A long-simmering unsolved murder case in Maryland has finally been solved, but the discovery of the suspect has left the victim’s family stunned.
The accused murderer had dated the victim’s daughter.
When a colleague of Leslie Preer’s arrived home in Chevy Chase one morning in 2001 because she had not shown up for work that morning, she found blood in the hallway and then her body in an upstairs bedroom, the Washington Post reported.
He called the Montgomery police.
Investigators concluded his death was a homicide as a result of blunt force trauma inflicted during a fight.
However, because there were no leads, Preer’s case was frozen for years.
That was until advances in DNA allowed evidence collected at the scene on June 9 to match someone the victim’s daughter, Lauren Preer, knew very well.
‘It’s been an incredible day… ‘He was my ex-boyfriend!’ she said Zorro 5 DC.
Twenty-three years ago, in the town of Chevy Chase, a colleague of Leslie Preer (pictured) went to check on her coworker after she didn’t show up for work. After finding blood in the hallway, the colleague called Montgomery police, who found Preer’s body in an upstairs bedroom.
Leslie Preer’s death was ruled a homicide, but because there were no leads, her case was frozen for years. That is, until DNA evidence collected at the scene on June 9 recently matched someone the victim’s daughter, Lauren Preer, knew very well (pictured: the house where Leslie’s body was found )
Lauren and Gligor grew up in the same neighborhood and their families were friends.
“We started dating when we were 15, so his family and mine knew each other,” Lauren said.
Police have not revealed whether Lauren and Gligor were still dating at the time of Preer’s murder.
Interestingly, Lauren had run into Gligor at a DC restaurant over the past year under normal pretexts.
He acted as if nothing had happened.
‘I have spoken to him. “It didn’t seem strange and how you can look someone in the eye and know you committed this crime and act like nothing happened is pretty unreal,” he said.
In 2022, detectives re-examined blood taken from the crime scene in 2001 using new forensic genealogy to establish a DNA link, which then led them to 44-year-old Eugene Gligor.
When asked if Gligor was ever on her radar as a possible suspect, Lauren responded: “No, not at all.”
Montgomery County Sheriff Nicholas Augustine attributed the arrest in the cold case to significant advances in forensic technology.
“It’s forensic genealogy that helped us get a name or a DNA relationship to link him to the victim,” Augustine said. “We will spend many years, whether it be 20 years or 40 years, to find the answers and hold people accountable for the violent incidents that occurred in the past.”
DNA evidence collected at the scene on June 9 recently matched someone the victim’s daughter, Lauren Preer, knew very well. It’s been an incredible day! she told Fox 5 DC. ‘He was my ex-boyfriend!’
In 2022, detectives re-examined blood evidence recovered from the 2001 crime scene and used forensic genealogy to establish a DNA link, leading them to Eugene Gligor, 44, Lauren’s former high school boyfriend. .
After years of the case remaining unsolved, authorities even offered a $10,000 reward to anyone who passed on information leading to an arrest in 2022.
Gligor was arrested Tuesday after an arrest warrant was issued Sunday.
The suspect is currently in DC and is awaiting extradition to Montgomery County, Maryland.
It is unclear if he has pleaded guilty at this time.
Police have not revealed whether Lauren and Gligor were still dating at the time of Leslie’s murder (pictured).