MD MD- Leslie Jennings Preer, 50, murdered @ home in 2001, DNA identified suspect as daughter's ex, Eugene Teodor Gligor, 44, Maryland, 2024

[nhmemorymaker]

crickets.
Why is no information coming out from people who knew him.

I know it has been cold, but this is a hot new reality here.
Thank heavens for Genetic Genealogy.

 

[Countem]

After 23 years, daughter faces ex-boyfriend in court for mother's murder

For 23 years, the identity of Leslie Preer's killer remained a mystery. DNA revealed it was her daughter's ex-boyfriend.

wjla.com

His name was found in detectives notes from 2000 but Lauren Preer never suspected it could be him.
“I’m just shocked,” said Lauren Preer Monday as she stood with prosecutors. Preer was in court when Gligor was ordered to remain locked on a no-bond status. She blurted out “Thank God,” in court.

 

[MissPie]

Gift Link (I hope it works! Let me know if it doesn’t). https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/06/29/eugene-gligor-chevy-chase-cold-case-murder/

 

[IDK]

Gift Link (I hope it works! Let me know if it doesn’t). https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/06/29/eugene-gligor-chevy-chase-cold-case-murder/

Thank you very much, it worked for me! Great article, and this paragraph really stood out, IMO:

“Preer was so sure her then-boyfriend was sweet and sensitive that she marched down to a local police station — she believes sometime around 1995 — with her best friend to defend him when, she said, investigators thought he matched the description of someone who had assaulted a woman on the bike path between their houses”

 

[nhmemorymaker]

Thank you very much, it worked for me! Great article, and this paragraph really stood out, IMO:

“Preer was so sure her then-boyfriend was sweet and sensitive that she marched down to a local police station — she believes sometime around 1995 — with her best friend to defend him when, she said, investigators thought he matched the description of someone who had assaulted a woman on the bike path between their houses”

Agree, great article....
I wish we got data dumps like this for all our perps in other cases!!
Friends and colleagues were pretty open here, even though a number of their inquiries got no results (like his parents!!!)

 

[LifeIsAMystery]

How an empty water bottle helped close a 23-year-old Maryland cold case

Detectives say DNA obtained from a water bottle tossed away at Dulles International Airport led to the arrest of Eugene Gligor.

www.wusa9.com

"Investigators then returned to the 2001 case file, which revealed Preer’s daughter previously had a relationship with Eugene Gligor in 1998. According to the affidavit, Gligor also fit into the family tree of the shared DNA match from Family Tree DNA.

The case file also revealed another lead: Roughly nine months after Preer’s murder, police had received a tip from a former neighbor of Gligor’s who thought he may be somehow related to the case. The tipster said Gligor’s home was “often visited by the police due to noise and nuisance complaints, underage drinking and drug use.” The Gligors had moved out of the neighborhood three or four months after Preer was killed.

Police determined Gligor, who stilled lived in D.C., had previously been arrested for weapons possession, DUI and theft, and had been listed as a suspect in thefts from residences and burglary, but had never been arrested in a case where his DNA was obtained and entered into a national database.

According to the affidavit, MCPD detectives were monitoring Gligor on Jun 9 at Dulles International Airport when they saw him drink from a water battle and then throw it into a trashcan. Detectives quickly grabbed the bottle and submitted it for DNA testing. According to the affidavit, the test concluded that Gligor’s DNA profile was “included as a contributor to the DNA profile obtained from the evidence in the murder of Leslie Preer.”
A warrant for Gligor’s arrest on a charge of first-degree murder was signed on June 15, and he was taken into custody three days later."

I wonder if he went there with the intent of burglary and thought the parents would be at work? So sad the father died before being officially cleared and seeing that his suspicions were justified. Sounds like he REALLY had the daughter fooled if she defended him to the police. Shame.

 

[LifeIsAMystery]

How ‘trash’ is helping police catch murder suspects decades later

It’s an increasingly important tool in solving cold murder cases: DNA. But suspects aren’t offering up a hair to authorities, instead investigators are getting DNA off discarded food, soda cans, water bottles, or even chewing gum. Andrea Cavallier reports

www.the-independent.com

 

[LifeIsAMystery]

I haven't been able to locate the docket for his case, has anyone seen updates since the summer?

 

[LifeIsAMystery]

Found the docket, looks like it is going to trial in January 2025.

 

[LifeIsAMystery]

Warrant details here (graphic) Additional Details Surrounding the Arrest of Man Accused of Killing His Ex-Girlfriend’s Mother in 23-Year-Old Cold Case - The MoCo Show

 

[LifeIsAMystery]

Why was this guy never arrested, with multiple crimes?
Why did he and his mother leave the neighborhood?
Where is mother now?

More on his mother here Judith Graves, Maryellen Madden (Published 2018)
Her 2nd wedding announcement does not mention her sons.

