By: Sharon Aron Baron
The Broward Sheriff’s Office Fugitive/SWAT Unit arrested two men over the weekend for the brutal murder of Tamarac resident Ivan Brandt, which was recorded on home surveillance video.
The fatal shooting occurred late Thursday afternoon at 7925 NW 85 Ave in Woodmont. According to BSO, deputies responded to Brandt’s residence after a 911 caller reported hearing gunshots from a nearby residence shortly after 3 p.m. Deputies were not able to make contact with anyone inside, and BSO’s SWAT team responded to the scene. When SWAT members went inside, they discovered Brandt’s lifeless body.
BSO homicide and crime scene detectives responded to continue the investigation. After obtaining a search warrant, investigators worked through the night processing the scene and collecting evidence.
They discovered a key piece of evidence, surveillance video that captured the entire callous attack and senseless murder. The video shows the victim on his cell phone when he appears to hear a knock at the front door. Two suspects, later identified as Richard Andres, 35, and Jonathan Gordon, 31, forced their way inside and attempt to restrain 51-year-old Brandt who, quickly resists. Brandt was shot in the head multiple times while he tried to fight off his attackers, even stabbing both of them during his struggle to survive. Exterior video shows Andres and Gordon drive off in Gordon’s white, four-door 2003 Lincoln sedan.
While processing the crime scene, investigators also discovered a recently printed newspaper article and evidence that led them to a hotel in Hollywood. The article from January 2012 referenced a story about Andres killing a kitten and battering his wife.
A BSO homicide detective spoke with the woman who was on the phone with Brandt minutes before his death; she said that Brandt had tracked his ex-girlfriend to a hotel in Hollywood. When detectives spoke with a manager at the hotel, he said the victim came to the hotel looking for his ex-girlfriend. According to the manager, Brandt told the clerk she was being held against her will by Andres, who was “pimping her out.”
Brandt’s ex-girlfriend was with Andres when the BSO SWAT/Fugitive Unit arrested him at 6 p.m. Saturday, February 7, near Hollywood Boulevard and State Road 7 at a bus stop. When homicide detectives questioned Brandt’s ex-girlfriend, they said she admitted to “repeatedly” telling Andres that Brandt “had safes in his home containing large amounts of cash.” She also said she gave Andres Brandt’s Tamarac address.
Members of the BSO SWAT/Fugitive Unit arrested Gordon at 4 a.m. Sunday, February 8, in Fort Lauderdale.
Both men were taken into custody without incident and each faces a charge of first-degree murder. They are currently being held without bond in BSO’s Main Jail.
According to the Sun Sentinel both Brandt and his mother worked alongside one another as ceramics instructorsand offered ceramics classes at the Kings Point community in Tamarac for 29 years.
In addition to his mother, Brandt is also survived by his son, Foster Brandt, a stepdaughter and a granddaughter.
