20/20 - First Comes Love, Then Comes Murder

Episode Date: September 13, 2025

When DNA evidence collected from an airport sting operation breaks open a cold murder case, authorities are led straight to a killer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A 20-year-old soldier goes missing from a U.S. Army base. How can she go missing on a military base? That's too ridiculous. What would come to light is horrifying and ignites a movement that sparks a reckoning in the U.S. military. Listen to Vanished. What happened to Vanessa? A new series from ABC Audio and 2020. Coming, September 16th. Walking through the house, it was clear that there was a struggle. Like she was running for her life.

Running. Who on earth would want to do this to your mom? The stunning cord case that just wrapped up. She was in the shower stall in the master bathroom. There was water running over her body when the police found her. You walked right up to Sandy and said, sir. and said, sir, your wife is dead. And he screams, like scream, screams.

Who would want to murder? Such a wonderful person. The most violent ever got was I'd grab her and just say, you know, you've got to snap out of them. When you first heard that Leslie Prayer had been murdered in her home, what went through your mind? Who and why? Whose DNA is this, and why is it in the house?

Why is it under her fingernails? Who is this person? You've got to do the right thing, yeah. You got you. I think I am. The only thing I thought of was, did they have an affair? And then my mom tried to cut it off and he murdered her. The unknown DNA under her fingernails and blood on the scene.

You can't ignore that. And that really was the crux of the case. What? Was that your aha moment? Chevy Chase, Maryland. It's a really nice upscale, quiet neighborhood. It is a family community, well manicured lawns. It's a beautiful community.

It really made no sense that there would be a crime like this in that area. The idea that that bubble could be punctured with something so brutal inside of somebody's house, shocked people. The body of Leslie Prier was discovered inside her home on Drummond Avenue. There were signs of a struggle. of a struggle with no forced entry. This woman was strangled and she was beaten. People were stunned, they were afraid

by what had happened to their neighbor. If I were described in this case in three words, I would call it brutal, intimate, and cruel. Police are asking residents of this community to be on the alert to report anything suspicious that might lead to an arrest. I knew someone knew something, so I just never gave up.

Who in the world would want to kill Leslie? Leslie she didn't deserve that it was a beautiful Wednesday morning in May Leslie Prier should have left her home and walked down this quiet street in Chevy Chase Maryland to catch the bus and go to work but on this day for some reason Leslie never showed up Brett Reedy and I was operations manager of specialties and Leslie Prier was one of my employees Leslie was supposed to be at work at 10. When she didn't show up at 1015, I just assumed she had a doctor's appointment or something held her up in the bus or something like that. Then it was about 1040, 1045. He said, darn it,

you know, where the hell is Leslie? Finally, he called her husband. I said, Sandy, Leslie's not here. Did she have a doctor's appointment? And he goes, no, very quickly. And he goes, that's not good. now something's something's really wrong and he was very very concerned I said okay look I she's only a mile and a half down the road why don't I just drive down there I'll meet you there so you were born and raised in this area you grew up here but I had about probably six friends that lived on this street from elementary school when I said to Sandy you know I'm gonna go over there, the reason why I went over there was I'm so familiar with the area.

You're thinking Sandy's on his way. What else is going through your mind? Something's wrong. She must have been in an accident. Somewhere is an accident. She fell, a bus, a car. Something has happened. Leslie Prier's husband, Carl, who went by Sandy, pulls up to the home not long after Brett arrived. As soon as the two men step inside the front door. There are signs. Something's very wrong. There was dried blood in the foyer. There was a knocked over table. There was a moved rug. And her husband started calling out for Leslie and got nothing back. I looked to my right and there's a significant amount of blood.

Sandy started walking around and he went upstairs. And when he went upstairs, I know on the wall was an area that had been rubbed out. It looked like someone had cleaned it or tried to clean it. I noticed something moved down the hall. That door was slowly opening. I was like, oh, no, you know, he was the dog. At that moment, the Pereers family dog, a black lab named Boomer, comes up from the basement.

