Stephan Smerk stabbed Robin W. Lawrence to death in her home in 1994, police said. (Images: Fairfax County Police Department)
A homicide investigation spanning more than 28 years and crossing state lines has ended with officers arresting a New York man as the suspect who allegedly stabbed a Virginia woman to death at her home in a random attack.
Stephan Smerk, 51, is charged with second-degree murder.
Authorities said the victim, Robin Warr Lawrence, 37, was found dead inside her residence in the community of Springfield, Virginia, almost three decades ago.
“On November 20, 1994, at approximately 12:30 p.m., Lawrence was found stabbed to death inside her home, located in the 8600 block of Reseca Lane, in Springfield,” officers said.
Cops said in a press conference on Monday that her husband was out of the country on a work trip at the time. He could not get in touch with her, so he had a family friend check out the house.
That family friend arrived to find Lawrence stabbed multiple times to death. Her 2-year-old daughter was unharmed, but cops say the murder took place while the toddler was in another room.
It was a “heinous, heinous” crime scene, Fairfax County Chief of Police Kevin Davis said.
Detectives interviewed suspects and witnesses, and collected evidence from the home, but though they developed a DNA profile at the time, they could not find a match.
Cold case detectives kept reviewing evidence in the following years, and finally, they found a familial DNA match, according to authorities. At the press conference, officers said that Smerk worked for the U.S. Army at nearby Fort Myer during the time of the murder and had been “active duty,” though they did not elaborate on his rank or activities with the military. The Army did not immediately respond to a Law&Crime request for comment.
Authorities suggested that Smerk’s pictures as a 16-year-old in 1988 and 26-year-old in 1998 matched a suspect’s digital composite image that DNA analysis company Parabon Nanolabs created based on DNA evidence.
Police have said that a suspect digital composite image based on DNA evidence resembles Stephan Smerk in a high school yearbook and a DMV picture. (Images: Fairfax County Police Department)
The defendant, now a married software engineer with two children in high school, had been living in the town of Niskayuna, which is north of the state capital of Albany. Detectives claim that they arrived at Smerk’s home while he was taking out the trash. Smerk willingly gave over DNA swabs and he confessed to the slaying, officers said.
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With Smerk apparently having confessed, police obtained a warrant for second-degree murder and arrested him. Authorities say there is no connection between Lawrence and him.
Davis told reporters that there is no reason to believe at this moment that Smerk, who has “zero criminal history,” is suspected in other, similar crimes, but they are leaving it open as a possibility.
Extradition to Fairfax County, Virginia, is pending.
“Our cold case detectives exhibit unparalleled dedication when it comes to closing a case with many unknowns,” Davis said. “This case is but one example of how our department’s police work goes above and beyond, and it exemplifies our commitment to delivering justice regardless of the timeline.”
From cops:
Anyone with additional information regarding this case is encouraged to call our Major Crimes Bureau at 703-246-7800, option 2. Tips can also be submitted anonymously through Crime Solvers by phone – 1-866-411-TIPS (866-411-8477), and by web Click HERE. Download the ‘P3 Tips’ App “Fairfax Co Crime Solvers”. Anonymous tipsters are eligible for cash rewards. Please leave contact information if you wish for a detective to follow up with you.
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