Steven Oken

Steven Howard Oken
(more articles to be posted on Oken who was executed in 1987 in Maryland)

Kittery killer on death row by Amy Wallace

Posted Jan 23, 2003 Updated Dec 17, 2010

Seacoastonline.com

KITTERY, Maine -- Whether serial killer Steven Oken will die by lethal injection this year remains to be seen.

Oken, 40, was convicted in Maine and sentenced to life in prison for the brutal murder of Lori Ward at the Kittery Coachman Motor Inn on Nov. 16, 1987. He was extradited to Maryland, where he was sentenced to death by lethal injection for the torture, rape and murder of 20-year-old newlywed Dawn Marie Garvin. He was also convicted of killing his own sister-in-law, Patricia Hurt.

When the Maryland House of Delegates placed a moratorium on the death penalty on March 24, 2001, Oken’s death sentence was put on hold. And although the moratorium was lifted last week by Robert Ehrlich, the state’s new governor, it may be a while before Oken’s execution is carried out.

Baltimore County Judge John G. Turnbull has agreed to sign a death warrant allowing the first capital punishment sentence to be carried out in five years. In order for Oken to be put to death, Turnbull must sign the warrant because he was the judge who ordered Oken’s sentencing in 1991 after a jury imposed the sentence.

The judge has indicated he will sign the warrant, and it’s expected the execution date will be scheduled for the week of March 17. The execution must take place between four and six weeks after the warrant is signed, no sooner or later, according to Maryland statutes.

Fred Romano, the brother of Dawn Marie Garvin, said he is optimistic and wants to see Oken’s sentencing carried out.

“I feel that Steven Oken will finally pay for the crimes that he committed and the victim’s families will finally get justice,” Romano said Wednesday.

All of Oken’s statutory appeal rights have been exhausted, Baltimore County State’s Attorney Sandra A. O’Connor told the Baltimore Sun. O’Connor said although the warrant is promised next week and the new governor is in support of the death penalty, there’s no guarantee the execution would go forward in seven weeks.

“Anything can happen in these cases,” O’Connor said.

Oken’s execution could be delayed further if his attorney files an appeal with the Maryland Court of Appeals, with the Baltimore County Circuit Court or with both of those courts.

His attorney, Fred W. Bennett, has said he will file motions challenging the state’s death statute based on a study conducted by the University of Maryland. The study, released earlier this month, alleges that murderers whose victims were white are more likely to be sentenced to death than killers whose victims were of a different ethnicity.

Currently, 12 men, including Oken, are on death row in Maryland. Eight of those prisoners are black men who killed white people; Oken and his victims were all white.

Of the 12 prisoners on death row, Oken is expected to be the first to die.

Last week, Kittery Police Chief Edward Strong said he has no doubt that Steven Oken would have continued on a killing spree had he not been apprehended.

“Steven Oken should have been put to death years ago because of the horrendous nature of his crimes,” said Strong, who testified in the two murder trials in Maryland. “People like that deserve the death penalty for those types of heinous crimes. I’ve seen a lot of homicides in 30 years, but those three will stick in my mind forever.”

The only other state with a moratorium on executions is Illinois. Earlier this month, then-Gov. George Ryan cleared Illinois' death row, commuting 167 condemned inmates' sentences just before he left office. Ryan’s successor, Democrat Rod Blagojevich, has said he will continue the moratorium.

Material from The Associated Press is included in this report.