I said to Sandy, look, you might want to check the basement. Sandy comes back up. up from the basement and said she's not there. We went into the kitchen. The back door was a jar a little bit. It wasn't fully closed. I started pointing out to him, Sandy, look at this. Look at this on the wall.

Look at this, look at this blood all over the place. And he goes, she must have fallen. My reaction probably was a hell of a fall. So I decided to call 911. I wonder what's emergency? I'm at Drummond, Debbie Chase. I work for a company, and we didn't hear to have a call from an employee. We just walked in the door, our husband and I, and there's blood in the foyer, and it looks like something possibly happened.

You're not in the house anymore, are you? We're in the house right now. The husband's looking around. You're with the husband? I'm with the husband, yes. What was the last time? The last time the husband's... All her was 7.45 this morning.

Did she have a car or anything? No, she was going to walk to the bus. Is there a lot of blood? But it looks like there's possibly a couple things knocked down. Can I ask you guys to step out of the house? Sure. Their house was in Chevy Chase, Maryland. You might describe it as the Beverly Hills.

of Washington, D.C. It is a wealthy area. Restaurants, shops, big homes, some very prominent country clubs in the area. The house is located on a cul-de-sac, so not a lot of traffic. Just a really nice, calm, quiet neighborhood. It's kind of tucked away. It's like a little haven. It's a place where you would want to raise your family. How long have you lived here? Forty years. Forty years. The same house on the same block. Yes. How did you first meet the prayers. It was Leslie I first met. What was your impression of Leslie?

She was really pretty. And her prettiness was also her personality. She was lovely in every way. Leslie's husband went by Sandy. He was very thoughtful and very kind. I really liked him. And they only had one child. One child, Lauren.

How was life growing up in Maryland with your mom and dad? They were the best of the best. We had dinner together every night. My dad always cooked breakfast on Saturday. And my mom and I would plant tulips in the front of the house. Lauren and I met in high school and became inseparable. Her parents were amazing. They were just super sweet.

Very welcoming, very open. Who's in this photo? Well, that's me. Oh, I know. So we're talking, and I was, this must have been 1970. when I was born. So we were a happy family for three of us. Lauren's father could be described as like the life of the party.

Very, very involved in Lauren's life. And they had a really great relationship. He was a really great guy. Lauren's mom was one of a kind. She was just so warm and so sweet. She was gorgeous. I mean, she just had these beautiful eyes. She was like a second mother to me, really.

And she was just very caring and loving. And Lauren was definitely the apple of her eye. On May 2nd in 2001, Lauren Prier is 23 years old, living in our own apartment, not far from her parents' home. Walk us through what happened that morning. My mom and I talked on the phone every single day. Every morning. That was our routine. I called my mom in her office and her friend Gail was like,

oh, she's not in yet, but I was told to tell you that if you called to call your father, and then I knew something was weird. With signs of a violent struggle and police on the way, the question now is, where is Leslie Prier? They pulled their guns. And he screamed, like scream, screamed. It was horrifying. It's terrifying. It's haunting. It's haunting.

Okay. So we got speed. Interview with Brett Reedy. All right, so I'm going to play this for you. And then we'll talk after. Oh, I wonder which emergency. I'm at Drummond, Debbie Chase. It looks like there's possibly, you know,

I guess, struggle, a couple things knocked down. Wow. Wow. I'm shaking. My voice is definitely, I'm shaken. That call is haunting. After Leslie Prayer's boss, Brett Reedy calls 911 on the morning she failed to show for work, he and Leslie's husband, Sandy, do as they were instructed and weighed outside for police to arrive. Five, ten minutes went by, and when they showed up, Sandy, he kind of greeted them. they pulled their guns and Sandy goes, whoa, you guys mean business, like kind of a joking way. I thought it was a lot. I think my gut was somebody hurt somebody and tried to clean it up.

Sandy's reaction was she must have fallen down. Sandy was somewhat, I believe, in denial of what was probably in front of him. Brett was of the opinion that something bad had happened and it wasn't just an accident. If Leslie's hurt and she's going to the hospital, why would it be cleaned up already? I asked him directly, I said, Sandy, you were upstairs awfully quick.

