A Perfect Spring Morning

Summary

Dateline NBC – "A Perfect Spring Morning"

Episode date: October 21, 2025
Host: Lester Holt
Reporter: Blaine Alexander
Key Contributors: Lauren Preyer, Lisa Wood, Brett Reedy, Detectives Tara Augustin & Allison Dupois

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Overview

This episode of Dateline NBC, hosted by Lester Holt and reported by Blaine Alexander, explores the decades-long mystery of Leslie Preyer’s murder in Chevy Chase, Maryland, in 2001. What began as a horrifying discovery on a seemingly perfect spring morning spiraled into years of suspicion, fractured families, and a cold case that would only be solved over 20 years later—thanks to scientific advancements and the relentless pursuit of justice by two determined detectives.

The episode is both a classic whodunit and a powerful human story of loss, suspicion, and eventual closure, shining a light on investigative failures, the consequences for those left behind, and the redemptive power of perseverance.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Crime & Its Immediate Aftermath

• A Safe Neighborhood Shattered (02:37–09:55)

  • On May 2, 2001, Leslie Preyer, a beloved mother and wife, was found brutally murdered in her Chevy Chase home.
  • Leslie’s boss, Brett Reedy, was the first to notice her absence at work and, after contacting her husband Sandy, went to check on her.
  • Brett recalls entering the house: “I looked right to my right and there was pretty good sized pool of blood... blood splatter all along the wall.” (04:19–04:49)
  • Officer Jim Barnett, first on the scene, describes finding Leslie’s body: “It was clearly obvious there had been a violent struggle… the door to the shower was closed. And when I opened it, the victim was curled up in the corner of the shower stall.” (06:36–07:02)

• Family Devastation

  • Lauren Preyer, Leslie’s 23-year-old daughter, recounts receiving the news: “She was my person and we talked every single day... I went to my bedroom. I just, like, screamed into my pillow.” (07:36–09:05)

Early Investigation: The Focus on Family

• Red Flags & Initial Suspicions (11:32–13:42)

  • Police focus on those closest to Leslie—especially her husband, Sandy.
  • Despite the couple’s reportedly happy marriage (“Best friends. Yeah. They were so sweet together.” – Lauren Preyer, 15:05), detectives zero in on tension points, such as financial stress and past arguments.
  • The back door, often left unlocked, pointed to someone familiar with the home: “No one would do that if it was your first time in the home. This was clearly not a stranger.” (11:04)

• Sandy as Prime Suspect

  • His awkward behavior and inconsistent answers, as well as cuts on his hands, strengthened police suspicion.
  • He failed a polygraph: “He came in and took the polygraph and failed.” (38:37)

• The Breadth of the Net

  • Detectives also looked at Leslie’s boss, Brett, noting his unusual level of involvement: “Many people wouldn’t go out and actually start looking through trash for evidence themselves.” (21:05)
  • Personal relationships—including Lauren’s ex-boyfriends—were scrutinized.

Alternative Theories and Dead Ends

• Other Crimes & Serial Offenders? (22:55–24:17)

  • Investigators looked for connections to other crimes—such as the disappearance of Chandra Levy and the Potomac Rapist—but found no links.

• DNA: The Big Hope and the Big Frustration

  • DNA under Leslie’s fingernails and from the crime scene did not match Sandy or anyone in her immediate circle, nor did it match in national databases (CODIS).

• Lauren’s Relentless Advocacy

  • Year after year, Lauren kept checking in: “You were picking up the phone to say, do you have anything new? What’s going on?” (50:31)
  • Anxiety and fear haunted her: “Every time she needed to take a shower, she would call me... she was terrified of being alone.” (49:44–50:17)

Cold Case Breakthrough: New Detectives, New Tools

• Detectives Tara Augustin & Allison Dupois Take Over (59:03–62:30)

  • In 2022, cold case detectives Augustin and Dupois revisited the file with fresh eyes.
  • Immediately, Augustin determined: “I’m going to solve this.” (60:17)
  • Unlike previous investigators, they dropped the focus on Sandy entirely.

• The Power of Genetic Genealogy

  • Technological advances allowed DNA from the scene to be searched in family history databases.
  • Detective Augustin: “This was my first case using genealogy... when something happens and it clicks, it’s just, like, amazing.” (62:56–63:17)
  • Building the family tree, they matched the DNA to a familiar name: Eugene Glegor, Lauren’s old high school boyfriend—originally listed as a possible suspect, but never DNA-tested (67:53–69:14).

• Critical Oversights and Missed Opportunities

  • Despite Glegor’s name being in the file, earlier investigators never obtained his DNA.
  • Lauren and a friend had even inadvertently vouched for him in connection with an earlier neighborhood assault because they believed he was incapable of violence (70:05–70:59).

Unmasking the Killer

• How Glegor Escaped Detection (71:52–72:37)

  • Familiar with the area, he could flee undetected via the local bike path.
  • The final step: secretly obtaining Glegor’s DNA from a discarded water bottle at the airport, confirming the case-solving match (73:34–73:43).

• The Arrest and Confession

  • Detectives arrested an unsuspecting Glegor in 2023 (74:15–75:02).
  • Confronted with DNA evidence, he initially feigned confusion and innocence:
    • “There’s no tears coming out of your face.” – Detective Augustin (79:05)
    • “I’m very dry right now…I’m partially dehydrated.” – Glegor (79:08–79:11)
  • Ultimately, he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, admitting to the killing after 23 years.

Aftermath, Reflection, and Closure

• The Toll on the Family and Community

  • Years of suspicion haunted Sandy Preyer, who died in 2017: “He died of a broken heart.” – Lauren Preyer (58:32)
  • “Eugene Glegor claimed three victims... Leslie, Sandy, ...and Lauren sentenced to live with anxiety and fear for decades.” (83:26)

• Resolving the Case and Its Legacy

  • The family expresses both relief and sorrow:
    • “Nothing’s going to bring my sister back, but at least we know the murder[er] is starting to pay for the crime.” – Lester Holt (83:15)
    • “The silver lining, that they’re together.” – Lauren Preyer (84:03)

• Critique of the Original Investigation

  • John McCarthy, State’s Attorney, slams the initial focus on Sandy: “I think that police investigations sometimes become myopic. They seized upon a theory... maybe to the exclusion of a lot of other potential leads.” (81:20)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Lester Holt’s introduction:
  “A mom found dead in the shower. A killer hiding for decades. Could two other moms, both detectives, solve this mystery at last?” (02:07)

• Lauren Preyer, on the moment detectives called:
  “I almost fell off my chair. I said, my mom. And she’s like, yes.” (59:18)

• Detective Tara Augustin, on discovering the DNA link:
  “She yells from the back of the room. ‘I got it. I think I got it.’” (66:13)

• Glegor’s initial response to Det. Augustin’s confrontation:
  “I have no recollection. I have no memory. I have no… I don’t know what to say.” (78:47)

• Lauren Preyer, on her father’s death:
  “He died of a broken heart.” (58:32)

• John McCarthy, on Glegor’s belated confession:
  “Where were you for 23 years when Sandy was under the specter of being a suspect in the case? Where were you for 23 years where Lauren, your former girlfriend, was without her mother?” (82:43)

• Closing moment, Lauren on her family’s legacy:
  “The silver lining, that they’re together.” (84:03)

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• The discovery and immediate crime scene: 02:37–09:55
• Police focus on Sandy, interviews, and DNA hopes: 11:32–24:49
• Cold case stagnates; Lauren’s perseverance and its toll: 49:44–56:34
• Genealogy search and DNA breakthrough: 62:56–67:56
• Identifying Glegor, tracing his past, DNA match, and arrest: 67:53–75:13
• Confession, plea, and reflections on justice and loss: 80:35–84:14

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Final Reflection

This episode stands out for its sensitive and thorough reporting, honest exploration of investigative missteps, and its ultimate celebration of dogged detective work and technological progress. “A Perfect Spring Morning” is a story of heartbreak, human frailty, and resilience, driving home both the cost of wrongful suspicion and the impact of never giving up hope.

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For listeners:
If you missed the episode, this summary captures the full arc of Leslie Preyer’s story, the pain endured by her family, and the tireless work of two detectives who finally brought closure after 23 years.

Transcript

[Lester Holt]

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[Blaine Alexander]

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[Lester Holt]

Tonight on Date Live.

[Lauren Preyer]

She was my very best friend. She was my person. My dad, he goes, I'm so sorry your mom is no longer with us.

[Lester Holt]

It was awful. I found the victim inside the shower. This was clearly not a stranger. This is someone who knew the family.

[Blaine Alexander]

When did you first realize that police were eyeing your dad as a suspect? Day one.

[Lester Holt]

I'm not just telling you one thing, you've got the wrong gu. Everything pointed to the husband's involvement.

[Blaine Alexander]

You were her boss, correct? They just asked you point blank, did you kill Leslie?

[Brett Reedy]

It was very direct. I couldn't believe they were asking.

[Lisa Wood]

You're just grasping at straws. It was just this big mystery.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

I felt a lot of a connection to this case.

[Blaine Alexander]

You're a mom, and this is about a mother who was killed, taken away from her family.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

I said, I'm gonna solve this.

[Detective Allison Dupois]

We were determined to finish this. She yells from the back of the room. I got it. I think I got it.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

Hands off.

[Lester Holt]

Hands.

[Lauren Preyer]

I almost fell off my chair. I'm surprised I'm still alive.

[Lester Holt]

A mom found dead in the shower. A killer hiding for decades. Could two other moms, both detectives, solve this mystery at last? I'm Lester Holt, and this is Dateline. Here's Blaine Alexander with a perfect spring morning.

[Blaine Alexander]

If there's truly such a thing as a perfect spring morning. May 2, 2001, in Chevy Chase, Maryland. Was it crisp? Clear? The kind of weather that just begs for a walk. And that suited Leslie Prey just fine. Leslie's daughter, Lauren. Tell me about your neighborhood.

