1 00:00:02,002 --> 00:00:04,304 It happened inside this house sometime over the weekend. 2 00:00:04,404 --> 00:00:07,574 Something was wrong. I thought there was an accident. 3 00:00:07,674 --> 00:00:10,077 All of a sudden, here comes the little two-year-old. 4 00:00:11,078 --> 00:00:12,813 I knew something horrible had happened. 5 00:00:12,913 --> 00:00:16,783 Her throat was cut so severely, she was almost decapitated. 6 00:00:16,884 --> 00:00:19,419 It was an ugly, ugly graphic scene. 7 00:00:24,758 --> 00:00:26,226 Seemed to be very personal. 8 00:00:26,326 --> 00:00:29,229 I remember thinking, a person who did this could be 9 00:00:29,329 --> 00:00:31,231 sitting in this room with us. 10 00:00:31,331 --> 00:00:34,167 He's having this affair. There's a mistress. 11 00:00:34,268 --> 00:00:36,937 Detectives are not convinced of his innocence. 12 00:00:37,037 --> 00:00:40,140 He's a trained killer, an assassin. 13 00:00:40,240 --> 00:00:42,409 But the truth is actually even more shocking. 14 00:01:16,610 --> 00:01:19,413 This case is particularly tragic for us at People, 15 00:01:19,513 --> 00:01:22,416 a close-knit family haunted by an unspeakable loss. 16 00:01:22,516 --> 00:01:24,952 It was so violent and rage-filled that detectives 17 00:01:25,052 --> 00:01:27,654 are convinced that it must have been someone who was 18 00:01:27,754 --> 00:01:29,489 passionately angry with the victim. 19 00:01:31,425 --> 00:01:34,194 After a relentless search for a cold-blooded killer, 20 00:01:36,964 --> 00:01:38,899 investigators would get a confession 21 00:01:40,300 --> 00:01:41,435 that they will never forget. 22 00:01:43,403 --> 00:01:45,606 Oh, there's-- we got the Washington Monument 23 00:01:45,706 --> 00:01:47,474 in the background. 24 00:01:47,574 --> 00:01:51,378 - And you're here now. - I exist. 25 00:01:51,478 --> 00:01:54,615 This one's my favorite, the one of her holding me. 26 00:01:54,715 --> 00:01:56,783 Look, I'm preppy. I like the collared shirt. 27 00:01:57,918 --> 00:02:01,254 You liked your Auntie Robin. She was nice to you. 28 00:02:01,355 --> 00:02:02,522 Yeah. 29 00:02:04,191 --> 00:02:06,593 She was very much like me, that's why. 30 00:02:06,693 --> 00:02:09,896 She just made me feel very comfortable to be myself, 31 00:02:09,997 --> 00:02:14,167 and I think that is why I'm so passionate about talking 32 00:02:14,267 --> 00:02:16,336 about her and sharing her story. 33 00:02:16,436 --> 00:02:19,940 For 37 years, she was part of our lives, my life, 34 00:02:20,040 --> 00:02:21,141 all of her life. 35 00:02:22,142 --> 00:02:25,479 You don't think someone will be gone 36 00:02:25,579 --> 00:02:28,715 from your life at that age 37 00:02:28,815 --> 00:02:30,017 with no warning. 38 00:02:33,553 --> 00:02:37,991 Robin was special to us 'cause she was the youngest daughter, 39 00:02:38,091 --> 00:02:41,528 and Robin and I had to share a bedroom and got into trouble 40 00:02:41,628 --> 00:02:45,732 together and did funny things together. 41 00:02:45,832 --> 00:02:47,668 She was very precocious, 42 00:02:47,768 --> 00:02:49,836 full of life and full of energy. 43 00:02:50,904 --> 00:02:53,340 And I remember her special talent. 44 00:02:53,440 --> 00:02:55,942 She liked to draw and paint. 45 00:02:59,513 --> 00:03:01,848 She could take a blank canvas and just create 46 00:03:01,948 --> 00:03:03,483 something beautiful. 47 00:03:03,583 --> 00:03:06,853 It's incredible how talented she was. 48 00:03:06,953 --> 00:03:11,558 My family is very guarded with a lot of what's going on 49 00:03:11,658 --> 00:03:13,160 and their emotions. 50 00:03:13,260 --> 00:03:16,029 And my Aunt Robin was the outlier. 51 00:03:16,129 --> 00:03:17,764 She was an open book. 52 00:03:19,266 --> 00:03:22,936 Robin and I met after college at a dance class. 53 00:03:23,036 --> 00:03:25,105 We shared a love of dance. 54 00:03:25,205 --> 00:03:28,809 She had a really big, fun laugh and a big, fun smile. 55 00:03:28,909 --> 00:03:33,113 I mean, it was just infectious. We had such a great friendship. 56 00:03:33,213 --> 00:03:37,017 When we were 30, we both left our small town in Connecticut 57 00:03:37,117 --> 00:03:39,853 and moved to the big city of Washington, D.C. 58 00:03:42,422 --> 00:03:45,726 After Robin moved to D.C., 59 00:03:45,826 --> 00:03:50,230 I remember my mother said, "Robin's got a new boyfriend." 60 00:03:50,330 --> 00:03:54,701 And then I called Robin and say, "What's going on? 61 00:03:54,801 --> 00:03:58,739 And who is this guy, Ollie Lawrence?" 62 00:03:59,806 --> 00:04:04,211 Ollie was an executive for US Airways, 63 00:04:04,311 --> 00:04:09,015 and he was so polite and gentlemanly 64 00:04:09,116 --> 00:04:15,122 and soft-spoken and very appealing as a man. 65 00:04:15,222 --> 00:04:17,190 You could definitely see how-- why they were 66 00:04:17,290 --> 00:04:19,059 attracted to each other. 67 00:04:19,159 --> 00:04:21,661 And they ended up getting married and moving out 68 00:04:21,762 --> 00:04:22,763 to the suburbs. 69 00:04:25,565 --> 00:04:29,202 In 1989, Robin and Ollie settle into the peaceful suburb 70 00:04:29,302 --> 00:04:30,504 of Springfield, Virginia. 71 00:04:30,604 --> 00:04:32,739 And three years later, Robin gives birth 72 00:04:32,839 --> 00:04:34,007 to a daughter, Nicole. 73 00:04:35,842 --> 00:04:39,146 There was a lot of joy and a lot of excitement. 74 00:04:40,247 --> 00:04:44,184 Nicole was a happy and healthy little girl. 75 00:04:48,121 --> 00:04:53,560 In 1994, Robin was working for the Merchant's Tire Company, 76 00:04:53,660 --> 00:04:57,397 developing the ads, and Ollie's job was going well. 77 00:04:57,497 --> 00:04:59,666 They were in a very good place at that time. 78 00:05:00,867 --> 00:05:04,337 We were preparing to come together as a family group 79 00:05:04,437 --> 00:05:05,539 for Thanksgiving. 80 00:05:06,540 --> 00:05:10,677 I was excited to see Aunt Robin that Thanksgiving. 81 00:05:10,777 --> 00:05:13,814 It was extra special because it was her birthday week, 82 00:05:13,914 --> 00:05:18,585 and it was also a time for us to get together and celebrate. 83 00:05:19,686 --> 00:05:21,087 The weekend before Thanksgiving, 84 00:05:21,188 --> 00:05:23,523 Ollie heads to the airport for a business trip, 85 00:05:23,623 --> 00:05:25,959 leaving Robin home alone with their daughter. 