Latest news with #EugeneGligor
Daily Telegraph
26-07-2025
- Daily Telegraph
Eugene Gligor police interview surfaces
Don't miss out on the headlines from World. Followed categories will be added to My News. The display put on by a cold-case killer confronted with evidence of his horrific crimes is perhaps best described as 'squirming'. Eugene Gligor's police interview, 23 years after he murdered Leslie Preer in her home in the US state of Maryland, resurfaced this week. First published by The Washington Post, 24-minute interrogation shows Gligor pretending to be shocked when told his DNA was found at scene of the grisly murder. In the recording, filmed in June last year, Gligor is told: 'Well honey, your DNA was in the crime scene.' Having escaped scrutiny for the murder that took place in 2001, Gligor replies: 'I don't remember. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.' He says he is 'confused' and 'at a loss', adding 'I don't have any recollection of being involved with any of this'. Sat on a metal chair across from two detectives from the Montgomery County Police Department, Gligor tries to plead his case. His attempt at feigning ignorace includes fake tears. But police are having none of it. 'If somebody was not involved it would be an adamant, (saying) 'I didn't do it.',' one of the officers tells the then-44-year-old. 'Oh, I didn't do it,' he says. 'I definitely didn't do it.' 'There's no tears coming out of your face,' an officers tells him. 'I'm very dry right now,' Gligor says. 'You want me to drink water so I can tear? What are you trying to say?' 'I'm just trying to say that this seems a little put on,' an officer tells him. The police interview was the culmination of years of work including a breakthrough in the way DNA was analysed. Montgomery County Police Department has released footage of Eugene Grigor's police interview. DNA breakthrough that solved cold-case In the days after the murder, police took as much evidence as they could, which included processing the scene for fingerprints, swabbing suspected blood samples, taking photographs, and vacuuming the foyer area for hairs and other artefacts. DNA evidence was also able to be extracted from underneath Leslie's fingernails — a sign she tried to fight off her attacker — and was matched an unknown male suspect. However, due to limited technology at the time, they were unable to match it to anyone. Detectives spoke to a handful of potential suspects, including Leslie's husband, Carl. However, DNA soon ruled him out. With no other leads, the case went cold. Despite the odds, Lauren said she had always held out hope that one day her mum's killer would be brought to justice. Finally, earlier this month, this dream seemed like it might become a reality. Back in 2022, hard-working cold case investigators sought to use genetic genealogical analysis in a bid to close in on who murdered Leslie. The technique is relatively new, and involves taking an unknown suspect's DNA from a crime scene and comparing it to millions of DNA samples that customers have submitted to ancestor research companies. This can help detectives potentially track down family-tree connections to the perpetrator's DNA, hugely narrowing down the suspect pool. In this case, genetic genealogical analysis was able to yield one common surname: Gligor. While it did not mean much at first, this clue would end up the vital clue needed to find Leslie's alleged murderer. On June 4, 2024, police uncovered an old tip off submitted back in 2002 about someone called Eugene Gligor. The caller, who is understood to be a neighbour, had been suspicious of him and decided to share their thoughts with detectives. While it did not amount to much at the time, it ended up being the smoking gun that lead police to Eugene. Eugene Grigo pleaded guilty to murder in May and faces 30 years in prison. The only thing detectives needed was a sample of his DNA to see if it was a match for that left at the crime scene. And so the hunt began. Plain-clothed detectives tracked him down at Dulles International Airport, where they waited and watched as he finished off a bottle of water and disposed of the plastic bottle in a nearby bin. After he walked away, they pounced. With the fresh evidence in their clutches, forensic labs were able to extract his DNA from saliva left on the bottle. It was a match. Gligor was charged with first-degree murder. The crime that tore a family apart Leslie Preer worked at a popular advertising firm in Chevy Chase called Specialities Inc., and was a beloved employee, known for her dedication and punctuality. So when she failed to show up for her shift, her colleagues knew something just wasn't right. Leslie's boss called her husband and the pair went to her home just before midday. There they found blood spattered and smeared on the walls before discovering her body in an upstairs bathroom. She was face down inside the shower and it was clear her death had been horrific. She had multiple lacerations to her head and bruising to her neck which indicated strangulation. It would be 23 years of waiting for Leslie's family. In May, Gligor pleaded guilty to murder. 'It doesn't bring Leslie back, but now they know who did it to her,' Montgomery County State's Attorney John McCarthy said at a press conference. 'There's no such thing as closure, but I'm proud of what we do together, and I'm proud of our continuing search to find creative ways to make people in this community safer.' He faces up to 30 years in prison. — with Jasmine Kazlauskas Originally published as Footage emerges of cold-case killer Eugene Gligor's police interview
