CASE FILE: K**ler Kept In Touch With Her Family for 23 Years. Until DNA Exposed Him
CASE FILE: THE LESLIE PRIER H.0M/I.C/I/DE INVESTIGATION
Killer Kept in Touch With Her Family for 23 Years Until DNA Exposed Him
Cold Case Homicide Investigation Report
Narrative by Detective Brian Coldwel
Montgomery County Police Department – Cold Case Division
PROLOGUE – THE FAMILY FRIEND WHO HID A 23-YEAR SECRET
Some murder investigations are solved through a confession.
Others are solved through a witness.
But some wait decades for a single piece of evidence to finally reveal the truth.
On the morning of May 2, 2001, the quiet and wealthy community of Chevy Chase, Maryland, was shaken by a brutal murder inside a home where a family should have felt completely safe.
Leslie Prier was a 48-year-old wife and mother.
She was known as:
Reliable
Warm-hearted
Generous
Someone who never disappeared without explanation
So when Leslie failed to arrive at work that morning, her absence immediately raised concern.
Her boss called.
Her family was contacted.
And when they arrived at her home, they discovered a horrifying scene.
Blood covered the entrance.
Furniture had been overturned.
Signs of a violent struggle were everywhere.
Upstairs, Leslie was found dead inside the bathroom.
Investigators quickly realized this was not a random burglary.
Someone had entered the home.
Someone Leslie likely knew.
Someone who fought with her before killing her.
The first person detectives examined was her husband, Carl “Sandy” Prier.
Like many spouse homicide investigations, Sandy became the center of suspicion.
His marriage had problems.
He failed a polygraph.
He admitted the relationship had become difficult.
For years, some people in the community quietly wondered if he was responsible.
But then the evidence changed everything.
DNA recovered beneath Leslie’s fingernails revealed the truth:
The killer was not Sandy.
It was another man.
An unknown person whose DNA remained unidentified for more than two decades.
The case went cold.
Sandy lived under suspicion despite being cleared.
Leslie’s daughter Lauren spent years wondering who killed her mother.
Then, in 2022, a new technology reopened the investigation.
Forensic genetic genealogy.
Investigators traced the unknown DNA through family connections.
The trail eventually led to one name:
Eugene Glegor.
The discovery was shocking.
Eugene was not a stranger.
He had dated Leslie’s daughter.
He had been welcomed into the family home.
He had shared holidays and dinners with the very people whose lives he destroyed.
For 23 years, the man responsible for Leslie’s death had lived a normal life.
He had a career.
He had relationships.
He even remained connected to the family he had devastated.
But one forgotten piece of evidence survived:
The DNA left behind during Leslie’s final moments.
And eventually, science exposed the secret he had carried for more than two decades.
CHAPTER 1 – THE LIFE OF LESLIE PRIER
Leslie Prier lived in Chevy Chase, Maryland.
The community was considered:
Safe
Wealthy
Peaceful
It was the kind of neighborhood where people trusted their surroundings.
Leslie fit naturally into that environment.
She was known as someone dependable.
If she promised to be somewhere, she arrived.
If plans changed, she called.
Her reliability became one of the first reasons people knew something was wrong when she disappeared.
CHAPTER 2 – THE FAMILY SHE LEFT BEHIND
Leslie was married to Carl “Sandy” Prier.
Together they had a daughter:
Lauren Prier.
Those close to Leslie described her as a loving mother.
Her life revolved around her family.
She built relationships with neighbors, coworkers, and friends.
To many people, she was simply the person everyone trusted.
CHAPTER 3 – THE MORNING LESLIE VANISHED
On May 2, 2001, Leslie was expected at work.
But 10:00 a.m. arrived.
She was not there.
Her phone went unanswered.
Her boss, Brett Rei, immediately knew something was unusual.
He contacted:
Lauren
Sandy
Sandy explained he had last seen Leslie around 7:45 that morning.
She had been preparing for the day.
Nothing seemed wrong.
CHAPTER 4 – THE DISCOVERY INSIDE THE HOUSE
Sandy and Brett went to Leslie’s home on Drummond Avenue.
