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Who is Eugene Gligor & Where is He Now? 2025 Update & Background

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The name Eugene Teodor Gligor remained relatively unknown until the spring of 2024, when investigators in Montgomery County, Maryland, announced his arrest in connection with the 2001 murder of Leslie Preer. His unexpected connection to the case brought a quiet but haunting story into sharp focus, revealing a man who had once lived on the periphery of a grieving family—and who, for decades, remained hidden in plain sight.

Early Life and Connection to the Preer Family

Eugene Gligor was born in 1980 and raised in the Washington, D.C., area. During his teenage years, he became involved with Lauren Preer, the daughter of Leslie Preer, forming a relationship that placed him in close proximity to the Preer household. To the family, he was a familiar face—someone who had once dated their daughter and spent time in their home during his youth.

Not much is publicly known about Gligor’s adult life in the years following the end of his relationship with Lauren. He did not maintain a public criminal record, and there were no known incidents that drew significant attention from law enforcement. He moved on from his adolescence without raising suspicion, blending into the anonymity of daily life in the D.C. metro area.

Hidden Past and Cold Case Breakthrough

For over two decades, Gligor’s name did not surface in connection with Leslie Preer’s murder. Investigators had early suspicions directed elsewhere, including Leslie’s husband, Carl “Sandy” Preer. But male DNA found under Leslie’s fingernails—believed to be from her killer—remained unmatched and unexplained until advances in forensic genetic genealogy opened a new door.

In 2022, detectives Tara Augustin and Alyson Dupouy reexamined the cold case. Working with Othram, a DNA analysis lab, they submitted the crime scene DNA to public genealogy databases. A distant familial match in Romania led them down an intricate genealogical path that eventually pointed to Gligor. He had never been entered into CODIS, the national DNA database, which is why he had avoided detection for so long.

Customs agents obtained a DNA sample from a discarded water bottle Gligor used at Dulles Airport. The sample matched the DNA from the crime scene, including the crucial evidence found under Leslie’s fingernails.

Confession and Sentencing

Confronted with the forensic evidence, Gligor was arrested in 2024 and charged with first-degree murder. In May 2025, he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, avoiding trial but admitting to the killing. In court, Gligor offered a brief apology and claimed he had been under the influence of alcohol and cocaine at the time of the murder. He told the court, “Leslie always was very kind to me,” and claimed he could not fully remember the events of that morning.

Prosecutors argued that while no clear motive had been established, the evidence was undeniable. Judge David Lease sentenced Gligor to 30 years in prison, suspending all but 22 years. He was also ordered to serve five years of supervised probation after his release. Gligor has since filed a motion seeking reconsideration of his sentence.

Where He Is Now

Eugene Gligor is currently incarcerated in the Maryland state prison system, serving a 22-year sentence for the second-degree murder of Leslie Preer. He will remain in custody until at least the mid-2040s, barring any changes from his motion to reconsider sentencing. Upon release, he will be subject to supervision by the state.

The sentencing closed a painful chapter for the Preer family, while also raising questions about the capacity for hidden violence in ordinary lives. Gligor, once a familiar face to the victim’s family, lived undetected for over two decades. His arrest stands as a powerful example of how emerging technology in forensic science is reshaping the resolution of long-unsolved crimes.

Though he once walked free without suspicion, Eugene Gligor is now a convicted murderer—his name forever linked to a brutal act and a case that haunted a community for nearly a generation.

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Ryan Gill

Ryan is a passionate follower of true crime television programs, reporting on and providing in-depth investigations on mysteries in the criminal world.

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