Brandon Duran, an American man, is passionate about big motorbikes. Amber Andrews is a tattoo artist with a free-spirited lifestyle. They got married in 2006 and had a son. In 2010, they divorced because their lifestyles were increasingly different. The court agreed to give Brandon custody of the child because the judge found that he was more responsible than Amber, had a stable job and a high income. After the divorce, Amber lived in Meeker, Oklahoma, USA, while Brandon and his son moved to San Diego, California, USA.
More than a year after their divorce, Amber asked Brandon to give her a chance to make things right. Wanting to mend their marriage, Brandon agreed to reunite with his ex-wife. They planned to visit Amber’s parents in Meeker, Oklahoma for a week to share the good news. But after a week, Brandon did not return to San Diego.
The Sudden Death of Brandon Duran
On August 8, 2012, a man called the Garvin County Sheriff’s Office in Oklahoma to report a crime. According to the man, a friend of his, Justin Hammer, shot and killed Brandon Duran, dismembered the body, placed the body parts in concrete buckets, and asked him to carry them to his car on the night of August 7, 2012. Fearing legal action, the man called the police.
Brandon Duran (left) and his ex-wife, Amber Andrew (Photo: amarillo.com).
Justin Hammer admitted to killing Brandon when questioned by police, but claimed he killed the man born in 1980 because the victim broke into his home on August 7, 2012 and intended to use force. The killer said he cut the victim's body into 25 pieces, placed the pieces in several concrete buckets and dumped them in a pond at his home in Elmore, Oklahoma.
Why did Brandon visit Amber's parents but die at Justin's house? It turns out Justin was Amber's lover. When she returned to Brandon, she still hadn't ended her relationship with Justin. Could that be why Brandon was angry with Justin?
An autopsy of Brandon's remains revealed three pistol bullets lodged in the right side of his face, and a shotgun bullet lodged in the middle of his face. In a drawer at Justin's home, investigators found a shotgun and a pistol.
The Tattoo Artist's Scheme
When police arrived at Amber’s Meeker home to report Brandon’s death, Amber appeared shocked. She admitted that she had not ended her relationship with Justin when she asked Brandon to get back together, and that she had gotten into a fight with Brandon on August 7, 2012. After the fight, Brandon drove to Justin’s house.
But the evidence at Justin’s house contradicted both Amber’s and her lover’s stories. First, Justin said Brandon kicked in the door, but investigators found only Justin’s shoe prints going from the inside out, not Brandon’s. Second, Amber said Brandon rode his motorcycle to Justin’s house after hitting her. However, Brandon’s motorcycle was broken when police checked it. Brandon’s parents claimed the motorcycle had broken down before Brandon and Amber traveled to Meeker to visit her family. Brandon left the motorcycle in the car so he could fix it while they were in Meeker.
Third, Amber said that she tattooed a friend at her parents' house after Brandon drove to Justin's house. But the friend said that Brandon was still home when she got to Amber's house. Then, while Amber was tattooing her, she received a text message from someone. Immediately, Amber and Brandon got into a car and left the house, asking the friend to watch their son. So, Amber said that her ex-husband drove to Justin's house alone on a motorbike, while the friend said that Amber and Brandon used a car and left the house together.
On Amber's phone, investigators found a single text message from Justin on the day of the murder. The text read, "Everything is ready." In a drawer at Justin's house, investigators found a handwritten note listing the things needed to kill and dismember the body. Handwriting analysis showed that Amber wrote the note. With that evidence, the police arrested Amber.
Life sentence for lovers
Some of Amber’s friends claim that she had no intention of getting back together with Brandon, but only wanted custody of the child. With that scheme, she wanted to use her lover to get rid of her ex-husband. Amber often told Justin that her ex-husband was abusive, mean, and often abused her. Stories like that made Justin feel angry with Brandon.
Police escort Justin Hammer to court in July 2014 (Photo: amarillo.com).
In July 2014, an Oklahoma court sentenced Justin Hammer to life in prison without parole for first-degree murder.
Amber Andrews’ trial began in December of that year, but she was not sentenced until July 2017. The judge sentenced her to life without parole for first-degree murder, plus 17 years for desecration of a human remains and conspiracy to commit murder. The court awarded Brandon’s family custody of his and Amber’s son.
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