86 00:05:26,059 --> 00:05:28,395 I called her that weekend, and she didn't answer, 87 00:05:28,495 --> 00:05:30,263 and I left a message saying, "What are we gonna do 88 00:05:30,363 --> 00:05:31,731 for your birthday? It's coming up." 89 00:05:31,832 --> 00:05:33,433 And I didn't hear back from her. 90 00:05:37,704 --> 00:05:40,006 Saturday passes, and late into the night, 91 00:05:40,106 --> 00:05:42,375 police dispatchers in Fairfax County 92 00:05:42,475 --> 00:05:44,611 receive a call from Robin's husband, Ollie. 93 00:06:19,512 --> 00:06:20,947 They're telling him he needs to talk 94 00:06:21,047 --> 00:06:22,582 to the police in the Bahamas. 95 00:06:22,682 --> 00:06:26,720 They need to send a message electronically to Fairfax 96 00:06:26,820 --> 00:06:29,789 asking for the car to be sent to the house. 97 00:06:29,890 --> 00:06:32,325 And I know from experience these teletype requests 98 00:06:32,425 --> 00:06:33,493 can take hours. 99 00:06:34,494 --> 00:06:37,764 Frustrated, Ollie calls Robin's friend Laurie for help. 100 00:06:37,864 --> 00:06:39,900 Ollie called me on Sunday morning and said, 101 00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:42,002 "Well, I'm out of town, I'm in the Bahamas, 102 00:06:42,102 --> 00:06:44,738 "and I haven't been able to get in touch with her. 103 00:06:44,838 --> 00:06:46,406 "Would you mind going over to the house 104 00:06:46,506 --> 00:06:48,842 and checking on her?" My first thought was, 105 00:06:48,942 --> 00:06:52,212 "Oh, you know, Nicole knocked the receiver off the phone 106 00:06:52,312 --> 00:06:55,348 playing with it, and that's why she never got the phone calls." 107 00:06:56,449 --> 00:06:58,518 I didn't think that anything would be wrong. 108 00:06:58,618 --> 00:07:00,387 I really didn't. 109 00:07:00,487 --> 00:07:03,723 So one of my friends, Karlyn, came with me. 110 00:07:03,823 --> 00:07:09,095 We drove over to Robin's, and the first thing I noticed 111 00:07:09,195 --> 00:07:11,431 was that there were a bunch of newspapers piled up 112 00:07:11,531 --> 00:07:14,501 in front of the front door, which is a little strange. 113 00:07:14,601 --> 00:07:17,604 And we knocked on the door, and nobody came to the door. 114 00:07:17,704 --> 00:07:20,140 So I said, "We're gonna have to go around back." 115 00:07:21,341 --> 00:07:24,244 And then we noticed that the window was open. 116 00:07:25,445 --> 00:07:27,414 There was just something about it that was wrong. 117 00:07:29,149 --> 00:07:32,919 In that moment, I was terrified, frankly. 118 00:07:34,387 --> 00:07:37,891 But my friend Karlyn is really brave, and she said, 119 00:07:37,991 --> 00:07:38,992 "We're going in." 120 00:07:40,527 --> 00:07:41,895 We climbed in the window. 121 00:07:41,995 --> 00:07:45,031 The family room and the kitchen is in front of us, 122 00:07:45,131 --> 00:07:47,801 and to the left is the hallway down to the bedrooms. 123 00:07:48,835 --> 00:07:51,504 We started calling for Robin and Nicole, 124 00:07:51,604 --> 00:07:52,806 and nobody's coming out. 125 00:07:56,509 --> 00:07:58,144 All of a sudden, here comes Nicole. 126 00:08:00,513 --> 00:08:04,250 And her eyes are, you know, so big. 127 00:08:04,351 --> 00:08:07,721 And she didn't cry. She didn't whimper. 128 00:08:09,656 --> 00:08:12,625 Karlyn picked her up and said, "You go find Robin. 129 00:08:12,726 --> 00:08:14,394 You can't believe you're in this situation that 130 00:08:14,494 --> 00:08:17,063 you're just getting worse and worse feeling about. 131 00:08:17,163 --> 00:08:22,202 And I walked down the hallway, and I could see on the wall 132 00:08:22,302 --> 00:08:25,005 these blood splatters. 133 00:08:25,105 --> 00:08:28,108 I knew something horrible had happened, but I was so afraid. 134 00:08:28,208 --> 00:08:30,410 I mean, the fear just gripped me. 135 00:08:30,510 --> 00:08:32,045 It was overwhelming. 136 00:08:32,145 --> 00:08:35,115 And we just took off with Nicole, 137 00:08:35,215 --> 00:08:36,316 climbed back out the window. 138 00:08:37,450 --> 00:08:38,852 I ran next door. 139 00:08:38,952 --> 00:08:42,255 A man was working in his garage, and I said, 140 00:08:42,355 --> 00:08:44,524 "I need to phone, I need to phone, I need to call the police." 141 00:08:46,793 --> 00:08:50,163 When I arrived at the home, the scene was secure. 142 00:08:51,197 --> 00:08:54,200 Many police cruisers there. I went into the house. 143 00:08:54,300 --> 00:08:57,804 There was really no signs of a disturbance. 144 00:08:57,904 --> 00:09:01,107 There was nothing knocked over, no signs of a struggle. 145 00:09:01,207 --> 00:09:04,778 And there really wasn't any sign that there was a problem 146 00:09:04,878 --> 00:09:08,948 until you rounded the corner to the master bedroom. 147 00:09:09,049 --> 00:09:11,618 And then I could see this was 148 00:09:11,718 --> 00:09:13,586 a major, major scene. 149 00:09:14,754 --> 00:09:18,091 A female victim was on the floor next to the bed, 150 00:09:18,191 --> 00:09:21,795 fully clothed, looked like possibly sleep attire, 151 00:09:21,895 --> 00:09:26,566 blue stretch pants, pink top. It was a lot of blood. 152 00:09:26,666 --> 00:09:30,770 I saw what appeared to be knife injuries on her back. 153 00:09:30,870 --> 00:09:34,274 She has wounds on her face. Her throat was cut. 154 00:09:34,374 --> 00:09:36,509 There were wounds to her abdomen 155 00:09:36,609 --> 00:09:39,512 and her intestines had started to come out. 156 00:09:39,612 --> 00:09:42,248 It was an ugly, ugly graphic scene. 157 00:09:43,383 --> 00:09:45,785 Was this a burglary that went bad? 158 00:09:45,885 --> 00:09:47,520 No idea. Anger? 159 00:09:47,620 --> 00:09:51,224 Was it going to be a prelude to a sexual assault 160 00:09:51,324 --> 00:09:53,293 that turned violent? I don't know. 161 00:10:01,935 --> 00:10:03,703 Based on the ID found in her purse, 162 00:10:03,803 --> 00:10:06,506 they identify the victim as 37-year-old Robin Lawrence. 163 00:10:08,842 --> 00:10:11,744 Outside of the Lawrence house, Robin's best friend 164 00:10:11,845 --> 00:10:14,247 and officers are tending to baby Nicole. 165 00:10:15,648 --> 00:10:18,585 The whole time, Nicole, the little two-year-old, 166 00:10:18,685 --> 00:10:20,353 did not make a single sound. 167 00:10:20,453 --> 00:10:24,257 She obviously hadn't had any food or water for however long. 168 00:10:24,357 --> 00:10:28,361 Her skin was raw because of the diaper. 