Man arrested in connection with murder of 23-year-old Leslie Preer

Lina Portman2 weeks ago

0 2 minutes read

Leslie Preer's daughter told local Fox 5 that the man arrested was her ex-boyfriend. “It’s been a hell of a day!”

The apparent ex-boyfriend of a Virginia woman is in custody for the 2001 murder of his mother in a homicide case that has baffled Maryland authorities for 23 years.

Eugene Teodor Gligor, 44, was arrested for allegedly killing Leslie Jennings Preer, 50, who was found murdered inside her Chevy Chase, Maryland, home after she failed to show up at work on May 2, 2001, the Montgomery County department said. police said in a statement Tuesday.

Investigators recovered DNA evidence from the crime scene in 2001, according to the department. In September 2022, “blood evidence from the scene was submitted to a laboratory for forensic genealogical DNA analysis,” which identified Gligor as a potential suspect, police added.

When detectives collected DNA evidence from Gligor and compared it to DNA from the crime scene, they discovered on June 9 that “the analysis generated a positive match,” the department said.

After police obtained an arrest warrant on June 15, the U.S. Marshal's Washington Task Force arrested Gligor on June 18 and charged him with first-degree murder, according to the release.

“It’s been a hell of a day!”

Gligor appeared to have ties to the Preer family as Leslie Preer's daughter, Lauren Preer, told Fox 5 that the two dated when they were 15 years old.

“It’s been a hell of a day!” Lauren Preer said, according to Fox 5. “He was my ex-boyfriend!”

Gligor grew up in the same neighborhood as the peers and their families knew each other, according to Lauren Preer, according to the TV station.

USA TODAY reached out to Lauren Preer, who according to her social media profiles resides in Fairfax, Virginia, but did not receive a response.

Lauren Preer and Eugene Gligor met last year

Lauren Preer and Gligor even crossed paths at a restaurant in Washington last year, she told Fox 5.

“I spoke to him,” she said, the TV station reported. “He didn't seem weird, and how you can look someone in the eye and know you committed this crime and act like nothing happened is pretty unreal,” she said .

Gligor is being extradited to Maryland from D.C., police said.

Leslie Preer's death was not ruled a homicide until two days after her body was discovered

Police found Leslie Preer's body in an upstairs bedroom, The Washington Post reported in 2001. Preer was found with “apparent trauma to her body,” police said in a May press release. 2022.

Sandy Preer, Leslie Preer's husband, last saw his wife around 7:45 that morning, the Post reported, citing a 911 call from May 2, 2001. He and Preer's employer discovered the ” suspicious scene” at home, according to the 2022 release.

Investigators weren't entirely sure what happened in Preer's house because there were no clear signs of a break-in, according to the Post, by police. Additionally, the neighborhood had a low crime rate and law enforcement had not been called to Preer's home in the past, the outlet reported, again citing officials.

Leslie Preer's death was not ruled a homicide until two days after her body was found and after the medical examiner's office conducted an autopsy, the news outlet reported, according to police.

Leslie Preer's daughter told local Fox 5 that the man arrested was her ex-boyfriend. “It’s been a hell of a day!”

“It’s been a hell of a day!”

Lauren Preer and Eugene Gligor met last year

Leslie Preer's death was not ruled a homicide until two days after her body was discovered

Lina Portman

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