NY software engineer convicted in 1994 Virginia murder, chilling confession read aloud in court: I could be a serial killer
A New York software engineer pleaded guilty on Friday to killing a Virginia mother 30 years ago as prosecutors read his chilling confession in which he ominously mused he “probably would be a serial killer” if he never got married.Stephen Smerk, 52, admitted to fatally stabbing 37-year-old Robin Lawrence, who he targeted at random in her Springfield home in November 1994 while her 2-year-old daughter was also inside.Smerk, then 22, was stationed at Fort Myer in Arlington for his first year in the Army when he drove from the base intent on killing anyone he came across.“It wouldn’t have mattered if there were 50 people in that house,” Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Kelsey Gill said.
“He set out to kill someone.”Gill added that Smerk drove as far away from the barracks to a location where he felt comfortable enough to kill, according to WUSA9.The software engineer was taken into custody in Niskayuna in upstate New York in September 2023 after DNA evidence matched him to the murder. Gill read part of his disturbing confession video in court Friday.“[Smerk] said, ‘I’ve not killed anyone else, but I could be a serial killer,’” the prosecutor read.In the same confession video, Smerk added that he “cut [Lawrence] up pretty good.” He described stabbing her twice — however Lawrence was found with 49 total stab wounds, WUSA9 reported.“If not for my wife and kids, I probably would be a serial killer,” Smerk said at one point.The gut-churning confession was difficult for Lawrence’s relatives to hear.“I can’t grapple with that or anything that he did that he happened to pick my sister’s house to go in and take her life for no reason other than what was in his head.” Mary Cowans, Lawrence’s sister, told the outlet.“He looks like he doesn’t have a soul,” said Lauren Ovans, Lawrence’s niece. Lawrence’s body was found days after the killing by a friend of the family after Lawrence’s husband asked for a wellness check wh...