made Rob unique and taught me something that I had not heard before. Rob considered it to be the best business book in the world because by the end of the book, he persuades a gourmet chef to sample green eggs and ham and eventually like it. This book taught Rob the value of persistence. The other book was the Bible, which he studied every morning before work.

He even kept a prayer journal. and he would use it as a place to record his thoughts, Bible scriptures, and his intentions and interpretations of how these things related to his life. This is what instilled the message of hope and Rob, but his devotion to God and picking up his Bible again the way he was, that didn't happen until later. And you'll find out why in just a moment. After settling back down in Oklahoma City, Brenda landed a job at Bank of Oklahoma, and she rose up through the ranks and became a personal banker. Brenda wasn't just beautiful. She was intelligent, hardworking, and she enjoyed being social with her coworkers, and she made a number of close friends at the bank. A lot of times her and Rob, they would go out on double dates with other couples, and Brenda had gained a lot of confidence over the years. She had come out

of her shell, and maybe it was because of Rob's outgoing personality and it rubbed off on her, but she was not the shy little girl with a clothes all buttoned up here to her neck. She had blossomed into a very gorgeous, kind, fun to be around, sexy woman. She stood out in a crowd. There was something about Brenda, a twinkle in her eye or her big, perfect, pearly smile. She had charisma. She looked like the girl next door, but all grown up, and Rob considered himself so lucky,

and he really was because he had everything he had always wished for. And just like Brenda, Rob loved his job. It was his dream job. Rob came to work every morning with gratefulness in his heart. He was always the first one to get to his office. He was extremely friendly and outgoing and very creative. The traits that I told you he cultivated growing up that would serve him well in his future. Robert was always cracking jokes and making people smile.

He had the best laugh. It was that infectious laugh, the type that it's nearly impossible to hold back your own laugh. And Rob even did things like. like bringing a bunch of slurpees to work for everyone because he decided July 11th would be 711 day. I love slurpees. I'm from South Florida. I used to walk to my local 7-Ele back in Fort Lauderdale as a kid and I would get slurpees with my friends. Now, I don't want to tell you what we used to do because it was illegal. But let's just say we would, well, I'll just tell you, we used to put candy inside the cup and then fill it up with a slurpee and then only pay like

a dollar I'm a terrible child I need to slap on the wrist now I'm craving a slurpy many people Rob worked for saw him as a mentor he was always coming up with really cool ideas he would rush into the office and scribble something down on a piece of paper and then he would tape them onto the walls and look at them and come up with an advertising plan he made work fun and clients loved him he would take potential clients out for drinks and dinner ultimately winning them over with his personality and his creativity. And over the years, this would elevate him to senior vice president of Jordan Associates. But before that, there was another life-changing event that occurred.

On December 23rd, 1990, after six years of marriage, Brenda and Rob welcomed their first child into this world. Now, Rob chose her name, and it's a unique one. I had to practice it a few times because I'd never actually heard it be used as a name before. Her name is tricity. Yes. Not Trinity. One letter different. Tricity.

He thought it would be cool if one day his daughter were to run for public office and she made signs that said electricity. Yes, it's true. There's Rob's dad humor for you, but it stuck. It is pretty cool if you ask me. Like, I have a unique name myself. And I'm sure many people had trouble pronouncing her name. Considering it also looks like trice.

city in reference to like the tri-city area in different states, but no matter what they named her, tricity was an absolute joy to the Andrew family. Brenda loved children. After all, she did spend most of her time during her childhood caring for her brother. It was in her blood. It was who she was. Brenda's sister Kim became a nurse, probably for the same reason. The Andrews were a family now, and Rob was a natural family man having grown up with three brothers of his own. Brenda and Rob were active in their community and the church that they attended. It was called Village Baptist Church. Brenda would even help out with the Sunday school classes. After Tricity was born, Brenda quit her job and became a stay-at-home mom. It might have been the fact that both Rob and Brenda's mom did the

same. They were very attentive to their children, that Brenda felt the pressure to follow in their footsteps and stay-at-home with her child as well. She could have thought that this would give her the best life possible. Plus, financially, Rob was in the position to support their entire family on his own and give them a very comfortable lifestyle, including the ability to purchase a home in an upscale suburban neighborhood of Lansbrook and Oklahoma City. According to Lansbrook.org, it's a welcoming family-friendly neighborhood with a lot of charm. In addition to a lake, it has four parks with playgrounds, walking trails, a large pool, a tennis court, and security. There are several social events a week to ensure continued development of new friendships and pride in the neighborhood.