The moment they entered, they knew something was wrong.
They found:
Blood near the entrance
A puddle on the floor
Furniture knocked over
A rug dragged from its original position
The home showed signs of violence.
The family dog was also found locked away.
Someone had placed it somewhere it could not interfere.
CHAPTER 5 – THE HORRIFIC DISCOVERY
Police arrived and searched the home.
Officers checked the rooms.
The master bathroom was the final place they searched.
Inside:
Leslie was found.
She was dead.
The shower was still running.
Investigators immediately began reconstructing what happened.
CHAPTER 6 – A PERSONAL ATTACK
The evidence suggested this was not a random crime.
Investigators believed:
Leslie knew the attacker
A struggle occurred near the entrance
The attacker moved her body afterward
The killer attempted to use the running water to remove evidence.
But one thing remained:
Evidence under Leslie’s fingernails.
CHAPTER 7 – THE HUSBAND BECOMES A SUSPECT
In homicide investigations involving spouses, investigators often begin by examining the closest relationship.
Sandy became the focus.
Detectives questioned:
His marriage
His schedule
His financial situation
His relationship with Leslie
Sandy admitted the marriage had difficulties.
He explained Leslie had struggled with alcohol.
He said the situation had become emotionally difficult.
CHAPTER 8 – THE ALIBI QUESTIONS
Sandy described his activities before the murder.
He explained:
Running errands
Visiting stores
Returning home
To investigators, the detailed timeline appeared unusual.
They questioned whether he was building an alibi.
CHAPTER 9 – THE FAILED POLYGRAPH
Sandy agreed to a polygraph examination.
He failed.
At the time, detectives believed this was significant.
Combined with:
Marriage problems
His timeline
The location of the crime
Sandy became the primary focus.
CHAPTER 10 – THE INTERROGATION
Sandy was questioned extensively.
Detectives told him they believed physical evidence would reveal the truth.
But Sandy continued denying involvement.
He eventually requested an attorney.
Later, he returned voluntarily.
Investigators questioned him again.
But Sandy never confessed.
CHAPTER 11 – LAUREN’S IMPOSSIBLE POSITION
A year after Leslie’s death, investigators interviewed Lauren.
She faced an impossible situation.
She believed:
The killer was someone her mother knew.
But she also struggled with the possibility that someone close to her could be responsible.
She could not completely dismiss anyone.
Not even her father.
CHAPTER 12 – THE DNA BREAKTHROUGH
Two months after the murder, laboratory results changed the investigation.
Male DNA was discovered beneath Leslie’s fingernails.
The DNA came from the struggle before her death.
The result:
It was not Sandy.
Sandy was cleared.
The investigation now had a new question:
Who was the unknown man?
CHAPTER 13 – THE SEARCH FOR THE UNKNOWN KILLER
Investigators collected DNA samples from people connected to Leslie.
They tested:
Friends
Coworkers
Acquaintances
One by one, suspects were eliminated.
The unknown DNA remained.
CHAPTER 14 – THE CASE GOES COLD
The DNA profile was entered into national databases.
But there was no match.
Years passed.
The investigation stopped moving.
Sandy continued living with the pain of losing Leslie.
He raised Lauren.
He remained in the same community.
But he never saw the killer brought to justice.
CHAPTER 15 – SANDY DIES WITHOUT ANSWERS
In 2017, Sandy Prier died.
He never learned who killed Leslie.
He never saw his name fully restored in the eyes of everyone who questioned him.
But the evidence had already cleared him.
The truth was simply waiting for technology to catch up.
CHAPTER 16 – THE COLD CASE REOPENS
In 2022, Montgomery County’s cold case unit reopened Leslie’s investigation.
Detectives Tara Augustine and Allison Dupoui reviewed the evidence again.
They looked at the case differently.
They did not start with assumptions.
They started with DNA.
CHAPTER 17 – FORENSIC GENETIC GENEALOGY
A new technology provided a path forward.
Forensic genetic genealogy.
Instead of searching only criminal databases, investigators examined genetic relationships.