[Lauren Preyer]

Beautiful.

[Blaine Alexander]

Yeah.

[Lauren Preyer]

Wonderful. Felt safe.

[Blaine Alexander]

It was a short drive to Leslie's office in Washington, D.C. but she liked taking a long walk through her upscale neighborhood to catch the bus. Maybe that's why she was late for work again. Was it starting to become something that interfered with work?

[Brett Reedy]

Well, yeah, she's supposed to be there at 9 o' clock, and she couldn't. Couldn't make it.

[Blaine Alexander]

Brett Reedy was Leslie's boss at Specialties, a small advertising and promotions firm.

[Brett Reedy]

She was kind of on super secret probation, if you will, because I had to push her back to 10 o'.

[Blaine Alexander]

Clock.

[Brett Reedy]

You can't make it at 9 and let's make it at 10.

[Blaine Alexander]

So really there was pressure to be there by 10 o'.

[Brett Reedy]

Clock.

[Lester Holt]

Sure.

[Brett Reedy]

So it was more alarming that she wasn't there.

[Blaine Alexander]

Leslie wasn't answering her phone. So Brett called her husband Sandy at his office.

[Brett Reedy]

I just said, did Leslie have any doctor's appointments that I didn't know about? And he goes, no. And I said, well, she's not here. And he goes, that's not good.

[Blaine Alexander]

That was big.

[Brett Reedy]

Something's wrong.

[Blaine Alexander]

The two men met at the Prey house to look for Leslie. Sandy unlocked the front door and went inside.

[Brett Reedy]

I walked in with him, and he's calling her name. Leslie. Leslie. He's looking everywhere. And I looked right to my right and there was pretty good sized pool of blood. And he then goes upstairs. And while he's upstairs, I'm noticing blood splatter all along the wall.

[Blaine Alexander]

Oh, gosh.

[Brett Reedy]

And it was alarming to me, which was like something really bad happened here.

[Blaine Alexander]

Then in a moment that felt like something straight out of a horror movie, Brett noticed something.

[Brett Reedy]

I look down the hall, and the door slowly moves.

[Blaine Alexander]

I said, oh, you're thinking maybe someone's inside?

[Brett Reedy]

I thought it was Leslie because we hadn't found her.

[Lauren Preyer]

Yeah.

[Brett Reedy]

And it moved slow enough that I thought, oh, I don't want to see this.

[Blaine Alexander]

Turns out it was Boomer, the family dog, cowering but unhurt. Still no sign of Leslie. As Sandy came back downstairs, all signs pointed to something horrific.

[Brett Reedy]

I said, sandy, look at. Look at this. In the kitchen, there's blood everywhere. There's blood on the back door. There's blood on the appliances. And he said, well, she must have fallen down. She must be at the hospital. So he grabs the yellow pages and starts making calls.

[Blaine Alexander]

He thinks it's an accident.

[Brett Reedy]

Oh, yeah, she must have fallen down. Blood went everywhere.

[Blaine Alexander]

Did that seem to make sense to you?

[Brett Reedy]

Not Exactly.

[Blaine Alexander]

Brett called 911-911-911, what's your emergency?

[Brett Reedy]

We just walked in the door and there's blood in the foyer. When I called 91 1, the operator says, get the hell out of the house.

[Blaine Alexander]

Get out of the house.

[Brett Reedy]

Don't touch anything. And get out of the house, because.

[Blaine Alexander]

They'Re saying it's very possible you're standing in the middle of a crime scene.

[Brett Reedy]

Yeah.

[Blaine Alexander]

Another possibility. The criminal was still inside. Officer Jim Barnett with the Montgomery county police department was the first on the scene with guns drawn. He and his partner went inside.

[Lester Holt]

It was clearly obvious there had been a violent struggle. There was blood on the floor. There were red swirl marks where someone had tried to obviously clean up blood. There was a lampshade knocked over, as well as an end table. I went into the master bedroom area. The door to the shower was closed. And when I opened it, the victim was curled up in the corner of the shower stall.

[Blaine Alexander]

It was Leslie. Officer Barnett checked for a pulse. Nothing. She was dead. Killed in a vicious attack.

[Lester Holt]

At that point, what we have to do is go outside and inform the husband.

[Brett Reedy]

He walked up to Sandy, and he just very directly walked right up to him. Sir, your wife is dead.

[Blaine Alexander]

Just like that. Yeah. Lauren Preyer was 23 years old back then. She was at her apartment that morning, still mercifully unaware of what had happened to her mother.

[Lauren Preyer]

She was my person, and we talked every single day. As soon as I woke up, I would call my mom.

[Blaine Alexander]

And that's exactly what Lauren did that morning. She dialed her mom's work line. One of her co workers answered the.

[Lauren Preyer]

Phone, and she was like, well, she's not here right now. And I said, what do you mean? And she goes, you need to call your father. Are you thinking, you know what I thought? I thought good things. I thought we won the lottery or there was, like, a surprise vacation. So I thought something positive happened.

[Blaine Alexander]

The truth revealed itself when Lauren saw a police car pull up in front of her apartment.

[Lauren Preyer]

The police officer and my dad came up to our apartment.

[Blaine Alexander]

It's okay.

[Lauren Preyer]

It was all in slow motion. He goes, I'm so sorry your mom is no longer with us here anymore.

[Lester Holt]

It was very traumatic. She was screaming and crying and dropped and fell to the floor.

[Lauren Preyer]

I went to my bedroom. I just, like, screamed one of my pillows.

[Lester Holt]

It was awful.

[Blaine Alexander]

Something evil made its way into the Prius. Peaceful neighborhood that morning.

[Lisa Wood]

But what it was really confusing and tragic. Didn't make sense. It still doesn't make sense.

[Lauren Preyer]

He just talked to me straight in my eyes like nothing was wrong.

[Blaine Alexander]

And he was comforting you?

[Lauren Preyer]

Yes. And he's the one who did it.

[Lester Holt]

Ugh.

[Lauren Preyer]

I'm just tired and drained.

[Lester Holt]

I don't know what's going on.

[Lauren Preyer]

I'm surprised I'm still alive.

[Blaine Alexander]

Year after year. Chevy Chase is listed as one Of Maryland's safest communities. That made the murder of Leslie prear in her own home all the more shocking. Leslie's brother, Frank.

[Lester Holt]

Zoom out a second. What a nice little neighborhood. Spring morning, cherry blossoms, seven or eight o' clock in the morning. Beautiful spring day. She's dead.

[Blaine Alexander]

And now a once welcoming Chevy Chase home was crawling with forensic teams.

[Lester Holt]

They responded there to collect blood, and they came back at least two additional days to continue collecting any possible evidence they could find.

[Blaine Alexander]

The house was a mess inside, but outside, nothing was disturbed, and the back door was left unlocked, A habit for the pre ers.

[Lauren Preyer]

They never kept the back door locked, Ever. Front door was always locked, but our back door was always open because we had a fence and the dog would go out.

[Lester Holt]

There was no signs of forced entry that I saw. So the person, whoever it was, I felt knew the victim, knew the family, knew the routine, Entered the home and went through this violent struggle and then took the time to try and clean it up. And, I mean, no one would do that if it was your first time in the home. This was clearly not a stranger to victim homicide.

[Blaine Alexander]

Once Lauren preyer learned about her mother's death, her first call was to her best friend, Lisa wood.

[Lisa Wood]

I've never heard that tone in her voice. That's gotta be one of the most unfortunately memorable but defining moments of my life.

[Blaine Alexander]

Yeah.

[Lisa Wood]

What could be more traumatic? You know, it didn't make sense. It still doesn't make sense. Your mom must be taking these pictures.

[Lauren Preyer]

She must have.

[Blaine Alexander]

Lisa basically grew up in the preeir household. It became the sort of unofficial gathering spot for Lauren's friends. That's no small feat when you're talking about teenagers wanting to come over and hang out at their house.

[Lisa Wood]

Her mom was just so vibrant. She wanted everyone to come over, feel welcome. You knew that she wouldn't judge you and she would just be there for you.

[Blaine Alexander]

Leslie prier grew up in Pensacola, Florida, One of eight children. Our dad loved the beach, and when.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

He finished with the navy, he wanted.

[Blaine Alexander]

To enjoy Pensacola beach.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

So he would haul all eight children.

[Blaine Alexander]

Out to the beach, Grill us flank steak sandwiches.

[Lauren Preyer]

He brought snorkels and masks, and we all had a great time.

[Blaine Alexander]

All of Leslie's siblings had a soft spot for her. From big sister Robin. Leslie was kind and caring and generous to a fault. To little brother Scott.

[Lester Holt]

Leslie inherited the best qualities from our mom, who had an enormous heart. Trust me, each one of the eight of us have a lot of quirks. But Leslie, sweetest one of the eight for sure.

[Blaine Alexander]

Leslie met Sandy Prear in Pensacola. They both came from military families and hit it off right from the start.

[Lauren Preyer]

They met in junior college, then went to University of Florida and they just stayed together.

[Blaine Alexander]

Sandy became a CPA, then an IT specialist. The couple married in 1974 and eventually settled in Chevy Chase. Their only child, Lauren, was the center of her mother's world.

[Lauren Preyer]

My mom loved me so much and thought I could do no wrong. Pretend I robbed a bank. Pretend?

[Blaine Alexander]

Yes.

[Lauren Preyer]

I would never do that. She would have gone. Lauren just needed a little money.

[Blaine Alexander]

She would have been there to bust you out of jail if necessary.

[Lauren Preyer]

Yes.

[Blaine Alexander]

Leslie had a way of winning people over. Friends, family and co workers like Brett Reedy. What was she like in the office?

[Brett Reedy]

Oh, she was a Southern belle. She was fantastic, Ms. Leslie. She was very sweet. She was also very self effacing. Very much the Southern charm.

[Blaine Alexander]

Sounds like she really was just a bright light in the office.

[Brett Reedy]

Very much so, yes.

