Geraldine Brooks delivers a rich account of marriage and mourning
When, without warning, Geraldine Brooks's husband, Tony Horwitz, collapsed on a Chevy Chase sidewalk and then died at a D.C. hospital, age 60, she felt cheated in numerous ways.
She was not with him, so strangers comforted him in his last moments. She herself was alone when she got the news, delivered by an impatient resident on duty in the ER. She rushed to Washington from Martha's Vineyard, where they lived, only to learn that his body had been whisked away to the medical examiner, and she was not allowed to follow. Her older son heard of his father's demise from a friend before she could reach him. Her younger son was at boarding school, and she had to listen to his sobs down the phone line without being able to offer a comforting hug. Most of all, as she writes in her new memoir, 'Memorial Days,' Brooks was robbed of 'the life I would have had, the life I had counted on having. Life with the sunset-facing rocking chairs, growing old with Tony beside me.'
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Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Yahoo
Family of mom murdered in ritzy DC suburb decades ago gets justice as perp nobody expected pleads guilty
A killer nobody expected has pleaded guilty in the 2001 murder of a Chevy Chase, Maryland, mother. Defendant Eugene Gligor, 45, of Washington, D.C., walked free through the nation's capital for more than 20 years before his DNA linked him to then-50-year-old Leslie Preer's murder in 2001. Preer's daughter, Lauren Preer, told Fox 5 D.c. that she dated the suspect when they were both 15 years old. She was 24 when her mother was killed. Montgomery County authorities linked DNA found beneath Preer's fingernails at the time of her murder to Gligor's "distant relative from Romania" who had voluntarily submitted her DNA to an online database, ultimately leading authorities directly to him last year, Montgomery County State's Attorney John McCarthy said during a Wednesday press conference. California 1977 Cold-case Murder Suspect Identified As 69-Year-old Former Army Private Living In Ohio Gligor had lived in the D.C. area since committing the gruesome crime some 24 years ago. Fox News Digital has reached out to his attorney for comment. Read On The Fox News App "Lauren, her family, and friends have waited 24 years to finally get closure and justice for this horrific crime that tore her family apart," family attorney Benjamin Kurtz told Fox News Digital. "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." California Attorney General Takes Stance On Menendez Brothers Prosecutor Staying On Case Amid Resentencing Battle Kurtz added that "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 her killer has been caught." She also "wanted to express her gratitude to the Montgomery County Police Department who never stopped trying to get justice for her family and to the State's Attorney's Office for their efforts of securing a guilty plea from Leslie's murderer." "Lastly, while the guilty plea will never bring back her mother, or create any of the moments she never got to experience due to losing her at such a young age, she and her family can finally have some closure to this horrific loss and try to start the healing process," Kurtz said. "She wanted to express her sincere appreciation to all of her family and friends for the love and support over the years and decades and during the last year waiting for a conviction." Sign Up To Get The True Crime Newsletter Preer's boss found her dead in the second story of her Chevy Chase home on May 2, 2001, after she did not show up for work that day. Her death was ruled a homicide. There was blood all over the house, McCarthy said. She died of blunt force trauma and strangulation. In 2022, police submitted DNA collected from the crime scene to a lab for forensic genetic genealogical DNA analysis and later identified Gligor as a potential suspect. McCarthy called Preer's case "historic" during a May 7 press conference, saying it was the first time familial DNA was used in a cold-case murder in the county. Attempted Murder Fugitive Busted As 40-Year Scheme Posing As Dead College Mate Unravels "This was excellent police work that took place for over two decades," former Washington, D.C., homicide detective Ted Williams told Fox News Digital. "This is how science, familial DNA, was able to help law enforcement catch a person who felt that they had committed the crime.