Eugene Gligor / Photo courtesy MCSAO
A man was sentenced Thursday for murdering his former girlfriend’s mother 24 years ago in Chevy Chase in a homicide that was thought to be a cold case, until recently.
Eugene Gligor, 45, of Washington D.C., was sentenced to 22 years in prison, followed by five years of probation for the crime, according to the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office.
In May of 2001, 49-year-old Leslie Preer was found dead in her home on Drummond Avenue in Chevy Chase with multiple head lacerations, according to charging documents. DNA from an unknown male was present and collected at the scene.
Due to technology advances, last year Montgomery County police used forensic genetic genealogical DNA analysis—which also involves genealogical searches—to identify Gligor.
Leslie Preer / Photo courtesy MCSAO
A blood swab from the crime scene was connected to the surname “Gligor.” A tip in the original case file stating that Gligor had a relationship with Preer’s daughter in 1998 also helped lead investigators to zero in on the suspect.
Last year, Montgomery County police detectives collected an empty water bottle that Gligor was drinking from and threw away. His DNA left on the water bottle was a positive match to crime scene evidence, according to charging documents.
In May, 24 years after the homicide, Gligor pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.
County State’s Attorney John McCarthy called it a “history-making case,” during a media briefing that followed the sentencing. It is one of the first times in Maryland, and in the United States, that familial DNA was used to prove a case.
“This was a vicious crime,” McCarthy said. “The death in this case … was a slow death.” Charging documents state that Preer’s cause of death was multiple blunt force trauma and strangulation.
Gligor dated Preer’s daughter for five years and was well-known to the family,”We believe he lacks remorse,” McCarthy said.