Did you check everywhere? And as soon as I said that, puts his hand to his head, and he goes, oh, I forgot to check the bathroom. That's when they ultimately found Leslie. She was in the shower stall, shower stall in the master bathroom. There was water running over her body

when the police found her. The police came back out. And the policeman was wearing gloves. And he was taking them off. And I knew right then. And he walked right up to Sandy and said, sir, your wife is dead. I remember arriving at that scene at some point later on in that day.

It was still a crime scene. Police were still there. At 11.45 a.m., police found Mrs. Prier dead upstairs. There were signs of a struggle, but no forced entry. In addition, police report no previous problems in this quiet community. This was an unusual place to be responding to a homicide. This happened in a residential community of very nice homes. It really made no sense that there would be a crime like this in that area. Leslie and Sandy Prier's daughter, Lauren, only knows that her father wants to speak with her.

She has no idea what's happened to her mother. At this point, it's just Sandy and Leslie residing in the house, right? Yes. Lauren lived in an apartment in Silver Spring, which is just a few miles away. I looked out the window, and I saw a police car pull up, and I saw my dad and a police officer. or get out of the car and I said oh god what the hell's happening my dad is like talk he was just talking but everything was in slow motion he's like Lauren your mom's been in an accident I think seeing like a bus accident or was she got a car like you know I wasn't thinking the word of that and then he goes um she's no longer with this anymore I was like what

And so I ran into my bedroom, and he screamed, like scream, screams. Like, what you hear on, like, the horror movies, I get deep down into your stomach scream. And I said, I don't understand. It stripped the office. I had to make that phone call. Brett calls the office. He said, you're not going to believe this, Linda, but Leslie's dead.

And he couldn't tell me anymore because he didn't know anymore. I saw a number of police cars. I saw an ambulance. I was just shocked. Who would want to murder such a wonderful person? Investigators begin canvassing the neighborhood, searching for answers, and they're looking to see if any similar crimes had occurred in the area.

They looked at any other burglaries in the area, any other assaults that happened, and there just, there wasn't any clear indicator that any other crimes were related. Nothing like this had ever happened in that area, a murder like this. Not a murder like this. There were a couple of assaults on women

throughout the county that a lot of people did think were related, but the police department did their due diligence and compared all the cases, and they determined, no, they're not related. At the time, a lot of women were very fearful of what was going on, that there was a killer out there that in their quiet neighborhood had come in to this house and killed a woman.

And as detectives start digging into the case, a crucial detail comes into question. It was hard to pinpoint Leslie's actual time of death. She may have been dead for longer than just the hour or two that we believe she was there. There was a theory that Leslie could have been killed the night before, yes. So investigators bring Leslie's husband in for questioning.

They want to know exactly what the couple had been up to the night before. Let's just be a man and tell us what happened. I told you exactly what happened. But you haven't told it's the truth. For the first time ever, you can get all of ESPN in the new ESPN app, along with Disney Plus and Hulu, with one incredible offer. The Most Live Sports, biggest blockbusters, and most talked about shows.

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It was Wednesday morning, about 10 a.m. When Leslie Jenning-Prier's colleagues became concerned, she hadn't come to work. At 11.45 a.m., police found Mrs. Prier dead upstairs. The autopsy has been completed. The cause of death is blunt-forced trauma. Beyond that, police are being tight-lipped about what they know. Reporting from Chevy Chase on Brad Bell, ABC 7 News. Brad Bell, take one.

It was obvious that a struggle had taken place on the first floor. Leslie Pereer was choked, and the belief was that her head was slammed into the floor of the foyer of her home. Was there a question about the time of death and why? When Leslie's body was put in that shower, the heat, the humidity, and the hot water over her body can change the rates of decomposition. So none of that was ever able to be pinpointed to a direct time of death. It's literally a horror story. We went back and there was still luminal all over the hallway, blood in the kitchen, all the way up the stairs, through the bedroom. And I stopped at their bed.

