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Former Soldier Out For Blood Admits To 1994 Murder Of Young Mother In Virginia: Prosecutors Former Soldier Out For Blood Admits To 1994 Murder Of Young Mother In Virginia: Prosecutors
Former Soldier Out For Blood Admits To 1994 Murder Of Young Mother In Virginia: Prosecutors Three decades after a young mother was found brutally murdered in Fairfax County, a former Army soldier stationed in Arlington admitted to the crime. Stephan Smerk, 52, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder for the fatal stabbing of Robin Lawrence in November 1994, prosecutors announced on Friday afternoon. “Our cold case detectives exhibit unparalleled dedication when it comes to closing a case with many unknowns,” Fairfax County Chief of Police Kevin Davis previously said.  “This case is but one example of how our department’s police work goes above and beyond, and it exemplifies ou…

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Fairfax County Detectives Have Solved 'Christmas Tree Lady' Case 25 Years Later Fairfax County Detectives Have Solved 'Christmas Tree Lady' Case 25 Years Later
Fairfax County Detectives Have Solved 'Christmas Tree Lady' Case 25 Years Later For 25 years, Fairfax County police have not given up on solving one of the department's more perplexing cases. Now they have an answer.  The Fairfax County Police Department announced on Thursday, July 7, that cold case detectives identified the woman who they have been calling "The Christmas Tree Lady" since they found her body on Dec. 18, 1996.  Her name is Joyce Meyer. She was 69 years old when she died.  Police found Meyer's body at the Pleasant Valley Memorial Park on Little River Turnpike in Annandale a week before Christmas. She had two things in her pocket: a suicid…

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by Josh Lanier
News
Notorious NJ Serial Killer Charged With Murder Of Dance Teacher At Popular Long Island Mall Notorious NJ Serial Killer Charged With Murder Of Dance Teacher At Popular Long Island Mall
Notorious NJ Serial Killer Charged With Murder Of Dance Teacher At Popular Long Island Mall Another female victim has been added to the list of imprisoned 75-year-old New Jersey serial killer Richard Cottingham, thanks to advances in DNA technology. Cottingham was arraigned on Long Island via videoconference Wednesday from South Woods State Prison in Bridgeton for the 1968 slaying of a New Hyde Park woman in the parking lot of the popular Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream. He entered a not-guilty plea to murder charges in the death of Diane Cusick, a 23-year-old divorced single mom who worked as a dance instructor. Cottingham, a married father of three who’d lived in Lodi and wor…

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by Jerry DeMarco