Who Was Leslie Preer & What Happened to Her? 2026 Update & Profile

Leslie Preer was remembered as a devoted mother, wife and valued member of her community whose life wa/s cut short inside her Chevy Chase, Maryland, home in 2001. Her murder shocked an affluent Washington, D.C., suburb and left her family searching for answers for more than two decades.

For years, the identity of Leslie’s killer remained hidden despite DNA evidence recovered from the crime scene. The investigation placed strain on her family, cast suspicion on her husband and forced her daughter to live with the knowledge that the person responsible had never been held accountable. Advances in forensic genetic genealogy later transformed the cold case and identified Eugene Gligor, a man who had once dated Leslie’s daughter.

• “First Comes Love, Then Comes Murder”: 20/20 Reports on Leslie Preer Homicide July 24 2026
• Who Is Eugene Gligor & Where Is He Now? 2026 Update & Profile

Leslie Preer’s Early Life

Leslie Ann Jennings was born on October 5, 1952, in Rhode Island. She was the daughter of William Elwood Jennings Jr. and Miriam Pullen Jennings and spent part of her youth in Florida.

She attended Pensacola High School before enrolling at the University of Florida. Leslie completed her university education in 1973, beginning an adult life that would centre on family, relationships and community.

Leslie married Carl Eugene “Sandy” Preer III on October 26, 1974. The couple later had a daughter, Lauren, and built a life together in the Washington metropolitan area.

Those who knew Leslie described her as a loving mother with a strong presence in the lives of the people around her. Her relationship with Lauren became one of the most important parts of her life.

Life in Chevy Chase

By 2001, Leslie and Sandy lived in Chevy Chase, Maryland, an affluent suburban community located near Washington, D.C. The area was known for established homes, quiet streets and a sense of security among residents.

Leslie worked outside the home and maintained a routine that people close to her understood. When she failed to arrive at work, her absence caused concern because it did not match her usual behaviour.

Her employer contacted members of her family after she failed to report for duty. Leslie’s boss and Sandy then went to the family home to check on her.

What they encountered inside the residence marked the beginning of a homicide investigation that would remain unresolved for 23 years.

Leslie Fails to Arrive at Work

On the morning of May 2, 2001, Leslie did not report to work. Her unexplained absence prompted her employer to take action rather than dismiss the matter as a routine delay.

Her boss and husband travelled to the Preer residence. When they reached the home, they noticed blood and signs that something was wrong.

They contacted emergency services, and officers from the Montgomery County Department of Police responded to the property.

Police entered the home and discovered Leslie’s body in an upstairs bathroom shower. She was 48 years old.

A Violent Attack Inside the Home

The condition of the residence showed that Leslie had been subjected to a violent physical assault. Blood was found in several rooms, suggesting that the confrontation had moved through parts of the house.

An autopsy determined that Leslie died from blunt force trauma. The injuries indicated that she had suffered a sustained attack.

Investigators found signs of a struggle inside the residence. Leslie appeared to have fought against her attacker, leaving physical evidence that would become central to the case.

Material recovered from beneath her fingernails contained male DNA. The finding suggested that Leslie had scratched or grabbed the person who attacked her.

Questions About How the Killer Entered

Police found no clear evidence of forced entry. There was no obvious indication that a stranger had broken through a door or window to gain access to the home.

That detail raised the possibility that Leslie knew the person who entered the residence. Investigators considered whether she had opened the door to someone she recognised or whether the killer was familiar with the property.

The theory of a personal or targeted attack gained support from the level of violence and the absence of an obvious burglary motive.

Detectives interviewed relatives, neighbours, coworkers and other people who had contact with Leslie before her death. They tried to reconstruct her final hours and identify anyone with a reason to approach her.

Suspicion Falls on Leslie’s Husband

As in many domestic homicide investigations, police examined Leslie’s husband. Sandy acknowledged during questioning that the marriage had been experiencing problems.

He told investigators that Leslie’s drinking had placed strain on their relationship. He said he sometimes stayed away from the house or arrived home late because the situation had become hard for him to manage.

