SPRINGFIELD, Va. — A New York man has been arrested in the cold case murder of a Virginia woman in 1994, the Fairfax County Police Department said Monday.
According to the police department, Robin Warr Lawrence, 37, of Springfield, Virginia, was found stabbed to death in her home on Nov. 20, 1994.
There was a toddler at the home who was physically unharmed, the police department said.
Lawrence's husband was on an overseas trip, and when his wife wouldn't answer the phone, he asked a family friend to go check on her.
That day around 12:30 p.m., Lawrence was found stabbed to death inside her home, located in the 8600 block of Reseca Lane in Springfield.
DNA was found at the scene, but at the time, there was no match.
In 2019, cold case detectives began working with Parabon NanoLabs, a company in Northern Virginia that specializes in DNA phenotyping and genetic genealogy analysis.
The company worked to build a family tree to narrow down who the suspect could be. The company uses "processes that predict physical appearance and biological relationships from unidentified DNA evidence."
Pictures of Stephen Smerk, 51, of Niskayuna, New York, from 1988 and 1998 were found and compared to a digital composite image created by Parabon NanoLabs.
Fairfax County detectives traveled to New York where they obtained a murder confession from Smerk, Police Chief Kevin Davis said.
Smerk was arrested on second-degree murder charges and is awaiting extradition to Virginia.
Smerk was a member if the Army in 1994 and was stationed at Fort Myer, now known as Joint Base Myer–Henderson Hall.
He has no criminal history, and Davis said Smerk is not currently suspected in any other crimes.
The murder of Lawrence appears to have been a random act, and no motive was given.
"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."