… The fact that the DNA that was found under [Preer's] fingernails was preserved all of those years and was later used to track down Mr. Gligor – he would have gotten away with murder, absent having this… near-exact science, and that is familial DNA." Authorities obtained a sample of Gligor's DNA by staging a fake second security screening at Dulles International Airport. They escorted the then-suspect into a room, where there were several water bottles. Gligor drank one water bottle and threw it away before leaving the room, according to court filings obtained by The Washington Post. GET REAL-TIME UPDATES DIRECTLY ON THE True Crime Hub "There are times, unfortunately, when the evidence that is gathered at a crime scene does not lead in any one specific direction," Williams said. "I am sure that at the early stages of the investigation, the investigators were looking at anybody they believed may very well have been involved with this murder, but [Gligor] did not come up on their radar screen. That happens in murder cases all the time… and at some stage or another, the development of the scientific evidence… is something or two that law enforcement now have in their possession to go back many, many years." Gligor worked at a real-estate firm and was known as a "zen" and friendly person, the Post reported last year, when he was named as a suspect. Dna Sample Ties Elderly Man To 40-Year-old Cold Case Murder Of Texas Woman Court records and accounts from those who knew him obtained by the Post show that he was a mischievous high-schooler with some history of substance abuse. His parents divorced while he and Lauren were dating in high school, and he did not take the separation well. He was also expelled from boarding school, the Post reported. Following Preer's death, when friends and family offered support to Lauren, Gligor apparently drove cross-country to visit a friend in Oregon while Lauren was grieving. That friend told the Post that Gligor didn't tell him he was coming to Oregon until he was already on his way. Lauren recalled a moment years before her mother's murder, when she and Gligor were still dating, when Gligor was accused of assaulting a woman on a bike path between the two then-teenagers' houses. Lauren told the Post she went to the police station with a friend, insisting to officers that Gligor was innocent. Follow The Fox True Crime Team On X "We both said, there is no way Eugene would have done this," Preer recalled to the Post. Authorities have not shared any kind of motive behind Preer's murder. McCarthy said it will be up to the defendant to share what the motive was in his decision to kill Preer, adding later that there was no evidence to suggest the murder was "premeditated," and Preer had no criminal record. McCarthy, speaking on Lauren's behalf during the Wednesday press conference, remembered Preer as a "spectacular, loving, wonderful person." Gligor faces up to 30 years in prison, which was the maximum penalty for second-degree murder in 2001 when the incident occurred. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Aug. 28, 2025, at 9 article source: Family of mom murdered in ritzy DC suburb decades ago gets justice as perp nobody expected pleads guilty
Fox News
12-05-2025
- Fox News
Family of mom murdered in ritzy DC suburb decades ago gets justice as perp nobody expected pleads guilty
A killer nobody expected has pleaded guilty in the 2001 murder of a Chevy Chase, Maryland, mother. Defendant Eugene Gligor, 45, of Washington, D.C., walked free through the nation's capital for more than 20 years before his DNA linked him to then-50-year-old Leslie Preer's murder in 2001. Preer's daughter, Lauren Preer, told FOX 5 D.C. that she dated the suspect when they were both 15 years old. She was 24 when her mother was killed. Montgomery County authorities linked DNA found beneath Preer's fingernails at the time of her murder to Gligor's "distant relative from Romania" who had voluntarily submitted her DNA to an online database, ultimately leading authorities directly to him last year, Montgomery County State's Attorney John McCarthy said during a Wednesday press conference. Gligor had lived in the D.C. area since committing the gruesome crime some 24 years ago. Fox News Digital has reached out to his attorney for comment. "Lauren, her family, and friends have waited 24 years to finally get closure and justice for this horrific crime that tore her family apart," family attorney Benjamin Kurtz told Fox News Digital. "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." Kurtz added that "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 her killer has been caught." She also "wanted to express her gratitude to the Montgomery County Police Department who never stopped trying to get justice for her family and to the State's Attorney's Office for their efforts of securing a guilty plea from Leslie's murderer." "Lastly, while the guilty plea will never bring back her mother, or create any of the moments she never got to experience due to losing her at such a young age, she and her family can finally have some closure to this horrific loss and try to start the healing process," Kurtz said. "She wanted to express her sincere appreciation to all of her family and friends for the love and support over the years and decades and during the last year waiting for a conviction." Preer's boss found her dead in the second story