Amber Andrews | Creepy Wedding Precedes Reciprocating Saw Dismemberment

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[00:01:12] This is True Crime Psychology and Personality where we discuss the pathology behind some of the most horrific crimes and those who committed them from a scientifically informed perspective. I'm Dr. Todd Grande. I have a PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision

[00:01:30] and I'm a licensed professional counselor of mental health. Dr. Todd Grande, that's my YouTube channel. Today's question is, can I analyze the case of Amber Andrews? First I'll look at the background of this case, move to the timeline of the crime and offer

[00:01:45] my analysis. In the summer of 2005, Amber Marie Andrews met a man named Brandon Duran. The two were close in age. Amber had been born in 1981 and Brandon in 1980. When they met, Amber was a tattoo artist and Brandon was a little bit lost in life. Not long before

[00:02:06] meeting Amber, Brandon's father Mark died. Mark had been a member of the Bandidos motorcycle gang in Las Vegas, Nevada. This is one of the Big Four motorcycle gangs in the United States along with the Hells Angels, the Pagans and the Outlaws. Brandon was distraught and

[00:02:23] started hanging out with the Bandidos as a way of reconnecting with the legacy of his father. He was excited to meet Amber, believing that his father had sent Amber to watch over him like a guardian angel. Brandon and Amber married on June 6, 2006 in Las Vegas. They

[00:02:41] selected the date because it involved three sixes. The wedding was held in a low light environment and the attendees wore dark clothing. It was like the couple hired a wedding planning company called Elegant Events by Lucifer. The wedding possessed an unusual but distinct

[00:02:58] theme. Darkness, destruction and death. The only thing that was missing was dismemberment, although it would get there eventually. I can picture the wedding planner looking over the couple's ideas and saying, this is great and all, but I think it needs more Satan.

[00:03:14] The main motivation to get married was the fact that Amber was pregnant. She gave birth to a son named Brando on December 15, 2006. Unfortunately, Amber did not adjust well to married life. She would frequently go out and party, which aggravated Brandon. When

[00:03:31] he would inquire as to where she was, Amber would become angry. Brandon knew that Amber was not a suitable romantic partner, but he told his friends that she was like a drug. He could not get away from her. Despite this strong connection, Brandon filed for divorce

[00:03:46] in February of 2010. He and Amber agreed to share custody of their son, Brando. Amber moved to Oklahoma to be with her family. When it was her turn to watch Brando, she would not abide by the joint custody arrangement. She would simply keep Brando and make it difficult

[00:04:03] for Brandon to pick him up. Brandon became aggravated by Amber's failure to honor the agreement. He hired an attorney, pursued full custody of his son and was victorious. Brandon and his son moved to San Diego in 2011, which is where Brandon's mother lived. Amber did

[00:04:21] not attempt to contact Brandon, and life was peaceful for a while. This changed in July of 2012 when Amber showed up in San Diego out of the blue. She asked Brandon if they could reunite. She was interested in moving to San Diego and rebuilding the family. Amber's

[00:04:39] offer of reconciliation came with one condition. She wanted Brandon and their son to travel with her to Oklahoma to visit her family. When this visit was complete, Amber would move to San Diego and the family would embark on their never-ending journey of happiness.

[00:04:56] Against his better judgment, Brandon agreed to this plan. He packed some belongings in his vehicle and used his vehicle to tow his motorcycle to Oklahoma. He did not know this was going to be a one-way trip. Now moving to the timeline of the crime. On August 8,

[00:05:13] 2012, the police in Garvin County, Oklahoma, which is about an hour south of Oklahoma City, were approached by a man named Van. He had secured the services of an attorney and wanted to tell the police about something disturbing that he witnessed. After being granted immunity,

[00:05:30] here is what Van revealed to the police. On the evening of August 7, Van's employer, Justin Lee Hammer, called him and asked him if he could help him dispose of a body. Justin lived near Elmore City and was the on-again, off-again boyfriend of Amber Andrews. Van thought this

[00:05:48] was a joke until he saw buckets covered in bloodstains. He helped load the buckets into the bed of a pickup truck, left the scene, and retained an attorney. Van did not want to have anything to do with Justin's alleged criminal activity. Based on discussions with

