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James Andrews Case Background

James Andrews (34) born on 4th December 1972 in the state of Texas, had just celebrated his birthday a few weeks before he was savagely gunned down outside his home in the early morning of 22nd December 2004. He was ramping up for Christmas in his little redbrick home he shared with his ex-wife, Sara on Rosemead Drive in Pasadena, Texas, USA. His home was adorned with the usual Christmas decorations, gifts under the tree and a festive feeling all around. His ex-wife and three children, Hailey (9 at the time of her father’s murder), Cody (6 at the time of his father’s murder), and David (5 at the time of his father’s murder) were eating their breakfast just feet away when gunshots rang out in the early morning.

Scooter had met his ex-wife, Sara when they were in high school. They had been high school sweethearts and had married in 1994 when Sara was just 18-years-old. Hailey joined the family a year later in 1995, followed by Cody in 1998, and then their youngest son, David in 1999. Scooter also had another child, a daughter named Melissa, with his ex-girlfriend, Misti Rae Cartwright Campbell (she is known by other first, middle and surnames, as well).

Sara Andrews said her husband was an incredible dad, he was going to college to better himself so he could provide better for his children, and he was working locally in a signage company nearby.

Was He Being Watched?

Every morning between 6:30 am 7:00 am Scooter would go out to his truck, wipe it down and collect his cellphone and wallet. This morning was no different, he had gone outside around 6:55 am to collect his cellphone and wallet from his truck and it was then someone had shot him, twice.

A few months before Scooter was brutally gunned down outside his home, he had been reported to have told Sara he was having trouble sleeping. He had begun to get very paranoid, looking over his shoulder and being unusually cautious. Sara had asked Scooter what was going on, but he refused to tell her

He was also in the midst of what was reported to have been a rough custody battle with Misti, over custody of their little girl, Melissa. Misti has since been in trouble with the law, she has various convictions for drugs.

Someone knew Scooter’s routine and knew he would go out between those times every working morning to wipe the dew off his truck and collect whatever items he needed for the day. Was he being watched? Was his paranoia justified?

The Shooting and the Aftermath

Scooter was shot twice, once in the shin (a disabling shot) and once in the right eye (execution style) which was the fatal shot. The gunman (or gunwoman) was approximately 3 foot away (ascending) according to the Pasadena police reports. He was just metres from his truck, which was unlocked. His wallet and cellphone were still in the truck, so he hadn’t even had the chance to retrieve them before he was gunned down.

There are harrowing photos released by ABC News that did a brief mini-documentary on the case which is available on Youtube (we’ve included the video below), which depict Sara, in her fluffy yellow robe, covered in her ex-husband’s blood after running out to attend to him when she found him, he was lying on the grass lawn outside their home. When she was interviewed she recalled hearing the two pops that she thought was a truck backfiring. Or, that James (or Scooter as she lovingly called him) had thrown something in the back of his truck which had caused the banging to occur.

Sara did recall seeing a white two-door Mercury Cougar (see picture below) turning off the streets, but it’s not mentioned which direction, after the shooting had occurred. She had no idea who would want to hurt him, and couldn’t understand why someone would kill a father of four who was deeply loved by his children, just days before Christmas.

There was no visual on the shooter, the neighbours didn’t see or hear anything.

Misti Cartwright Campbell

Misti was interviewed by Pasadena Police Department after Scooter had been murdered, and she undertook a polygraph (remember these are inadmissible in Court and don’t tend to hold much water most of the time, they are more a guide on deception than proof of deception), and failed it. When she was interviewed by the police following her failed polygraph she told the police she had an idea of who may have killed Scooter. Misti said she had been thinking about it since her first interview with the police, but thought the police wouldn’t listen to her which is why she hadn’t disclosed the information during the first interview. The question that Misti had failed on was if she knew who had killed James Scooter Andrews, to which she answered, “no“.

She was interviewed again, in 2005, and then confirmed she thought it was her ex-boyfriend, a reserve deputy who has not been named, nor has he been interviewed in connection with the case. She thought this because he said he knew how to get away with murder, and he would do anything for her. He was reportedly a law student, and this is part of the reason the police were unable to question him. It was stated that the person knew the law and how to get around questioning and won’t talk about the case to anyone.

We don’t usually comment on these cases, but we couldn’t quite believe why when she stated her ex-boyfriend would do anything for her, why she wasn’t asked what she meant by that. Did she want Scooter harmed because of the custody battle? Perhaps she was asked about this further but the full transcript of the interview hasn’t been released.

The Letter

After the murder of Scooter, although we aren’t quite sure how soon after the murder, there was an anonymous letter sent to the Pasadena Police Department stating that Scooter’s murder was in retaliation for a prior shooting that had occurred and Scooter had been involved in this shooting. We tried looking back through the shootings in 2004, there were 289.8 reported crimes, 8 of those were murders. Scooter wasn’t named in any of those cases, without knowing how far back to go we’re unable to confirm whether or not this is a crock of shit.

We have contacted Pasadena Police Department for further information on the letter and if they can let us know roughly when this letter was sent, where it was sent from/how it was sent (i.e. was it hand-delivered?) and if there is any truth behind this.

Reward

There’s a reward for $7,620 at present for any information that may lead to the arrest of the perpetrator of this crime.

Who to Contact if You Have Information

You can contact the Pasadena Police Department or Crimestoppers on the numbers, below. If you would prefer to email us with information (all emails are treated as confidential and are passed along to the detectives we are in contact with), you can do so by emailing us or by using our Contact Us section of the site.

Pasadena Police Department: (713) 477 1221quoting incident number 2004/52721

Crimestoppers: (713) 222 – TIPS, or (877) 999 – TIPS or, you can contact them online, here.

All calls to Crimestoppers are anonymous and treated with the utmost confidentiality. Calls may be recorded.

Youtube Mini-Documentary

As mentioned above we have included the video here for you to watch which gives an overview of the crime scene, evidence and some police interview tapes. It’s worth a watch.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=D35GLSCC5FA

Remembering Scooter 4/12/1972 – 22/12/2004

References

ABC 13 – Unsolved James Andrews Killed accessed 22.12.19

ABC 13 – Unsolved Guardsman Killed 15 Years Ago Feet from Family accessed 22.12.19

Chronicle – Reward Offered for Information regarding Murder accessed 22.12.19

City Data/Crime/ Pasadena Texas Crime accessed 22.12.19

Facebook.com ABC 13 Houston accessed 22.12.19

Family Tree Now/Death/James Andrews accessed 22.12.19

Hyon Health – Weirdest Unsolved Cases accessed 22.12.19

S News – Unsolved James Andrews Killed Days Before Christmas and Feet from Family accessed 22.12.19

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