For 23 years, the brutal murder of 49-year-old Leslie Preer haunted her family and baffled investigators. Found strangled and beaten inside her Maryland home, suspicion initially fell on her husband as the case went cold.

The truth was far closer to home. Leslie’s killer was Eugene Gligor, her daughter’s former high school boyfriend who was once welcomed as family. For decades he built a successful life while the crime remained unsolved.

In 2022, forensic genealogy and a discarded water bottle finally exposed him. Arrested in 2024, Gligor pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, but one haunting question still lingers: why did he kill Leslie Preer?

Follow True Crime Recaps for more cold cases cracked wide open by DNA.