Cold case sentencing: Man stabbed woman 49 times in 1994
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'I am a serial killer who only killed once’: Man sentenced decades after stabbing woman 49 times
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USA TODAY

9:16 p.m. ET March 10, 2025 Updated: 11:38 a.m. ET March 11, 2025

A New York father and Army veteran has been sentenced to 70 years in prison three decades after he left his barracks and killed a northern Virginia woman.

Stephan Smerk of Niskayuna was sentenced Friday to life in prison with all but 70 years suspended, the Office of the Fairfax Commonwealth's Attorney said in a news release.

The 53-year-old, who pleaded guilty in October, was convicted of the November 1994 murder of 37-year-old mother Robin Lawrence, whose family waited decades to find out what happened to her.

Detectives in Fairfax County narrowed down a suspect, Smerk, using advanced genealogy techniques. Smerk, a software engineer, confessed hours after detectives went to his New York home to collect a DNA sample in September 2023, according to the commonwealth attorney’s office.

Man left his barracks ‘with intent to kill’
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Back in November 1994, Smerk was a young U.S. Army soldier stationed at what is now Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in Arlington. He “left his barracks with intent to kill someone – though he did not yet know who,” the commonwealth attorney’s office said.

Smerk drove to West Springfield and broke into Lawrence’s home, stabbing her 49 times, the office said. Her husband was out of the country that night and she was home alone with her 2-year-old daughter, the office said. Authorities said the victim's daughter was not injured the day of the attack.

Lawrence's husband became worried when he couldn't reach her for a few days, so he asked a neighbor to check on her, according to a 1994 report from the Post-Standard, a New York newspaper.

When the neighbor went to check on Lawrence on Nov. 20, 1994, the back door was open, so they called for Lawrence, who did not respond. When the neighbor called for Lawrence's daughter, the girl came to the door, the newspaper reported.

Lawrence’s body around 12:30 p.m. that day, and police believed she had been dead for at least a few days. Her daughter, who had a liver transplant a year before the murder, was treated for dehydration when she was found.

Investigators collected blood samples at the scene but the murder went unsolved for nearly three decades.

Fairfax County Police detectives working the case were able to use forensic genealogy to narrow down a possible suspect. In September 2023, they traveled to Niskayuna, New York, where Smerk lived, to get a voluntary DNA sample.

Smerk turned himself in and confessed to killing Lawrence just a few hours after submitting a sample, the office said.

“I knew that I was going to kill somebody," he said in video footage of the confession. "I did not know who I was going to kill. Something inside of me just compelled me to do it … It was like this overbearing thought in my brain that I needed to kill somebody."

Lauren Ovans, Lawrence’s niece, was just 8 years old when her aunt was murdered, she told USA TODAY Tuesday morning. When her family found out Smerk had been found, they were shocked to find out the Warr family is from the same part of New York her aunt's killer lived in – Niskayuna.

"Some of my best friends lived across the street from him," Ovans said. "I had been by his house when I was a kid. He was living under our nose the whole time."

Ovans ended up relocating to the DMV area and shortly after, realized she moved close to the home where her aunt was killed.

"It was really nice to be able to share that bond with someone," she said. "She almost felt like a sister to me, even if I was so much younger ... I fell in love with her artwork. I fell in love her. She was what I wanted to be when I grew up."

Her aunt was a talented artist and dancer. She also designed a plaque memorializing Martin Luther King Jr. and worked with watercolors and pencil sketches.

"Her beauty was undeniable," Ovans said. "I think that's the one thing my nieces and I loved about her. She was a person who stayed true to herself. She also had a way of knowing how those around her were feeling. She supported them during those hard times."

Her aunt was her own person who stayed true to herself, Ovans said. She also had a way of knowing how those around her were feeling. She supported them during those hard times.

"If I had no wife and kids, I’d probably commit more murders," she said.

Lauren Ovans ends up staying strong
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After Lawrence's death, her husband raised her daughter, Nicole, Ovans said. Her daughter still lives in Virginia.

"Doing this was for my daughter’s sake," Ovans said. "She's definitely staying strong... I think it’s hard for her and I to talk about it because she was so young when it happened. She doesn't have much of a remembrance of her mom."

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