[00:06:05] Justin, Van believed that the murder victim was Brandon Duran. The police arrested Justin Hammer. Here's the story that he supplied. On August 7, at about 6 p.m., Brandon Duran broke through the front door of Justin's house and screamed at him to stay away from

[00:06:21] Amber. He told Justin that if he did not, he was going to contact the Bandidos motorcycle gang to take care of him. During the confrontation, Justin managed to retrieve a single-barrel .410 Bore shotgun and shot Brandon in the face one time. Fearful of retribution by the

[00:06:40] motorcycle gang, Justin decided to dispose of Brandon's body rather than notify the authorities. He cut the body into 25 pieces using a reciprocating saw and placed the parts in a pond near the town of Paul's Valley. The police went to the pond and recovered

[00:06:57] a dog cage and five buckets full of body parts. The police spoke to Amber. Here is the story that she supplied to them. On August 7, she and Brandon left her mother's house to go

[00:07:09] to a physician appointment. They were in Brandon's pickup truck, which by this point had his motorcycle in the bed. Brandon brought up Justin Hammer as a topic of conversation. He became angry and wanted to confront Justin at his house. He stopped the pickup truck, removed the motorcycle

[00:07:27] from the bed, and drove away, presumably to confront Justin. Amber never saw Brandon again. On August 9, 2012, Justin Hammer was arrested and charged with murder. The police believed that Amber was involved as well, but they did not want to pursue both cases simultaneously.

[00:07:45] Amber remained free as Justin prepared for trial. On October 6, 2014, Justin Hammer was found guilty of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. In April of 2015, Amber Andrews was arrested for murder. Two years later,

[00:08:03] she went to trial. On April 27, 2017, she was found guilty of murder, conspiracy to commit a felony, and desecration of a human corpse. She was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, a 17 years. Brandon's mother was able to obtain custody of his son, Brando.

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[00:09:15] Look for Allegedly from Voyage Media anywhere you listen to podcasts. Hi, I'm Matt Harris. Seaton Tucker and I host the podcast Impact of Influence, which for two years covered in depth Elick Murdoch, who was eventually convicted in 2023 of murdering

[00:09:30] his wife, Maggie and son, Paul. That story continues to evolve and we will cover that. Plus, we will tell you stories of other true crime events that have happened in the South.

[00:09:41] Please join us on Impact of Influence and give us a follow on the Impact of Influence Facebook page. Now moving to my analysis, Amber Andrews maintains her innocence. Her attorneys argued that there was no evidence connecting her to the crime. The state, of course, disagrees.

[00:09:59] They believe that Amber and Justin were in a conspiracy. Amber's motive was to gain custody of her son. This brings me to the question, was Amber guilty of murder? Let's take a look

[00:10:10] at the evidence both for and against the idea that she was guilty, starting with the inculpatory factors. Amber Andrews had been involved in an on-again, off-again romantic relationship with Justin Hammer. During the time of the murder, the relationship was active. This makes

[00:10:25] it seem like Amber lured Brandon to Oklahoma for the purpose of murder. She never intended to be with him romantically. Brandon had sustained three gunshot wounds to his left temple and a shotgun blast to the face. The police recovered a .22 caliber revolver with blood on the end

[00:10:42] of it from a safe in Justin's house, as well as the .410 Boer shotgun. Justin did not mention a second gun in his initial statement, but at his trial he claimed that he had a gun

[00:10:54] in each hand during the confrontation. The police found a handwritten note in the safe in Justin's house. It appeared to be some type of list, perhaps a shopping list. It contained items like bleach, carpet cleaner, tarps, ammonia, degreaser, and five-gallon

[00:11:12] buckets. The handwriting was a match to Amber Andrews. Video surveillance from August 6, the day before the shooting, revealed Justin buying five-gallon buckets from an Ace Hardware store. Justin claimed that Brandon had kicked in the front door of his house, but the door

[00:11:28] had actually been kicked from the inside, not the outside. Furthermore, a shoe print on the door matched sneakers that were found in Justin's house. On the night of the killing, Amber and Brandon had departed from the house of Amber's mother. They left Brando with

