Mom was found dead in her home in 2001, Maryland cops say. Now, daughter’s ex arrested

When Leslie Preer didn’t show up to work in 2001, her boss got worried and contacted her family, Maryland investigators said.

Her boss and husband found a crime scene at her home in Chevy Chase, then police officers discovered Preer dead, according to the Montgomery County Police Department.

The case went cold for more than 20 years. Now, DNA evidence has led to the arrest of her daughter’s ex-boyfriend, 44-year-old Eugene Gligor, police said June 18.

Gligor’s attorney information is not available in Maryland court records.

In September 2022, investigators submitted blood evidence from the scene for genealogical analysis. Earlier that year they had asked the public for help solving the case, offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.

After that analysis, investigators identified 44-year-old Eugene Gligor as a suspect, and they obtained DNA from him on June 9 to compare it directly to DNA from the crime scene, police said.

The match came back positive, and an arrest warrant for first-degree murder was issued for his arrest June 15, according to police. He was taken into custody in Washington, D.C., June 18, police said.

Preer’s daughter told WTTG she ran into Gligor recently and had no idea he was her mother’s accused killer.

“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 told the outlet.

Chevy Chase lies along the northern border of Washington, D.C.

This story was originally published June 20, 2024 at 10:09 AM with the headline "Mom was found dead in her home in 2001, Maryland cops say. Now, daughter’s ex arrested."