A man from Maryland admitted to the decades-old murder of his high school girlfriend’s mother. 45-year-old Eugene Gligor pled guilty to second-degree murder on Wednesday. He confessed to murdering 50-year-old Leslie Preer in 2001, the mother of his high school lover, Lauren Preer.
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Maryland Man Pleads Guilty To Decades-Old Murder
For 25 years, Gligor kept it secret that he killed Leslie after her body was found in her Chevy Chase home on May 2, 2001, per the New York Post. It became a cold case for years until 2022, when investigators matched the DNA under her fingernails to a distant relative of Gligor’s. It didn’t take long for police to link Gligor to the Preer family, as he had dated the victim’s daughter.
In June 2024, the police arrested Gligor outside of his apartment in Washington, DC. This arrest was incredibly shocking for Lauren, as she had no idea her high school sweetheart could’ve done this. The two teens dated when she was 15, and their families knew each other well.
Lauren told Fox 5 after the arrest that she ran into Gligor at a restaurant a year prior. “I’ve spoken to him,” said Lauren. “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.”
Knowing you had run into your mother’s killer not too long ago must have been an emotional revelation. Lauren revealed that a part of her was relieved, and she hoped her family could finally have justice.
According to the Washington Post, Gligor remained in DC for 23 years after the murder. He worked at a real estate firm, and he also had no criminal record. Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy said there was no sign the murder was “premeditated” either.
Since the arrest, Gligor pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of second-degree murder after the court charged him with first-degree murder. They will sentence him on August 2, and he faces up to 30 years in prison.
The Preer family has waited over two decades for closure. It’s nice to know that, although it took a while, they can rest easy knowing who was responsible for the murder.