Bombshell twist in 2001 cold case murder as cops arrest suspect with shocking link to the victim’s family

A long-dormant Maryland cold case murder has finally been cracked, but the discovery of the suspect has left the victim’s family reeling.

The accused killer had dated the victim’s daughter.

When Leslie Preer’s colleague arrived at her home in Chevy Chase one morning in 2001 because she hadn’t shown up to work that morning she found blood in the foyer and then her body in an upstairs bedroom, the Washington Post reported. 

She called the Montgomery police.

Investigators concluded her death was a homicide as the result of blunt force trauma inflicted during a struggle. 

However, because there were no leads, Preer’s case went cold for years. 

That was until DNA advances allowed evidence collected from the scene on June 9 to match with someone the victim’s daughter,  Lauren Preer, knew all too well. 

‘It’s been a hell of a day… ‘He was my ex-boyfriend!’ she told Fox 5 DC.

Lauren and Gligor grew up in the same neighborhood and their families were friends. 

‘We started dating when we were 15, so his family and my family knew each other,’ said Lauren.

Police haven’t revealed whether Lauren and Gligor were still dating at the time of Preer’s murder.

Eerily, Lauren had run into Gligor at a restaurant in D.C. within the last year 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.

In 2022, detectives re-examined blood gathered from the crime scene in 2001 using new forensic genealogy to establish a DNA link, which then led them to Eugene Gligor, 44. 

When asked if Gligor was ever on her radar as being a potential suspect, Lauren responded: ‘No, not at all.’ 

Montgomery County Police Chief Nicholas Augustine attributed the arrest in the cold case to significant advancements in forensic technology. 

‘It’s forensic genealogy that helped us get a name or DNA relation to link that to the victim,’ Augustine said. ‘We will go many years, whether it’s 20 or 40 years, to find out the answers and hold people accountable for violent incidents that happened in the past.’

After years of the case being cold, authorities even offered a $10,000 reward for anyone who relayed information that led to an arrest in 2022. 

Gligor was arrested Tuesday after a warrant for his arrest went out Sunday.

The suspect is currently in D.C. and is awaiting extradition to Montgomery County, Maryland.

It is unclear if he has entered a plea at this time.