[Blaine Alexander]

Through the years, Leslie's big boisterous family would gather for reunions in Pensacola, taking in the Gulf waters and making sure to catch a show by the Navy's legendary Blue Angels aerobatic team. Those reunions became a family staple, and Sandy fit right in.

[Lester Holt]

Sandy was, you know, he was. He was a man's man. He was fun to hang with. He would drink beers with you. He had all the jokes and he was just funny. He was very engaging with everybody.

[Blaine Alexander]

Paint a picture for me of your parents marriage. What was their relationship like?

[Lauren Preyer]

Best friends. Yeah. They were so sweet together. They loved each other. They had fun. We all had fun together. They had a wonderful marriage.

[Blaine Alexander]

Detectives were about to ask some tough questions about Leslie, her marriage, and the people closest to her. Did that question catch you off guard?

[Brett Reedy]

Oh, absolutely. That little freaked me out.

[Blaine Alexander]

I'm Julio Vaqueiro, anchor of Noticias Telemundo. You can watch Dateline, the hit true crime series on Telemundo. And now you can listen to Dateline as a podcast. Stories of love and betrayal, of secrets revealed of the men and women who stand between evil and justice. Every twist and turn can now be heard in Spanish, with new mysteries arriving every week. Just search Dateline en Espanol wherever you get your podcasts and start listening. The investigation into Leslie Prier's murder was picking up steam, and her husband Sandy, was about to become a familiar figure to Montgomery county detectives, including Allison Dupois and Tara Augustin. They would eventually be among eight detectives to handle the case.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

This is such a nice neighborhood. Doesn't look like a place where something so terrible could happen, she said.

[Blaine Alexander]

During an interview at police headquarters, Sandy told detectives Leslie was fine the last time he saw her, but he had a lot to say about her boss, Brett Reedy.

[Lester Holt]

Leslie said that he wanted to get control of her.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

He was one of the only sources of stress and tension in Leslie's life that Sandy could identify. She was always kind of complaining or stressed and worrying about her boss, Brett.

[Blaine Alexander]

Sandy recalled an incident about how Brett reacted when Leslie snapped at him after he pointed out a mistake she'd made at work.

[Lester Holt]

He blew up sky high about that. And she was kind of really under the gun for that one statement because she crossed him. She kind of had to pay for a period of time.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

Sandy, you know, listening to his wife talk about stories like that, could say, well, you know, maybe she snapped at him and maybe he snapped.

[Blaine Alexander]

Brett had grown up in Chevy Chase and had been to the Prius house. Still, Sandy wondered why he went there to look for Leslie the day of the murder.

[Lester Holt]

Brett coming to the house. Don't 100% understand that, but it happened. What do you mean, Brett coming to the house? Why didn't he just let me go to the house?

[Blaine Alexander]

That didn't sit right with Leslie's family either.

[Lisa Wood]

Don't you think it's odd that a.

[Blaine Alexander]

Boss would go to someone's house when.

[Lauren Preyer]

That person didn't show up for work? I did. He was the first person to show up at the house. So that was a little alarming, suspicious to you? Yes.

[Blaine Alexander]

Brett insisted it was simply a gesture of concern for a colleague who would become a good friend. What was his relationship with your mom?

[Lauren Preyer]

Well, they worked together, obviously, and then they definitely had a closer relationship that I think beyond work. I mean, my mom thought he was attractive.

[Blaine Alexander]

Maybe Brett felt the same way. Lauren says he once sent Leslie a birthday card with some very kind words.

[Lauren Preyer]

He's like, you're the Audrey Hepburn of the office for her birthday.

[Blaine Alexander]

That's very flattering. What did your dad think about Brett?

[Lauren Preyer]

That he and my mom flirted together.

[Blaine Alexander]

Is it possible your mom could have been having an affair?

[Lauren Preyer]

Yeah.

[Blaine Alexander]

You thought, okay, this is her co worker. Maybe someone who's having an affair with my mom?

[Lauren Preyer]

It crossed my mind.

[Blaine Alexander]

And maybe someone who killed her?

[Lauren Preyer]

It crossed my mind.

[Detective Allison Dupois]

Was Leslie having an affair with anybody? You know? At the top of the list was Brett Reedy. He was pretty closely tapped into her day to day comings and goings. You know, the fact that he was so concerned when she didn't show up to work was also something that PIQUED the investigators interest, detectives brought Brett into.

[Blaine Alexander]

Headquarters for an interview. He described how after calling 911, he walked around the house to do his own search.

[Brett Reedy]

I went outside, went down the driveway, opened the gate, walked by the garage, kept walking in the backyard, walked to the backyard of the next house and maybe the next house.

[Blaine Alexander]

A few days later, Brett came back to the scene, this time searching along the bike path and creek near the prer home.

[Brett Reedy]

I thought that path and that creek had something to do with this. If I could dump evidence, what would I do? Where would I do it? And it would be in that creek. You can hide it in the woods and then maybe get it later. And I said, I'm going to get that and find it.

[Blaine Alexander]

Investigators thought Brett's search was unusual and suspicious. And did you think that the police weren't looking back there?

[Brett Reedy]

I have no idea, because maybe they don't know the neighborhood like I know. I know the back of my hand.

[Blaine Alexander]

Brett then took his amateur investigation to Sandy's office.

[Brett Reedy]

I went to his office parking lot and looked in his dumpster.

[Blaine Alexander]

What were you hoping to find?

[Brett Reedy]

Evidence.

[Blaine Alexander]

Murder weapon, blade, clothes.

[Brett Reedy]

Yeah, let's find this. Let's get this over with.

[Blaine Alexander]

Many people wouldn't go out and actually start looking through trash for evidence themselves.

[Lauren Preyer]

Yeah.

[Blaine Alexander]

At some point, your partner said, okay, maybe you shouldn't go to his office. That could make police start to look at you. Yeah. Do you see her point?

[Brett Reedy]

Yes. She said, what are you going to do if you find something? I said, well, turn it in.

[Blaine Alexander]

I mean, you really inserted yourself in this investigation. Why'd you take such an interest?

[Brett Reedy]

I want to find out what happened. And also, I just thought I could help.

[Blaine Alexander]

Brett also felt he was being helpful during his interview with police. He said the detectives were calm and cordial until the very end.

[Brett Reedy]

They said, we have one more question. I said, sure. Did you have anything to do with this? And it was very direct. And I just went, no, absolutely not.

[Blaine Alexander]

Did that question catch you off guard?

[Brett Reedy]

Oh, absolutely. That little freaked me out. I couldn't believe they were asking me.

[Blaine Alexander]

Brett says he was also caught off guard to learn what Sandy had said to police about him. And despite ongoing issues with Leslie being late for work, they remained good but platonic friends. Did you have a relationship with Leslie? No romantic relationship at all? No, not at all. No question. Detectives had their hands full with what was quickly becoming a high profile case. Turns out the load would soon get even heavier. The search is on in the district for a missing woman. Her name is Chandra Ann Levy.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

A lot of people in the neighborhood were concerned and scared that there was some guy going around killing people, especially women. Yes.

[Blaine Alexander]

It's textbook detective work. Start with the people closest to Leslie Preyer. Then check to see if there were any other similar crimes in the area. Sadly, there were. The search is on in the district for a missing woman. Her name is Chandra Ann Levy. The day before Leslie Prear was found dead in her home, a woman named Chandra Levy disappeared.

[Detective Allison Dupois]

She was a young woman who worked on the hill in D.C. which wasn't very far from the Prear household.

[Blaine Alexander]

Local police and the FBI are looking for clues in a high profile disappearance. While a California woman vanished without a.

[Lauren Preyer]

Trace just after she'd completed an internship.

[Blaine Alexander]

That becomes a huge national story. And police are looking and saying okay. Could these possibly be connected?

[Detective Tara Augustin]

Yes. A lot of people in the neighborhood were concerned and scared that there was some guy going around killing people.

[Blaine Alexander]

Yeah. Especially women.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

Yes.

[Blaine Alexander]

There was another case on the detective's radar. A few years older, but just as frightening. The Potomac Rapist. A serial offender who had murdered one of his victims.

[Brett Reedy]

Eight women were sexually assaulted in Montgomery.

[Blaine Alexander]

County in their homes or in private residences. The body of 29 year old Christine Mirzian was found near the Whitehurst Freeway.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

They looked into the Chandra Levy case as well as some other reports throughout Montgomery county where women were attacked. However, none of them matched exactly to what Leslie had in her case. They quickly ruled out that any of those other cases were related.

[Blaine Alexander]

With those notorious cases no longer a factor in the Prer investigation, detectives did a deep dive into anyone who might have had contact with Leslie, no matter how innocent it might have seemed.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

They looked into anybody that was doing work in the neighborhood or anyone that had done any work on the Preiors house. Anyone that was in the neighborhood that didn't live there. That there could have been a chance interaction with Leslie. They looked into dead ends.

[Blaine Alexander]

All of them. But Lauren had her own idea about what might have happened and told police.

[Lauren Preyer]

My mom loved to take public transportation.

[Blaine Alexander]

Because Leslie preferred taking a bus to work. Lauren came up with a theory. Maybe her mother's killer was someone she met during her commute.

[Lauren Preyer]

She talked to everybody. She lived the world through rose tinted glasses like no one does any harm. I said mama, not everyone's perfect.

[Blaine Alexander]

She takes. Never met a stranger to a whole new level.

[Lauren Preyer]

Correct.

[Blaine Alexander]

Were you thinking that this could be somebody maybe who met her on the bus, who followed her home?

[Lauren Preyer]

Yes, it was definitely a possibility in my head.

[Blaine Alexander]

An attack by someone Leslie met on a Bus was an interesting theory, but without any witnesses or revealing security camera footage, it remained just that, a theory. What did police ask you for?

[Lauren Preyer]

The list of names that knew my mom and knew me and were present at my parents house.

[Blaine Alexander]

So this could be a pretty long list.

