A 44-year-old man has been arrested in reference to a 2001 cold-case homicide of a Maryland mother after cops used DNA proof to establish her suspected killer a long time later.
Leslie J. Preer, then 50, was discovered lifeless by a co-worker on Could 2, 2001, in an upstairs bed room of her dwelling within the 4800 block of Drummond Avenue within the county’s Chevy Chase space. The scene was a bloody one, with seen indicators of a battle within the dwelling. An post-mortem decided that she had died partly of blunt-force trauma.
However the case was in the end closed and no suspect was ever recognized, owing to an absence of leads.
That was till Tuesday, when Eugene T. Gligor was arrested in D.C. by the US Marshals Service’s fugitive process power in reference to the case.
Gligor, who was 21 and courting Preer’s daughter on the time of the killing, was related to the crime after blood from the scene that had been in storage for greater than 20 years was “submitted to a lab for forensic genetic genealogical DNA evaluation” in September 2022, police stated.
“It’s been a hell of a day!” Preer’s daughter, Lauren Preer, reportedly stated of the invention. “He was my ex-boyfriend!”
Authorities didn’t reveal particulars about how the blood that was given to the lab helped detectives establish Gligor, however Montgomery County police stated he’s been charged with first-degree homicide.
Assistant Chief Nicholas Augustine of the Montgomery County Police Division described the investigative work as very tedious, requiring dedication from detectives.
“We’ll go a few years, whether or not it’s 20 or 40 years, to seek out out the solutions and maintain individuals accountable for violent incidents that occurred previously,” he added.
Genetic genealogical DNA evaluation permits investigators to check crime scene DNA to samples submitted by prospects of a number of the non-public genealogical corporations which have turn into common amongst individuals exploring their lineage or on the lookout for distant family members.
It means suspects could be recognized if somebody from the identical household tree has given a DNA pattern to an organization.
Gligor was recognized as a possible suspect by such analysis, in line with the Montgomery police assertion
Shiera Goff, a Montgomery police spokeswoman, revealed on Tuesday that Gligor had a relationship or a previous relationship with a member of the Preer household on the time of the killing.
WTTG-TV reported that Gligor started courting Lauren Preer when she was 15, and their households knew one another. The precise nature of Gligor’s relationship with Lauren’s mom is at present unclear. Goff stated she couldn’t talk about a doable motive for the murder.
When requested if Gligor was ever thought-about an individual of curiosity by the household, Lauren Preer instructed WTTG-TV: “No, under no circumstances.”
The elder Preer labored for Specialties Inc., an promoting manufacturing firm in Northwest DC. She was discovered lifeless in a bed room of her dwelling after a colleague known as police when she failed to point out up for work.
In a 2022 interview, a Montgomery murder detective, Tara Baione, instructed WTTG-TV that the crime scene was “fairly brutal with a number of blood.”
“You’d simply anticipate for somebody to have seen or heard one thing,” she added. However neighbors had reported listening to nothing uncommon, and there have been no indicators of pressured entry on the home.
Police additionally stated on the time that Wisconsin Avenue neighborhood the place she was discovered had a low crime fee and no issues had been reported earlier than on the Preer dwelling.
Gligor is at present in DC ready to be extradited to Montgomery County the place he’ll seem in entrance of a decide.