169 00:10:28,461 --> 00:10:31,564 It seemed like they couldn't have been changed in like 170 00:10:31,664 --> 00:10:34,634 36, 48 hours. I mean, it was bad. 171 00:10:36,703 --> 00:10:40,206 And I remember thinking, Nicole, she needs fluids. 172 00:10:40,306 --> 00:10:42,041 She needs her medicine. She needs to be taken care-- 173 00:10:42,142 --> 00:10:44,010 I mean, you know, like, I was, like, frantic. 174 00:10:44,110 --> 00:10:45,378 Like, you've got to take care of her. 175 00:10:49,082 --> 00:10:51,084 At the hospital, the police told me 176 00:10:51,184 --> 00:10:53,353 that Robin was dead, 177 00:10:53,453 --> 00:10:56,756 which was something so horrible that you can't believe 178 00:10:56,856 --> 00:10:57,991 it's actually happening. 179 00:11:00,426 --> 00:11:01,694 It's so surreal. 180 00:11:03,129 --> 00:11:04,397 I think I was in shock. 181 00:11:07,901 --> 00:11:10,637 The police asked me to call Robin's parents 182 00:11:10,737 --> 00:11:11,871 to tell them. 183 00:11:11,971 --> 00:11:13,640 That was the worst part of the whole day, 184 00:11:14,974 --> 00:11:18,411 was telling Robin's parents that their daughter was dead. 185 00:11:23,249 --> 00:11:26,019 My dad calls me, 186 00:11:26,119 --> 00:11:29,889 and he was crying uncontrollably over the phone. 187 00:11:29,989 --> 00:11:31,391 And he didn't mince words. 188 00:11:31,491 --> 00:11:33,560 He said, "Robin is dead." 189 00:11:34,627 --> 00:11:36,729 And I'm like, "What? 190 00:11:36,829 --> 00:11:37,830 What do you mean?" 191 00:11:39,532 --> 00:11:41,034 It was just disbelief. 192 00:11:42,669 --> 00:11:44,337 From that moment, everything changed. 193 00:11:46,639 --> 00:11:51,044 It's probably the worst call I've ever received in my life. 194 00:11:51,144 --> 00:11:55,481 It was traumatic. It was-- couldn't believe it. 195 00:11:56,849 --> 00:11:59,385 Was just horrified. I'm still horrified. 196 00:12:03,289 --> 00:12:05,725 As Robin's loved ones grapple with their loss, 197 00:12:05,825 --> 00:12:07,961 detectives scrutinize the crime scene. 198 00:12:09,562 --> 00:12:12,699 This was an obvious, very violent encounter. 199 00:12:12,799 --> 00:12:17,870 Robin was cut very badly all over her body. 200 00:12:19,138 --> 00:12:22,342 I'm thinking, what a fight she put up, not only to save 201 00:12:22,442 --> 00:12:26,346 her life, but she knows she's got a little daughter in here. 202 00:12:27,614 --> 00:12:29,816 Her clothes were on basically completely. 203 00:12:29,916 --> 00:12:32,685 There was no evidence of any kind of sexual assault there. 204 00:12:32,785 --> 00:12:36,422 On the floor next to the victim was a baby bottle 205 00:12:36,522 --> 00:12:39,892 and a child's book and tissues on the floor 206 00:12:39,993 --> 00:12:41,594 in and around the victim. 207 00:12:42,895 --> 00:12:46,232 The only thing that went through my mind is that 208 00:12:46,332 --> 00:12:50,703 the small child had got these tissues 209 00:12:50,803 --> 00:12:53,640 and had tried to stop the bleeding on her mother. 210 00:12:58,378 --> 00:13:02,949 Nicole was there for days, alone, trying to get Mommy 211 00:13:03,049 --> 00:13:05,551 to wake up, or she needs Mommy to help take care of her, 212 00:13:05,652 --> 00:13:07,020 and Mom's not responding. 213 00:13:10,156 --> 00:13:12,792 It was especially tragic. 214 00:13:14,260 --> 00:13:18,998 The fact that Robin had been brutally murdered and her baby 215 00:13:19,098 --> 00:13:23,636 left alone for two days, it was horrible. 216 00:13:24,804 --> 00:13:25,938 It was really horrible. 217 00:13:27,607 --> 00:13:29,142 I'm a father. I have three daughters. 218 00:13:29,242 --> 00:13:33,846 And the aspect of a little two-year-old, 219 00:13:33,946 --> 00:13:37,884 what she may have went through, it-- it stayed with me. 220 00:13:40,586 --> 00:13:43,456 There was a phone on the floor, and the cord was cut. 221 00:13:43,556 --> 00:13:46,592 So right away, you're thinking about how Robin is 222 00:13:46,693 --> 00:13:48,394 potentially startled. She's afraid. 223 00:13:48,494 --> 00:13:52,231 She goes to the phone to call 911, and that cord is cut. 224 00:13:53,900 --> 00:13:55,868 Crime scene detectives go into every single room 225 00:13:55,968 --> 00:13:57,103 of that entire house. 226 00:13:58,338 --> 00:14:00,106 And they're gonna see, is there anything 227 00:14:00,206 --> 00:14:01,641 of evidentiary value? 228 00:14:03,776 --> 00:14:05,478 When they looked in the bathroom, 229 00:14:05,578 --> 00:14:07,714 they saw a washcloth. It had some blood on it. 230 00:14:07,814 --> 00:14:10,216 And it just didn't make sense, 231 00:14:10,316 --> 00:14:13,553 because the injuries to Robin were such that she was not 232 00:14:13,653 --> 00:14:16,189 going to be making her way to the bathroom at any point. 233 00:14:18,157 --> 00:14:20,860 So essentially, first thing you think of is, 234 00:14:20,960 --> 00:14:22,462 what is this blood doing here? 235 00:14:24,097 --> 00:14:28,568 I'm thinking a suspect being injured and bleeding also. 236 00:14:30,203 --> 00:14:32,405 And this is a major piece of evidence and something 237 00:14:32,505 --> 00:14:34,574 that needs to be collected. 238 00:14:34,674 --> 00:14:38,010 The washcloth is collected for DNA testing, which is still 239 00:14:38,111 --> 00:14:40,346 in its infancy in 1994. 240 00:14:40,446 --> 00:14:43,449 The investigators also determine that their suspect 241 00:14:43,549 --> 00:14:45,318 entered through the back of the house. 242 00:14:47,286 --> 00:14:50,690 There were no other unsecured windows or doors. 243 00:14:50,790 --> 00:14:53,459 So the entry point was apparently 244 00:14:53,559 --> 00:14:55,728 the window on the deck. 245 00:14:55,828 --> 00:14:58,664 Someone broke into the house through that window. 246 00:15:00,666 --> 00:15:02,869 Robin's purse was on the dresser. 247 00:15:02,969 --> 00:15:05,638 It had her wallet, car keys still in there. 248 00:15:05,738 --> 00:15:08,474 There was some jewelry left on the dresser as well. 249 00:15:08,574 --> 00:15:10,410 So this wasn't a burglary. 