Steven Howard Oken
Oken after his arrest in Maine
Born(1962-01-22)January 22, 1962
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
DiedJune 17, 2004(2004-06-17) (aged 42)
Metropolitan Transition Center, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Cause of deathExecution by lethal injection
Conviction(s)Maryland
First degree murder (2 counts)
First degree sexual offense
Burglary
Use of a handgun during a crime of violence
Maine
Murder
Armed robbery
Theft
Criminal penaltyMaryland
Death (January 18, 1991)
Maine
Life without parole (March 26, 1989)
Details
VictimsDawn Marie Garvin, 25
Patricia Antoinette Hirt, 43
Lori Elizabeth Ward, 25
Span of crimes
November 1 – November 16, 1987
CountryUnited States
State(s)Maryland and Maine
Date apprehended
November 17, 1987

Steven Howard Oken (January 22, 1962 – June 17, 2004) was an American spree killer who raped and murdered three women in Maryland and Maine in November 1987. He was sentenced to death and executed in Maryland by lethal injection in 2004.[1][2]

Murders

On November 1, 1987, Steven Oken, then 25, murdered 20-year-old Dawn Marie Garvin (nee Romano). She was found by her father on the bed in her White Marsh apartment, naked, with a condiment bottle protruding from her vagina and blood streaming from her forehead. Despite efforts of her father and paramedics to administer CPR, she was dead. An autopsy later revealed that she had died as the result of two contact gunshot wounds; one of the bullets entered at her left eyebrow and the other at her right ear.

Less than two weeks after Oken murdered Dawn Garvin, he sexually assaulted and murdered his sister-in-law, 43-year-old Patricia Antoinette Hirt, at his White Marsh townhouse, dumping her body along White Marsh Boulevard. He then fled to Kittery, Maine, where he murdered 25-year-old Lori Ward, the desk clerk at the motel in which he was staying.[3]

Trials and execution

He was arrested in Maine on November 17, 1987, and was ultimately convicted and sentenced to life without parole for the murder of Ward.[4] Oken was then returned to Maryland where he faced separate prosecutions for charges arising out of the other two murders.

Oken was found guilty and sentenced to die for the killing of Dawn Garvin in 1991.[5] Following his conviction for Garvin's murder Oken pleaded guilty to killing Patricia Hirt, and received an additional life sentence.

Then-Governor Robert Ehrlich declined clemency[6][3] and on June 17, 2004, at 9:18 p.m. local time, Steven Oken was pronounced dead after his execution by lethal injection at the Metropolitan Transition Center in Baltimore at age 42.[6]

His last meal was a chicken patty, with potatoes and gravy, green beans, marble cake, milk, and fruit punch – the regular prison meal that day.

Personal life

Oken was adopted by a Jewish family, and attended Randallstown High School where he graduated in 1980.[7][8] He stole drugs from his adoptive father's pharmacy and was drinking heavily.[9]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Steven Howard Oken #915". The Clark Country Prosecuting Attorney. Retrieved November 11, 2007.
  2. ↑ "Oken v. State, 343 Md. 256 | Casetext Search + Citator". casetext.com. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
  3. 1 2 Levine, Susan; Stencel, Mark (June 17, 2004). "Maryland inmate Steven H. Oken ..." Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
  4. ↑ "Steven Howard Oken executed in Maryland". UPI. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
  5. ↑ Sarah Hoye, Justin Palk (January 21, 2003). "Oken May Be First Execution in Ehrlich Administration". cnsmaryland.org. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
  6. 1 2 "Maryland triple murderer executed". NBC News. 15 June 2004. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
  7. ↑ Bykowicz, Julie; Alec MacGillis (June 18, 2004). "Md. puts Oken to death". The Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on June 12, 2023. Retrieved April 17, 2012.
  8. ↑ Bykowicz, Julie (June 14, 2004). "Trying to aid son before execution". The Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on June 12, 2023. Retrieved April 17, 2012.
  9. ↑ Montgomery, Lori (April 8, 2001). "United by Grief, Divided by Execution". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
Preceded by
Tyrone X. Gilliam		 Executions carried out in Maryland Succeeded by
Wesley Eugene Baker
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