Aberdeen, Md. ? The family of Dawn Marie Garvin wants nothing more than to watch the death of the man who raped and shot her 17 years ago, leaving her nude and lifeless body on the bed, a small teddy bear tucked under her arm.

Her mother, Betty Romano, plans to be there for Steven Oken’s execution, scheduled for this week. Oken was convicted of killing Garvin and two other women during a 15-day spree in 1987.

“When he’s strapped down and waiting on the table, waiting for the witnesses and media to come up and watch him die, that will be a little bit of torture,” Romano said. “I take solace in that.”

Oken’s family and lawyers, meanwhile, are working to keep him alive.

Oken’s mother, Davida, says she doesn’t let a day with her son pass without telling him how much she loves and supports him. She said she spent every spare moment visiting and comforting him at the Maryland Correctional Adjustment Center in downtown Baltimore.

“What he did, he was sick, and I forgive him,” Davida Oken said. “We forgive him and want him to live.”

The state has said Oken could be executed as early as Monday.

Davida Oken said her son received spiritual comfort from a handful of rabbis who have visited him over the last 10 years.

It was early on Nov. 2, 1987, when Garvin’s father found her in her apartment. Oken had raped and assaulted the newlywed before shooting her twice in the head, according to court papers. Over the next 15 days, he also murdered and sexually assaulted his sister-in-law, Patricia Hirt, and Lori Ward, a hotel clerk in Maine.

Betty Romano holds a bear named Bradley and a picture of her daughter, Dawn Marie Garvin, in her Aberdeen, Md., home. The bear was found tucked under Garvin's arm after she was raped and murdered in 1987.