Steven Oken

Steven Howard Oken (January 22, 1962 – June 17, 2004) was an American spree killer who was executed in Maryland by lethal injection in 2004.

Steven Howard Oken
BornJanuary 22, 1962
Baltimore, Maryland
DiedJune 17, 2004(2004-06-17) (aged 42)
Baltimore, Maryland
Cause of deathExecution by lethal injection
Criminal statusExecuted
Criminal chargeOne count of murder and two counts of first-degree murder
PenaltyDeath by lethal injection (January 18, 1991)

The crimes

On November 1, 1987, Steven Oken, then 25, murdered 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, Patricia Hirt, at his White Marsh townhouse, dumping her body along White Marsh Boulevard. He then fled to Kittery, Maine, where he murdered Lori Ward, the desk clerk at the motel in which he was staying.[1] He was arrested in Maine on November 17, 1987, and was ultimately convicted and sentenced to life without parole in Maine for the first-degree murder of Ward.[2] Oken was then returned to Maryland where he faced separate prosecutions for charges arising out of the other two murders.

Trial and execution

Oken was found guilty and sentenced to die for the killing of Dawn Garvin in 1991.[3] 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[4][1] and on June 17, 2004, at 9:18 pm local time, Steven Oken was pronounced dead after his execution by lethal injection at the Metropolitan Transition Center in Baltimore at age 42.[4]

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.[5][6] He stole drugs from his adoptive father's pharmacy and was drinking heavily.[7]

See also

References
  1. Levine, Susan; Stencel, Mark (2004-06-17). "Maryland inmate Steven H. Oken ..." Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2021-01-16.
  2. "Steven Howard Oken executed in Maryland". UPI. Retrieved 2021-01-16.
  3. Sarah Hoye, Justin Palk (January 21, 2003). "Oken May Be First Execution in Ehrlich Administration". cnsmaryland.org. Retrieved 2021-01-16.
  4. "Maryland triple murderer executed". NBC News. Retrieved 2021-01-16.
  5. Bykowicz, Julie; Alec MacGillis (18 June 2004). "Md. puts Oken to death". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
  6. Bykowicz, Julie (14 June 2004). "Trying to aid son before execution". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
  7. Montgomery, Lori (2001-04-08). "United by Grief, Divided by Execution". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2021-01-16.
  • Steven Howard Oken. The Clark Country Prosecuting Attorney. Retrieved on 11 November 2007.
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