250 00:15:11,477 --> 00:15:13,379 It appears someone entered 251 00:15:13,479 --> 00:15:15,948 and went directly to the bedroom, 252 00:15:16,048 --> 00:15:19,485 committed the murder and went directly out. 253 00:15:19,585 --> 00:15:21,888 There was a mission, a goal. 254 00:15:21,988 --> 00:15:25,825 It tells you as a detective, she was the target of this. 255 00:15:27,360 --> 00:15:29,929 With Ollie already on his plane back from the Bahamas, 256 00:15:30,029 --> 00:15:32,365 police wait for him at the airport gate in D.C. 257 00:15:32,465 --> 00:15:35,134 to deliver the news about his wife's murder. 258 00:15:35,234 --> 00:15:38,538 They notified him right away of his wife's death. 259 00:15:38,638 --> 00:15:41,507 He seemed just as shocked as everybody else. 260 00:15:43,042 --> 00:15:46,145 Ollie wanted to see Nicole and was concerned that she 261 00:15:46,245 --> 00:15:50,116 had been left in the home with her dead mother for days. 262 00:15:50,216 --> 00:15:53,019 That was horrific. 263 00:15:53,119 --> 00:15:55,721 All of it was horrific, that she could have-- 264 00:15:55,822 --> 00:15:56,823 she could have died 265 00:15:57,824 --> 00:15:58,825 with her mother. 266 00:16:00,059 --> 00:16:02,595 Two days after Robin's body was discovered, 267 00:16:02,695 --> 00:16:06,299 the Fairfax County Medical Examiner conducts an autopsy. 268 00:16:07,800 --> 00:16:11,504 Robin had injuries literally from head to toe. 269 00:16:11,604 --> 00:16:15,675 Her face was slashed open in multiple areas. 270 00:16:16,776 --> 00:16:18,945 Her throat was cut so severely, 271 00:16:19,045 --> 00:16:21,013 it looked like she was almost decapitated. 272 00:16:22,315 --> 00:16:25,218 All over her body, you know, 49 stab wounds, 273 00:16:25,318 --> 00:16:28,888 a lot focusing around her face and her neck area. 274 00:16:28,988 --> 00:16:31,557 There were a lot of defensive wounds that were on her hands 275 00:16:31,657 --> 00:16:36,162 and her arms, where clearly, she tried to fight back. 276 00:16:36,262 --> 00:16:39,699 Any time that you have such a violent encounter, 277 00:16:39,799 --> 00:16:42,468 it is seemingly personal. 278 00:16:42,568 --> 00:16:44,871 It looks like a crime of passion. 279 00:16:44,971 --> 00:16:47,306 You're thinking this must be someone who was really, 280 00:16:47,406 --> 00:16:48,574 really angry with her. 281 00:16:50,209 --> 00:16:52,812 So then your thought as a detective goes to, 282 00:16:52,912 --> 00:16:56,649 who wants to see Robin dead? Who benefits from the murder? 283 00:16:56,749 --> 00:16:58,618 When you start an investigation, 284 00:16:58,718 --> 00:17:00,753 you start very close. You start with the victim. 285 00:17:00,853 --> 00:17:02,421 You start with who's in their inner circle, 286 00:17:02,522 --> 00:17:03,589 and you start to work out. 287 00:17:05,191 --> 00:17:08,961 It happened inside this house sometime over the weekend. 288 00:17:09,061 --> 00:17:12,698 37-year-old Robin Lawrence stabbed to death. 289 00:17:12,798 --> 00:17:14,967 Beth Bade is a neighbor. 290 00:17:15,067 --> 00:17:18,604 She says Mrs. Lawrence was alive and well Friday night. 291 00:17:18,704 --> 00:17:20,139 My babysitter picked up 292 00:17:21,173 --> 00:17:23,409 the Lawrence's babysitter at about 6:15 293 00:17:23,509 --> 00:17:25,111 and took her to the subway. 294 00:17:25,211 --> 00:17:27,513 And my babysitter saw Mrs. Lawrence and the child 295 00:17:27,613 --> 00:17:28,981 and everything was fine. 296 00:17:29,081 --> 00:17:32,118 Tonight, a little girl brought a bouquet of flowers 297 00:17:32,218 --> 00:17:34,120 to the front step of the Lawrence home. 298 00:17:37,957 --> 00:17:40,993 This is the program from her funeral, 299 00:17:41,093 --> 00:17:43,796 titled We'll Always Remember Your Smile, 300 00:17:43,896 --> 00:17:46,599 and it has a beautiful picture of her. 301 00:17:46,699 --> 00:17:49,735 Looked so much like her at that age. 302 00:17:49,835 --> 00:17:53,172 To think you will never see your sister again 303 00:17:54,574 --> 00:17:55,775 is just unthinkable. 304 00:17:57,410 --> 00:17:59,445 And I think I cried buckets and buckets. 305 00:18:00,713 --> 00:18:03,616 I didn't know I had that much liquid in me. 306 00:18:03,716 --> 00:18:06,419 There were so many people there 307 00:18:06,519 --> 00:18:09,155 that it was not enough chairs for everybody. 308 00:18:10,256 --> 00:18:13,726 Her family, her friends, me, we know our lives 309 00:18:13,826 --> 00:18:16,462 would have been so different if she was alive. 310 00:18:18,331 --> 00:18:20,866 At the end, Robin's dad started singing 311 00:18:20,967 --> 00:18:22,201 "This Little Light of Mine." 312 00:18:25,004 --> 00:18:28,341 So everybody joined in, singing that song with him. 313 00:18:29,542 --> 00:18:32,411 It wasn't right that she was gone at that time. 314 00:18:34,947 --> 00:18:39,085 I remember thinking at Robin's funeral, you know, 315 00:18:39,185 --> 00:18:42,922 a person who did this could be sitting in this room with us. 316 00:18:43,022 --> 00:18:46,025 We didn't know. We had no idea. 317 00:18:46,125 --> 00:18:49,962 Two days after the funeral, police interview Ollie Lawrence. 318 00:18:50,963 --> 00:18:53,532 Ollie was in the Bahamas on a business trip 319 00:18:53,633 --> 00:18:55,034 during the time of this. 320 00:18:55,134 --> 00:18:57,670 Ollie provides detectives with all his travel details 321 00:18:57,770 --> 00:19:00,206 so that they can verify his whereabouts for the weekend. 322 00:19:00,306 --> 00:19:02,141 But he shares an additional piece of information 323 00:19:02,241 --> 00:19:03,643 that gives detectives pause. 324 00:19:04,710 --> 00:19:07,747 Ollie was having an affair at the time of the murder. 325 00:19:09,515 --> 00:19:11,984 Marva was Ollie's mistress. 326 00:19:12,084 --> 00:19:15,821 They had had an on-and-off relationship over a decade. 327 00:19:15,921 --> 00:19:17,790 That relationship continued 328 00:19:17,890 --> 00:19:20,726 after Ollie and Robin were married. 329 00:19:22,061 --> 00:19:24,563 At this point, the detectives are thinking 330 00:19:24,664 --> 00:19:27,099 this affair has got to have something to do 331 00:19:27,199 --> 00:19:28,501 with this murder. 332 00:19:36,676 --> 00:19:39,111 Detectives have learned about Ollie's affair, 333 00:19:39,211 --> 00:19:42,415 and at this point they are still suspicious, 334 00:19:42,515 --> 00:19:45,751 whether it's Ollie's motive to have Robin killed 335 00:19:45,851 --> 00:19:48,154 so he can be with his girlfriend, 336 00:19:48,254 --> 00:19:51,490 whether it's the motive of the girlfriend to have Robin 337 00:19:51,590 --> 00:19:53,693 killed so she can be with Ollie. 