[00:11:44] a friend of Amber's named Aaron. The police spoke to Aaron. She said that the couple left at about 3 p.m. As it turns out, Justin had sent Amber a cryptic text message at 3 p.m.,

[00:11:56] which may have been code for, he was ready to commit murder. When Amber left, she took Aaron's cell phone, so Aaron had Amber's phone. Aaron used Amber's phone to call her own phone, but there was no answer. Cell phone records showed that Aaron's phone, which

[00:12:12] was with Amber at this time, had been deactivated at 4.51 p.m., and had not been reactivated until 9.51 p.m. When Amber returned to her mother's house at about 11 p.m., she asked

[00:12:26] Aaron if she happened to have a receipt, as if Amber needed it for an alibi. The police found that Amber never went to the physician appointment, as she claimed. Amber claimed that Brandon drove away on his motorcycle, but that motorcycle was not functional at

[00:12:41] that time. Moving to the exculpatory factors, no physical evidence connected Amber to the crime. If she was there when Justin killed Brandon, why did Justin reach out to an employee to help him lift the five-gallon buckets? Justin claimed that the suspicious list of

[00:12:58] items was for a home improvement project. Even if Amber did write the list, it doesn't mean that she was a conspirator and a murderer. Maybe Justin simply requested a list, and Amber put it together for him. Justin never implicated Amber in the murder, even though

[00:13:13] he had plenty of opportunities, and almost certainly would have been offered some type of plea deal to turn on her. When considering all the evidence, do I think that Amber Andrews was guilty of murder? Yes, I believe she was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. The state

[00:13:29] did not have a great case, but it was good enough. What do I think happened in this case? This is just a theory, my opinion. Amber Andrews was impulsive, irresponsible, self-centered, sensation-seeking, sadistic, vindictive, and manipulative. She experienced little difficulty

[00:13:45] with getting men to do what she wanted. Amber exercised a great deal of control over Brandon, but eventually he had enough. When he won custody of their son, Amber was furious, but did not feel comfortable exacting revenge on her own. Eventually, Amber was able to convince her lover,

[00:14:03] Justin Hammer, to help her murder Brandon Duran. She made her way to San Diego to convince Brandon to travel to Oklahoma. Brandon may have had a loose affiliation to a biker gang, and he was

[00:14:16] a bit unusual, but he was a good father. He genuinely believed that his son would be better off with Amber in the picture. In addition, Brandon had a very deep loyalty to his dead father

[00:14:27] and believed that his father had sent Amber into his life. So by rejecting Amber, in a sense he was rejecting his father. Amber's manipulation tactic was insincere and obviously fraudulent, but Brandon

[00:14:42] could not see through her. She had played on his vulnerabilities, and he just could not say no to her. On the day of the murder, Amber made up some excuse to take Brandon to Justin's residence. When

[00:14:53] they were in the living room, Amber and Justin ambushed Brandon. There is no way to know who fired what gun. Justin could have fired both guns. Maybe Amber fired one of them. There's no evidence

[00:15:04] supporting one theory over another. Either way, they both actively took part in the murder. Amber was worried about establishing her alibi, therefore she left when Justin was still dismembering the body. Inexplicably, Justin called an employee to help him lift the buckets into his truck. This

[00:15:22] employee of course contacted an attorney and then the police. This speaks to the high level of disorganization on the part of Justin. If he had never called for help, he probably never would have

[00:15:34] been caught. The only reason that Justin didn't implicate Amber was because he had committed to his ridiculous self-defense story. He was still hoping to beat the charges completely when he should have been looking for a plea deal that gave him some chance of being released from prison.

[00:15:50] Now moving to my final thoughts. Amber Andrews was unwilling to commit murder alone but found a willing accomplice in Justin Hammer. In her mind, the best solution to her custody problem was to

[00:16:03] commit murder. I guess this lends more support to the phrase, if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. This has been true crime psychology and personality from Ars Langa Media.

[00:16:23] This content is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Ars Langa Vida Brevis. Did you guys hear about that couple that went on vacation and one spouse murdered the other? In fact, the entire

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[00:17:03] we'll examine true cases of people who were killed while on vacation. Was it murder or just a horrible accident? That's up to you and the law to decide. But either way, if you leave for your vacation in

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