It was the perfect place for the Andrew family to grow. It was beautiful. It had lots of kids having fun at the community pool, barbecues and events at the clubhouse, smiling children at those parks I just talked about, and it was a great way for moms who were at home with their children to socialize, and that's exactly what Brenda did. It's an estate that consists of 180 acres around 400 single-family homes, duplexes, and beautiful landscaping. The Andrew home had three bedrooms, three and a half bathrooms, and it was close to 4,000 square feet on a 6,050 square foot lot. If you've been here before, you know that I'm probably going to find pictures, and here they are.

It's got a two-car garage, a nice, big, beautiful front yard. I love the little stone walkway that goes from the driveway to the front door. door. Hardwood floors, a beautiful fireplace in the sitting room, nice big kitchen for family meals. And it's also a multi-level home. It has a big deck out in the back. It's perfect for entertaining guests barbecuing, kids running around and having a good time playing together. And the rooms were very spacious. Look at the yard though. This really is what people dream about, the American dream and the Andrew family were living it. It just hurts me to think. that they've worked so hard to get here because I'm sure you realize we wouldn't be talking about this family

if something terrible hadn't happened to them. Brenda traded in her nine to five for chained in diapers, bouncing her little bundle of joy on her knee, socializing with other moms of the park, grocery shopping, and putting those little home economic skills that she learned in high school to practice. She definitely was following in her mother's footsteps with cooking and sewing and being a full-time mom and wife. She was good at it too. She was devoted to her role. She would have delicious dinners made and ready for Rob as soon as he came through that door every evening from work. Rob worked a lot because he wanted to provide everything he could for his growing family and it was growing because four years after Tricity was born, they welcomed a son

Parker Bryce. Now the Andrew family was really complete. And we are back where I started with the story with the family of four, Brenda, Rob, Tricity, and Parker. This is how they became the Andrew family. Brenda went from small town girl to basically a super mom. She did it all. She was at the Girl Scout meeting. She was at the bake sale fundraisers for the neighborhood, teaching the Sunday school classes, attending church regularly,

maintaining a social life at her church with her church friends, in the neighborhood with the neighborhood friends. and even at Rob's work functions with his work friends and colleagues and their wives. They had a good balance. Rob was dedicating his time to making sure the family had everything they needed financially. And Brenda was making sure that the household ran smoothly, that their children were in school and involved in their sports and their music and extracurricular activities.

They were just a happy couple, a happy family. However, happy or not, I told you nobody's relationship is perfect. and recall how I mentioned there was a time where Rob started to pick up his Bible more, even though they were already attending church. And Rob was doing a lot as far as bringing in the salary that afforded his family, this amazing home in this upscale neighborhood, nice cars, the essentials. He still felt like he wasn't doing enough for Brenda. He loved her so much.

And there was nothing he wouldn't do to make sure that she had everything she needed to be happy. And nobody said she wasn't happy. but Rob just kind of thought that they weren't as close as they were before and as close as he wanted them to be. But that's to be expected. In a lot of relationships, this is what happens when people become busy. Sometimes they don't have the same connection as they once did when they were dating when things were fun and exciting because you add children into the mix, friends, work, lots of new responsibilities. That kind of thing can make things a little dull, monotonous. And not only that, Sometimes when you're working very long hours, day in and day out, week after week, year after year, you can let your youthful physique go.

You're sitting at a desk, you're entertaining clients, you're going out for dinners all the time, time and time again. Well, that was what Rob was doing while Brenda. She was active. She was at the pool. She was at the park playing with the kids. And I told you she blossomed into a very stunning woman. Rob was so proud to have her on his arm. She was a complete package.

some would probably refer to her as the trophy wife. And I have to mention, Brenda traded in her turtlenecks for definitely more revealing mature adult clothing. And if Rob thought she was hot at 19, he thought she was even more gorgeous at 30. But Rob wasn't the only one who noticed his wife. Yes, there were comments.