Police also reviewed Sandy’s account of his movements before Leslie’s body was found. He described completing several errands, including visiting a dump and going to stores while searching for a battery charger.

The amount of detail in his account caused some investigators to question whether he was trying to establish an alibi. He also failed a polygraph examination, which increased suspicion despite the recognised limits of polygraph testing.

A Family Lives Under Suspicion

The focus on Sandy created another source of pain for Leslie’s family. Lauren had lost her mother while her father became the subject of police attention and community speculation.

Neighbours and others who followed the case questioned whether problems inside the marriage had led to the killing. The lack of an identified suspect allowed those questions to remain.

Sandy was never charged, but the suspicion followed him for the rest of his life. He died in 2017 without seeing another person arrested for Leslie’s murder.

For Lauren, the unresolved case meant living with two forms of uncertainty. She did not know who had killed her mother, and she watched her father remain connected to the crime in the minds of others.

DNA Evidence Excludes Sandy

Two months after Leslie’s death, forensic testing produced a result that challenged the theory against her husband. The male DNA recovered from beneath Leslie’s fingernails did not match Sandy.

The result showed that another man had made physical contact with Leslie during the struggle. It provided investigators with evidence that could identify the killer if a matching profile was found.

Police searched law enforcement DNA databases, including the Combined DNA Index System. No matching person appeared.

The unknown man had not left a qualifying DNA profile in the system. Investigators possessed evidence from the killer but had no name to attach to it.

The Case Grows Cold

As months passed without a match or confession, the investigation lost momentum. Police continued to review leads, but none produced enough evidence for an arrest.

Leslie’s murder became one of Montgomery County’s most troubling cold cases. The violence of the crime, the location of the attack and the unexplained male DNA kept the case alive in the minds of investigators.

The evidence was preserved as forensic science continued to develop. Detectives understood that a future testing method could provide information that had not been available in 2001.

For Leslie’s family, each passing year extended the wait for justice. Birthdays, anniversaries and family milestones arrived without her and without an answer.

Lauren’s Loss

Lauren Preer had shared a close relationship with her mother. Leslie’s death removed a central figure from her life and left her to confront the knowledge that the killer might have been someone she knew.

The eventual identification of Eugene Gligor made the crime more personal. Gligor had dated Lauren when they were in high school and had a connection to the Preer family.

Lauren later described Gligor as a “wolf in sheep’s clothing.” Her words reflected the sense of betrayal caused by learning that a person from her past was responsible for her mother’s death.

The case also forced Lauren to consider the years in which Gligor continued his life while her family lived with grief, suspicion and uncertainty.

Cold Case Detectives Reopen the Investigation

In 2022, detectives Tara Augustin and Alyson Dupouy began reviewing Leslie’s case as members of the Montgomery County police cold case unit.

They examined the original reports, interview recordings, photographs and forensic findings without accepting the assumptions that had shaped the first investigation.

The detectives focused on the unknown male DNA recovered beneath Leslie’s fingernails and from blood found inside the home.

They believed that forensic genetic genealogy could identify relatives of the person who left the DNA and lead them to a suspect.

Genetic Genealogy Offers a New Path

Montgomery County police worked with Othram, a private laboratory specialising in difficult forensic cases. The laboratory developed an enhanced DNA profile from the evidence collected in 2001.

Unlike a standard law enforcement database search, genetic genealogy can identify people who share DNA with an unknown suspect. Investigators can then use public records to build family trees.

The process required months of research. Detectives examined relatives, marriage records, birth records, obituaries and family connections.

Many of the matches were distant and produced no immediate suspect. One stronger match, however, led to a family line connected to Romania.

The Name Gligor Appears

While examining the Romanian family line, Detective Augustin encountered the surname Gligor. The name stood out because it had appeared in the original case file.

Eugene Gligor had been Lauren’s high school boyfriend. His past relationship with Leslie’s daughter meant that he knew the family and would have known where they lived.

Investigators determined that Gligor was related to the Romanian DNA match as a first cousin twice removed.

