Niskayuna man pleads guilty to 29-year-old homicide
FAIRFAX, Va. (DC News Now) -- A man linked to a brutal 1994 Springfield, Va. stabbing pleaded guilty to first-degree murder on Friday. Police said Stephen Smerk, 52, of Niskayuna, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder for stabbing and killing Robin Lawrence in November of 1994.
Lawrence was found stabbed inside her home on Nov. 20, 1994. Prosecutors said Lawrence’s two-year-old daughter was in the other room when she was stabbed. Her daughter was unharmed.
Prosecutors said Smerk confessed to the murder of Lawrence last fall after he was confronted by officers at his home in Niskayuna. The same day he was approached by police, he showed up at the local police station looking to turn himself in for Lawrence's murder.
Investigators met him and took his statement, where he allegedly confessed that he "went out looking for someone to kill." Smerk was in the Army and stationed in Arlington at the time of the murder.
He allegedly told investigators that he drove as far away from the barracks as he felt comfortable, and ended up in a neighborhood he was familiar with in western Springfield. Police said Smerk broke into Lawrence's home by removing a screen from the back window.
The commonwealth moved to seal graphic photos of the crime scene from public view during the hearing - saying blood was all over the master bedroom. Investigators said DNA from a bloody pink washcloth found in Lawrence's bathroom led them to Smerk almost 30 years later.
Police were able to identify Smerk through DNA and genealogy mapping. They also said he told investigators he had not ever killed anyone else, but that he "could have been a serial killer," if not for his wife and children.
Outside the courthouse Friday, Lawrence's sister said, "For many years, we never thought we would know what happened to Robin. Now that this individual has been identified and is going to serve time for his crime, that helps us find some peace and resolution."
Smerk's sentencing is set for March 7 at 2 p.m. His plea agreement with the Commonwealth's Attorney office stipulates he spend no more than 70 years behind bars.