A Niskayuna man has been charged as a fugitive from justice stemming from a murder that occurred 29 years ago in Fairfax, Virginia, town police announced Monday.

Stephan L. Smerk, 51, surrendered Thursday in the cold case to Niskayuna police shortly after Fairfax County police detectives came to the area and spoke to him, according to Niskayuna police.

He is charged with the November 1994 stabbing death of Robin Lawrence, a 37-year-old woman, who was attacked in her home while her 2-year-old daughter was there, according to the Fairfax Sheriff's Office.

"This was really a randomly selected act. There was no connection between the two of them," Fairfax Deputy Chief of Investigations Eli Cory said. 

Detectives at the time collected and kept forensic evidence, which along with genetic genealogy, was used to track Smerk, who worked for the Army and is now a software engineer, the sheriff's office said.

The detectives from Virginia came to Niskayuna to interview Smerk, and he confessed to them, police said.

Niskayuna police arrested Smerk and took him to the Schenectady County Jail for arraignment, they said. The Fairfax Sheriff's Office is seeking to extradite the suspect to Virginia.