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Cold Case Murder Suspect Back In Virginia
A 51-year-old New York man suspect in a 1994 murder case is back in Virginia.
Stephen Smerk, of Niskayuna, NY, was extradited to the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center on Tuesday, Sept. 26.
He is facing second-degree murder in the Nov. 20, 1994 death of 37-year-old Robin Lawrence, who was found dead in a Springfield, VA home, Fairfax County police said.
Smerk is believed to have stabbed Lawrence inside of her Reseca Lane home, when he was 22 years old, authorities said.
In 1994, a DNA profile was developed; however, at the time there was no match in any system for …
Man Wanted For Sexual Assaults In Maryland, DC Charged After Nine Years: DOJ
A man with a checkered criminal past has been charged with sexual assault in Washington, DC and Maryland, federal authorities announced.
District resident Dawayne Joseph Spriggs, 37, who also calls Prince George's County home in Maryland, was arraigned on a 2014 cold case involving a sexual assault involving a stranger at a DC Metro station in 2014.
According to court documents, on July 6, 2014, Spriggs approached a stranger near the Minnesota Avenue Metro station at approximately 1 a.m., following her before physically and sexually assaulting her in an alley.
Once the assault was over, th…
Cold Case Confession: NY Man Admits Stabbing Woman To Death 29 Years Later, Police Say
Nearly 30 years after a woman was found stabbed to death inside her home, a New York man has confessed to her murder following a DNA breakthrough.
Schenectady County resident Stephen Smerk, age 51, of Niskayuna, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder in the November 1994 killing of Robin Lawrence in Springfield, Virginia, police announced Monday, Sept. 11.
The 37-year-old mother was found dead from multiple stab wounds three days after the killing, on Nov. 20, 1994, according to police. Her 2-year-old daughter was also found in the home days later, unharmed.
Investigators devel…
Cold Case: Capital Region Man Confesses To Grisly 1994 Murder, Police Say
A 51-year-old man from the region has been arrested in a Virginia homicide, cracking a 29-year cold case, authorities announced.
Schenectady County resident Stephen Smerk, of Niskayuna, is facing second-degree manslaughter in the Nov. 20, 1994 death of 37-year-old Robin Lawrence, who was found dead in a Springfield, Virginia home, Fairfax County police said.
Smerk is believed to have stabbed Lawrence inside of her home, when he was 22 years old, authorities said.
In 1994, a DNA profile was developed; however, at the time there was no match in any system for the recovered DNA.
In the …
Cold CASE: NY Man Confesses To Grisly 1994 Virginia Murder, Police Say
A 51-year-old New York man has been arrested in a Virginia homicide, cracking a 29-year cold case, authorities announced.
Stephen Smerk, of Niskayuna, NY, is facing second-degree murder in the Nov. 20, 1994 death of 37-year-old Robin Lawrence, who was found dead in a Springfield, VA home, Fairfax County police said.
Smerk is believed to have stabbed Lawrence inside of her Reseca Lane home, when he was 22 years old, authorities said.
In 1994, a DNA profile was developed; however, at the time there was no match in any system for the recovered DNA.
In the years that followed, detec…