The genetic connection, his relationship with Lauren and his presence in the original reports made him a strong investigative target.

An Earlier Tip Is Reconsidered

About nine months after Leslie’s murder, a neighbour had suggested that investigators look at Eugene Gligor.

The tip did not lead to an arrest in the early stages of the case. Gligor’s DNA was not held in CODIS, and police had no direct sample to compare with the crime-scene profile.

The new genealogy evidence changed the value of the old information. A name that had once been one of many leads had returned through an independent scientific process.

Detectives placed Gligor under surveillance and waited for an opportunity to collect an item he discarded.

A Water Bottle Solves the Mystery

Investigators followed Gligor to Washington Dulles International Airport. With assistance from airport and customs personnel, they watched him drink from a plastic water bottle.

After Gligor threw the bottle into a rubbish bin, officers retrieved it. The saliva on the bottle provided a direct DNA sample.

The sample was compared with the male DNA recovered from beneath Leslie’s fingernails and from the crime scene.

Within a week, the laboratory confirmed a match. Eugene Gligor was the man whose DNA Leslie had carried beneath her fingernails since the morning she was killed.

Eugene Gligor Is Arrested

Police arrested Gligor on June 18, 2024, at his Washington, D.C., apartment. The U.S. Marshals Service assisted with the operation.

Gligor was extradited to Maryland and charged with second-degree murder. During questioning, he denied involvement.

The DNA evidence placed him inside the crime scene and linked him to Leslie’s struggle. His past relationship with Lauren also explained how he knew the family.

The arrest cleared Sandy of involvement and ended more than two decades of uncertainty about the identity of Leslie’s killer.

Gligor Pleads Guilty

Gligor later pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. The plea established his responsibility for Leslie’s death without a jury trial.

He did not provide a clear account of why he went to the Preer home or what led to the attack.

At sentencing, his defence said the murder followed a period of alcohol and cocaine use. His lawyer also discussed childhood trauma and substance abuse.

Gligor claimed that he had suffered a blackout. He said he remembered leaving the Preer home in the morning but could not recall the killing.

Leslie’s Family Confronts Her Killer

Six members of Leslie’s family spoke at Gligor’s sentencing hearing. They described the effect of her death and the damage caused by the long period without an arrest.

Lauren addressed the court and spoke about the betrayal of learning that her former boyfriend had killed her mother.

Crime-scene photographs were shown during the hearing, forcing Leslie’s relatives to confront the violence of her final moments.

The family also spoke about Sandy, who had died under a cloud of suspicion. The arrest proved that he had not killed Leslie, but the truth came seven years after his death.

A 22-Year Prison Sentence

On August 28, 2025, Judge David Lease sentenced Eugene Gligor to 22 years in prison.

Prosecutors had requested the maximum 30-year sentence. They stressed the brutality of the murder, the evidence that Gligor had tried to clean the scene and the years in which he avoided responsibility.

The defence requested a 10-year term. The judge imposed a sentence above Maryland’s guideline range of 10 to 18 years but below the maximum.

The sentence completed the criminal case against Gligor, though he later asked the court to reconsider the punishment.

Remembering Leslie Beyond the Crime

Leslie Preer’s name became linked to a cold case, forensic genealogy and a courtroom sentence. Her family, however, remembered her as a person whose life extended far beyond the circumstances of her death.

She was a mother whose relationship with her daughter shaped Lauren’s life. She was a wife whose murder changed her husband’s final years. She was a woman whose absence affected relatives, friends and a community.

The evidence Leslie carried beneath her fingernails became her final act of resistance. It preserved the identity of her attacker until science developed a way to uncover it.

More than two decades after her death, that evidence cleared her husband, exposed her killer and provided her daughter with the answer she had spent years waiting to receive.

More “First Comes Love, Then Comes Murder”

• “First Comes Love, Then Comes Murder”: 20/20 Reports on Leslie Preer Homicide July 24 2026
• Who Was Leslie Preer & What Happened to Her? 2026 Update & Profile
• Who Is Eugene Gligor & Where Is He Now? 2026 Update & Profile

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