News.com.au
26-07-2025
- News.com.au
Footage emerges of cold-case killer Eugene Gligor's police interview
The display put on by a cold-case killer confronted with evidence of his horrific crimes is perhaps best described as 'squirming'. Eugene Gligor's police interview, 23 years after he murdered Leslie Preer in her home in the US state of Maryland, resurfaced this week. First published by The Washington Post, 24-minute interrogation shows Gligor pretending to be shocked when told his DNA was found at scene of the grisly murder. In the recording, filmed in June last year, Gligor is told: 'Well honey, your DNA was in the crime scene.' Having escaped scrutiny for the murder that took place in 2001, Gligor replies: 'I don't remember. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.' He says he is 'confused' and 'at a loss', adding 'I don't have any recollection of being involved with any of this'. Sat on a metal chair across from two detectives from the Montgomery County Police Department, Gligor tries to plead his case. His attempt at feigning ignorace includes fake tears. But police are having none of it. 'If somebody was not involved it would be an adamant, (saying) 'I didn't do it.',' one of the officers tells the then-44-year-old. 'Oh, I didn't do it,' he says. 'I definitely didn't do it.' 'There's no tears coming out of your face,' an officers tells him. 'I'm very dry right now,' Gligor says. 'You want me to drink water so I can tear? What are you trying to say?' 'I'm just trying to say that this seems a little put on,' an officer tells him. The police interview was the culmination of years of work including a breakthrough in the way DNA was analysed. DNA breakthrough that solved cold-case In the days after the murder, police took as much evidence as they could, which included processing the scene for fingerprints, swabbing suspected blood samples, taking photographs, and vacuuming the foyer area for hairs and other artefacts. DNA evidence was also able to be extracted from underneath Leslie's fingernails — a sign she tried to fight off her attacker — and was matched an unknown male suspect. However, due to limited technology at the time, they were unable to match it to anyone. Detectives spoke to a handful of potential suspects, including Leslie's husband, Carl. However, DNA soon ruled him out. With no other leads, the case went cold. Despite the odds, Lauren said she had always held out hope that one day her mum's killer would be brought to justice. Finally, earlier this month, this dream seemed like it might become a reality. Back in 2022, hard-working cold case investigators sought to use genetic genealogical analysis in a bid to close in on who murdered Leslie. The technique is relatively new, and involves taking an unknown suspect's DNA from a crime scene and comparing it to millions of DNA samples that customers have submitted to ancestor research companies. This can help detectives potentially track down family-tree connections to the perpetrator's DNA, hugely narrowing down the suspect pool. In this case, genetic genealogical analysis was able to yield one common surname: Gligor. While it did not mean much at first, this clue would end up the vital clue needed to find Leslie's alleged murderer. On June 4, 2024, police uncovered an old tip off submitted back in 2002 about someone called Eugene Gligor. The caller, who is understood to be a neighbour, had been suspicious of him and decided to share their thoughts with detectives. While it did not amount to much at the time, it ended up being the smoking gun that lead police to Eugene. The only thing detectives needed was a sample of his DNA to see if it was a match for that left at the crime scene. And so the hunt began. Plain-clothed detectives tracked him down at Dulles International Airport, where they waited and watched as he finished off a bottle of water and disposed of the plastic bottle in a nearby bin. After he walked away, they pounced. With the fresh evidence in their clutches, forensic labs were able to extract his DNA from saliva left on the bottle. It was a match. Gligor was charged with first-degree murder. The crime that tore a family apart Leslie Preer worked at a popular advertising firm in Chevy Chase called Specialities Inc., and was a beloved employee, known for her dedication and punctuality. So when she failed to show up for her shift, her colleagues knew something just wasn't right. Leslie's boss called her husband and the pair went to her home just before midday. There they found blood spattered and smeared on the walls before discovering her body in an upstairs bathroom. She was face down inside the shower and it was clear her death had been horrific. She had multiple lacerations to her head and bruising to her neck which indicated strangulation. It would be 23 years of waiting for Leslie's family. In May, Gligor pleaded guilty to murder. 'It doesn't bring Leslie back, but now they know who did it to her,' Montgomery County State's Attorney John McCarthy said at a press conference. 'There's no such thing as closure, but I'm proud of what we do together, and I'm proud of our continuing search to find creative ways to make people in this community safer.' He faces up to 30 years in prison.
