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. 

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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.”

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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.”

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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 and ruled her death a homicide. There was blood all over the house. (Montgomery County State’s Attorney)

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.

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“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.”

— Ted Williams

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.

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John McCarthy, speaking on Lauren Preer’s behalf during the Wednesday press conference, remembered Leslie Preer as a “spectacular, loving, wonderful person.” (Facebook)

“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.

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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.

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“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.

Police are seeking the public’s help identifying someone wanted in connection with a vandalism incident that involved Boston Transportation Department traffic control boxes on Thursday.

According to Boston police, the person in the pictures distributed Saturday show someone who reportedly accessed traffic control boxes, cut the electrical wires and disabled the traffic lights at multiple intersections, including at Washington and Kneeland streets, and at Washington and Lagrange streets.

The man police hope to identify is described as light-skinned with a grey beard, wearing a black hat, black jacket, yellow hooded sweatshirt, black pants, and brown construction boots.

The suspect was seen walking with an imbalanced gate or limp, and carrying a long pole.

He is believed to have been involved in a similar incident that occurred on Saturday at Boylston Street and Hadassah Way, where the suspect was seen wearing the same clothing.

The Boston Police Department is actively reviewing this incident. Anyone with information is strongly urged to contact detectives at 617-343-4239. Photos and videos related to the investigation can also be submitted anonymously via CrimeStoppers, which people can reach by calling 1-800-494-TIPS or by texting “TIP” to CRIME (27463).

Pittsburgh Steelers star outside linebacker Alex Highsmith believes the team’s pursuit of Aaron Rodgers has not distracted the group as OTAs approach.

“I just feel like in the locker room and stuff, we’re in there working, and I think that’s just really what it’s about at this point,” Highsmith said on “The Insiders.” “I know that if he does sign, we’re definitely going to be really excited to have him. We know who he is. He’s a Hall-of-Fame quarterback. He’s one of the best to ever do it. I wouldn’t say it’s a distraction at all, but we all know what type of quarterback he is and what he brings to the table.

In early April, team president Art Rooney said the team would not wait forever on Rodgers, but they would not give him timeline for now. That has continued, as head coach Mike Tomlin said around the same time he never thought deadlines were productive.

On the Pat McAfee Show in April, Rodgers said he would not sign a deal with a team until he felt he could fully commit to them with his personal life in order.

In his latest interview on the Joe Rogan Experience, Rodgers may have just revealed and hinted at the issues he hopes to resolve in his personal life.

Rodgers said multiple people in his life are dealing with serious illnesses, including cancer.

“I’ve figured it out during the last year when I’ve been in the weeds with these people who are close to me that have cancer,” Rodgers said.

That is taking a personal toll on Rodgers, who discussed non-conventional treatment options on the podcast. Still, he offered no certain timetable for a decision and seemed focused on his personal life first before anything else.