338 00:19:53,793 --> 00:19:56,529 The detectives actually went to the Bahamas. 339 00:19:56,629 --> 00:19:59,865 They did corroborate that Ollie was on a business trip. 340 00:19:59,965 --> 00:20:02,401 He was in the Bahamas at the time of the murder, 341 00:20:02,501 --> 00:20:05,271 but did he hire somebody to kill her? 342 00:20:06,872 --> 00:20:09,809 Detectives look into Ollie's financials to see if there was 343 00:20:09,909 --> 00:20:12,244 some suspicious sum of money that may have been paid 344 00:20:12,344 --> 00:20:14,880 to someone else that would have supported the theory 345 00:20:14,980 --> 00:20:17,917 that he had hired somebody to kill his wife, 346 00:20:18,017 --> 00:20:19,785 but there was nothing in his financials. 347 00:20:21,020 --> 00:20:24,090 Fairfax County finds no evidence that Ollie was 348 00:20:24,190 --> 00:20:27,093 behind his wife's murder, but they're not convinced 349 00:20:27,193 --> 00:20:28,294 of his innocence. 350 00:20:28,394 --> 00:20:31,297 Detectives interview Marva and discover that Ollie had 351 00:20:31,397 --> 00:20:34,200 invited her to the Bahamas with him, but she stayed 352 00:20:34,300 --> 00:20:35,735 in the D.C. area instead. 353 00:20:36,836 --> 00:20:39,371 This seems like a perfect opportunity to get away 354 00:20:39,472 --> 00:20:43,109 with your lover. So why didn't she go? 355 00:20:43,209 --> 00:20:45,644 Should suspicion be placed on her? 356 00:20:45,745 --> 00:20:48,080 Police ask Marva if she has an alibi for the night 357 00:20:48,180 --> 00:20:49,548 of Friday, November 18th. 358 00:20:50,649 --> 00:20:53,152 She was home by herself watching TV. 359 00:20:53,252 --> 00:20:56,489 She couldn't prove that she was where she said she was 360 00:20:56,589 --> 00:20:57,957 at the time of Robin's murder. 361 00:20:58,057 --> 00:21:01,527 Never fully able to shake their suspicions of Ollie, 362 00:21:01,627 --> 00:21:04,563 and with Marva's alibi unreliable, 363 00:21:04,663 --> 00:21:06,332 the police interview Ollie again. 364 00:21:54,580 --> 00:21:57,082 In August 1995, still unable to rule out 365 00:21:57,183 --> 00:21:58,684 Ollie and Marva's involvement, 366 00:21:58,784 --> 00:22:00,820 detectives request a blood sample from Marva 367 00:22:00,920 --> 00:22:03,989 to compare with the DNA on the washcloth. 368 00:22:04,089 --> 00:22:06,959 However, with DNA forensics still in its early days, 369 00:22:07,059 --> 00:22:08,828 the results will take months to come back. 370 00:22:10,462 --> 00:22:13,799 Waiting on the DNA results, one of the things 371 00:22:13,899 --> 00:22:17,870 that detectives will do is check reports from the vicinity 372 00:22:17,970 --> 00:22:19,238 of where the crime occurred. 373 00:22:19,338 --> 00:22:22,408 Is there anybody that stands out in the area? 374 00:22:22,508 --> 00:22:25,044 And what the detectives found was a white male who lived 375 00:22:25,144 --> 00:22:29,348 in the area, and he was arrested for peeping in the homes. 376 00:22:29,448 --> 00:22:32,518 That did give us a name, Pavlik. 377 00:22:32,618 --> 00:22:35,588 Pavlik had been arrested for peeping in the neighborhood 378 00:22:35,688 --> 00:22:37,022 around that time. 379 00:22:37,122 --> 00:22:39,658 Peepers are typically someone that want to catch somebody, 380 00:22:39,758 --> 00:22:42,761 a woman, in a state of undress or getting in and out 381 00:22:42,862 --> 00:22:44,496 of the shower. 382 00:22:44,597 --> 00:22:47,533 Somebody that's peeping into homes, his thought process 383 00:22:47,633 --> 00:22:51,470 could be he sees that Robin's potentially home by herself. 384 00:22:51,570 --> 00:22:54,573 He escalates his behavior, breaks into the home. 385 00:22:54,673 --> 00:22:55,875 He commits this crime. 386 00:22:57,376 --> 00:22:59,879 Wary that Pavlik could be Robin's killer, detectives find 387 00:22:59,979 --> 00:23:02,081 a way to get his DNA surreptitiously. 388 00:23:03,349 --> 00:23:05,751 The investigators pulled Mr. Pavlik's trash 389 00:23:05,851 --> 00:23:08,587 that he had left out off of his property. 390 00:23:08,687 --> 00:23:12,691 They were able to send some of those items to the laboratory. 391 00:23:12,791 --> 00:23:15,961 In waiting for lab results to come in, 392 00:23:16,061 --> 00:23:17,429 you need a lot of patience. 393 00:23:17,529 --> 00:23:20,966 Everybody's frustrated because you should be able 394 00:23:21,066 --> 00:23:24,870 to figure it out and break whoever is responsible, 395 00:23:24,970 --> 00:23:26,472 and it's just not happening. 396 00:23:30,542 --> 00:23:33,612 Finally, over a year after Robin's murder, 397 00:23:33,712 --> 00:23:36,815 detectives receive the DNA results. 398 00:23:36,916 --> 00:23:38,784 The washcloth did have blood on it. 399 00:23:38,884 --> 00:23:42,054 Finally, we have a good, solid DNA profile. 400 00:23:42,154 --> 00:23:44,790 Now we have a potential suspect DNA. 401 00:23:44,890 --> 00:23:47,293 You don't get to have that in a lot of cases. 402 00:23:48,827 --> 00:23:51,630 Detectives compare the DNA profile to every suspect 403 00:23:51,730 --> 00:23:55,067 in the case, including Ollie, Marva, and Pavlik, 404 00:23:55,167 --> 00:23:56,535 but none of them are a match. 405 00:23:58,604 --> 00:24:01,373 In 1994, CODIS was up and running 406 00:24:01,473 --> 00:24:02,875 at the time of this murder. 407 00:24:02,975 --> 00:24:05,878 CODIS is the FBI's DNA data bank. 408 00:24:07,513 --> 00:24:10,716 The profile was uploaded into CODIS, and that DNA profile 409 00:24:10,816 --> 00:24:12,551 didn't hit on anybody. 410 00:24:12,651 --> 00:24:16,789 So what that tells the detectives is our suspect 411 00:24:16,889 --> 00:24:19,491 does not have a violent criminal record. 412 00:24:19,591 --> 00:24:21,927 If he had been arrested for a violent crime, 413 00:24:22,027 --> 00:24:24,196 his DNA would be in the system. 414 00:24:24,296 --> 00:24:26,465 The leads quickly dissolved, 415 00:24:26,565 --> 00:24:28,367 and there just wasn't a lot to go on. 416 00:24:28,467 --> 00:24:32,071 The only thing that they had was this washcloth 417 00:24:32,171 --> 00:24:34,073 with the DNA profile. 418 00:24:34,173 --> 00:24:35,841 The suspect is out there somewhere. 