Washington Post
23-07-2025
- Washington Post
Interrogating a cold-case killer: ‘Honey, your DNA was in the crime scene'
Eugene Gligor tried to deflect. 'It's guilty until proven innocent. I get it,' he told the detectives. They were accusing him of killing his ex-girlfriend's mother, a crime that went unsolved for two decades. Gligor had never been questioned in the case. And now, inside a small, gray interrogation room, he didn't budge as the detectives bored in. 'Well honey,' one of them said, 'your DNA was in the crime scene.' Gligor, seated on a small metal chair, waved his hands up and down, struggling to collect his words. What came next wasn't a confession. But it wasn't exactly a denial, either. 'I don't remember,' he said, his voice rising. 'I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.' The exchange, recorded on police video obtained Tuesday by The Washington Post, offers the clearest window yet on the day Gligor's 23 years of getting away with murder ended. As he could tell, the detectives knew he'd gotten inside Leslie Preer's home in Chevy Chase, Md., slammed her head repeatedly onto the foyer floor, strangled her and then carried her bloody body to an upstairs shower stall before he vanished. Over and over, Gligor claimed ignorance, repeatedly saying 'I don't know' or 'I don't remember.' He wore black slides, black socks, jeans and a black polo shirt, the same outfit he'd put on that morning before he was suddenly arrested while sitting atop the stairs outside his apartment under bright blue skies. Now, his left ankle chained to a metal hoop in the floor, he tried to keep calm and chose his words carefully. 'I'm really confused, and I'm really at a loss,' Gligor said. 'I don't have any recollection of being involved with any of this.' 'You keep saying you don't remember and you don't have any recollection,' the detective said. 'But if somebody was not involved it would be an adamant, 'I didn't do it.'' 'Oh, I didn't do it,' Gligor responded. 'I definitely didn't do it.' At times the conversation grew testy, as when Detective Tara Augustin suggested his crying was fake. 'There's no tears coming out of your face,' Augustin said. 'I'm very dry right now,' Gligor said, adding that he was tired and drained and didn't know what was going on. 'You want me to drink water so I can tear? … What are you trying to say?' 'I'm just trying to say that this seems a little put on,' Augustin said. Over the 24-minute interrogation, Gligor gave no ground. But the detectives from the Montgomery County Police Department had a lot anyway. For two years, they'd homed in on Gligor by analyzing DNA left at the crime scene against genetic markers in huge databases built in part by the family ancestry industry. And just nine days earlier — to confirm those findings — investigators furtively collected Gligor's DNA at Dulles International Airport during a phony 'secondary screening' they'd set up for him. By that evening, Gligor was locked in jail. He later pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and faces up to 30 years in prison at his scheduled sentencing on Aug. 28 — a hearing that could finally answer the big remaining question: Why? In high school, Gligor dated Preer's daughter. After Preer's murder — about nine months into the investigation — his name popped up. A previous neighbor of Gligor's called police to say they 'thought that he may be somehow related to the Leslie Preer murder,' according to court records. But the tip lacked specifics, police have said, and Gligor appears to have never been pursued as a suspect. Instead, he went on to a life of hiding in plain sight in the D.C. area: successful jobs, marriage, divorce, a circle of friends who knew him as warm and gregarious. Preer's daughter, Lauren, never thought he could have done it. A second police video from the case, recorded by an arresting officer not long before the interrogation, shows Gligor's final moments of freedom. He was sitting on his apartment steps in Washington last June, taking a break from his at-home work for a company that operated video surveillance systems. He scrolled his phone and sipped coffee. A team of undercover officers who had been surveilling the building from inside unmarked trucks and a minivan can be seen walking toward him. Their clothing — sneakers, shorts and untucked baggy T-shirts covering their holstered guns — suggested a group of civilians out for a brisk walk. Reaching his steps, they turned to quickly ascend them. 'Hands up!' one of them shouted, cursing loudly as birds chirped. The officers placed Gligor in handcuffs. 'What is this about?' he asked. 'You got a warrant, bro,' an officer answered. They led him down the steps toward a black Ram pickup. A man walking his dog passed and stared at the group. 'Can, can you let my girlfriend know?' Gligor asked, indicating she'd be worried about him failing to return. 'Yeah, yeah, yeah. We will,' an officer answered. Taken together, the two videos show key moments of a homicide case years in the making. They also show the everyday occurrences — a remote worker going outside for a break, concerns over a cellphone left behind, a cop joking about much the job has aged him — that are inevitably mixed into such investigations. 'We can't pretend, just because you look like a businessman, that you ain't going to hurt us,' one of the officers said by way of explaining the suddenness and language of the arrest. 