of her Chevy Chase home on May 2, 2001, after she did not show up for work that day. Her death was ruled a homicide. There was blood all over the house, McCarthy said. She died of blunt force trauma and strangulation. In 2022, police submitted DNA collected from the crime scene to a lab for forensic genetic genealogical DNA analysis and later identified Gligor as a potential suspect. McCarthy called Preer's case "historic" during a May 7 press conference, saying it was the first time familial DNA was used in a cold-case murder in the county. "This was excellent police work that took place for over two decades," former Washington, D.C., homicide detective Ted Williams told Fox News Digital. "This is how science, familial DNA, was able to help law enforcement catch a person who felt that they had committed the crime.… The fact that the DNA that was found under [Preer's] fingernails was preserved all of those years and was later used to track down Mr. Gligor – he would have gotten away with murder, absent having this… near-exact science, and that is familial DNA." "[H]e would have gotten away with murder." Authorities obtained a sample of Gligor's DNA by staging a fake second security screening at Dulles International Airport. They escorted the then-suspect into a room, where there were several water bottles. Gligor drank one water bottle and threw it away before leaving the room, according to court filings obtained by The Washington Post. GET REAL-TIME UPDATES DIRECTLY ON THE TRUE CRIME HUB "There are times, unfortunately, when the evidence that is gathered at a crime scene does not lead in any one specific direction," Williams said. "I am sure that at the early stages of the investigation, the investigators were looking at anybody they believed may very well have been involved with this murder, but [Gligor] did not come up on their radar screen. That happens in murder cases all the time… and at some stage or another, the development of the scientific evidence… is something or two that law enforcement now have in their possession to go back many, many years." Gligor worked at a real-estate firm and was known as a "zen" and friendly person, the Post reported last year, when he was named as a suspect. Court records and accounts from those who knew him obtained by the Post show that he was a mischievous high-schooler with some history of substance abuse. His parents divorced while he and Lauren were dating in high school, and he did not take the separation well. He was also expelled from boarding school, the Post reported. Following Preer's death, when friends and family offered support to Lauren, Gligor apparently drove cross-country to visit a friend in Oregon while Lauren was grieving. That friend told the Post that Gligor didn't tell him he was coming to Oregon until he was already on his way. Lauren recalled a moment years before her mother's murder, when she and Gligor were still dating, when Gligor was accused of assaulting a woman on a bike path between the two then-teenagers' houses. Lauren told the Post she went to the police station with a friend, insisting to officers that Gligor was innocent. "We both said, there is no way Eugene would have done this," Preer recalled to the Post. Authorities have not shared any kind of motive behind Preer's murder. McCarthy said it will be up to the defendant to share what the motive was in his decision to kill Preer, adding later that there was no evidence to suggest the murder was "premeditated," and Preer had no criminal record. McCarthy, speaking on Lauren's behalf during the Wednesday press conference, remembered Preer as a "spectacular, loving, wonderful person." Gligor faces up to 30 years in prison, which was the maximum penalty for second-degree murder in 2001 when the incident occurred. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Aug. 28, 2025, at 9 a.m.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Yahoo
Almost 1 year after Maryland parole agent's killing, younger brother remembers his ‘rock'
Maryland Parole & Probation Agent Davis Martinez and his younger brother, Michael, used to do everything together, from playing Super Nintendo while they were growing up, to traveling across the country as adults. Almost a year after Davis Martinez was killed on duty, prompting uproar over concerns in Maryland's parole office, Michael Martinez said life has been strange without his brother. 'Before, maybe [we were only] not talking for like, about a week' at most, Martinez said last week at the site where his brother is buried. 