She didn't look like the other wives that came to the work events. Many of the women were considered to dress frumpy or conservative, but not Brenda. She was different. She had enough of wearing modest outfits in her past. She was a grown woman who made her own rules and good for her. That's the thing, though.

She also looked a lot younger for her age. She was 30 and sometimes people would look and pause because of what she was wearing because she looked 10 years younger. She could still pass for 20 even though she was 30. And Rob kind of felt like he needed to keep up. We've all been there one way or another, even if it's not in a relationship, it could be trying to keep up a certain caliber at your job or being at a different place in our lives than someone else. It can put a lot of stress on someone.

And Rob just didn't feel like he was good enough. He started to confide in his friends and his family and he told them, I want to have a stronger bond with my wife. So they gave him the advice to go seek out counseling from a pastor at their church and lean into God. And in doing so, it renewed or revived Rob's faith and it became more powerful than ever. He went from going out drinking with his clients to praying over them and listening to what God wanted when it came to everything that was important to him. So whether it was the fact that he threw himself into this religious aspect of his life and kind of forgot about anything he thought was wrong or if it really did help to strengthen their marriage either way, Rob became a fixture at the local church. And over the years, people

watched him grow in his faith and become a mentor to others. He was very respected. There were other men who wanted what Rob had with his family, his career, his finances, and his spirituality. He was looked at as a very devoted Christian. And over the next few years, many people began going to rob for advice. They knew that he would always give them a positive attitude and open and honest answers. That's why The elders in the church actually looked toward Rob. It was 1997 when something happened with a fellow church. And they were in need. They needed advice. Their pastor had resigned. Just left. And it was a big deal because they lost the leader of their entire church.

And they did not know what to do. Rob stepped up because he felt like this was part of his mission to come up with a plan. That's what he did for work. He would come up with a plan. And even though it was advertising, and marketing, it was still kind of the same thing. They had to advertise and market this church to have a new pastor want to come and be the leader. He and other members from the church got together and they prayed. They would have regular prayer meetings trying to find out what God wanted them to do for the future of this church. And finally, Rob and a few others with the means to do so came up with a plan. They decided that their church would sponsor a new church for the one that lost their pastor. And Rob was pivotal in this coming together.

He founded this new church. It was called North Point Baptist Church. And he also became a deacon there. Now Rob, Brenda, and their children were even more of a fixture at North Point Baptist Church. Because they started to attend that one instead of Village Baptist. All eyes were on them. But mostly Brenda. Because they didn't think she was dressing appropriately.

And this was an ongoing situation, and Brenda did not seem to care. It's not as though they were going to kick her out of a church that her husband founded, right? And after all, aren't Christians supposed to be accepting? I don't know. I'm not sure. But they weren't accepting of her at this point. And despite the complaints, Brenda continued to wear what she wanted and teach her fifth grade Sunday school class every week. And Rob continued to fulfill his role as Deacon for North Pointe Pointe.

Baptist. He even did missionary work in South America, and he remained devoted to his family and smitten with Brenda. In 1999, Brenda's mom Rose retired so that she could spend time with her husband of 42 years and their grandchildren. Both Brenda and Rob's parents and families were very involved in their children's lives. Brenda's sister Kimberly and Rob's three brothers would regularly get together for holidays and birthdays, and Kimberly would come to Parker and Tricity's She also loved to take them to Windchell's Donut House every Saturday for donuts. That sounds yummy. Brenda had always been close with her sister, so it's no surprise that her sister was a huge

part of her children's lives. Rob's dad, he was in real estate. It was a family business. It's called Andrew Real Estate. And Rob's dad served as the real estate commissioner and his brother Tom served as District 1 Vice President and had been on the local community board of realtors for a long time. Both families doaded on their grandchildren, and they had the means to do so. They were also trying to instill the same values in them that they instilled in Brenda and Rob.