'I understand,' said Gligor. The 2001 killing stunned Preer's quiet neighborhood just north of Washington. Investigators found DNA thought to have been the killer's throughout Preer's home and under her fingernails — the latter an indication she had tried to fight off her attacker. But all they knew about who left it was that he was male. The investigators spoke to Preer's family and associates, collecting names of possible suspects. Those men were asked to provide DNA samples. No matches. In 2022, Montgomery County cold-case investigators dove into the case. They obtained a court order authorizing them to conduct genetic genealogy analysis of DNA left at the crime scene. The method doesn't so much lead directly to suspects but can point investigators to possible relatives, even distant ones, who had submitted their DNA for ancestry testing. In this case, it pointed to two women — completely innocent — in Romania. From there, Augustin slowly built out a family tree, eventually learning there were distantly related Americans with the surname Gligor. The name caught the detectives' attention. In the old case records, Eugene Gligor was listed as a former of boyfriend of Preer's daughter. To confirm their family tree work, the detectives needed to get a sample of Gligor's DNA. They didn't want to spook him, so they set up the 'secondary screening' ruse at Dulles, complete with water bottles waiting for him to drink from. Gligor did so, leaving behind the bottle and his DNA. They matched it with DNA evidence from the crime scene, the arrest team went out to pick Gligor up, and they brought him to a police station. He was later moved into the interrogation room equipped with a video camera. The recording would later be submitted as a court exhibit during a Jan. 24 hearing. Gligor's attorneys sought to have the video disallowed at his pending trial, because, among other reasons, the detectives kept questioning Gligor after he repeatedly said he wanted to consult a lawyer. Circuit Judge David Lease agreed and ruled that much of the video could not be played at the trial. The video shows detectives acknowledging that they couldn't continue questioning Gligor after he asked for a lawyer, but the conversation continued — many times after their prompting, sometimes from Gligor himself. Ten days after that hearing, Gligor's attorneys and prosecutors jointly asked Lease to seal the video from public release. They gave two reasons: The video contained several references to specific medical information, and allowing the public to see the video — much of it now ruled inadmissible — could taint potential jurors. Lease granted their request. Gligor subsequently pleaded guilty, meaning there would be no trial and no jurors to possibly be tainted, and The Washington Post asked Lease to unseal the video. Lease granted the request this week, with a small section containing medical information redacted. In the interrogation video, detectives Augustin and Alyson Dupouy can be seen walking into the small room and starting off gently. They advised Gligor of his rights to remain silent and consult an attorney. Then they eased into their questions. 'So we were working on a case that came from Chevy Chase, and when we were going through the case file, your name was in there as someone that was related to the family. We have a big list of people, friends, family,' Augustin said. 'So do you recall back in 2001, Leslie Preer?' Gligor kept his hands clasped on his lap and looked directly at the detective. 'Yes, that she was murdered,' he said politely. The three spoke about him earlier dating Preer's daughter, Lauren, and how he used to hang out at her home. The detectives asked how he'd learned about the murder. From Lauren, Gligor answered. 'She had actually told me that,' he said. 'She had come into where I was working at a restaurant, and she had told me what had happened.' Lauren Preer, in a later interview with The Post, recalled a similar encounter. She said that after her mom's funeral, she ran into Gligor at a bar in Bethesda, Md. She said she told him that her mom had died, and he looked at her and replied, 'I'm so sorry.' The detectives pressed more. 'We wanted to reach out to you and see if you remember or recall anything about the time when Leslie was killed, anything that you remember about your life at the time that, like, could be relevant,' Augustin said. 'I really don't recall,' Gligor said. The detective said that back in 2001, investigators found DNA presumably left by the person who killed Preer. Gligor soon began asking for a lawyer. 'That's totally fine,' Augustin said. 'And we don't have to ask you any more questions, but we are going to just tell you some stuff, okay.' 'Okay,' Gligor said, still seated in the small metal chair. She spoke about secretly collecting his DNA and how it matched DNA from the scene. Gligor kept asking for an attorney and — at times after prompting by the detectives — kept talking. 'I know I wasn't involved, and I just don't understand how this has come to this,' he said. 'I really wish I knew, and I really wish I could tell you, give you some answers and give you more feedback from an honest perspective.' Augustin said there was another person who knew — Leslie Preer. 'And she can't tell us.'