419 00:24:35,941 --> 00:24:38,444 We don't know who to look for to get their DNA. 420 00:24:39,945 --> 00:24:43,082 After the murder, Ollie and Nicole moved 421 00:24:43,182 --> 00:24:45,217 to New Haven, Connecticut. 422 00:24:45,317 --> 00:24:49,855 He retreated with Nicole, and that was his own way 423 00:24:49,955 --> 00:24:54,159 of dealing with the grief and the suspicions. 424 00:24:54,259 --> 00:24:57,262 Ollie and Nicole had a house, which wasn't too far from me, 425 00:24:57,363 --> 00:24:58,831 so I got to see Nicole. 426 00:24:58,931 --> 00:25:02,001 You know, we lost someone special, and we just couldn't-- 427 00:25:02,101 --> 00:25:04,036 couldn't come to talk about it. 428 00:25:04,136 --> 00:25:08,073 I never talked about it in detail with my son 429 00:25:08,173 --> 00:25:11,877 or Nicole or Lauren. And it was just difficult. 430 00:25:13,145 --> 00:25:16,115 It's still difficult for me, personally. 431 00:25:17,683 --> 00:25:21,220 I had nightmares... 432 00:25:21,320 --> 00:25:23,822 ...about what had happened to my aunt for years. 433 00:25:25,791 --> 00:25:29,261 And nobody really wanted to talk to me about it. 434 00:25:29,361 --> 00:25:30,362 They just wanted my aunt. 435 00:25:34,199 --> 00:25:37,970 As years go by and more and more people get into CODIS, 436 00:25:38,070 --> 00:25:41,006 what you're hoping is for that bad guy 437 00:25:41,106 --> 00:25:44,543 to finally get arrested, get put into the database, 438 00:25:44,643 --> 00:25:46,945 and then you get that fateful phone call saying, 439 00:25:47,046 --> 00:25:48,447 "We got a hit." 440 00:25:48,547 --> 00:25:50,149 And that never happened. 441 00:25:51,583 --> 00:25:55,921 So this wall represents our cold case homicide victims 442 00:25:56,021 --> 00:25:57,523 from over the years. 443 00:25:57,623 --> 00:25:59,825 It's a visual reminder. When we walk in the office 444 00:25:59,925 --> 00:26:02,327 every day, this is the first thing we see. 445 00:26:02,428 --> 00:26:04,863 For Robin's case, We see Robin's picture 446 00:26:04,963 --> 00:26:06,365 up here, her smiling. 447 00:26:06,465 --> 00:26:09,001 Regardless of how many years or decades go by, 448 00:26:09,101 --> 00:26:11,437 her family are still waiting for answers. 449 00:26:14,973 --> 00:26:18,277 Over 30 years, there was no new leads 450 00:26:18,377 --> 00:26:20,112 and no new information. 451 00:26:20,212 --> 00:26:24,349 So the point that I lost hope that Robin's case would be 452 00:26:24,450 --> 00:26:27,886 solved was probably when my mom passed. 453 00:26:29,054 --> 00:26:33,192 Maybe we'll never know. That's God's will, so be it. 454 00:26:33,292 --> 00:26:35,160 Just kind of come to terms with that. 455 00:26:38,063 --> 00:26:41,033 This was a case where we have this really good piece 456 00:26:41,133 --> 00:26:43,569 of evidence in this DNA profile. 457 00:26:43,669 --> 00:26:46,705 There's more and more advances in DNA technology 458 00:26:46,805 --> 00:26:49,575 with phenotyping and genetic genealogy. 459 00:26:49,675 --> 00:26:53,078 And so that was the obvious point where that needed 460 00:26:53,178 --> 00:26:55,347 to continue to be explored. 461 00:26:55,447 --> 00:26:59,985 In 2019, we start working with Parabon, the private lab, 462 00:27:00,085 --> 00:27:02,888 and they start genealogy analysis 463 00:27:02,988 --> 00:27:05,624 on the DNA evidence from the washcloth. 464 00:27:05,724 --> 00:27:08,727 They're doing something called phenotyping, where they're able 465 00:27:08,827 --> 00:27:12,664 to do a computerized sketch of what the suspect is 466 00:27:12,764 --> 00:27:15,134 supposed to look like from the DNA profile. 467 00:27:16,869 --> 00:27:19,638 Police reach out to Robin's family with news 468 00:27:19,738 --> 00:27:21,673 of the computerized image. 469 00:27:21,773 --> 00:27:24,877 I was really, really hoping it was gonna be this 470 00:27:24,977 --> 00:27:28,313 light bulb moment and I saw a face light up and go, 471 00:27:28,413 --> 00:27:31,250 "Oh, my God, I know exactly who that is." 472 00:27:31,350 --> 00:27:33,819 I learned about the case being reopened. 473 00:27:34,887 --> 00:27:38,657 There were new technologies that they were exploring. 474 00:27:38,757 --> 00:27:41,026 I was hopeful, but it's, you know, 475 00:27:41,126 --> 00:27:44,796 it's like, OK, it's been a long, long time. 476 00:27:45,998 --> 00:27:48,834 When I talked with Melissa Wallace, 477 00:27:48,934 --> 00:27:51,570 we looked at the sketch. 478 00:27:51,670 --> 00:27:54,940 You just feel, "Oh, my goodness, this is the man 479 00:27:55,040 --> 00:27:56,542 who murdered Robin," 480 00:27:58,277 --> 00:28:01,046 and that was a white man with blonde hair. 481 00:28:02,648 --> 00:28:06,552 And they asked us, "Does this look like anybody we know?" 482 00:28:06,652 --> 00:28:08,420 And we said, "No, it does not." 483 00:28:10,055 --> 00:28:12,891 Nobody recognized the person. 484 00:28:14,359 --> 00:28:16,562 It was another dead end. 485 00:28:18,430 --> 00:28:20,899 As a next step, Parabon uploads the DNA sample 486 00:28:20,999 --> 00:28:23,402 to genealogy websites to see if they can find any 487 00:28:23,502 --> 00:28:25,871 related family members. And they get a hit. 488 00:28:27,206 --> 00:28:31,143 They did get one match to a distant relative, 489 00:28:31,243 --> 00:28:33,712 but it was such a distant relative, that the amount 490 00:28:33,812 --> 00:28:37,382 of time and money it would take to work through that family tree 491 00:28:37,482 --> 00:28:39,017 would be exorbitant. 492 00:28:39,117 --> 00:28:42,487 And we still might not be able to get closure for this case. 493 00:28:43,956 --> 00:28:47,492 However, a volunteer genealogist painstakingly 494 00:28:47,593 --> 00:28:50,629 attempts to build out the family tree, hoping to get 495 00:28:50,729 --> 00:28:54,866 closer to the suspect's primary family lineage. 496 00:28:54,967 --> 00:28:58,537 It took a long time, but after about three years, 497 00:28:58,637 --> 00:29:02,207 a volunteer with the police department that does genealogy, 498 00:29:02,307 --> 00:29:05,010 calls Melissa, and she says, "Hey, you know, 499 00:29:05,110 --> 00:29:06,979 I think I might have found something." 