They just had no idea that on Rob's 39th birthday party, September 19, 2001, it would be the very last time that family had an ordinary celebration together. Their lives were about to change forever. Over the years, other significant changes had already occurred. One was the heartbreaking death of Brenda's father, September 16, 2000. The day of Brenda's sister's birthday. How sad is it if your father were to die on your birthday? It's a day that you usually celebrate happiness in life. And now it was a yearly reminder that their father was no longer with them.

These are the times that families come together. Kim and her husband Jim were close with Brenda. They had five kids of their own. and this was the first parent that had passed away, so it changed things. A year later, in November 2001, the families were gearing up for the Thanksgiving holiday, which fell on November 22nd that year. But just two days before they had a chance to come together for food and fun, time would stand still. Another tragedy would occur.

On the evening of November 20th, a 911 call comes in to Oklahoma State. police department reporting what sounds like shots fired in the quiet landsbrook neighborhood shortly after that another 911 call comes in from 6212 shaftesbury road the address of brenda and rob andrew the woman's voice on the other end she's frantic you could hardly understand what she was saying she couldn't even catch her breath something terrible happened it's brenda and she's been shot She's finally managed to get to the phone to call 911, and she is desperately trying to explain to the 911 operator that someone came into her home and fired shots at both her and her husband Rob. The operator is trying to understand what's going on, but Brenda's hyperventilating. She tells them, I've been shot.

My husband has been shot. When they ask her who shot them, she says she doesn't know, but she needs help. That there is blood everywhere, that her arm is stinging, and she's been shot, and she's been shot. She's hurt. She makes her way back to the garage where Rob is lying on the ground. And the operator asked if he's still breathing and she says, yes, he's still breathing and he's trying to talk. The operator told her that help would be on the way.

They sent EMTs and police out to the Andrew home and they arrive within minutes. When they get on the scene, the garage door is open and they can see Brenda kneeling on the ground beside Rob, who's lying face up on the garage floor. near the door that leads into the home. They can tell that both Brenda and Rob are injured. The EMTs begin to render aid to both of the victims. This just doesn't happen in this neighborhood. It's a quiet community.

They don't hear about violence, let alone something like this to a family like this. As emergency personnel got closer to Rob, they noticed that he's clutching a trash bag against his body in front of him. and he is not breathing. He's lying there lifeless in a pool of blood. It's obvious upon closer inspection that he has two gun wounds, one to the side of his neck and one in his stomach. Sadly, at this point there was nothing that they could do for Rob,

and he was pronounced dead at the scene. Brenda is also hurt. She is shot in the upper part of her left arm, and she's being transferred to the hospital for treatment. Police are trying to out of her hand. Police are trying to ask her as many questions as they can to find out who did this. And she's giving them as much information as possible, but she's in a terrifying situation. And she's in shock.

And who wouldn't be at this point? You've just witnessed your husband being murdered and someone attempted to murder you too. All she can remember is that two men, she believes their men, in dark clothing with ski mask, entered her garage while her and Rob were inside. She said they started shooting and then they fled on foot. Now the police are concerned about the neighborhood for the community. These people could be anywhere at this point. So they put a helicopter in the sky and they decided to canvas the neighborhood.

They were going door to door on foot and they were also patrolling in vehicles to see if they could locate anyone with that description. Meanwhile, other officers that have arrived on the scene are doing a sweep of the house. This is a three-level home. They had to make their way from the garage. up to the other bedrooms and ultimately to the master bedroom where they can hear the TV is on. With their guns drawn, they enter that bedroom and that's when they find both of the children, 11-year-old Tricity and 7-year-old Parker. Both of them were watching TV unharmed. Thank goodness.

They're taken out of the house and over to a neighbor's home until the scene is cleared. but these poor children, they have no idea what has just happened to their parents at this point. And I honestly cannot imagine, and they're just so lucky. And so is Brenda. They're lucky to be alive. But she's not without injury. She's been rushed to the hospital to treat the bullet wound. And luckily, it hadn't hit any major arteries.