New York Post
14-05-2025
- New York Post
Killer who lived in plain sight for nearly 25 years pleads guilty to killing ex-girlfriend's mom
A Maryland man known for his Zen-like calm has shockingly confessed to beating and choking to death the mother of his then-childhood sweetheart — and then hiding in plain sight for nearly 25 years. Eugene Gligor, 45, pleaded guilty last week to the murder of Leslie Preer, a 50-year-old married mom who was found dead in her blood-spattered home in Chevy Chase on May 2, 2001. The homicide investigation went cold until investigators matched DNA from under her fingernails to a distant relative of Gligor living in Romania. 4 Eugene Gligor pleaded guilty to second-degree murder last week. Montgomery County Department of Police The killer was finally arrested outside of his Washington, DC apartment last June — shocking the dead woman's daughter, Lauren Preer, who had dated Gligor when they were both 15. The daughter said she even ran into her ex at a DC-area restaurant a year before he was arrested, leaving her now-chilled at how he acted like nothing ever happened. '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 Fox 5 last year. 4 Leslie Preer was beaten and strangled to death in her Maryland home in 2001. Montgomery County Department of Police After the killing, Gligor had remained in the DC area for 23 years working at a real estate firm. His colleagues described him as 'Zen' and friendly after his arrest, according to The Washington Post. Gligor's motive for the murder remains unclear. He has no criminal record, and there is no sign the murder was 'premeditated,' Montgomery County State's Attorney John McCarthy said. 4 Lauren Preer and her parents at her graduation from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in 1995. Her mother, Leslie J. Preer, was killed six years later. Courtesy Preer Family 4 The murder happened in an affluent area of Maryland. Fox5 Gligor was charged with first-degree murder, but pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of second-degree murder. He faces up to 30 years in prison when he's sentenced on Aug. 2. '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. '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,' he added.
Daily Mail
13-05-2025
- Daily Mail
Maryland family man stuns courtroom by admitting to brutal murder of his teenage girlfriend's mother
A Maryland man has confessed to the decades-old murder of his high school girlfriend's mother. Eugene Gligor, 45, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to second-degree murder for the 2001 killing of 50-year-old Leslie Preer - who was the mother of his school sweetheart, Lauren Preer. Preer was found dead in her Chevy Chase home on May 2, 2001, after she failed to show up to work that morning and her colleague decided to check on her. The coworker, along with Preer's husband Carl, went to the house and found blood in the foyer, then her body in an upstairs bedroom. 'Mr. Preer called out his wife's name and looked quickly throughout the home but could not find her,' Assistant State's Attorney Jodie Mount said in court, reported The Washington Post. Investigators concluded her death was a homicide as the result of blunt force trauma inflicted during a struggle. Police collected DNA evidence from the scene, but with no leads, the case went cold for years. In 2022, detectives re-examined blood gathered from the crime scene using new forensic genealogy to establish a DNA link, which then led them to Gligor. His arrest last year stunned the victim's daughter, Lauren Preer, who realized she had dated her mother's killer when they were teenagers. 'We started dating when we were 15, so his family and my family knew each other,' Lauren told Fox 5. Eerily, Lauren had run into Gligor at a restaurant in Washington, D.C. before his arrest 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. Police linked the DNA to Gligor using forensic genealogy that found a connection to 'distant relative from Romania.' From there, investigators built a family tree that connected Gligor, a name they recognized as Lauren's young love. Authorities then arranged for Gligor to be taken through extra airport security screening where they gave him a water bottle that was used to match the DNA, according to court documents. No motive has been given for Preer's murder, but records indicate he was a mischievous high-schooler and had some substance abuse issues, reported Fox News. Gligor worked at a real-estate firm and colleagues described him as 'zen' and 'a happy, positive person,' according the Post. When asked if Gligor was ever on her radar as being a potential suspect, Lauren responded: 'No, not at all.' Now, the grieving daughter is relieved that her mother and family is finally getting justice. '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.' Gligor faces up to 30 years in prison - the maximum sentencing for second-degree murder in 2001 when the crime occurred - and sentencing is scheduled for August 28.
