Did Niskayuna, New York’s Stephan Smerk stab Springfield, Virginia’s Robin Warr Lawrence?

Stephan Leonard Smerk, 51, of Niskayuna, Schenectady County, New York, United States has been arrested. He is accused of murdering Robin Warr Lawrence of Springfield, Fairfax County, Virginia, USA.

Robin Warr Lawrence

Lawrence was Ollie Lawrence Jr.’s wife. In 1992, she gave birth to their daughter Nicole Lawrence.

Robin worked at Merchant Tire Co. in Manassas, Prince William County, Virginia at the director of advertising. Her father Robert Warr served as the first black city council member for Syracuse, Onondaga County, New York, USA from the late 1960s to early 1970s.

While Ollie was out of town on a business trip, Robin was found fatally stabbed inside her residence in Springfield at around 12:30 p.m. on November 20, 1994. She was 37.

Also in the residence was Nicole, who was not harmed but dehydrated. Deoxyribonucleic acid was found at the scene but there was no match and the case went cold.

Stephan Leonard Smerk

In 1994, Smerk was an active-duty member of the U.S. Army. He was stationed at Fort Myer, now known as Joint Base Myer–Henderson Hall in Arlington, Virginia.

Aside from Niskayuna, Smerk has lived in other parts of New York including Schenectady. He previously lived in Los Angeles, California, USA and Germantown, Maryland, USA.

In Niskayuna, Smerk worked as a software engineer. He and his wife have two children, who are both currently in high school.

Smerk was honorably discharged from the U.S. Army. He and Robin did not know each other.

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US Army veteran Stephan Leonard Smerk of Niskayuna, New York #usarmy #usarmyveteran #niskayuna #niskayunany #newyork

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Parabon NanoLabs

In 2019, Fairfax County Police Department detectives working on Robin’s murder began working with Parabon NanoLabs, which worked to build a family tree to narrow down who the suspect could be. The company helped develop sketches, which identified Smerk as a possible suspect.

Parabon NanoLabs found photos of Smerk from 1988 and 1998 and compared them to a digital composite image created by the company. At 5:19 p.m. on September 7, 2023, he turned himself into the Niskayuna Police Department where he was interviewed by Fairfax County Police Department detectives Melissa Wallace and JD Long.

Smerk confessed to murdering Robin. He was arrested and charged with second-degree murder.

Prior to this, Smerk had no criminal history. He is awaiting extradition to Virginia.