Steven Howard Oken (January 22, 1962 – June 17, 2004) was an American

spree killer A spree killer is someone who commits a criminal act that involves two or more murders or homicides in a short time, in multiple locations. The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics defines a spree killing as "killings at two or more locations ...

who raped and murdered three women in Maryland and Maine in November 1987. He was sentenced to death and executed in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

lethal injection Lethal injection is the practice of injecting one or more drugs into a person (typically a barbiturate, paralytic, and potassium solution) for the express purpose of causing rapid death. The main application for this procedure is capital puni ...

in 2004.

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 In mammals, the vagina is the elastic, muscular part of the female genital tract. In humans, it extends from the vestibule to the cervix. The outer vaginal opening is normally partly covered by a thin layer of mucosal tissue called the hymen ...

and blood streaming from her forehead. Despite efforts of her father and paramedics to administer

CPR Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency procedure consisting of chest compressions often combined with artificial ventilation in an effort to manually preserve intact brain function until further measures are taken to restore sponta ...

, she was dead. An

autopsy An autopsy (post-mortem examination, obduction, necropsy, or autopsia cadaverum) is a surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse by dissection to determine the cause, mode, and manner of death or to evaluate any di ...

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 Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence, which ...

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 Kittery is a town in York County, Maine, United States. Home to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on Seavey's Island, Kittery includes Badger's Island, the seaside district of Kittery Point, and part of the Isles of Shoals. The southernmost town in t ...

, where he murdered 25-year-old Lori Ward, the desk clerk at the motel in which he was staying.

Trials and execution

He was arrested in Maine on November 17, 1987, and was ultimately convicted and sentenced to

life without parole Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...

for the murder of Ward. 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. 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 and on June 17, 2004, at 9:18 p.m. local time, Steven Oken was pronounced dead after his

execution Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the State (polity), state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to ...

at the

Metropolitan Transition Center The Maryland Metropolitan Transition Center (MTC), formerly known as the historic "Maryland Penitentiary", is a maximum pre-trial security Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services prison located in Baltimore facing Greenmou ...

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

at age 42. His

last meal A condemned prisoner's last meal is a customary ritual preceding execution. In many countries, the prisoner may, within reason, select what the last meal will be. Contemporary restrictions in the United States In the United States, most states gi ...

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 Randallstown High School is a public high school located in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. It serves students in the Randallstown, Woodlawn, and Owings Mills areas. It is a part of Baltimore County Public Schools. Its primary feeder ...

where he graduated in 1980. He stole drugs from his adoptive father's

pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it links heal ...

and was drinking heavily.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oken, Steven 1962 births 2004 deaths American people executed for murder American rapists American spree killers 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews Executed spree killers People from Baltimore County, Maryland 21st-century executions by Maryland Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Maine People executed by Maryland by lethal injection People convicted of murder by Maine People convicted of murder by Maryland 21st-century executions of American people Executed people from Maryland

Murders

Trials and execution

Personal life

See also

References