I couldn't do it. I couldn't go in the bathroom. I couldn't do it. Walking through the house, it was clear that there was a struggle. Like she was running for her life. Running. Who on earth would want to do this to your mom?

I couldn't think of one person. The neighborhood canvas was really crucial. A lot of the neighbors were Pretty observant. One neighbor mentioned that he woke up in the middle of the night and he saw that there were lights all on in the prayer household. And the shades were drawn, but he could tell that all the lights were on. And he thought that was very strange. Then another neighbor reported to police that something unusual happened that morning when Leslie's husband Sandy left for work. He was standing in his doorway, appearing to say goodbye to someone in the house. But then he also made a point to greet that neighbor. Something she said he never did. told detectives, it was almost like he wanted her to notice him, leave that morning. You begin to think, does that play into someone trying to cover up, develop a timeline, and things like that. If you're a woman, more than 50% of the time, the person who is responsible for taking your life,

is your intimate partner. So it's a logical place for any investigator to begin. is May 4th, 2001, and we're talking with Carl Prier. Leslie's husband is interviewed by police just two days after her murder. Because they're not positive when Leslie was killed. They want to nail down what Sandy was doing the night before Leslie was found dead.

Tuesday, I must have been a regular day, went to work, and got off. I was taking some computer stuff. to the dump got there before 8 o'clock took everything off then left and i think i went to a couple stores after the stop at the dump sandy preer says he went to three different stores before finding the battery charger he was looking for he didn't get home until about 9 p.m tuesday night all of that was just a little bit suspicious it seemed like he was trying to create an alibi for himself I don't recall anything out of the norm on Tuesday.

Okay. And when you arrived home, you all didn't have supper together after nine? No, I went right to bed. She stayed up. Do you have any idea when she came to bed? No, I could guess, but I don't know for a fact. Okay. You indicated that sometime during the night you recall her being in bed?

Then, Sandy says something that catches the detective's attention. He admits that his marriage had been under tremendous strain. Both he and Leslie were feeling pressure at work. They were struggling to keep up with their bills. And Sandy says that Leslie was drinking. She pretty much just had a glass of wine. I see she got in. Just one?

No. How many? Is this important? Absolutely. She would have a lot. She would have a lot. And in all honesty, it's one of the reasons why I kind of come home late, because I just really, I was kind of getting hard to deal with.

Leslie was an absolute love, beauty, when she didn't drink. Were these a source of arguments between those two? Sure. Definitely. At that point, they started to realize more details are coming out, and it's conflicting with how he originally presented things. Since we're on the subject, how would she act? The sign was always the personality.

You could tell immediately. Happy, argumentative? Argumentative, not happy. Just chill out, you know, every little, mountain out of a molehill and everything. She could just keep... Just, just bam, bam, bam, bam, just keep coming at you. Just keep coming at you. And it was, it was, uh, it wasn't fun.

Sandy tells detectives there was one time when an argument escalated. The most violent ever got was I'd grab her and just say, you know, you got to snap out of it. Like grabbing her by her shoulders? her shoulders, but I did that one time, and, you know, really, and she, you know, hit the wall. I'm nothing, you know, smashing or anything. Hit the wall, and she's burst in tears, and I'm thinking, God, what am I doing? So, um, so I pretty much controlled myself to where I just, I was not going to go there. Did either of you ever discussed divorce or separation?

We never seriously discussed it because we loved each other dearly. There were times where I'd say, I'd screw you, I'm divorcing you. To me, that's not a discussion. It's not when we sit down like this and talk about seriously getting a divorce. After almost two hours of questioning, the interview wraps up. But it's clear Sandy Prier has done little to ease the detective's suspicions or eliminate himself as a suspect. Well, I assume been totally candid with us about this and you're not holding anything back. I don't hold any information.

Leslie and I had our arguments, and we had some pretty nasty ones at times. But there's nothing that I am consciously thinking now that I'm holding back. Holding back or not, detectives are determined to get more out of Sandy Pereer, and they strap him to a lie detector. The police think that he killed his wife.