It was a through and through wound. So the bullet wasn't lodged inside. However, she does need to stay in the hospital overnight to make sure that everything is Okay. Detectives are eager to get information from her, but they know that she needs to relax because she's going to be told that her husband is deceased. The coroner is called out and the death investigation technicians remove Rob from the scene so that the crime scene texts can begin to collect evidence. The first thing they notice is the black trash bag that Rob is clutching in his hands. They remove it from his grasp and they see that it's full of empty soda cans. The impression that they got was that either he used this as a shield or he was in the middle of taking out the trash when he was wounded. I want to tell you the significant

findings from the scene at the home. There is a 22 caliber bullet found stuck in one of the walls of the garage. A 16-gauge shotgun shell is found on top of Brenda's maroon minivan that was parked inside the garage. Rob's black Nissan is parked outside in front of the garage and there are no signs of forced entry on any of the doors or windows in the portions of the home. It's likely that these perpetrators came through the open garage door from the driveway area. Rob's wallet was still in his pocket and as a matter of fact, some of the pellets from the shotgun went through portions of his wallet. None of the Andrews valuables have been removed. Nothing has been taken. No cars have been stolen, but there is no way to know that there wasn't

cash, let's say, stashed in the home or something like that. So at this point, they're categorizing this as a home invasion. They just don't know why somebody would target the Andrew family. They did have money. Plus, they were one of the only families that were home during the Thanksgiving holiday, which is a big time for crime. Black Friday is usually one of the biggest days for hits like this. Lots of Christmas presents would be inside before Christmas morning. Shopping is going on. People are out of town. So perhaps the person, and who did this thought the Andrews would be gone. And once that garage door opened,

and they realized that Brenda and Rob were inside, things went awry. What they can gather from the evidence is that Rob has been shot in two different places on his body, his neck and his stomach. The wounds indicate the 16-gauge shotgun was the weapon used, and he 22 was used on Brenda. All of this is about to add up

because even though Brenda had lost a significant amount of blood, she's coherent, and she has requested, to be brought down to Oklahoma City Police headquarters to provide details that she can remember from the attack. Meanwhile, police are going door to door. They notice that many people are out of town for Thanksgiving. It's very quiet in this neighborhood at the time. Two neighbors heard something that night. Lisa Gisler and Carol Shadid. Lisa said she heard a loud noise like three shotgun blasts. And Carol said she heard someone scream. The police searched by car around the vicinity turns up nothing.

And this was not much for detectives to go on. Even though doctors wanted Brenda to rest, she was adamant about going down to the police station and telling them everything right away. She did not want to wait a second. She didn't want to forget anything. While everything is fresh in her mind, she wants to get down there. She is literally still in her hospital gown. And when she's talking to investigators,

she explains that her and her husband, were in the garage and he was working on relighting the pilot light on the furnace because it had gone out again. As they're working on it, two people walk through that open garage door out of nowhere and without warning, they come towards them and the next thing she knows, she's hearing a shot ring out. Everything's happening really fast. She can't tell exactly what's going on, but at that point, she's in shock. She runs towards the inner part of the house through that door because her children are in there. and while she's running that way, she hears a second shot followed by a third shot. And then she noticed something happened to her arm.

So she runs to grab the phone and dials 911. And then she runs up to the master bedroom to make sure the children are okay. All the while she's explaining what's happening to the 911 operator. She says she saw two people. She thinks they were men wearing all black and ski masks covering their face. She goes back down to the garage and when she's on the phone with 911, she's checking on Rob. and everything else has already been recorded for police. This is good information, but unfortunately, it's not enough for them to go on.

Which makes sense because criminals don't exactly try to expose their identity when they're committing crimes, but since nothing's taken, they're wondering why else someone would target the Andrew family. And Brenda explains this isn't the first time that their home had been targeted. She had talked to the police probably around three months ago about someone who had possibly tried to burglarize their home. They ask her the typical questions that they ask everyone. Were there any enemies that your family had? She says she doesn't think so, but she doesn't know everything about what Rob does. He goes away a lot.