[Lauren Preyer]

Just at least 25 kind of describe.

[Blaine Alexander]

Who was on that list.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

Friends.

[Lauren Preyer]

My Jennings side of the family, which is my mom's side.

[Blaine Alexander]

Basically. Anybody that you knew that had come to the house? Yeah. Lauren says she assembled the list and included people she never thought could be involved in her mother's death. Like her boyfriend at the time, Scott Kendall.

[Lauren Preyer]

He would never hurt my mom. Yeah, that I truly believe.

[Blaine Alexander]

And there was an earlier boyfriend, Eugene Glee Gore, someone she dated back in high school. What first attracted you to him?

[Lauren Preyer]

He was smart, he was from a good family, and he was extremely attractive.

[Blaine Alexander]

Leslie's brother Frank made the list too. Even though he owns a bike shop in Massachusetts and was hundreds of miles away when Leslie died.

[Lauren Preyer]

My uncle Frank used to stay at my parents house sometimes. So he was on the list. But everyone was on the list.

[Blaine Alexander]

Lisa helped Lauren with that list, but it felt like an exercise in futility after all. These were friends, family?

[Detective Tara Augustin]

No.

[Lisa Wood]

It's like you just try to rack your brain to try to make any sense of any of the details because it's like a puzzle and you're just trying to put it together. You're just grasping at straws. There was never anyone that was like, oh yeah, it's, it's got to be them. Or it would make like.

[Lauren Preyer]

Sure.

[Lisa Wood]

None of it made sense.

[Blaine Alexander]

It seems detectives felt the same way because some of the people on that list were never contacted. And so they turned back to someone who is always on a detectives list. When a spouse is murdered, the husband.

[Lester Holt]

Is usually the one you're going to look at first.

[Lauren Preyer]

How you doing?

[Lester Holt]

All right. How about yourself? Not bad.

[Blaine Alexander]

Not bad. It was time to circle back to Sandy Prier.

[Lester Holt]

I told you everything.

[Blaine Alexander]

Exactly how it happened.

[Detective Allison Dupois]

He didn't do himself any favors by kind of the way he answered questions. There were a lot of signs that did point to Sandy.

[Blaine Alexander]

During his interview with police, Sandy Prear pointed detectives in the direction of Brett Reedy. And when they talked to Brett, he pointed the finger right back at Sandy, suggesting there was something about his behavior that morning that just didn't seem right.

[Brett Reedy]

Sandy gets out of the car and comes up to me. Hey, Brett, how you doing? I'm doing okay, but we're here to. In my head, I'm thinking we're here to Find your wife.

[Blaine Alexander]

Inside. The scene was brutal. To Brett, it seemed obvious there'd been a struggle. What do police do when they get there?

[Brett Reedy]

Well, as soon as they walked up, they drew their guns, and Sandy went, oh, you guys mean business. I thought that was a lot. You know, I like the joke a lot. But not at that moment did it.

[Blaine Alexander]

Seem, what, flippant to you?

[Brett Reedy]

Yeah.

[Blaine Alexander]

Officer Jim Barnett got the same strange vibe from Sandy.

[Lester Holt]

He didn't run up to me and say, I can't find my wife. There's been a violent struggle. There's blood in the house. He just calmly stood in the yard and waited for me to walk up. And when I said, what's going on? His response was, I've looked all through the house and can't find her.

[Blaine Alexander]

Remember, when Barnett went upstairs, he found Leslie almost immediately.

[Lester Holt]

I was surprised that he didn't find her in the shower stall. Especially after you've seen, you know, all that blood and disturbance in the foyer area and your wife's missing, I would think you'd be looking under beds, in closets, everywhere, and then to find the victim upstairs in a shower, you know, that's bizarre, you know, so I'm thinking like, man, this is. This is really, really strange.

[Blaine Alexander]

Barnett says Sandy remained calm after learning his wife was dead.

[Lester Holt]

I was fully expecting him to bull rush me to run upstairs and see his wife in the shower stall, but he did not do that. He stood right there, and there was kind of no, no, no response. From what I've seen and his reactions, it just didn't look realistic.

[Blaine Alexander]

Barnett kept a close eye on Sandy.

[Lester Holt]

My main concern was keeping him right there in the front yard and not letting him back into the house.

[Blaine Alexander]

Then Barnett had Sandy sit with him in the front seat of his cruiser and waited for backup.

[Lester Holt]

And from that point forward, the detectives showed up to take over.

[Blaine Alexander]

As crime scene techs processed the house that morning, detectives went door to door talking to neighbors. One reported seeing something strange. The lights on inside the prey house in the middle of the night.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

All the blinds were drawn in the house, and that was what was weird about it.

[Blaine Alexander]

And that wasn't their normal pattern.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

No.

[Blaine Alexander]

Another neighbor said Sandy waved hello as he left for work that morning.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

He made a point to wave to her, and she thought it was kind of odd because he had never done that before. And he looked back at the house and started talking. And the neighbor presumed it was Leslie in the doorway. And he was like, okay, babe, I'll see you later.

[Blaine Alexander]

But the neighbor couldn't tell if Leslie Was even there.

[Detective Allison Dupois]

After hearing this witness statement, it seemed like it was possible that Sandy was kind of creating a witness for himself and a bit of an alibi, saying that he left for work when he did and that maybe Leslie was still there and still alive.

[Blaine Alexander]

When Sandy first met with detectives at headquarters, they noticed he had a few small cuts and they took pictures when they talked to him. Sandy said the last time he saw Leslie, he kissed her goodbye like he always did.

[Lester Holt]

We always kiss each other by up and wave goodbye. Was she at the door staying? Yeah.

[Blaine Alexander]

But when detectives asked some pretty straightforward questions, Sandy fumbled the answers.

[Detective Allison Dupois]

He didn't do himself any favors by kind of the way he answered questions.

[Blaine Alexander]

Talk to me about some of the things the detectives noticed about Sandy.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

They interviewed him numerous times throughout the investigation, and they realized that a lot of his answers just didn't add up. Like, where were you the night before Leslie was found?

[Lester Holt]

I could guess, but I don't know for a fact.

[Blaine Alexander]

Not remembering where he was or what he did was a problem for Sandy. But the things he did remember about his whereabouts seemed even more suspicious.

[Lester Holt]

Oh, wait, okay. I know what I did. I was taking some computer stuff to the. To the dump.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

He went to the dump to dispose of some computer parts.

[Blaine Alexander]

He went to the dump?

[Detective Tara Augustin]

Yeah. And that caught their attention a lot.

[Blaine Alexander]

That's raising a red flag.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

Yes.

[Blaine Alexander]

Sandy told detectives he got home late that night and didn't know if Leslie had eaten. But the medical examiner's report was more bad news for Sandy.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

They looked at her stomach contents in the autopsy, and there was undigested pasta in there, which would indicate that she died within a certain amount of time of eating that. And they looked at it like, well, that would have been dinner the night.

[Blaine Alexander]

Before, the night before, when Sandy would have been home alone with Leslie. It seemed nothing in Sandy's police interview was helping his cause until he mentioned that Leslie called him at his office the morning her body was found.

[Lester Holt]

She called around 9 o'. Clock. Now, does that come through the switchboard or does that come through. So you dial the main number, ask Sandra who you need to speak to, and she transfers the call.

[Blaine Alexander]

A 9 o' clock call from Leslie would have given Sandy an airtight alibi. But that alibi hit a snag.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

Investigators were never able to verify that that conversation happened. So that was just Sandy's word saying that that phone call happened.

[Blaine Alexander]

And investigators were not going to take him at his word.

[Lester Holt]

Everything pointed to the husband's involvement at that point in time.

[Blaine Alexander]

It was time to up the pressure on Sandy Preyer.

[Lester Holt]

You got the wrong guy, Flex. Don't mind Sandy. You're gonna be a man. You're gonna stand up, and you're gonna accept the responsibility for what you did.

[Blaine Alexander]

Detectives had cast a wide net, talking to Leslie's friends, family, co workers. They had also looked for a connection to other crimes in the area, but it all went nowhere. The investigation was now all about Sandy Preyer and his relationship with Leslie.

[Detective Allison Dupois]

So as they started talking to family members more and more about Leslie and Sandy's relationship, it became apparent that it, you know, had had its struggles.

[Blaine Alexander]

Sandy said as much during his first interview with detectives at headquarters.

[Lester Holt]

Leslie and I had our arguments, and we had some pretty nasty ones at times.

[Blaine Alexander]

When detectives brought Sandy in for another interview, he seemed to blame Leslie for some of those arguments.

[Lester Holt]

She can be myself in the foot on this one, but she can be demanding.

[Blaine Alexander]

Sandy and Leslie lived in an upscale neighborhood. Both had solid jobs, but money was tight.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

Leslie had operation without any health insurance, so they owed a lot of money for that. And they had credit card debt and student loan debt from their daughter Lauren, going to college. So they were struggling to keep up financially.

[Lester Holt]

I noticed that you had some pretty substantial bills with your credit cards. Visa, MasterCard. We were trying to work those down. But, yes, there's some debt there, no question about it.

[Blaine Alexander]

So that was a source of tension between the two of them, too.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

Yes, and that was one aspect that the investigators looked at to see if there was a reason that that could lead to Leslie's murder.

[Blaine Alexander]

Was it possible that tension led to violence? When they first spoke to Sandy, he did describe an incident where he lost control and got physical with Leslie.

[Lester Holt]

The most violent I ever got was I'd grab. Grab her and just say, you know, you got to snap out of, like, grabbing her by her shoulders. Her shoulders, you know, and she, you know, hit the wall. I'm nothing, you know, smashing or anything. You hit the wall, and she's burst in tears. And I'm thinking, God, what am I doing?

[Blaine Alexander]

Detectives also wondered if there was any infidelity that could have triggered a confrontation. So they reached out to their colleague Ed Golian, who worked in the undercover unit.