'But this, you know, just sitting down and realizing that it's almost been 11 months since my last conversation with him, it's kind of surreal.' Davis Martinez, 33, of Silver Spring, was found dead last May at the Chevy Chase home of a registered sex offender upon whom the parole agent had been conducting a check. The suspect, 55-year-old Emanuel Edward Sewell, was identified and arrested in West Virginia. His trial was canceled after he was found not mentally competent to stand trial last September. He awaits a competency hearing this coming September. Martinez will be remembered Friday at a statewide Fallen Heroes Day ceremony at Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens. Among the 11 other fallen Maryland fire and police officers being honored are Baltimore Police officer Daoud A. Mingo, who was critically injured a decade ago during a funeral procession and died of those injuries in 2023, and Christopher Higgins, a Montgomery County firefighter killed this January while battling a fire in Laurel. At Friday's ceremony in Timonium, Lt. Gov. Aruna K. Miller and Baltimore County Executive Katherine A. Klausmeier will deliver memorial addresses and Baltimore sportscaster Scott Garceau will deliver the keynote speech. Martinez's on-duty death prompted demands for better working conditions at the state's parole department, which was cited by Maryland workplace safety officials due to the agent's killing. AFSCME Council 3 leadership called on the state's Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services to implement safety procedures that the union said had long been 'ignored,' such as virtual office visits, increased staffing levels and access to mental health services. Baltimore County man sentenced to 50 years for Howard County road rage shooting Luigi Mangione case: Defense seeks to drop terrorism charge, suppress evidence Baltimore reports lowest monthly homicides in city's recorded history Man sentenced to life in prison for murder of Annapolis man Severna Park man accused of setting neighbors house on fire, officials say The union also beseeched Gov. Wes Moore's administration to fire Maryland's public safety and corrections head, Carolyn Scruggs, in the wake of Martinez's death. Moore's administration changed leadership at the parole office, though Moore did not ultimately replace her. Martinez's 'memory continues to guide our mission and our reforms,' Scruggs said in a statement. 'As we honor him on Fallen Heroes Day and mark one year since his passing, we reaffirm our commitment to protecting those who protect others.' She said that his death has had a 'profound and lasting impact on our entire agency' and 'underscores the real risks our agents face every day in service to the people of Maryland.' At work, Martinez 'served with professionalism, integrity, and a commitment to public safety,' Scruggs said in a statement. Earlier this year, Maryland lawmakers passed a bill, named the Davis Martinez Public Employee Safety and Health Act and advocated for by the union, aimed at strengthening protections for public sector workers. Whether they were playing the FIFA soccer video games, tasting whiskeys in Washington or on a lengthy trip together, Davis Martinez and his brother 'always leaned on one another,' Michael Martinez told The Baltimore Sun last week at the memorial site. 'There will be moments where I'm just like teetering, and you know, Davis was always sort of my rock, but I don't have that,' Michael Martinez said. 'And so now I gotta learn how to cope with everything that's kind of thrown in my way.' Davis Martinez had wanted a career in public safety, though he landed on parole and probation in part to avoid the risks associated with a typical police job. He had first looked into becoming a police officer, and though 'he was perfect for it' while interviewing, he was uncomfortable with the idea of needing to use deadly force against somebody, his brother said. 'I think one of the questions is, 'if you have to shoot somebody, will you do it?' And you know, Davis just balked at that question,' said his younger brother. He instead gravitated toward parole and probation, a field where he could use his criminal justice knowledge to help steer people in the right direction. 'He would help guide them through their situations … he really did care about them,' said Michael Martinez. 'He would have his clients call him, you know, he would help them find jobs … he was really involved.' Outside work, Davis Martinez was 'everything' to his brother: best friend, therapist, comedian, motivator. He would push his younger brother out of his comfort zone — their travels across the country and to Europe inspired his brother to solo travel more often. Davis was also 'huge health nerd' who worked out and did yoga. The siblings would also share the responsibility of taking care of their younger brother, who is autistic and nonverbal. With Davis gone, the house feels empty, his brother said. But his spirit lives on in some ways: Davis' girlfriend, Gypsy, whom he had only been dating for a few months is a part of the family now. And Michael Martinez now drives his brother's highlighter-yellow Jeep, which includes the countless plastic ducks received in his brother's memory. Have a news tip? Contact Dan Belson at dbelson@ on X as @DanBelson_ or on Signal as @danbels.62.
