Arrest in Chevy Chase cold case murder shocks daughter, neighbors
CHEVY CHASE, Md. (DC News Now) — After nearly two decades of unknown answers in a cold case that stemmed out of Chevy Chase, authorities have arrested 44-year-old Eugene Gligor for the 2001 murder of Leslie Preer.
The news shocked many neighbors who knew Leslie Preer and Gligor, and it brought a form of relief for the victim’s family who believed for several years that is was Leslie Preer’s husband who had murdered her.
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Her daughter, Lauren Preer, told DC News Now she was “terrified.”
“I had someone who had murdered my mom brutally and they were out there,” said Lauren Preer, said. “They were out there. They weren’t arrested and so yeah, I was skeptical.”
Lauren Preer and Gligor had dated for five years when they were younger. She said she was skeptical and thought a neighbor had killed her mother, but she always knew “deep in her heart” that her father was innocent.
It remains unclear what the motive of the murder was.
“The question was why and who?” Lauren Preer said. “I prayed every day and I just didn’t understand why this happened or how this happened.”
According to Lauren Preer and childhood friends, they all went to high school with Gligor and he never showed any signs of danger or aggression. One neighbor described him as a troublemaker but never a person that would showcase violence towards anyone.
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Lauren Preer said she bumped into Gligor three years ago at a restaurant for a memorial service for a mutual friend, but everything seemed “normal.”
“We’ve known each other since I was 15,” she said in disbelief. “He was always gentle and sweet. Never saw him in a fight. He was never mean to me.”
U.S. Marshals arrested Gligor on Tuesday in D.C. He will be arraigned for first-degree murder in Montgomery County Court, and his bond hearing is scheduled for Monday.
“She was beautiful inside and out. She was respectful, and smart and just amazing,” Lauren Preer said of her mother.
In September 2022, blood evidence from the scene was submitted to a lab for forensic genetic genealogical DNA analysis, the Montgomery County Department of Police (MCPD) said.
Later in June this year, MCPD detectives collected DNA evidence belonging to Gligor and compared it to the DNA recovered from the crime scene, which helped them find a positive match.
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“We never had a match in our system showing who would be responsible,” Nicholas Augustine, Assistant Chief of Police for MCPD, said. “We had very little information back in 2001 but he had a lot of forensic evidence, DNA evidence.”
According to Augustine, technological advancements such as genetic genealogical DNA analysis which verify ancestral genealogical relationships helped tremendously in finding Gligor.
“Forensic genealogy is relatively new to being used in law enforcement – that did not exist in 2001,” Augustine said of the tedious process that helped identity Gligor as the prime suspect. “Once [detectives] get that information in forensic genealogy, they actually have to do a lot of tedious work through like a family family tracing to develop a potential suspect, or a linkage to a potential family member.”
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Lauren Preer said 23 years later, she’s been able to find some form of peace knowing justice may soon be served. She wants her mother to be remembered for the bright spirit she was and for the welcoming person that people closest to her knew her to be.
“We have an angel watching over us. She was the best,” said Lauren. “You’re the best mom in the world and I’d do anything to have one day with you.”
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