500 00:29:17,556 --> 00:29:20,492 The volunteer found somebody on the family tree 501 00:29:20,592 --> 00:29:24,162 that would have been 22 years old at the time of the murder, 502 00:29:24,263 --> 00:29:26,832 who was stationed at Fort Myer in Arlington 503 00:29:26,932 --> 00:29:29,835 in Northern Virginia in 1994, 504 00:29:29,935 --> 00:29:32,971 and so she gave me the name of Stephan Smerk. 505 00:29:33,071 --> 00:29:35,841 The first thing in our mind is, let's see if we can get a photo. 506 00:29:35,941 --> 00:29:39,111 Let's just see, you know, how close to the phenotyping 507 00:29:39,211 --> 00:29:41,780 sketch from Parabon is he gonna be? 508 00:29:41,880 --> 00:29:44,950 And we were able to see an old yearbook picture, 509 00:29:45,050 --> 00:29:48,954 a driver's license picture. And when we saw those pictures, 510 00:29:50,088 --> 00:29:51,923 we got a little bit more excited 511 00:29:52,024 --> 00:29:53,859 because it looked close. 512 00:29:55,594 --> 00:29:57,763 We started doing some digging into Mr. Smerk. 513 00:29:58,730 --> 00:30:01,099 His criminal history, background, 514 00:30:01,199 --> 00:30:02,934 we didn't see anything. 515 00:30:03,035 --> 00:30:05,037 He was in the Army, but there wasn't anything 516 00:30:05,137 --> 00:30:07,472 about his military career that would have stood out. 517 00:30:07,572 --> 00:30:09,308 He was a computer programmer. 518 00:30:09,408 --> 00:30:12,444 His whole life, basically, from afar, seemed to be 519 00:30:12,544 --> 00:30:13,512 very normal. 520 00:30:13,612 --> 00:30:15,514 Detectives tracked down his current address 521 00:30:15,614 --> 00:30:17,716 and see that he lives in the town of Niskayuna 522 00:30:17,816 --> 00:30:19,484 in upstate New York with his wife 523 00:30:19,584 --> 00:30:21,186 and their two children. 524 00:30:21,286 --> 00:30:24,923 At this point, our goal was just to get DNA from Mr. Smerk 525 00:30:25,023 --> 00:30:26,291 to see if he's a match. 526 00:30:28,727 --> 00:30:32,197 So in the fall of 2023, we made the decision 527 00:30:32,297 --> 00:30:35,467 we're gonna make a road trip to Niskayuna, New York. 528 00:30:35,567 --> 00:30:38,503 We pull into the neighborhood, and we get eyes on the house. 529 00:30:42,074 --> 00:30:44,943 We knock on the door. Mr. Smerk answers. 530 00:30:45,043 --> 00:30:47,713 We explain to him that we're cold case detectives 531 00:30:47,813 --> 00:30:50,749 from Fairfax County, that we're working on a cold case murder 532 00:30:50,849 --> 00:30:53,952 from the '90s, and we wanted to know if we could talk to him. 533 00:30:54,052 --> 00:30:58,290 There was no fear. There was no shock, no awe. 534 00:30:58,390 --> 00:31:00,826 Nothing. He invited us into his house. 535 00:31:02,227 --> 00:31:04,830 I said, "We're here to collect DNA for genetic 536 00:31:04,930 --> 00:31:07,165 "genealogy purposes. We were hoping it might help 537 00:31:07,265 --> 00:31:09,034 with the investigation." 538 00:31:09,134 --> 00:31:10,135 He said, "OK." 539 00:31:11,570 --> 00:31:15,707 And I got the DNA, put it in the little package. 540 00:31:15,807 --> 00:31:17,442 I left him with my business card 541 00:31:17,542 --> 00:31:18,877 with my cell phone number on the back. 542 00:31:18,977 --> 00:31:20,645 And I said, "If you have any questions or concerns, 543 00:31:20,746 --> 00:31:22,381 you can call me at any time." 544 00:31:22,481 --> 00:31:24,383 We were in and out of his house in five minutes. 545 00:31:26,385 --> 00:31:27,886 We drive to our hotel. 546 00:31:27,986 --> 00:31:31,823 I'm in my room, and around 5 o'clock, 547 00:31:31,923 --> 00:31:33,658 my cell phone rings. 548 00:31:33,759 --> 00:31:35,660 And I see it's Mr. Smerk. 549 00:31:35,761 --> 00:31:38,063 He said, "Where are you?" 550 00:31:40,165 --> 00:31:42,267 And that made me a little uneasy. 551 00:31:42,367 --> 00:31:44,903 And I said, "I'm at the hotel. What can I do for you?" 552 00:31:45,003 --> 00:31:48,573 And he says, "I'm at the Niskayuna police station to turn myself in." 553 00:31:49,841 --> 00:31:52,411 And I said, "Turn yourself in for what?" 554 00:31:52,511 --> 00:31:54,980 And he says, "I'm here to turn myself in for the murder." 555 00:32:05,624 --> 00:32:09,194 He's just sitting there, very calm, same demeanor, 556 00:32:09,294 --> 00:32:11,763 jeans and a T-shirt, very normal. 557 00:32:30,649 --> 00:32:32,317 I'm thinking, "OK, that's good." 558 00:32:33,318 --> 00:32:35,554 But, you know, I need more. 559 00:32:35,654 --> 00:32:39,624 And then he starts walking through that he was stationed 560 00:32:39,724 --> 00:32:40,926 at Fort Myer in the Army. 561 00:33:23,001 --> 00:33:26,738 That's when I knew we were talking about the same case, 562 00:33:26,838 --> 00:33:28,740 because of Nicole being there. 563 00:33:30,008 --> 00:33:31,877 Smerk continues on, telling the detectives 564 00:33:31,977 --> 00:33:33,678 he entered Robin Lawrence's bedroom. 565 00:34:05,076 --> 00:34:07,879 I'm thinking, "My God, I can't believe I'm getting 566 00:34:07,979 --> 00:34:12,083 "this confession right now. I can't believe he's done this. 567 00:34:12,183 --> 00:34:15,453 I can't believe there's no emotion." 568 00:34:15,554 --> 00:34:18,056 It's almost like he was just resigned to the fact of, 569 00:34:18,156 --> 00:34:19,291 like, "It's over. 570 00:34:19,391 --> 00:34:20,892 "Let me just get this interview over with 571 00:34:20,992 --> 00:34:23,295 and out of the way, and let me move on." 572 00:34:48,753 --> 00:34:50,388 I felt like it was sincere. 573 00:34:50,488 --> 00:34:52,857 I was surprised he didn't remember more details. 574 00:34:52,958 --> 00:34:55,160 And then that made me realize that to him, 575 00:34:55,260 --> 00:34:56,962 this was just another day. 576 00:35:20,251 --> 00:35:22,921 There was no emotion. There was no remorse. 577 00:35:23,021 --> 00:35:25,657 It was like he was telling me a story. 578 00:35:25,757 --> 00:35:27,993 In the same way that he would be telling me 579 00:35:28,093 --> 00:35:30,996 about his golf game the day before. 580 00:36:12,270 --> 00:36:13,638 He joined the army because he wanted 581 00:36:13,738 --> 00:36:15,073 to experience killing. 582 00:36:15,173 --> 00:36:18,276 He went to Robin's house that night because he wanted 583 00:36:18,376 --> 00:36:19,911 to kill somebody. 584 00:36:20,011 --> 00:36:21,813 He could have been a serial killer. 