If blocked by paywall, this article re: stepmother includes wedding photo to Gligor's mother. Madden '72 reflects on changes for the transgender community

His defense team is $$$. Presumably the dad and moms are all pitching in. Virgil D. Gligor - Wikipedia

https://www.raquinmercer.com/attorney/steve-mercer/

 

[Dotta]

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[dotr]

Why did he do it?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2025/05/07/gligor-guilty-plea-murder/

''The case had gone unsolved until last year, when Montgomery County detectives homed in on Gligor, who had dated Preer’s daughter in the 1990s. He’d quietly gone on to a professional career, most recently as an account executive for a nationwide firm operating video surveillance monitoring at commercial properties. To friends he was warm, gregarious, seemingly committed to personal growth and self-improvement — and living in Washington’s trendy U Street Corridor.''

“I’m just, I’m a little confused,” Gligor said. “So to find out more and talk to me, why not just call me and ask me to come in and talk? … I mean, I feel a little bit trapped here.”
“Well, you’re under arrest,” the detective said. “You should feel trapped.”

 

[dotr]

May 16, 2025 rbbm.

Unassuming D.C. man convicted in cold case murder of high school sweetheart’s mother

A D.C. man who lived a quiet life in the nation’s capital pleaded guilty this month to killing the mother of his high school girlfriend nearly 25 years ago, according to Maryland prosecutors.

www.washingtontimes.com

''Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy said Eugene Gligor, 45, was convicted last week for beating and strangling 50-year-old Leslie Preer to death in 2001.
''Authorities said they never established a motive for Gligor, who had no criminal record prior to his second-degree murder conviction. '
'Gligor faces up to 30 years behind bars when he’s sentenced Aug. 2.''

Man admits to brutal murder of his teenage girlfriend's mother

Eugene Gligor, 45, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for the 2001 killing of then 50-year-old Leslie Preer.

www.dailymail.co.uk

'We started dating when we were 15, so his family and my family knew each other,' Lauren told Fox 5.
Eerily, Lauren had run into Gligor at a restaurant in Washington, D.C. before his arrest under normal pretenses. He acted like nothing had happened.
'I've spoken to him. He didn't seem weird and how you could look someone in the eye and know that you committed this crime and act like nothing happened is pretty unreal,' she said.
Police linked the DNA to Gligor using forensic genealogy that found a connection to 'distant relative from Romania.'

''No motive has been given for Preer's murder, but records indicate he was a mischievous high-schooler and had some substance abuse issues, reported Fox News.''
''Gligor worked at a real-estate firm and colleagues described him as 'zen' and 'a happy, positive person,' according the Post.''

 

[Bounceycat]

''Gligor worked at a real-estate firm and colleagues described him as 'zen' and 'a happy, positive person,' according the Post.''

It really makes you wonder how many one-off killers there are out there, who "turn over a new leaf" and walk among us. JMO.

 

[Sor Juana]

Maryland family man who lived in plain sight for nearly 25 years confesses to killing his childhood sweetheart’s mom

A Maryland man known for his Zen-like calm has shockingly confessed to beating and choking to death the mother of his then-childhood sweetheart — and then hiding in plain sight for nearly 25 years.

Eugene Gligor, 45, pleaded guilty last week to the murder of Leslie Preer, a 50-year-old married mom who was found dead in her blood-spattered home in Chevy Chase on May 2, 2001.

The homicide investigation went cold until investigators matched DNA from under her fingernails to a distant relative of Gligor living in Romania. <...>

After the killing, Gligor had remained in the DC area for 23 years working at a real estate firm. His colleagues described him as “Zen” and friendly after his arrest, according to The Washington Post.

 

[LifeIsAMystery]

It really makes you wonder how many one-off killers there are out there, who "turn over a new leaf" and walk among us. JMO.

I wonder if he killed others?

 

[nhmemorymaker]

I wonder if he killed others?

Always have thought this.... This very thought had a lot to do with my getting on to WebSleuths!
In part, because I had a friend in my youth that had to live with this... his father murdered. No one ever found out anything.
Tho;ugh Lori Vallow was the real kicker.

 

[dotr]

Watch the video, this guy is toooooo much!, imo.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2025/07/23/gligor-murder-interrogation-video/

''Interrogating a cold-case killer: ‘Honey, your DNA was in the crime scene’​

Police videos show Eugene Gligor being arrested and questioned for the 2001 murder of Leslie Preer in Chevy Chase, Md.
July 23, 2025 VIDEO.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/local/honey-your-dna-was-in-the-crime-scene/2025/07/23/88f616c2-7f88-40c5-bccb-4515931c9d6e_video.html

''The exchange, recorded on police video obtained July 22 by The Washington Post, offers the clearest window yet on the day Eugene Gligor’s 23 years of getting away with the murder of his ex-girlfriend’s mother ended.''

 

[LifeIsAMystery]

Watch the video, this guy is toooooo much!, imo.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2025/07/23/gligor-murder-interrogation-video/

''Interrogating a cold-case killer: ‘Honey, your DNA was in the crime scene’​

Police videos show Eugene Gligor being arrested and questioned for the 2001 murder of Leslie Preer in Chevy Chase, Md.
July 23, 2025 VIDEO.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/local/honey-your-dna-was-in-the-crime-scene/2025/07/23/88f616c2-7f88-40c5-bccb-4515931c9d6e_video.html

''The exchange, recorded on police video obtained July 22 by The Washington Post, offers the clearest window yet on the day Eugene Gligor’s 23 years of getting away with the murder of his ex-girlfriend’s mother ended.''

Wow, he is some piece of work. The detective was not having his drama.