Then, two months into the investigation, there's some surprising news. Could there be a new suspect? to merging. Detectives look at a lot of theories. They interviewed a lot of people. They looked at all of the relationships. Whoever this person was, they had never been arrested for anything.

Who is this person? What would make someone want to kill Leslie? Detective's did go to follow up with Sandy, and it was ruled a death by her. ruled a death by homicide. His first reaction was, okay, I know where this is going, because usually when there's a death of a married woman, it's the husband is the suspect. He volunteered to take a polygraph test.

Sandy told us he failed a lie detector test. It was very open about it. I thought, well, I wouldn't be. Is that common for someone who is innocent, to fail a polygraph test? It happens, but I wouldn't say it's common. Polygraphs are tricky. They're not admissible in court.

It's not just police who found Sandy suspicious. There were people who knew the Pryors that were asking could Leslie's husband have killed her? When you first heard that Leslie Pryor had been murdered in her home, what went through your mind? Why? Who and why? And it all, unfortunately, started coming back to Sandy. What did the neighbors make of hearing that Sandy had been interviewed?

Sandy was considered a suspect. I was really shocked because at no time did I ever think he was guilty. At no time. But I do know that a number of neighbors felt that he was guilty. I talked to the police quite often for the next couple weeks. I'm with Mr. Brett Reedy, reference a death investigation on Drummond Avenue. They thought he did it. One of the reasons was that the coroner believed this happened in the early hours, but they couldn't really determine it because it was not an exact science.

On May 24th, just over three weeks after his wife's death, Sandy Prier meets with investigators again. How you doing? All right, how about yourself? Not bad, not good. This time, the conversation takes a different turn. answer machine at home. Have you erased that or any of the stuff that was on there in the past few weeks is it still there? You guys, I don't mean to show any disrespect, but I've been cooperating with you since day one, and I think I've answered enough questions. I don't understand. My attorney said not to answer any more questions. And again, I don't need to show any

respect to you guys at all. Sandy volunteered to give them whatever they needed. They took his watch to see if there was any blood traces in it. They took his glasses. They took pictures of his hands and his face and tried to see if there were any scratches or anything on his body. And he was totally cooperative with all of that stuff in the beginning. And it got to a point where they had kept interrogating him.

You've got to do the right thing, man. You've got to. I think I am. I think I am. In fact, I know I am. And I just tell you one thing, you've got the wrong guy. I told you everything exactly how it happened. And I don't have anything else to say.

We can prove that you have told us the truth, Sandy. We have physical evidence that shows Leslie was dead before 7 o'clock in the morning. That don't lie. People lie. Yes, sir, I don't have anything else to say. That made the detectives even more suspicious of him. But two months later, test results on forensic evidence collected at the scene reveal a clue left behind that doesn't fit with the theory that Sandy Prier killed his wife, Leslie. At the crime scene, there was DNA found in blood and under Leslie's fingernails, which was a sign that she tried to fight off her attacker.

That DNA was not a match to Leslie Pereer's husband. Whoever this person that left blood and their DNA on the scene was, they had never been arrested for anything that would have put them in the system. The police said we would like to take swabs of all the males in the office to eliminate you all. you all all right well my first thought was that probably want to eliminate me only because I was there and I said fine at that point they were eliminated as suspects so whose DNA is this and why is it in the house why is it under her fingernails who is this person a little over a year after her mother's murder Lauren Prier meets with detectives for an update on the case.

What they tell her isn't easy for her to hear. I'll see. Well, I know this has got to be, you know, rough-law music. And it's frustrating for us because my gut feeling is that your dad had something like this. I've just been a cop too many years. I've worked too many cases. It is so bizarre to be, you think that this could be somewhere else. Detectives spend the next two hours telling Lauren Prier

that they believe her father killed her mother and how they think it unfolded. My theory on this, as it were, something happened after he got home that night. They had some sort of one. real argument. You know, he was tensed out, stressed out, had a fill of a long day, and it got out of control. And what happened happened. I think your dad just lost. How is it possible? First thing, Lisa, that you found from evidence of another person being there. But that's, like, to me, that's, like, the most desires.

