A killer no one expected to plead guilty in the 2001 murder of Chevrolet Chase in Maryland.
Eugene Gligor, a 45-year-old defendant in Washington, D.C., traveled freely through the national capital for more than 20 years after his DNA murdered him with Leslie Preer, then 50, in 2001.
Preer's daughter Lauren Preer told Fox 5 dc that she dated the suspect when she was 15 years old. She was 24 years old when her mother was killed.
Montgomery County authorities linked the murder DNA to Gligor's "relatives away from Romania," who had voluntarily submitted his DNA to an online database and eventually led him directly last year, Montgomery County State Police State Police State Attorney John McCarthy said in a news conference Wednesday.
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Eugene Gligor, a 45-year-old defendant in Washington, D.C., traveled freely through the national capital for more than 20 years after his DNA murdered him with Leslie Preer, then 50, in 2001. (Montgomery County State Attorney)
Gligor has lived in the DC area since committing a horrible crime 24 years ago. Fox News Digital has contacted his attorney.
Family lawyer Benjamin Kurtz told Fox News Numbers, "Lauren, her family and friends have been waiting for 24 years before finally being closed and just. "The fact that it turns out that it is the fact that they allow people at home with open arms, makes it even more difficult to understand. ”
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"Knowing any misconduct of his father finally being defended, even after his death, Lauren got a sense of peace and she felt that he could finally rest in peace because her killer was caught."
She also wanted to express her gratitude to the Montgomery County Police Department, which has never stopped justice for her family and the state attorney’s office as they strive to get a plead guilty from Leslie’s murderer. ”
"In the end, while a guilty confession will never bring back the mother, and never any moments that have never been experienced by losing her at such a young age, she and her family can finally finally tie up this terrible loss and try to start the healing process," Kurtz said. "She wants to express her sincere thanks to all her family and friends for years and decades, in the year that awaited conviction last year."
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Preer's boss found her dead in the second story at Chevy Chase's home on May 2, 2001, because she did not go to work that day and ruled that her death was a homicide. There was blood in the whole house. (Montgomery County State Attorney)
After her boss did not go to work that day, she found her dead in the second story at Chevy Chase's home on May 2, 2001. Her death was ruled to be murder. McCarthy said there was blood in the whole house.
She died of trauma and strangulation from blunt force.
In 2022, police submitted DNA collected from the crime scene to the laboratory for forensic genetic genealogy DNA analysis, and later identified Gligor as a potential suspect.
McCarthy called Preer's case "historic" at a May 7 press conference, saying it was the first time familial DNA was used in a cold storage murder in the county.
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“It’s been a great police job for over two decades,” Ted Williams, a former Washington, D.C. homicide detective, told Fox News Digital. "That's science, familial DNA, can help law enforcement catch someone who feels he's committed a crime. … In fact, the DNA found under (Preer's) nails has been preserved for all these years and has been used to track down Mr. Gligor - who could have murdered this, lacking that...nearly lasting science and familial DNA."
“(h)e will be murdered.”
Authorities obtained Gligor's DNA samples by conducting a fake second security screening at Dulles International Airport. They escorted people at the time into a room where there were several water bottles. According to court documents obtained by The Washington Post, Grigor drank a water bottle and threw it away before leaving the room.
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John McCarthy spoke on behalf of Lauren Preer on Wednesday’s press conference, remembering Leslie Preer as a “spectacular, loving, brilliant person.” (Facebook)
"Unfortunately, sometimes the evidence collected at the crime scene doesn't bring in any specific direction," Williams said. "I'm sure that in the early stages of the investigation, investigators were looking at anyone they thought was likely involved in this murder, but (Gligor) didn't appear on their radar screen. This has been happening in murders... In murders, at some stage or other stages, the development of scientific evidence... is now owned by law firms, and law firms have been owned for many years."
Gligor works for a real estate company, known as "Zen" and a friendly man, and the Post was called the suspect last year.
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Court records and records and accounts of people who know him from the postal service show that he is a naughty high school student with some history of substance abuse. His parents and Lauren divorced while dating in high school and his separation was not effective. He was also expelled from boarding schools, according to The Post.
After Preer's death, Gligor apparently drove off-road to accompany Lauren to visit a friend in Oregon while she was sad. The friend told The Post that Grigor didn't tell him he was going to Oregon until he was already on the way.
Lauren recalls the moments when her mother was murdered when she and Gligor were still dating when Gligor was accused of assaulting a woman on a bicycle path in two of the then-time homes. Lauren told The Post that she went to the police station with a friend and insisted that Gligor be innocent.
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"We both said Eugene couldn't do that," Preer recalls.
Authorities did not share any motives behind the murder of Prelle. McCarthy said the defendant would be shared by the defendant for his decision to kill Prior, later adding that there was no evidence that the murder was “premeditated” and that Prior had no criminal record.
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McCarthy spoke on behalf of Lauren at a press conference Wednesday, remembering Preer as a "spectacular, loving, brilliant person."
Gligor faces up to 30 years in prison, the highest fine for second-degree murder in 2001 when the incident occurred. The sentencing hearing is scheduled to be held at 9 a.m. on August 28, 2025