Nov. 2: The father of newlywed Dawn Marie Garvin, 20, finds her nude body in her White Marsh apartment. She had been raped, tortured and shot to death.
Nov. 16: The nude body of Patricia Antoinette Hirt, 43, is discovered in a drainage ditch along White Marsh Boulevard. She had been sexually assaulted and shot to death. Oken, having fled to Maine, sexually assaults and shoots to death motel clerk Lori Elizabeth Ward, 25.
Nov. 17: Oken is arrested at a Freeport, Maine, inn.
1989
June 23: Oken is sentenced in Maine to life in prison for killing the motel clerk.
1991
Jan 25: Oken is sentenced to death for the Garvin slaying.
April 23: Oken receives a life sentence for the Hirt slaying.
2002
Feb. 6: The Maryland Court of Appeals postpones Oken’s pending execution indefinitely as he appeals a Court of Appeals ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.
2003
Feb 11: Maryland Court of Appeals again postpones Oken’s pending execution to hear his appeal that the state’s death penalty law is unconstitutional.
2004
April 26: The Supreme Court declines to hear Oken’s appeal of a Maryland Court of Appeals decision. Within hours, a third death warrant is signed, setting Oken’s execution for the week of June 14.
June 9: The Maryland Court of Appeals refuses to delay the execution.
June 15: A U.S. District Court judge issues an indefinite stay of execution.
June 16: A federal appellate court upholds the stay. About eight hours later, the U.S. Supreme Court lifts the stay.
June 17: Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. denies Oken clemency.