[Lester Holt]

We got notified by the detectives. They would like us to follow Sandy, you know, is he meeting up with a. Say, you know, another woman, maybe some kind of relationship there?

[Blaine Alexander]

So Golian started surveillance on Sandy. For several days. He followed him as he drove to work, went to lunch, did a little shopping, and went back home. Turned out to be a pretty boring assignment. But two things did pique his interest, like Sandy's use of a payphone.

[Lester Holt]

The question was brought up, does he have a cell phone? Of course the answer was yes. Yeah, we know he has a cell phone, but he's using his pay phone.

[Blaine Alexander]

That seems strange. So did another incident just a few weeks after the murder. Sandy parked and, sitting in his car, opened an envelope and cracked open a beer.

[Lester Holt]

I could see clearly what's going on inside the car. Using binoculars. He's sipping his beer, and I could see that he's laughing. And my thought is, his wife's a victim of a murder, and he's reading this, whatever it is, and he's laughing.

[Blaine Alexander]

At this point, detectives were suspicious over just about anything Sandy did or said, but he had cooperated with police from the very start.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

He volunteered to take a polygraph.

[Blaine Alexander]

He volunteered?

[Detective Tara Augustin]

Yes.

[Blaine Alexander]

That's usually a good sign.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

Usually. But he came in and took the polygraph and failed.

[Lauren Preyer]

He failed?

[Detective Tara Augustin]

Yes.

[Blaine Alexander]

That's not a good sign.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

No.

[Detective Allison Dupois]

The polygraph examiner found him to be deceptive when asked about Leslie's murder, Asked about Leslie's death. Asked about knowing information about Leslie's death.

[Blaine Alexander]

Detectives brought Sandy in for another interview, and this time, they didn't hold back.

[Lester Holt]

There's some things that you got to try to do to set things straight, especially for other folks, because we all know what happened. And I think it'd be a travesty for Lauren for her to go through the rest of her dog online trying to figure out just what the hell happened. And I just tell you one thing. You got the wrong guy. Tracks don't lie, Sandy. Just be a man and tell us what happened. I told you exactly what happened. But you haven't told us the truth. You got an obligation, ma'. Am. Sue your daughter. You're gonna be a man. You're gonna stand up, and you're gonna accept responsibility for what you did. Did the right thing, Sandy. I'm not saying anything unless my lawyer's here.

[Lauren Preyer]

They had pictures of myself, my mom, and the three of us together in the interrogation room to see if you would crack, to plead guilty. But he didn't.

[Blaine Alexander]

What did your dad say to you about that experience?

[Lauren Preyer]

Well, we've talked, obviously, and cried together. But I think he kept a lot of it inside because he knew how much I was going through for Lauren.

[Blaine Alexander]

It was heartbreaking knowing her father was the prime suspect in her mother's murder.

[Lauren Preyer]

Knowing he loved my mom, knowing he loved me. I knew he didn't do it. He never caved. He Stayed strong.

[Blaine Alexander]

But detectives were locked in. Sandy was their guy. Then a new report came in from the crime lab.

[Detective Allison Dupois]

The blood swabs that were taken from the scene came back to Leslie. But there were several swabs that were not Leslie's. They were an unknown profile. And that same unknown profile was also found under. I mean, that's a huge break in the case. That is your killer.

[Blaine Alexander]

What looked like the big break would become an even bigger mystery.

[Lauren Preyer]

Could he have really killed her?

[Lester Holt]

You can just snap, and then there's.

[Brett Reedy]

No telling what will happen after that.

[Detective Allison Dupois]

She yells from the back of the room. She's like, I got it. I think I got it.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

Hands off.

[Lester Holt]

Hands up.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

You're just kind of shocked, like, is this really happening?

[Lauren Preyer]

I almost fell off my chair. It's insane.

[Blaine Alexander]

The detectives working to solve Leslie prey's murder Were methodically building their case against her husband, Sandy.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

They looked into, did Sandy kill her for a life insurance policy payout, or was Sandy having affair and killed her so that he could be with his lover? Or did the lover come and kill? Leslie looked at a lot of different possibilities, but most of them revolved around Sandy.

[Blaine Alexander]

As the weeks passed, Detectives shared their suspicions about Sandy with people close to the case. They told Leslie's boss, Brett reedy, that Sandy had failed a lie detector test. There was a lot of chatter about that around the office.

[Brett Reedy]

Sure.

[Blaine Alexander]

That information combined with what you had seen that day. What are you starting to think?

[Brett Reedy]

Yeah, I'm starting to think. Well, their focus is on him. It'll be a matter of time, and they'll probably prove it.

[Blaine Alexander]

Detectives also shared their findings with Leslie's family. There were members of your family.

[Lauren Preyer]

Yep.

[Blaine Alexander]

That fully believed he was involved because.

[Lauren Preyer]

Of what the police said.

[Blaine Alexander]

Scott Jennings, Leslie's younger brother, could he have done it?

[Lester Holt]

Yes. My mom, who died in 2019, she made no bones about it that she thought Sandy did it.

[Blaine Alexander]

He speculated about what happened.

[Lester Holt]

Leslie liked to drink a lot of wine at night. She probably could have gotten a little combative. You can just snap, and then there's.

[Brett Reedy]

No telling what'll happen after that.

[Blaine Alexander]

Frank Jennings, another of Leslie's brothers.

[Lester Holt]

To me, it wasn't a stretch to think, oh, he could have killed her.

[Blaine Alexander]

Detectives also explained their thinking to Lauren. She told them her dad loved her mom and would never kill her, Although she had heard her parents arguing.

[Lauren Preyer]

I would be upstairs in my room, but I could hear theirs. Not all the time, but sometimes.

[Blaine Alexander]

Were they intense arguments? Were they little spats?

[Lauren Preyer]

It was arguments, yeah. It wasn't spats.

[Blaine Alexander]

These were kind of intense arguments.

[Lauren Preyer]

Spites, yes. But they would be short and loud.

[Blaine Alexander]

Lauren made an excruciating decision. She confronted her dad.

[Lauren Preyer]

I had a minute where I said, could he have really killed her?

[Blaine Alexander]

So you went to your dad and you asked him, did you kill mom?

[Lauren Preyer]

Yes.

[Blaine Alexander]

What did he say?

[Lauren Preyer]

He said, I'm only answered this one time. And he said no. And then I believed him.

[Blaine Alexander]

Was there ever any time that you thought that maybe he did do it?

[Lauren Preyer]

No.

[Blaine Alexander]

Maybe there are questions here.

[Lauren Preyer]

No. Yeah.

[Lisa Wood]

I mean, not for one second.

[Blaine Alexander]

Because you knew him.

[Lisa Wood]

I did. And that. It just. There's no way the detectives knew.

[Blaine Alexander]

Their strongest evidence were those DNA lab results showing the material under Leslie's fingernails and the blood in the house belonged to one man, clearly the killer.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

So they look at everyone that was close to Leslie in her daily life that would have interacted with Leslie and obtained voluntary DNA samples from those people to be able to eliminate them.

[Blaine Alexander]

So we're talking about more than a dozen people.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

Yes.

[Blaine Alexander]

First on their list, prime suspect Sandy Prear. A DNA match would cement their case against him. So it was a huge jolt when the results came in. And Sandy would. Was not a match. Was that DNA evidence the only thing that kept Sandy out of prison?

[Detective Tara Augustin]

Yes.

[Blaine Alexander]

You believe he would have easily gotten arrested otherwise?

[Detective Tara Augustin]

Yes.

[Blaine Alexander]

Detectives regrouped and tried again. They got a sample from Leslie's boss. Brett realized his overzealous efforts to look into Sandy may have fueled suspicion. But he wasn't worried about that. In fact, he was relieved to give his DNA.

[Brett Reedy]

Actually, I felt good doing it, because I said, fine, take mine. You can eliminate me.

[Blaine Alexander]

And they did eliminate Brett. It turns out he was just what he said he was. A helpful guy. Detectives also ran the unknown DNA through the national database CODIS to see if it matched any offenders in the system. Nothing. As you're going through this, all of these tests being done. Not a match. Not a match. Not a match. What was that like for you?

[Lauren Preyer]

A nightmare. Horrifying. Couldn't sleep.

[Blaine Alexander]

That had to have been deflating.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

Yes. To be able to say, oh, we have DNA. This is gonna be huge. And to not get a match in codis and every person that is related to Leslie in one way or another was not a match. It, I think, was a huge dead end for them.

[Blaine Alexander]

So detectives hit re and came up with a new theory. Sandy Prayer may not have killed Leslie himself. Instead, they surmised he paid someone else to do it.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

They thought that perhaps he was working with someone. And the other person is the one who killed Leslie.

[Blaine Alexander]

So where do police go from there?

[Detective Tara Augustin]

At that point, I think that they had exhausted all of their resources.

[Blaine Alexander]

But Lauren Preyer wasn't giving up. Every month, without fail, she checked in with detectives.

[Lester Holt]

So here we are.

[Blaine Alexander]

A year after her mother died, Lauren met with them, and it was clear their theory hadn't changed.

[Lester Holt]

My gut feeling is that your dad had something to do with this. It is so bizarre to think that this could be someone else.

[Blaine Alexander]

They pressed Lauren for anything that could point to Sandy's guilt.

[Lester Holt]

Was he wrestling with any kind of demons, you know, a guilt of remorse?

[Lauren Preyer]

I don't feel guilt and suspicion in him hiding things at all.

[Detective Allison Dupois]

You know, I think after a year, they were maybe hoping that, you know, something had come out, something had slipped, maybe Sandy was acting differently around her.

[Blaine Alexander]

But Lauren had nothing for them, and the investigation came to a standstill.

[Lester Holt]

We want to identify who this person is.

[Blaine Alexander]

More than two years after the murder, investigators appealed to the public for help finding the owner of that mystery DNA.

[Lester Holt]

I know that some people are afraid.

[Brett Reedy]

To come forward with information. What we request is that these people call us.

