Kriti Mehrotra
On November 20, 1994, 37-year-old artist and mother Robin Warr Lawrence was found dead in the main bedroom of her suburban Springfield, Virginia home. As explored in CBS’ ’48 Hours: Closing the Cold Case of Robin Lawrence,’ there seemed to be no motive as there were no signs of burglary or sexual assault, leaving the officials stumped for decades. The fact that her 2-year-old daughter had been left alive also made them wonder if the mother was an intended target, yet it wasn’t until Stephan Smerk’s confession that the whole truth finally came to light.
Stephan Smerk Was Once Considered a Dedicated Family Man
Stephan Smerk was reportedly a military man stationed at the Myer-Henderson Hall joint base in Arlington, Virginia, in the 1990s. According to records, he actually received several accolades for his military service before being honorably discharged, following which he decided to turn his life around for the better. It has been alleged that he struggled with severe substance abuse during his years in the army, and reportedly went to rehab and got sober. He ultimately tied the knot with his love and welcomed two children into the world. Stephan even returned to school to complete his formal education before entering the corporate world, where he gradually climbed the ladder to success.
Stephan served as a Senior Software Engineer with a salary of $120,000 per year by the time the 2020s rolled around, so of course, he was able to provide well for his family. They settled down in suburban Niskayuna, New York, after he had purchased a property in the area as their forever home. As per reports, he was an idyllic citizen on paper – he was living the American dream alongside his family, had a great job, and his record was clean. However, in 2023, officials from Fairfax County, Virginia, knocked on his door as genetic genealogy testing on the DNA evidence recovered from Robin’s crime scene had led them to him.
Stephan Smerk Confessed to Robin Lawrence’s Homicide Decades Later
According to police records, when detectives spoke to Stephan about Robin’s 1994 cold case, he showed no reaction, but he also didn’t hesitate to provide them with his DNA sample. What nobody expected, though, was that he would call the officials at the hotel they were staying at less than half an hour after they left his home, asserting he was ready to talk to them. So, they met at the nearby Niskayuna Police Department, and the married father of two high school-aged kids was taken into the interrogation room, where he started confessing to his crimes without much prompting.
Stephan confessed to being behind Robin Warr Lawrence’s murder three decades prior when he was 22 years old, stating, “I knew I was going to kill somebody. I did not know who I was going to kill (but I know I was).” He admitted to drinking two beers and taking a dose of a stimulant called ephedrine before leaving the Myer-Henderson Hall joint base in his white Chevrolet pickup truck. He then described how he drove to a neighborhood where a friend lived and decided to break into a random residence because all he could think about was killing the person inside, no matter who it was.
“There could have been 50 people in that house,” Stephan told the detectives. “…They could have all had guns and shot me dead. I wasn’t even thinking about that.” He added that he could only feel his compulsion to kill, which he could not control. He then described in detail how he stabbed Robin while she begged for her life, without knowing who she was or her name. What made his entire confession all the more chilling was his subsequently asserting, “I honestly believe that if it wasn’t for my wife and my kids, I probably would be a serial killer. I am a serial killer who’s only killed once.”
Stephan Smerk is Currently Behind Bars in a Virginia State Prison
Stephan Smerk was immediately arrested on the charge of first-degree murder following his confession, which the DNA evidence reportedly corroborated. In the end, the evidence wasn’t really legally required, as he chose to plead guilty to Robin’s homicide in October 2024 so as to avoid a trial. As a result, on March 7, 2025, he was handed down the maximum suggested sentence of 70 years, after which he was also ordered to pay a $100,000 fine. The presiding circuit judge, Honorable David Oblon, even called this case “among the worst in the history of Fairfax County, Virginia.”
The fact that Stephan had shown no remorse during his confession, even almost 3 decades later, hadn’t helped his case either. After all, he had said, “How do I say this? I know you’re recording… I don’t feel anything for (Robin’s) family… I feel bad that I did it because I knew someday my personal freedom would be affected.” By the time Stephan was sentenced, his wife had divorced him, and his children had decided to distance themselves from him. Therefore, today, at the age of 53, he is incarcerated at the low-security Nottoway Correctional Center in Burkeville, Virginia, where he is expected to remain until at least he becomes eligible for parole in 2037. He will be 65 at the time. However, if he is denied early release, his sentence will end on July 11, 2075.
Read More: Robin Lawrence Murder Details and Investigation Timeline