I mean, the only thing that I can think of is someone else was there when Sandy arrived home late at night. There was some interaction between Sandy and that person, and then that person fled. If my own was having him to say he's not the kind of person like, he wasn't like a possess of him again at all. I mean, he wouldn't have been fine but he wouldn't have like gone berserk. I can't tell you that much. I can't imagine my father. Like, I just can't imagine him, like, actually, like, murdering her and staring at her face.

Like, wow, she died in his hands. That just totally seems unfound. I knew my dad loved my mom so much. I mean, I had my moment or I questioned. Could he really go that far? I'm like, no. My dad loved my mom, loved, adored her. There's no way in hell that my dad looked my mom in the eyes and strangled her.

That's impossible. If Sandy Prier didn't kill his wife, then who did? Detectives need a new strategy, and that unknown blood found at the scene just might give them one. I knew she was flattered by him. The only thing I thought of was, did they have an affair? Eight years ago, I blew my football career. He dropped it at the one-yard line. On September 30th, Chad Powers arrives on Hulu.

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What just made him snap? Blood and Myth, now streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney Plus for bundle subscribers. Terms Apply. I had this, like, perfect world before this all happened. Perfect. I mean, everything was great. I became a different person in my world. It changed completely. In the aftermath of her mother's murder,

Lauren Prier is grappling, not just with her immense loss, but also the lack of answers. As time goes on, with the identity of the killer remaining a mystery. I'm sure those were very difficult years for you without your mom, without your best friend. It was almost impossible. I said, Lauren, someday, somehow, this is going to be resolved. There weren't any new leads or information coming in. 2010, another group of cold case detectives picked up on it, and they still focused on Sandy quite a bit.

So he was the strongest suspect despite his DNA not being found at the scene. Yeah, I think that they were trying to find, you know, is there a reason where he could have hired someone to kill her? Lauren Prier had her own suspicions about a neighbor living in the area. She said he'd made comments about her mother Leslie's good looks and even invited Leslie to walk their dogs together in the neighborhood. I knew that she was flattered by him. He was very handsome. The only thing I thought of was, did they have an affair? And then my mom tried to cut it off and he murdered her.

You thought it was a neighbor and he had gotten away with it? Yes. A hundred percent. She mentioned him numerous times and in 2010 detectives did speak to that individual and got his DNA and he was also eliminated. They swapped him and it was negative. That had to drive you nuts going right back to zero and not having anyone. I thought I was going to die without knowing. I really truly thought that. In 2017, Lawrence's father Sandy passes away after an illness, dying under a cloud of suspicion that never fully cleared. My mom's family leave tea killed her. Not all of them.

Some of my uncles and some of my cousins were like, there's no way. And so they were out of touch with them. I mean, I think my dad died of a broken heart. The case remains cold in the years that follow. It makes you paranoid in a way to think that there's somebody that could commit this brutal crime and then just be walking free. And the decades just went on and on, and then you start to kind of wonder this is never going to be solved. It bothered us a lot.

I mean, every time we would get together, we would talk about it. For many years after this happened, when we got together around the proverbial water cooler, someone would always come up with one other revelation or one other, oh, maybe this happened, and we just couldn't put it together. together. I would check with my sources in the police department periodically. I would say, hey, what, what was up with that Drummond case? And they never had anything new to tell them. They said it remained a mystery. Finally, one day on my phone, Tara called. In 2022, Detective Tara Augustine joins Allison DuPoy in the Montgomery County Police Cold Case Unit, where every box on these shelves represents an

unsolved mystery. Ever since I joined the police department, I think my career goal was to get into the cold case unit because these are all major crimes. And I like the challenge of trying to look at everything with fresh eyes and not take the same viewpoints that the previous investigators had. And when it's successful, it's a huge satisfaction that you're able to do something for the families and give closure. And her first assignment, the Leslie Prier case.