[Blaine Alexander]

But there were still questions about the detective's prime suspect. And when A reporter from NBC 4 Washington asked Lawrence and if her father was the killer, she defended him fiercely.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

My father never in a tri billion years could ever like, like, kill his.

[Lauren Preyer]

Wife and leave her in a shower and go to work like nothing happened.

[Blaine Alexander]

It would be years before new detectives jumped on the case. But when they did, she seems to.

[Lester Holt]

Be describing like a stalker.

[Blaine Alexander]

I'm Julio Vaqueiro, anchor of Noticias Telemundo. You can watch Dateline, the hit true crime series on Telemundo. And now you can listen to Dateline as a podcast. Stories of love and betrayal, of secrets revealed of the men and women who stand between evil and justice. Every twist and turn can now be heard in Spanish, with new mysteries arriving every week. Just search Dateline en Espanol wherever you get your podcasts and start listening. The investigation into Leslie Preer's murder ground to a halt in 2003, and the case went into the cold front files. Years passed, and for Lauren, those years were tough. She got married, then divorced. She learned to live with fear and anxiety, knowing the killer was still out there.

[Lisa Wood]

You almost edit the way that you live a little bit because you just have this thing looming over you. I mean, I guess because Lauren's mom was found in the shower. Lauren developed a lot of anxiety around showering. And every time she needed to take a shower, she would Call me. And I would walk down the street, and I would sit in there with her because she was terrified of being alone.

[Blaine Alexander]

You kept a gun in your house?

[Lauren Preyer]

I do. I have a loaded gun.

[Blaine Alexander]

Lauren still checked in with detectives every month like clockwork. You were picking up the phone to say, do you have anything new? What's going on? Nothing new.

[Lauren Preyer]

Nothing.

[Blaine Alexander]

That had to have just been crushing. Every time you hung up the phone.

[Lauren Preyer]

I'm surprised I'm still alive.

[Blaine Alexander]

Finally, 2010, almost nine years after Leslie was murdered, a spark of something. A new detective joined the Montgomery county cold case squad. Someone who knew the case well. Detective Ed Golian. He'd surveilled Sandy in the early days of the investigation. Now he was on the case again. And soon he heard from Lauren. She had spent years mulling over the killer's identity, and she had a suggestion.

[Lester Holt]

She wants us to follow up with a guy by the name of Jim.

[Blaine Alexander]

His name had been in the original file. Detectives never spoke with Jim back then, nor did they run his DNA. Lauren says she went to a party at Jim's house months before her mother died and had a rather unsettling conversation with him there.

[Lauren Preyer]

I saw a picture of him and a woman, and I said, is that your wife? And he's like, yeah. I was like, where is she? And he was like, we're separated right now. And I said, oh, what happened? And he was like. She said, I'm too rough in bed. And I was like, huh. Okay. So that freaked me out.

[Blaine Alexander]

So when Lauren and her mom ran into Jim one day at the bus stop, Lauren introduced the two reluctantly.

[Lester Holt]

And Lauren notices, like, there's a. There's a glance. There's like they're giving each, like, a quick eye. And she had an opinion about that, that maybe there was some kind of sexual attraction between the two of them. And then Jim makes a comment to direct it at Lauren, but is. Well, I could see where, you know, you. Lauren get your good looks from.

[Blaine Alexander]

Lauren says Jim suggested that he and Leslie could get together to walk their dogs since they lived in the same neighborhood. And what are you thinking?

[Lauren Preyer]

No, you wanted to shut it down immediately. Immediately.

[Lester Holt]

And she talks about a time after the murder. She's at the restaurant bar, and she's there with a friend of hers. And Jim's there. He's by himself. They talk, and Jim mentioned how sorry he is to hear about her mother. So here's a guy that's, you know, about 50 years old. It's in there by himself, she and her friend. I Think they thought it was a little odd.

[Blaine Alexander]

After that, Lauren ran into Jim several times.

[Lauren Preyer]

He would show up at the local bars or I was different restaurants and bars, but places where that age of a person didn't hang out. And that he would come up to me and be like, hi, Lauren, how are you? And my friends would be like, what is that? Who's that?

[Blaine Alexander]

How did he know where you were?

[Lauren Preyer]

That's what my question was. Thought he was following me.

[Blaine Alexander]

This is just kind of sending off alarm bells.

[Lauren Preyer]

Yes.

[Blaine Alexander]

In your mind.

[Lester Holt]

That really is weird. She seems to be describing like a stalker. She want us to interview him.

[Blaine Alexander]

So Golian went to Jim's house. He didn't ask him if he'd been following Lauren, but did ask for a DNA sample to see if it matched the mystery DNA. The results came back a few weeks later.

[Lester Holt]

It's not him. He's eliminated.

[Blaine Alexander]

Yet another dead end. Lauren suggested a couple of other men she thought might be worth looking into to, including her old high school boyfriend.

[Lester Holt]

She says, oh, yeah, by the way, I dated this guy. He's a drug user. He acts a little weird.

[Blaine Alexander]

His name was Eugene Glegor. Lauren says she included him on that list she gave detectives in the early days of the investigation. Golian was interested.

[Lester Holt]

The main reason is because he knows the family. He's been to the house. It's something that, you know you probably want to pursue.

[Blaine Alexander]

He discovered that Eugene was living in New York and another potential suspect Lauren had named lived even farther away. Interviewing them would require time and money. So he held off.

[Lester Holt]

If nothing changes, if there's still an unknown suspect in this case, if CODIS hasn't hit on anyone, we're going to have to go back and talk to these people, people.

[Blaine Alexander]

And then Golen was reassigned to another cold case. A year later, he retired. So the PR case went back into the cold files. Until one day when Lauren's phone rang.

[Lauren Preyer]

I almost fell off my.

[Blaine Alexander]

By 2017, it seemed almost everyone had forgotten about the unsolved murder of Leslie Prier 16 years earlier. Everyone, of course, except her family and friends. What was it like for you, Lauren, living life for those years with just this? This not knowing?

[Lauren Preyer]

Haunting. But on the flip side, it also made me stronger. And being like, we're not going to forget, we're going to keep pursuing. I was never going to give up.

[Blaine Alexander]

Lauren's father, Sandy didn't forget either. He couldn't. Even though his DNA had cleared him as the killer, detectives still thought he had a hand in the murder. What were those 16 years, like for him, not knowing who killed his wife, but also himself existing under this cloud of suspicion.

[Lauren Preyer]

I mean, initially he was really. Obviously he didn't tell me. I know he was hurt.

[Blaine Alexander]

Sandy, once the life of the party at family reunions, became a shell of himself. At one point, Leslie's brother Scott had a heart to heart with him.

[Lester Holt]

Said Sandy, the guys in the family, most of the guys, do not think you murdered Leslie. Unfortunately, the women in the family, especially my mom, feel like you did. And Sandy just said one phrase to me. He goes, I'm getting a bad shake on this.

[Blaine Alexander]

And the fact that police hadn't cleared Sandy had an impact. Bill Jennings, Leslie's older brother, he came.

[Lester Holt]

Down to see us a couple times, but it wasn't the same. I think he felt that he was still under a bit of a cloud of suspicion. I do think that was the case.

[Lauren Preyer]

I think he always kind of felt betrayed from the Jennings family. And then it's just. It was a betrayal.

[Blaine Alexander]

Sandy retired early. He withdrew to his home.

[Lauren Preyer]

You could tell it was just so stressful and just, I mean, no one can really handle that.

[Blaine Alexander]

And at the same time, he's grieving completely.

[Lauren Preyer]

I know for a fact that when he was home, he was crying.

[Blaine Alexander]

He tried counseling, read the Bible from COVID to cover. You saw the toll that took on him.

[Lauren Preyer]

Absolutely.

[Lisa Wood]

He was always just this carefree person. I think the combination of the tragedy of losing his wife as well as the scrutiny that he was put under, I think that it just changed him.

[Blaine Alexander]

Sandy Prear died in June 2017. The official cause of death was septic shock. Lauren has her own thoughts. What ultimately killed your father?

[Lauren Preyer]

Broken heart. He died of a broken heart.

[Blaine Alexander]

In the years that followed, there was no shortage of broken hearts.

[Lisa Wood]

It just seems like, you know, after you cross over, like the two decade mark, you know, what could possibly come up and happen now that didn't happen back then?

[Blaine Alexander]

Had you just given up hope at that point that they would ever solve it?

[Lauren Preyer]

I had come to a point where I was going to probably die before it was solved.

[Blaine Alexander]

But then, 2022, everything changed. That's when Detective Tara Augustin joined the Montgomery County Cold Case Unit and began looking into the Preyer case. That spring, she called Lauren.

[Lauren Preyer]

I almost fell off my chair. I said, my mom. And she's like, yes.

[Blaine Alexander]

For Detective Augustine, hearing Lauren's response on the phone was all the boost she needed.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

Kind of sounding in her voice like, I can't believe this is really happening. Someone's actually looking into her case.

[Blaine Alexander]

That has to Be an experience for you too. It's one thing to go through an old box and look through old files, but when you actually hear a daughter's voice on the other end of that phone, kind of feeling that hope.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

Yeah, it makes it more real and you get more of a personal connection to the case and to the family members. And it, that's also a motivating factor because you want to solve it for them.

[Detective Allison Dupois]

Oh, that's interesting.

[Blaine Alexander]

Detective Allison dupois was also on the case. The two partners are working moms and felt an immediate connection to a daughter's decades long search for her mom's killer.

[Detective Allison Dupois]

If we could help bring closure for Lauren and her family, that was really important.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

When I came to the unit, I told our captain, I said, I'm going to solve this. And he's like, okay, where do you start? You look at all of the notes, all of the reports, and just go through everything all over again with a completely open mind. Not trying to focus too much on what the original detectives thought, because that's the big thing here is a fresh set of eyes.