He's on business trips. He knows a lot more people than she does, but that they're both involved in their community and in their church. They definitely don't have any like volatile situations with anyone in their lives. So she has no idea. And she's also obviously still in shock and distraught. But most of all, she wants to know where her children are. The police are still questioning her, and they ask, did the men say anything? She said she did hear them say something to rob, but she couldn't make out what it was.

She didn't recognize their voices. And so far, everything that investigators know about what they found at the crime scene matches what Brenda is telling them. They now believe there are two shooters, considering there are two calibers of weapons used in this crime. And you probably know what I'm going to say next. They need to fan out and find people who knew the Andrew family. Specifically, Rob, since it appears that he is probably the initial target. They need to know what his lifestyle really was like, because I'm sure you know by now from watching these types of videos, looks can be very deceiving. We don't know what's going on behind the scenes.

We don't know what kind of business dealings are going on. It doesn't matter if someone goes to church. That could be a front. It doesn't matter. It doesn't make them a good person just because they're involved in their church or their community. So it is imperative that they go to Rob's work and his church and anywhere else that they could locate anyone that could give them information about whether they knew someone who would want to harm Rob or his family. And they're doing the same thing in regard to Brenda. They interview Brenda's friends and family as well. Luckily, the couple does share. a lot of the same friends in their friend group.

Since most of the time, Brenda hangs out with the wives of Rob's friends. So they get on this as fast as possible. And the word is traveling rapidly as per usual, especially in a quiet neighborhood like this one. And the news is out there. The media is all over it. And the families who are out of town for the holiday, they're freaking out.

Because they don't know what's been going on since they've been gone. They don't know if they're going to come back. back to homes that are completely emptied out. The police, it's not their job to go over there and check each one of these homes to see if they've been burglarized. And for all they know, while they've been searching for these perpetrators, they could have been going inside other people's homes, taking out thousands of dollars' worth of merchandise and gifts.

It's putting a lot of concern and anxiety on the residents of this community. When Brenda and Rob's next-door neighbors, Judy and Dean Gagstad hear what happened in town, they cannot believe it. Who could? You're not expecting to turn on the TV and see your neighborhood on the news with the word that your neighbor has been murdered. A family that you know, a family you've spent time with, they're close with. So Judy calls Brenda right away. She wants to know what is going on and she doesn't answer at first. But finally, she does get in touch with Brenda. She can hardly keep it together. She's crying on the phone. She's asking when is Judy going to get back? She knows that Brenda needs all the support she can get.

So they plan to cut their vacation short and be back in a few days. And they're eager to get it back home because they want to find out if anything happened to their house and their belongings. Not to mention the fact that Brenda was planning the holidays and now she has to plan her husband's funeral. Of course, she's going to have the support of her family, her sister, her sister's husband, Jim, and the police are already notifying Rob's family, his brothers, Bill, Tim, and Tom, and his mom, Llewellyn, and father, Yard. They're all finding out about the tragedy at this point. And of course, as you can possibly imagine, it's a heartbreaking time for these families. Rob is so loved by his brothers, by his mom and dad, and something like this can rip apart a family. But they're strong in their faith. And the most

important thing at this moment for them is to be there for Brenda and the children because the families are taking care of one another. And the investigators have a job to do as well, helping this family find out who did this. Five days go by. And in those five days, a lot of interviews and calls were conducted. I'm going to tell you all the different information that came out about the Andrew family. But before I do, something really significant happened when Judy and Dean come home. from their trip. This is when they get a big break in this case for the very first time. Obviously because they weren't home, they're not witnesses or anything like that. Let me show you where Dean and Judy's house is in relation to the Andrew home. It's right here.

To the left if you're looking toward their house, I want you to take a look at the fact that one of the rooms overlooks the deck that's located on the side of Brenda and Rob's home. you can see the deck here from the overhead view. If you look at these two homes side by side, they're very close together. Their homes are basically separated by just a fence. Judy and Dean's home has four bedrooms. So Judy goes into the master and she's unpacking her suitcase. She's pulling her clothes away and her shoes away.

And she opens her closet door and she notices something. Right away, she's scared because there's something that's not right. She used to have a little shoe rack and it was a little shoe rack. and it was gone. Why would a shoe rack be gone? All the shoes were still there. They were just placed on the floor where the shoe rack used to be.

