A Maryland cold case spanning more than two decades has reached a conclusion with a guilty plea. Eugene Gligor, 45, of Washington, DC, admitted to the 2001 murder of Leslie Preer, a mother from Chevy Chase. Gligor was connected to the crime after police used genetic genealogy, tracing DNA found under Preer's fingernails to a distant relative in Romania who had submitted their DNA to an online database. This led authorities to Gligor last year. Preer's daughter, Lauren, knew Gligor as a teenager; they dated at age 15, and she was 24 when her mother was killed, per Fox News. Authorities say Lauren's family had welcomed Gligor into their home, making the crime especially difficult for them. At the time of the killing, Gligor had no criminal record.
Family attorney Benjamin Kurtz noted that the guilty plea has brought the family a sense of closure and vindicated Lauren's late father, who'd faced suspicion after the murder. Preer's body was discovered after she failed to show up for work on May 2, 2001. She died from blunt force trauma and strangulation, her house left splattered in blood. Investigators preserved DNA evidence, and in 2022, submitted it for advanced analysis, finally identifying Gligor. The case marks the first Montgomery County homicide solved with familial DNA—a technique praised by officials as instrumental in breaking cold cases. Investigators acquired Gligor's DNA by covertly collecting a discarded water bottle at Dulles International Airport, per the Washington Post. He now faces up to 30 years in prison, with sentencing set for August.
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