[Blaine Alexander]

They used those fresh eyes to draw their own conclusions. And unlike the six detectives before them, they concluded that Sandy Preyer had nothing to do with his wife's murder.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

Lauren was always adamant. My mom and dad, you know, they would argue, but they would never be violent with each other.

[Blaine Alexander]

Did her word mean a lot in this investigation?

[Detective Tara Augustin]

I think it did. And you know, we look into it and again, it just kind of goes where the evidence leads and it just didn't lead to Sandy all along.

[Blaine Alexander]

Detectives dupoi and Augustin knew the key to the case was the mystery DNA.

[Detective Allison Dupois]

It was a really strong DNA case, meaning they collected a lot of DNA from the scene.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

If it was going to be solved, it was going to come down to this DNA finding a match somehow.

[Blaine Alexander]

So they had plenty to work with. And this time they had an exciting tool in their belt. One that would reveal the killer was closer to home than anyone realized. When Detective Tara Augusta began reviewing Leslie prier's case in 2022, she had a word of caution for Leslie's daughter, Lauren.

[Lauren Preyer]

She said, we're gonna look into it and we're gonna go from there. And she's, it's gonna take a while.

[Blaine Alexander]

By then, waiting was old hat for Lauren. Lisa Wood hated to see it.

[Lisa Wood]

Lauren deserves justice. She deserves healing and closure.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

So we just need the deep DNA report from the lab that has his profile for years.

[Blaine Alexander]

The owner of the male DNA found at the crime scene and under Leslie's fingernails had eluded investigators, but technology had come a long way since Leslie Priya's murder in 2001. Now investigators have access to new genealogy services to search for a killer's relatives and hopefully the killer himself. How much of a game changer is that for you in the work that you do? This technology, it's huge.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

This was my first case using genealogy. The blue is Sandy's DNA, the pink is Leslie's, and then this green is the unknown male.

[Blaine Alexander]

These genealogy searches can be tedious and time consuming, but, oh, when they work.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

When something happens and it clicks, it's just, like, amazing.

[Blaine Alexander]

It can change everything.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

Yes.

[Blaine Alexander]

It takes a lot to get started. A lot of rules and a lot of money. And at first, the detectives didn't even know if they could proceed.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

We have to prove that the case has been investigated, and there's no other avenues that we can explore. And there has to be a homicide or a rape or unidentified human remains or a threat to public safety. And then we have to go in front of a judge, and they have to sign off on us being allowed to send off the DNA.

[Lauren Preyer]

Wow.

[Blaine Alexander]

So you literally have to build a case to be able to explore this avenue. Yes.

[Detective Allison Dupois]

We were determined to finish this, and we had the DNA, and it was just a matter of narrowing it down and finding that needle in a haystack.

[Blaine Alexander]

Finally, they got the go ahead. Here's how it works. Investigators compare the DNA profile from the crime scene to public databases that people use to trace their own family histories. If they find a link, they build a family tree using other information they find online. A few times they came close.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

One individual was in the area around the same time and had a pretty. Pretty violent criminal history. So we thought that was a good possibility.

[Blaine Alexander]

And it came up that that DNA possibly matched what was found at the scene.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

There was a relationship. Yeah, it was. He was in the family tree, and it was a match to our suspect DNA as a relative.

[Blaine Alexander]

So what did you do?

[Detective Tara Augustin]

We located a family member of his actually, and approached them and they provided their DNA. And with that, we were able to rule out that branch because it was not a match.

[Blaine Alexander]

Strike one.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

And then there was another individual that at the time, lived pretty close by where Leslie lived. And we ended up just talking to that person and got his DNA, and he was not a match.

[Blaine Alexander]

That's gotta be frustrating.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

It is.

[Blaine Alexander]

Strike two. The best prospect was the one farthest away in Roman Mania, and it was.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

The highest match, so.

[Blaine Alexander]

Meaning the highest probability that that person is related to the suspect, the higher.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

The number means they are more closely related. Which means less family tree to build.

[Blaine Alexander]

Less degrees of separation.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

Yes. And less time spent on it.

[Blaine Alexander]

They decided to pursue it. More tree building. Detective Augustine took the lead.

[Detective Allison Dupois]

She was relentless. She sat there and built family trees for days. And I was working on other cases on missing people, and she would go back to these family trees and didn't give up.

[Blaine Alexander]

And then one day, she yells from.

[Detective Allison Dupois]

The back of the room. She's like, I got it. I think I got it.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

I kind of brushed it off.

[Detective Allison Dupois]

I was like, yeah, we've said that before. It's probably not going to be him. But then I walk over and she starts telling me who she has and how she found it.

[Blaine Alexander]

You're looking at all of these names, and then suddenly there's a name that stands out.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

Yes.

[Blaine Alexander]

And you'd seen it before.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

Yes. At first I was just kind of like, am I making this up? Like, is this. Did I really recognize that name? And when you look in the case file and you see it and it is a match to what you're building with these other names that you've never seen before. It's kind of like eye opening, and you're just kind of shocked, like, is this really happening?

[Detective Allison Dupois]

It was a pretty awesome moment. There were lots of expletives, I believe, because we just couldn't believe that we found this guy.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

We were all excited, so we called our sergeant. We were like, get down here now. I think we got it.

[Blaine Alexander]

This is big. This is a name.

[Lauren Preyer]

Yeah.

[Blaine Alexander]

His name had been in the pre or murder file from the very beginning. Overlooked, collecting dust. That was about to change. As she searched ancestry websites looking for the owner of the mystery DNA, Detective Tara Augustin had come across a name. Glegor. That's a pretty distinctive name.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

Yes.

[Blaine Alexander]

Did you recognize that name immediately?

[Detective Tara Augustin]

I did. And I was trying to figure out why. I had to go back to the case file to figure out where I'd seen it. And there was a folder with the name Eugene Glegor. So this was one of Lauren's high school boyfriends.

[Blaine Alexander]

It was the break detectives had needed for more than two decades, the one that kept eluding them. When you made that connection, that had to have been huge.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

Yeah, it was. It was like bells went off, like, how did we not see this before? This is crazy.

[Blaine Alexander]

Lauren says Glegor's name was on that list she gave the original detectives. And just nine months after the murder, one of Glegor's neighbors actually called in a tip suggesting police look into him.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

He was a troublemaker in the neighborhood and she just had a weird feeling about him. So the police created a file. They pulled up any reports that had his name in them as a suspect or as a person that was charged with something.

[Blaine Alexander]

Detectives drove past Eugene Glegor's house, but didn't see his car there after that, according to the case file, there was no concerted follow up. So let me ask. Eugene Glegor's name had been in the case file the entire time. Had police ever gotten a DNA sample from him? No. Why?

[Lauren Preyer]

I don't know.

[Blaine Alexander]

Should they have?

[Detective Tara Augustin]

There was nothing pointing to him as an obvious suspect at the time.

[Blaine Alexander]

Was that an oversight?

[Detective Tara Augustin]

I don't think so. I mean, other than people saying his name is, you know, Lauren's ex boyfriend, there was really no link to Leslie, and it just didn't make sense. Like, why would he hurt Leslie?

[Blaine Alexander]

The detectives dug into Eugene Glegor's past. What do you learn about him?

[Detective Tara Augustin]

He had some instances where he was mentioned in reports where homes had been broken into and money was stolen. And there were people that we interviewed that went to high school with Lauren and with Eugene and said that, oh, he, you know, he would break into cars and steal money and things like that. So we knew that the possibility of him breaking into houses was there.

[Blaine Alexander]

Lisa told Detective Augustine about another incident in the mid-90s. She said Eugene was questioned about an assault on a woman on a neighborhood path. But she and Lauren were so convinced it couldn't be him that they personally vouched for him.

[Lisa Wood]

We knew him and we were like, there's no way that he would ever hurt anybody. This is. Is crazy. One of the things that we thought of was, you know, his appearance and the sketch that the police had, it actually resembled multiple other people that we knew that were the same age and the same grade going to the same school. And so we actually took my school yearbooks down to the police station and we showed the police, like, here's Eugene, here's this guy. And we left the yearbooks with the police to see if the victim could differentiate and she couldn't.

[Lauren Preyer]

Wow.

[Lisa Wood]

So it effectively cleared him because it created doubt.

[Blaine Alexander]

That seemed to be the end of it. Lisa never heard anything more, and Detective Augustine found no record of it. The detectives learned that over the years, Eugene Glegor had lived a seemingly unremarkable life. He'd worked in restaurants, some high end, and in real estate. He'd been married and divorced twice. Lisa remembers a moment, years after Leslie was killed when Lauren ran into him, and the two had a long conversation.

[Lisa Wood]

He had gone on about how he had gotten sober. He had been to rehab. He was talking about, you know, all the benefits of sobriety. So at the time, I remember, she noted that it was like this very pleasant conversation.

[Blaine Alexander]

If Eugene Glenn Glegor did indeed murder Leslie Prear, the detectives wondered how he got away. When they walked the path near the Priya's old home, they had their answer. The path connected Glegor's neighborhood to the prey's. On a weekday morning, it would have been practically empty. Eugene knew it well.

[Detective Allison Dupois]

It was obvious that this would be the best escape route for him.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

Leaving out of the back door, going through the backyard here, cut through a couple of yards, jump on the trail, walk around, go under that little bridge, and you're in your dad's neighborhood. Yeah.

[Blaine Alexander]

And this is somebody who's familiar with the home?

[Detective Tara Augustin]

Yes.

[Blaine Alexander]

Would have known, theoretically, that the back door is always kept unlocked.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

Yes.

[Blaine Alexander]

Still, they needed one more puzzle piece, the trickiest one of all.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

We needed to get a confirmatory DNA sample from him to see if it.

[Blaine Alexander]

Matched the DNA from the crime scene. And they wanted to do it without letting him know they were on to him. They learned Eugene was now living in the D.C. area.

[Detective Allison Dupois]

That was when we reached out to our plainclothes unit, and they created a plan.

