Breaking News: Niskayuna Man Pleads Guilty in 1994 Virginia Cold Case Murder!
A Niskayuna man arrested last year for a murder in Virginia dating back almost 30 years has now pleaded guilty to first-degree murder.
Stephan Smerk, 52, admitted in court to the killing of Robin Lawrence, who was 37 years old at the time.
The crime took place in Springfield, Virginia, on November 20, 1994. Shockingly, Robin Lawrence’s 2-year-old daughter was in the house when the murder happened.
The breakthrough in this cold case came when Smerk confessed to the crime in 2023, as investigators were closing in on him. This admission helped tie up the investigation that had remained unsolved for decades.
Police gathered DNA evidence from the scene in 1994. However, the technology at the time wasn’t advanced enough to identify a suspect. Despite their efforts, the DNA didn’t match any profiles in the federal database.
Fairfax County investigators later teamed up with Parabon NanoLabs, a DNA analysis company based in Northern Virginia.
This partnership allowed them to create a family DNA profile that eventually led them to new leads, pointing toward Smerk as a potential suspect.
In September 2023, detectives approached Smerk at his home on South Country Club Lane in Niskayuna while he was taking out the trash.
They asked him a few questions before leaving. A little while later, Smerk reached out to the investigators, expressing a desire to confess to the murder.
Robin Lawrence’s sister, Mary Cowens, spoke to NBC4 in Washington after the court hearing. She shared the family’s emotional journey, saying, “For many years, we never thought we would know what happened to Robin. And that was probably the hardest part, not knowing and never being able to put it to rest.”
During the investigation, prosecutors revealed a chilling detail about Smerk.
He described himself to police as a “potential serial killer” and admitted that he might have gone on to kill more people if it weren’t for his wife and children.
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Smerk is now facing a possible prison sentence of up to 70 years, with sentencing scheduled for March 2025.