585 00:36:27,719 --> 00:36:30,188 We get done with the interview, 586 00:36:30,288 --> 00:36:32,357 and JD and I just kind of looked at each other, 587 00:36:32,457 --> 00:36:37,262 and it was like this collective sigh of like, "Oh, my gosh, 588 00:36:37,362 --> 00:36:40,265 I can't believe that just happened, and he's in custody." 589 00:36:41,499 --> 00:36:44,536 And so then it's like, "What do I need to do next? 590 00:36:44,636 --> 00:36:45,837 I gotta call the family." 591 00:36:46,838 --> 00:36:50,175 It was night. I was upstairs in the bedroom, 592 00:36:50,275 --> 00:36:55,046 and I got a phone call from my niece, Nicole, 593 00:36:55,146 --> 00:36:56,347 Robin's daughter. 594 00:36:57,449 --> 00:36:58,483 And she said, 595 00:37:00,185 --> 00:37:01,486 "They got the guy." 596 00:37:03,455 --> 00:37:05,724 And she didn't have to say anything more than that 597 00:37:05,824 --> 00:37:08,193 'cause I knew instantly what she was talking about. 598 00:37:08,293 --> 00:37:10,261 And I'm like, "What? 599 00:37:10,361 --> 00:37:12,864 What?" And I think we yelped. 600 00:37:12,964 --> 00:37:15,533 I said it out loud, and Lauren was there. 601 00:37:15,633 --> 00:37:16,901 We're like, "What? They got him! 602 00:37:17,001 --> 00:37:19,904 They got him!" So there was jubilation. 603 00:37:20,004 --> 00:37:23,007 The fact they found him was the first shock. 604 00:37:23,108 --> 00:37:25,744 The fact that he gave it in so readily, 605 00:37:25,844 --> 00:37:27,779 whatever's happening in this world 606 00:37:27,879 --> 00:37:29,547 to... 607 00:37:29,647 --> 00:37:30,949 to make things right... 608 00:37:31,950 --> 00:37:32,951 is happening. 609 00:37:34,119 --> 00:37:38,323 The day after the confession, I drove the buccal swab 610 00:37:38,423 --> 00:37:41,493 containing his DNA straight to the-- our Virginia state lab, 611 00:37:41,593 --> 00:37:45,997 and they were able to confirm within five days that his DNA 612 00:37:46,097 --> 00:37:48,366 was, in fact, a match to the blood 613 00:37:48,466 --> 00:37:50,135 left on the washcloth. 614 00:37:50,235 --> 00:37:52,470 New at 4, a Niskayuna man is charged with 615 00:37:52,570 --> 00:37:54,606 second degree murder in connection with a cold case 616 00:37:54,706 --> 00:37:56,508 from nearly 30 years ago. 617 00:37:56,608 --> 00:38:00,145 It's been 30 years of unanswered questions, 618 00:38:00,245 --> 00:38:04,849 not knowing, and having to endure the trauma 619 00:38:04,949 --> 00:38:06,584 that comes with that. 620 00:38:06,684 --> 00:38:08,386 Ollie Lawrence was away on business 621 00:38:08,486 --> 00:38:09,621 when his wife was killed. 622 00:38:09,721 --> 00:38:12,457 Daughter Nicole, wiping away a tear outside court, 623 00:38:12,557 --> 00:38:15,260 was just two years old. 624 00:38:15,360 --> 00:38:19,097 This entire family shattered in 1994 when Robin Lawrence was 625 00:38:19,197 --> 00:38:20,732 found stabbed to death in her home. 626 00:38:22,367 --> 00:38:25,069 Stephan Smerk decides to plead guilty, and Robin's family 627 00:38:25,170 --> 00:38:27,772 prepares to see him in court for the first time 628 00:38:27,872 --> 00:38:29,541 during his plea hearing and sentencing. 629 00:38:31,810 --> 00:38:34,445 We saw Smerk for the first time in court. 630 00:38:34,546 --> 00:38:36,648 I wanted to see him. 631 00:38:36,748 --> 00:38:39,450 I wanted to see the man who did this. 632 00:38:40,618 --> 00:38:44,189 He wreaked havoc on our family. 633 00:38:44,289 --> 00:38:46,758 He killed my sister. 634 00:38:46,858 --> 00:38:49,761 I won't say we were broken, but we were shattered 635 00:38:49,861 --> 00:38:53,865 and in distress and in need of resuscitation. 636 00:38:54,966 --> 00:38:58,269 And I wanted to see that he got what he deserved. 637 00:39:00,538 --> 00:39:04,342 On March 7, 2025, 53-year-old Stephan Smerk is 638 00:39:04,442 --> 00:39:07,579 sentenced to 70 years in prison, but he's eligible 639 00:39:07,679 --> 00:39:12,617 for parole in 2041 due to Virginia state law from 1994. 640 00:39:13,785 --> 00:39:15,954 I think we're happy now that we have some justice, 641 00:39:16,054 --> 00:39:19,924 but I think the hardest part is Nicole didn't have a mother 642 00:39:20,024 --> 00:39:22,293 for 30-plus years. 643 00:39:22,393 --> 00:39:26,164 If it came up that the parole board was going to consider 644 00:39:26,264 --> 00:39:31,035 letting him out, I would tell them that he had 645 00:39:31,135 --> 00:39:34,906 gotten married, had two kids, had a job, had a house, 646 00:39:35,006 --> 00:39:38,109 lived a full life for the last 30 years, 647 00:39:38,209 --> 00:39:40,411 30 years that Robin didn't have. 648 00:39:43,214 --> 00:39:47,619 My memories of Robin have changed over time. 649 00:39:47,719 --> 00:39:53,558 So I knew her all of her life, but it's been another 30 years 650 00:39:53,658 --> 00:39:55,426 since she died. 651 00:39:56,494 --> 00:40:00,765 In my mind, she's always young. 652 00:40:00,865 --> 00:40:03,134 I had always thought we would grow old together, 653 00:40:03,234 --> 00:40:04,402 but that wasn't 654 00:40:05,904 --> 00:40:07,238 in the cards for her. 655 00:40:08,940 --> 00:40:11,209 There she is. It's Robin. 656 00:40:12,777 --> 00:40:14,712 Spring flowers for Robin. 657 00:40:20,151 --> 00:40:21,686 It's OK to cry. 658 00:40:21,786 --> 00:40:23,755 30 years she's been here. 659 00:40:23,855 --> 00:40:25,189 A long time. 660 00:40:32,964 --> 00:40:35,166 I know. You look at all of her work. 661 00:40:37,168 --> 00:40:41,372 My dad, 100 years old, got the closure 662 00:40:41,472 --> 00:40:45,009 of seeing things put right for the family finally. 663 00:40:46,311 --> 00:40:50,615 With the passage of time, we can talk 664 00:40:50,715 --> 00:40:53,818 and share our stories and come together 665 00:40:54,953 --> 00:40:57,422 as a family and remember 666 00:40:57,522 --> 00:40:59,590 how much we loved Robin. 667 00:41:16,841 --> 00:41:18,176 This is a missing persons investigation. 668 00:41:18,276 --> 00:41:19,844 There just wasn't a huge footprint. 669 00:41:19,944 --> 00:41:24,115 Her only link to the outside world was pulling away from her. 670 00:41:24,215 --> 00:41:25,783 We found her marriage certificate, 671 00:41:25,883 --> 00:41:28,019 but there was no death certificate. 672 00:41:28,119 --> 00:41:30,788 I'm going to go see if old Jeff will come to the door. 673 00:41:32,156 --> 00:41:33,291 I'm not lying about anything. 674 00:41:33,391 --> 00:41:34,459 You did lie to me.