[Blaine Alexander]

They discovered Eugene was out of the country and would soon fly into Washington's Dulles airport. Working with federal agents, they created a ruse. Eugene would be pulled aside for an extra customs screening to an area where they'd placed sanitized water bottles.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

So there was a trash can that was completely empty there, and the water bottles were provided so that he would drink out of it and throw it away.

[Blaine Alexander]

It worked. The detectives took the bottle, bagged it, and sent it for DNA testing. Days later, Bingo.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

Confirmation that this is our guy, this is the killer. Yes.

[Blaine Alexander]

It was so big, it was hard to grasp irrefutable evidence that they finally had the right man. 23 years after Leslie Preer was murdered, two detectives who were college students when she died had found her killer. What are you thinking in that moment?

[Detective Tara Augustin]

It's just kind of like a. A goosebumps situation where you're just thrilled and there's an adrenaline rush, and you're like, I can't believe I solved this. I can't believe it.

[Blaine Alexander]

But before they could break the news to Lauren, they had to arrest Eugene Glegor.

[Detective Allison Dupois]

Our plainclothes officers went down very early that morning. They were watching his house, and he was sitting out on. On his front stoop having a cup of coffee.

[Blaine Alexander]

The arrest was captured on body cam.

[Detective Allison Dupois]

And the officers walked up pretty quickly, probably startled him a lot. When the officers approached him. You know, they have to do it in a very swift movement. They want to do it quickly. They don't want to give anybody an opportunity to flee or fight or reach for any weapon that they may have. He was shocked.

[Lester Holt]

So you didn't know anything about this war? Okay.

[Detective Allison Dupois]

He wasn't expecting this.

[Blaine Alexander]

Eugene Glegor was charged with the first degree murder of Leslie Prier. So what would he say when Detectives Augustine and dupois got him in the chair?

[Detective Tara Augustin]

If somebody was not involved, it would be an adamant. I didn't.

[Lester Holt]

Oh, I didn't do it. I did. I definitely didn't do it.

[Blaine Alexander]

Minutes after Eugene Glegor was arrested for the murder of Leslie Preer, Detective Augustine was on the phone to Lauren to break the news.

[Lauren Preyer]

She asked me, do you know someone named Eugene Glegor? And I. I lost it. I used to date him. I was like, yes. And she's like, he's the one who did it.

[Lester Holt]

I mean, I lost my.

[Lauren Preyer]

And I was shocked.

[Blaine Alexander]

They'd been so close in high school. He was always at the Preyer house in those days. He even joined the Prius on vacation. Once Lauren and Eugene broke up, they drifted apart. But after Leslie's murder, Lauren remembered how he comforted her.

[Lauren Preyer]

He was working in a restaurant in Bethesda, and I saw him and I said, my mom died. And he was like, oh, my gosh, I'm so sorry. All that kind of. Yeah, I'm so sorry. But he talked to me straight in my eyes, like nothing was wrong.

[Blaine Alexander]

And he was comforting, you know?

[Lauren Preyer]

Yes. And he's the one who did it.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

Hi, Eugene.

[Lester Holt]

Hello.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

Hello.

[Blaine Alexander]

Later that day, when Detectives Augustine and dupois breezed into Glegor's police interview room, they were the picture of confidence.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

I am Detective Acresten. This is Detective dupois.

[Lester Holt]

Hi there.

[Blaine Alexander]

Glegor, in ankle shackles, was a model of injured innocence.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

I'm sure you're wondering what this is all about.

[Lester Holt]

Really like to know. This has been really, really hard.

[Blaine Alexander]

Whatever's happening, they were happy to tell him.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

Do you recall back in 2001, Leslie Pryor.

[Lester Holt]

Yes. That she was murdered? Yes.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

Okay, so that's the case that we are investigating.

[Blaine Alexander]

They told him they had DNA from the crime scene that had never been matched. And they asked if he'd been at the prey house that morning for Any reason? If he had anything to tell them about Leslie's murder, why not just call.

[Lester Holt]

Me and ask me to come in and talk to me versus have marshals come and arrest me and bring me in?

[Detective Tara Augustin]

Because there's a little bit more to it than what we've told you so far.

[Lester Holt]

Could you tell me.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

Well, we're getting there. I'm trying to give you an opportunity to be a little bit forthcoming before we.

[Lester Holt]

I mean, I feel very. I feel a little bit trapped here. Like.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

Well, you're under arrest, so you should.

[Lester Holt]

Right, right. And so I think, you know, I mean, probably asking for a lawyer is my best course of action at this point.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

That's totally fine. And we don't have to ask you any more questions, but we are going to just tell you some stuff.

[Blaine Alexander]

The detectives did want to share a.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

Few things from the crime scene. The DNA that was taken. We actually have a sample of your DNA, and it was compared to the crime scene DNA.

[Lester Holt]

And.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

And it matched. So we know that you were there at the time when Leslie died.

[Lester Holt]

But I never gave a sample of DNA.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

That's correct. We obtained a sample from a discarded water bottle that you drank out of. So your DNA matches the crime scene DNA.

[Blaine Alexander]

A shocked silence, and then.

[Lester Holt]

I don't know what to say. I have not. I have no recollection. I have no memory. I have no. I don't know what to say.

[Blaine Alexander]

He sputtered, lashed out, cried.

[Lester Holt]

I don't know. I don't know.

[Blaine Alexander]

Or tried to.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

There's no tears coming out of your face.

[Lester Holt]

I'm very dry right now.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

You're dry?

[Lester Holt]

I'm very dry. I'm partially dehydrated. You can probably see my eyes are bloodshot red because I'm just tired and drained.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

I don't know what's going on. I'm just trying to say that this seems a little put on.

[Lester Holt]

Are you kidding me? It's, you know, it's in your eyes. It's guilty until proven innocent. I get it.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

Well, honey, your DNA was in the crime scene. That's why, like, there's a reason.

[Lester Holt]

There's. There's just. There's. There's. There's due process. Right. So you're saying I'm guilty before I've even been put it into a court of law.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

There's probable cause. I believe that you were there when.

[Lester Holt]

I think what you were saying was the contrary to that. So. Okay. But I don't remember. I don't know. I don't know.

[Detective Tara Augustin]

You keep saying you don't remember and you don't have any recollection, but if somebody was not involved, it would be an adamant. I didn't.

[Lester Holt]

Oh, I didn't do it. I did. I definitely didn't do it.

[Blaine Alexander]

Eugene Glegor spent almost a year in jail, charged with first degree murder. We have an update now to a cold case murder that ran rocked a Montgomery county neighborhood more than two decades ago. Then his story changed and he was ready to admit that he had murdered Leslie Prear. In May, he pleaded guilty to second degree murder, avoiding a possible life sentence and a trial.

[Lester Holt]

There are questions that go unanswered in many, many cases.

[Blaine Alexander]

John McCarthy, the Montgomery county state's attorney, admits they'll probably never know Glegor's motive. His theory that Glegor went to the Prer house that morning to steal money to feed his drug habit. He was surprised to find Leslie Prear still at home and he turned on her. As for Glegor's claim that his memory of the murder is a blur.

[Lester Holt]

Read the crime scene, the viciousness, the COVID up, the hiding. This guy knew exactly what he had done.

[Blaine Alexander]

And the state's attorney had this to say about the original detective's fixation on Sandy prey. Despite the DNA results and despite the.

[Lester Holt]

Neighbor'S tip, I think that police investigations sometimes become myopic. They seized upon a theory. I think they were convinced it was Sandy, maybe to the exclusion of a lot of other potential leads.

[Blaine Alexander]

At Glygor sentencing hearing in late August, prosecutors described the savage nature of the crime and pointed out that Glegor confessed only after he was caught. And this defendant is now finally at his day of reckoning. Glegor's defense attorneys argued the murder took place when their client was a heavy user of drugs and alcohol. Now they said he was a changed man and deserved leniency.

[Lauren Preyer]

Eugene brings the best in people and.

[Detective Allison Dupois]

I think this is a trait that fundamentally defines him.

[Lauren Preyer]

That's the person you will be sentencing today, not the 21 year old that committed this offense.

[Blaine Alexander]

Glegor addressed the court too.

[Lester Holt]

The greatest regret of my life is taking Leslie's life. I'm so sorry for the pain that I caused. I can't express that enough.

[Blaine Alexander]

Leslie's family wasn't buying it.

[Lester Holt]

I thought his words were empty. Impossible to believe.

[Blaine Alexander]

The state's attorney had harsh words of his own.

[Lester Holt]

Where were you for 23 years when Sandy was under the specter of being a suspect in the case? Where were you for 23 years? Where Lauren, your former girlfriend, was without her mother? Where were you if you cared for any of these people.

[Blaine Alexander]

In the end, Glegor got 22 years. Outside the courtroom, Lauren could finally exhale.

[Lauren Preyer]

I can't believe it's over. It's been so long.

[Blaine Alexander]

The family, grateful to be spared the ordeal of a trial, paused for a group photo.

[Lester Holt]

The tragedy will always be there. Nothing's going to bring my sister back, but at least we know the murder of is starting to pay for the crime.

[Blaine Alexander]

Eugene Glegor claimed three victims on that spring morning in 2001. Leslie, of course, and Sandy, who died before he was cleared. The final victim, Lauren sentenced to live with anxiety and fear for decades. But now she says she's ready for a new life, knowing there has been justice for the mother she adored and finally, peace for the parents she calls the best of the best.

[Lauren Preyer]

The Prayer Family.

[Blaine Alexander]

Well, they're lucky to have you carrying on their name forever. Yeah.

[Lauren Preyer]

And they're together. Yeah. That's the silver lining, that they're together.

[Lester Holt]

That's all for this edition of dateline. And don't forget to check out our talking DATELINE podcast, which will go behind the scenes of tonight's episode, available Wednesday in the DATELINE feed. Wherever you get your podcasts, we'll see you again next Friday at 9, 8 Central. I'm Lester Holt. For all of us at NBC News, good night.