Leslie Preer, a 49-year-old wife and mother from Chevy Chase, Maryland, was brutally murdered inside her home on May 2, 2001.
But after her case remained cold for over two decades, modern DNA technology fueled a shocking breakthrough, revealing Leslie had been killed by her daughter’s ex-boyfriend from high school.
On the morning of May 2, 2001, Leslie, who worked at an advertising firm, failed to show up for her shift. This was extremely out of character and even prompted her employer, Brett Reidy, to visit her home to check on her.
Upon arriving, it was discovered that Leslie had been viciously murdered. Downstairs, there was a puddle of water near the front door, blood spattered on the walls, and other signs of a struggle.
As for Leslie, she was found face down in her upstairs shower, with numerous lacerations to the back of her head.
Blunt force trauma and strangulation were determined to be the cause of Leslie’s death, and initially, authorities turned their focus to her husband, Carl “Sandy” Preer. He claimed to have been running errands, which provided an alibi; however, he failed a polygraph examination.
According to Detective Tara Augustin, though, this wasn’t unprecedented.
“They’re [polygraphs] an indicator that the person is having a response in their body, a physical response to whatever questions are being asked. And I can see how he would’ve failed because it’s a very stressful situation and the police think that he killed his wife,” she detailed.
And soon, DNA evidence indicated Carl truly hadn’t been involved in the murder. It was determined that Leslie had fought back against her killer and collected DNA underneath her fingernails, which did not match Carl’s.
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Sadly, he passed away in 2017, without ever knowing the identity of his wife’s murderer. Meanwhile, Leslie and Carl’s daughter, Lauren Preer, refused to give up the quest for answers.
Neither did detectives Tara Augstin and Alyson Dupouy, who began re-examining Leslie’s case in 2022 and ultimately cracked it wide open.
During the initial investigation, the DNA found beneath Leslie’s fingernails did not match any profiles in available databases. But DNA technology has progressed significantly since 2001, and the two detectives successfully leveraged new techniques to find Leslie’s killer. More specifically, they compared the killer’s DNA samples with public genetic databases.
“They’ll give you a list of profiles that are in these systems that have a certain degree of relatedness to the suspect’s DNA profile. Sometimes, it can be thousands of people, and it can be a very, very distant relationship,” Augustin explained.
The detectives were able to put together the suspect’s DNA profile, trace it back to a Romanian family, and analyze that family’s lineage. It was during their examination that they noticed the last name “Gligor,” which had popped up in Leslie’s case files.
Apparently, a neighbor had previously submitted a tip suggesting that Lauren Preer’s ex-boyfriend from high school, Eugene Gligor, might’ve been involved in the murder.
So, with their sights set on a new lead, investigators followed Eugene to Washington Dulles Airport, obtained a water bottle he’d thrown in the trash, and tested his DNA. It matched the samples found beneath Leslie’s fingernails.
Lauren, then 46, found out the news on June 18, 2024, and all she could reportedly utter was the word “no.”
While just 16 years old and attending Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, she and Eugene had begun dating. They stayed together for five years, during which time Eugene became close to the Preer family, having family dinners and even spending holidays with them.
Then, Lauren eventually broke up with him after finishing her second year of college. Following the split, they no longer spoke, and Leslie was killed a few years later.
According to Lauren, she ran into Eugene at a bar just weeks after her mother’s funeral, and when she shared the news of her mom’s murder, he replied, “I’m so sorry.”
“He didn’t seem weird. How you could look someone in the eye and know that you committed this crime and act like nothing happened is pretty unreal,” Lauren said.
In the decades since Leslie’s slaying, Eugene went on to live in a Washington, D.C. apartment and work for a real estate firm. He was finally arrested outside of his apartment in June 2024 and denied he had anything to do with Leslie’s murder for almost a year.
Yet, in May 2025, Eugene’s story switched, and he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. His sentencing hearing was held on August 28, 2025, in Rockville, Maryland, and he claimed to have been experiencing drug and alcohol blackouts at the time he killed Leslie.
“I vaguely remember leaving the Preer house in the morning, but the rest is a blur. I know Lauren and Leslie’s family want to know why I was there and what happened. I’m sorry. I’m unable to remember and provide an explanation,” Eugene told the court.
The 45-year-old was subsequently sentenced to 22 years behind bars. Prosecutors recommended that he be given the maximum 30-year sentence, but it was suspended to 22 years. As of last month, he was being held at Maryland Correctional Training Center.
Leslie’s case was successfully closed after 24 years, thanks to the dedicated detective work of Augustin and Dupouy.
“Today’s a good day. It’s bittersweet because the family has lost someone who was really great and important to them. But it’s good to see the hard work has finally paid off,” Augustin said following the sentencing.
Still, since Eugene took a plea deal and wasn’t required to stand trial or divulge a motive, the circumstances surrounding Leslie’s killing are still painfully puzzling.
“Lauren, her family, and friends have waited 24 years to finally get closure and justice for this horrific crime that tore her family apart. The fact that it turned out to be someone they allowed in their home with open arms just makes it that much harder to understand,” Benjamin Kurtz, the Preer family attorney, noted.
“Lauren has been given a sense of peace knowing that her father has finally been vindicated of any wrongdoing, even if after his death, and she feels he can finally rest in peace with the knowledge that her killer has been caught.”
Dateline has since aired an episode entitled “A Perfect Spring Morning,” covering Leslie’s case, in which Lauren called the killing and Eugene’s arrest “awful,” saying, “I was never going to give up.”
By Katharina Buczek
Katharina Buczek graduated from Stony Brook University with a degree in Journalism and a minor in Digital Arts. Specializing in... More about Katharina Buczek
