A man pleaded guilty Friday to murdering a Virginia woman who was found slain in her Fairfax County home nearly three decades ago. Her toddler was alone at the home for days after the killing.
Robin Lawrence, 37, was stabbed to death in her home on Reseca Lane in Springfield, Virginia, on Nov. 20, 1994, while her 2-year-old daughter was inside.
Advances in DNA technology ultimately led investigators to Stephen Smerk.
Smerk, 52, pleaded guilty Friday to first-degree murder and faces a maximum sentence of 70 years, prosecutors said.
At the time of the killing, Lawrence's husband was out of town. After he wasn't able to contact his wife, he asked a family friend to check in on her. The friend found Lawrence's body, as well as the couple's toddler. Left alone for days, the little girl was dehydrated, but not otherwise physically harmed.
Detectives couldn't solve the case at the time, but were able to develop a DNA profile of Lawrence's killer.
Last September, police said Smerk confessed to the crime in a videotaped interview.
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Smerk told detectives he didn't know the victim, but was familiar with the neighborhood and went to her house because his friends lived next door.
“I knew that I was going to kill somebody; I did not know who I was going to kill,” he confessed to police.
As questioning continued, Smerk said, “You guys know what I did. I know what I did … I cut her up pretty good.”
The defense said in April that Smerk's confession didn't match up with the actual details of the crime.
Investigators found an open window at the back of the house with a cut screen, but in the confession, Smerk said he entered and exited through a sliding glass door, attorneys said.
Smerk said Lawrence didn’t reach for a phone in the bedroom where she was killed, but the detective said, “We found a phone cord cut in the bedroom,” and Smerk replied, “Thank you for reminding me. She did reach for the phone.”
The autopsy report said Lawrence was stabbed dozens of times, but in the confession, Smerk only gave details about two wounds, according to his defense.
Fairfax County police said the breakthrough in the case came several years after they began working with Parabon NanoLabs, a DNA company based in Northern Virginia. Parabon used genealogical DNA family trees to develop a possible suspect. They also created a digital composite of the suspect in Lawrence's killing, which police compared to photos of Smerk from 1988 and 1998.
Smerk's sentencing hearing is set for March 2025.
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