That's weird. That's odd. And she doesn't want to be too alarmed or anything because one of her son's Jeff did stop by the home before heading out to meet them for Thanksgiving holiday out of town. But as she's looking around

throughout the room, she looks over and her bed is lopsided. It's like tilted to one son. something is not right, something's off. So she kneels down and gets on the floor and she starts to look underneath, and that's when she finds a shoe rack.

So she pulls it out from under the bed, as you could see it's clearly broken. It looks like someone stuffed it under the bed to hide it. What is going on here? Judy moves to the next room, which is the bedroom that overlooks Brenda and Rob's deck, the one I showed you right here. While she's in that room,

she immediately notices that the closet door is wide open, wide open and she knows she would not have left it open. So once again, she's thinking, okay, maybe her son Jeff, who was supposed to come by and get a few things, that he left it open. She looks down and sitting on the ground in front of the closet door is a 16-gauge shotgun shell, and that's definitely not normal. That is not her shotgun shell. Now they know someone has been inside their home and that is terrifying. When Dean looks at a shotgun shell, he says it looks like it has been ejected from a gun. Well, that's concerning,

because the only person that comes to mind that had access to their home was their son Jeff. They call him up, and at this point, they're thinking, could he have had something to do with that crime? They're just trying to come up with all kinds of theories at this point. They have no idea what's going on. So Jeff would come over from time to time. He didn't have to tell them he is,

but he would come to borrow things, and they asked him, okay, So you've been inside the house where you in these rooms when you came over? Because supposedly he stopped there for a playpen for his kid before he met them on their trip. He tells his mom, I was there, but no, I didn't even go in your bedroom. I didn't break your shoe rack. I only went in the guest bedroom to get the playpen. And then I left.

But the room he's talking about was the room with the closet door open and the shotgun gel. It was sitting on its brass rod. I'm going to show it to you right here. This is the way it looks. Because it's a 16 gauge, it's one that's not the most common. You usually see a 12 gauge or even a 20 gauge. But a 16 gauge, it's not as common. And Dean had remembered when he was listening to the TV that Rob was shot with a 16 gauge shotgun.

So they immediately call the police. Now when investigation begins at the Gigstad's house, the investigators get into the closet where the shoe rack was. And they guess it was probably used. to get into the attic because when they look up they notice that the access point to the attic has been slid open and they figure out that someone has climbed into that attic and they stepped on that shoe rack and it didn't hold their weight and it broke so they probably just stuffed it under the bed because they wanted to maybe buy some time in case someone came home maybe they wouldn't notice but of course they did so that attic

crawl space cover was opened and they went up up there and they found bullets inside. And these were unused bullets from a 22 caliber. If you remember this, that was the caliber used that caused Brenda the injury to her arm. In this attic, there's a small window. And guess where that window looks out to? Directly to the Andrews home. So of course, investigators are now theorizing that the killers were inside the Gikstad's home planning this ambush on this family. But who is the killer? Well, Judy has to admit to the investigators that their son Jeff was inside on the day the murder took place. He had the key to their home, which was relevant because there were no signs of force entry at their residence.

Because Jeff was the last known person inside their residence and he had access with the key, they have to question him. Because he is now on the top of the potential suspects list. He explains he wasn't there on the day of the murders. He was there the day after the murder. in the morning. And he wants to be clear and he wants to make sure they understand that this is the truth. Jeff's alibi is that one, he was never at the residence on the day of the murder, so he couldn't have done anything wrong. But two, he could prove it.

He was there to check on his parents' house, collect their mail, and get the playpen to take on the trip to Kansas for the holiday. When he was on his way out the door, he noticed there were messages that were not listened to yet on the answering machine. He pressed play and listened to a couple of the messages. They were from friends of the family and they were asking if everybody was okay because they just heard the news about the murders. The answering machine has a record of when the messages were played. And the messages were played the day after the murders, just like Jeff said. Jeff was the Gickset's adult son.