It was one of many boxes that are sitting on our shelves. And when Tara joined our unit, she just picked right up on it. I just dug right in and I dragged her along with the ride. And she was like, we're calling about your mom, Leslie Prier. And I said, what? So in 2022, you reach out to Lauren and you tell her we're on this. It was very, very emotional for Lauren. She was just so grateful that somebody

was looking at this and thinking about her mom again. Were you concerned at all that you were raising her hopes? It's always a concern. You want to temper expectations. We have some ideas of things that we can do now that had never been done before, but it's a very long process. So we had to really urge her to be patient with us. She's like, Lauren, this is going to take a long time.

I said, I understand. No problem. I said, take your time. What was your initial? thought when you looked through the case in 2022. The main thing was the unknown DNA under her fingernails and the blood on the scene. You can't ignore that. And that really was the crux of the case.

We had been using the forensic genetic genealogy to some success at that point. And that was, I think, probably the biggest technological advance in the DNA that we've had in a while. In forensic genetic genealogy, DNA from the crime scene is compared to DNA that has been entered into public databases, a powerful way to find relatives close or distant of the unknown suspect. So DNA from Leslie Prier's fingernails is sent to a private lab. And this genealogy technique didn't exist in 2001. It wasn't around.

Not even in 2010. Do you both have training in genetic genealogies? We've taken courses for training for that. We're both kind of beginners at it. So you've submitted this DNA to see where it matches. What results are you now looking at? We had some pretty low matches that we were working with at first. Because they were U.S. based, there was a lot of public information on the family trees.

So there were some very high matches that were coming back to outside of the country. Low matches have less shared DNA with the suspect, making it more difficult to trace back the family line to identify them. It had been about a year and a half of working on these low matches, and I just wanted to explore these higher matches. When the detectives finally delve into the overseas matches, they find a person in, of all places, Romania, who shares enough DNA to be a promising lead,

suggesting their suspect could be an American, with Romanian ancestry. So this high match, and that's an awesome shared match. What did you think this is it? That was really where we needed to go. This was the one that was overseas. So it was like another level of a challenge, but it was really worth trying

because otherwise we were just spinning our wheels and we weren't getting any closer. So you would make a family tree basically showing any possibility of aunts and uncles, first cousins. Was that your aha moment? I remember I said, I said, Allie, come over here and look at this. I think I really have a break.

Like, oh, this is serious. What she finds, a name closer to home than Lauren could have ever expected. Hands up! Oh, oh, you see it's back. I said, are you sure? And she said, yes. It's him.

He almost got away with it. Honey, your DNA was in the crime scene. This is one of the crimes. This is one of the crimes, homicides, murder. that I never forgot about. It was horrifying. It's terrifying. It's haunting.

Only two people know what happened that day. You know, he and Leslie, and Leslie can't speak for herself. Based on all of this evidence, what do you think happened to Leslie that morning when she was killed? That DNA could have matched to somebody else in that family. She didn't have any specific evidence to point to he's the killer, but she just got a weird feeling about him. I ended up reading that. house that night. I did not stay in there if I was afraid of him. She was afraid of something. She thought he might go after her.

Murdered someone? I want to know what snapped in you. Hands up! Hands up! I almost fainted. What goes through your mind? I was in shock. I'm still in shock. This is a family photo from my 15th birthday. There's my beautiful mother.

For Lauren Prier, sifting through memories of life before her mother's murder is bittersweet. It's one of the last trips I went on with my mom. A family destroyed. Her father, once a suspect, dying without knowing her who killed Leslie Prier inside their Maryland home on Drummond Avenue. When you see photos like these, what memories come rushing back. They were the best parents that I missed them so much. We were just such a tight-knit family and loved each other very much. Today, Drummond Avenue is as idyllic as it was when Leslie Prier lived here,

with no hint to the tragedy that took place. And for decades, there were no answers to this murder mystery that rocked this community. Police are asking residents of this community to be on the alert to report anything suspicious that might lead to an arrest. I remember clearly, I remember standing in front of that home. It troubled me that this woman's killer hadn't been found.