The DNA profile was compared against genealogy databases.
Investigators searched for relatives.
CHAPTER 18 – BUILDING THE FAMILY TREE
The DNA matches initially produced thousands of possible connections.
Detectives spent more than a year:
Building family trees
Examining records
Following genetic links
Eventually, one family line stood out.
A Romanian connection.
A surname appeared repeatedly:
Glegor.
CHAPTER 19 – THE NAME FROM THE PAST
Investigators returned to old case files.
They found a familiar name:
Eugene Glegor.
He had been mentioned decades earlier.
Why?
Because Eugene had dated Leslie’s daughter Lauren.
CHAPTER 20 – THE MAN WHO WAS WELCOMED INSIDE
This discovery shocked investigators.
Eugene was not an outsider.
He had:
Visited the Prier home
Attended family events
Spent time with Leslie
He had access.
He knew the family.
He knew the house.
CHAPTER 21 – EUGENE’S BACKGROUND
Investigators examined Eugene’s history.
They discovered:
Relationship problems
Anger issues
A previous accusation involving assault
However, none of those incidents resulted in a conviction.
There was no criminal DNA record available.
CHAPTER 22 – OBTAINING EUGENE’S DNA
Investigators needed a direct sample.
In June 2024, Eugene returned from an overseas trip.
At Washington Dulles Airport, authorities arranged a routine-looking customs screening.
A bottle of water was placed in the room.
Eugene drank from it.
He threw it away.
Investigators collected it.
CHAPTER 23 – THE MATCH AFTER 23 YEARS
Nine days later, laboratory results arrived.
The DNA from the water bottle matched:
The DNA found beneath Leslie Prier’s fingernails.
After 23 years:
The unknown killer had a name.
Eugene Glegor.
CHAPTER 24 – THE ARREST
On June 18, 2024, U.S. Marshals arrested Eugene.
He did not resist.
He was taken into custody.
The cold case that had haunted investigators for decades was finally moving forward.
CHAPTER 25 – THE INTERROGATION
During questioning, Eugene remembered Leslie.
He remembered Lauren.
He remembered visiting the Prier home.
When detectives confronted him with the DNA evidence, Eugene struggled to explain.
He said:
He did not remember.
He eventually requested an attorney.
CHAPTER 26 – THE PLEA AGREEMENT
For nearly a year, Eugene maintained that he had no memory of the crime.
Then, in May 2025, he changed his position.
He pleaded guilty to:
Second-degree murder
He did not provide a complete explanation.
He claimed alcohol and drug use caused memory problems.
CHAPTER 27 – LAUREN’S FINAL QUESTIONS
At sentencing, Lauren confronted Eugene.
She asked:
Why did you kill my mother?
She described Leslie as:
Kind
Loving
Someone who never judged others
She called Eugene:
A wolf in sheep’s clothing.
CHAPTER 28 – THE SENTENCE
On August 28, 2025, Eugene Glegor was sentenced.
The judge gave him:
22 years in prison
Followed by:
5 years supervised probation
He was also ordered:
Mental health evaluation
No contact with the Prier family
FINAL NOTE – DETECTIVE BRIAN COLDWEL
The Leslie Prier case is a reminder that some criminals do not disappear after committing terrible acts.
They continue living.
They build careers.
They create relationships.
They appear ordinary.
For 23 years, Eugene Glegor lived with a secret.
A secret hidden beneath one piece of evidence:
DNA.
The case also shows the painful cost of unresolved justice.
Sandy Prier died without knowing the truth.
Lauren spent decades carrying questions no child should have to carry.
But eventually, science answered what investigators could not in 2001.
Leslie Prier was not forgotten.
Her final struggle left behind the evidence needed to identify her killer.
CASE STATUS: CLOSED – CONVICTION OBTAINED
DEFENDANT: EUGENE GLEGOR
VICTIM: LESLIE PRIER
CONVICTION: SECOND-DEGREE MURDER
KEY EVIDENCE: DNA UNDER VICTIM’S FINGERNAILS / FORENSIC GENETIC GENEALOGY / WATER BOTTLE DNA MATCH