He was married with children and he said he was home with his wife when he found out about the murders. They asked him if he had any weapons and he does. and he does, he has a shotgun. So they definitely need to take a look. But they realized right away, it's a 12 gauge, not a 16, like the one that killed Rob. This coupled with the fact that he had an alibi

and no motive that they could think of to want to hurt this family, they had to move on to other suspects. But after speaking with Jeff and doing ballistics, the test confirmed that the ammo was from the same weapon used on the Andrews. So the investigators put together a theory of how they think the killers carried out this crime. They believe that after those shots were fired,

the perpetrators ran. It would only take seconds to get to the next door neighbor's home and hide inside. So they believe the perpetrators slept there overnight and that is such a nasty, like gross feeling an invasion of privacy, thinking that these people were in your home, but there's something even crazier.

They believe that the reason why the shoe rack is broken, and the attic was even gone into. And I initially thought it was because that's where they shot from or something. Like, I don't know. I was kind of confused when I first heard this. But then when I figured it out, I was like, oh my God, that makes sense. The perpetrators were in that home and they heard Jeff come into the house. So they ran to hide in the guest closet.

And they cocked the shotgun because they were getting ready in case Jeff opened the door and they were found. That's why that's why that's. shell casing was on the floor. And that's terrifying. When Judy heard this, she was in tears. She couldn't believe that her son could have been killed. So the next place they go after this, after clearing Jeff, is the North Point Baptist Church. The Andrew family had many friends at this church. And the investigators want to talk to the closest friends first. So they meet with a woman named Shannon James. She tells investigators she met Rob when they were on a mission trip together in Brazil. And when he took to do that.

told her that he did advertising and marketing, she just lit up. She was so excited and she told him that was her dream job. She always wanted to be in advertising her whole life. So guess what? Rob gave her a job and that's a pretty big deal considering he waited so long to get his dream job. I just want to stop to say this story hasn't even started yet and it's about to because things are going to get really crazy. Some of it is going to blow your mind. When you find out everything that's going on behind the scenes, you just wait. Shannon explains that Rob is a dedicated Christian. He has a very strong relationship with Christ.

He's a mentor as well as her boss. It's kind of everything we've already talked about. So moving on, Shannon says that Brenda is a loving mother. She's sweet and quiet. She teaches Sunday school at church. Detectives are thinking, we're not going to get anywhere in this case because they were hearing the same thing over and over again. about Rob and Brenda, no matter who they interviewed, and there's hundreds of people at this church,

but you just wait. If you're impatient to know more, just imagine how frustrating it was for detectives because it's the same story every time. It's like it had almost been rehearsed. Maybe because they're Christians, they didn't want to talk poorly about other Christians. The detectives didn't know for sure. But when you find out, you will be sitting here scratching your head and saying, and why didn't anyone do anything or say anything? Why did all this happen? Could it have been stopped? Because those were the things that I was thinking.

You would think someone like Shannon, who had actually known Rob for 15 years, the one he gave a job to, would know more about his life. But Rob was private. You're going to find out there's only a handful of people that he really confided in. So what about Brenda?

Well, when they were asking around the church, The investigators heard that Brenda liked to flirt with other women's husbands, and she would act a little too friendly toward men other than her husband. She would wear revealing outfits around the house while she had handy men there, or she even changed the color of her hair once because she learned that a guy she was flirting with loved redheads. This sounds more like town gossip than evidence of some kind, but this is what they're gathering at this point. However, the investigators were told they really need to look into what Brenda did in her spare time while Rob was at work. They're also informed that the elders actually asked Brenda to stop teaching Sunday school class.

Why was that? They were going to have to meet with them to find out. Maybe it had to do with the next fact they learned about Brenda and Rob that they didn't have a perfect marriage. They were separated. That's right. So how could this be possible? because we keep hearing about the fact that they are a happy couple. Well, sometimes, especially when you are a Christian,

you want to keep these things under wraps. Rob wasn't the one that wanted to get divorced. He didn't believe in divorce. He was absolutely in love with Brenda. But apparently, it wasn't the first time that they had been separated throughout their 17-year marriage. There were other times when they had to give each other a break. And ultimately, they would end up back together.

together.