But nearly a quarter century went by before we heard anything more about it. What made you think? you could find the killer. We knew that there was DNA evidence and that is huge for cold cases. We can use genealogy to try to identify a suspect. By 2024, detectives Augustine and DuPoy have spent a year and a half searching public genetic genealogy databases for any connections to that unknown male DNA found at the crime scene. Their most promising lead, a person in Romania who appears to be a distant relative of the killer. So just doing basic

Google searches. I was able to find out a lot of information. And so I started going through a lot of old historical information about their family line. Gravesites, obituaries, marriage documents, census record. So it's a little bit of like history detective as well as regular detective work. Then I came across the name Virgil Gleegor and that kind of clicked in my head because I remembered the name Gleegor and I knew it was in the case file.

Gleegor. Eugene Gleegor is the name in the case file, Lauren Prier's high school boyfriend. The two were high school sweethearts who met up at the Zeta Chevy Chase High School. They shared a tight-knit group of friends despite their two-year age difference. He's a little younger than me, but we just were attracted to each other and started dating. So what was it about Eugene that dreamed to him? He was extremely attractive. He was very charismatic. He was a ladies man, like he was.

And all the girls loved him, but I got him. So we just became a thing. What was he like during those years when you were together? Popular, had a lot of friends. He was very outgoing, very sharp individual, you know, very witty. You always could carry a conversation, whether it be with the parents or anyone.

Eugene's mom was a consultant for the World Bank and then left that job to raise her boys. And his dad was a tenured professor at the University of Maryland. He had one brother. He had a pretty, I would say, relaxed, easygoing personality. His parents' house was kind of like

this central hangout spot. So, you know, we used to spend a lot of time over there just kind of hanging out, doing what kids do. Eugene Gleegor lived just about a 10-minute walk from the prayer house in an upscale community called Kedwood, known for its last. luxury homes and cherry blossoms. This trail runs between their two neighborhoods.

All you do is cars the street, walked down the bike path. My parents' house was like three houses up and said. The friend group also often spent time at the prayer house. Lawrence parents, her mom in particular, just welcomed everybody with open arms and made sure that they were fed. So I have a lot of very vivid memories of you

Jean and Lauren and I at Lauren's parents' house. My mom was just open door, totally took him in. And he came to my parents' house and I wasn't even home yet. She loved him. She adored him. Dinners, barbecues, breakfast. We went on vacation together with all of us.

And so he was at some point part of our family. So here you are. This is a night of prom. Correct. That's me. That's Eugene. We had a great evening. We had fun.

We stayed up all night and it was a beautiful evening. How serious was that relationship? There were couples, and then there was Eugene and Lauren type of couple. They were on like a different level. It was Eugene and Lauren, not just Eugene. He wasn't hanging out with Lauren. Let's go hang out with Eugene and Lauren. I mean, I loved him back then.

I really did. He was gentle with me. It's like, we got a scuffle with any guys from like a different school, and like there was any kind of altercation. he would be one of the last people you want to have your back. Not really a fighter. No, not a fighter at all, you know. Eugene and Lauren dated throughout high school

and then continued dating when Lauren went to college. After five years together, they broke up. And why did you guys break up? We were so young. We'd been together for too long. We just had a talk, and we both kind of agreed. It's time to go our separate ways. Yeah.

Did you guys keep in touch after that? No. About two years after their breakup, Lauren's mother was killed. Fast forward to 2024, when detectives determined that Eugene Gleegor is a first cousin twice removed from the genetic genealogy match in Romania. But for the police, that doesn't necessarily make him the killer. Why would he do this? There wasn't much to make him a suspicious person. Nothing raised flags to say, hey, this guy's a killer. But when detectives look back at the case file, something in there catches their eye. And it just

This is one of those loose ends that was never tied up. As detectives look into the history of Eugene Gleegor, a particular day stands out to them from over two decades ago, Leslie Prier's funeral. Beautiful day outside, big church. Just the amount of people there, amount of friends. from high school that were there in support for Lauren. It was very well attended. But not present among the throngs of people,

Lauren's long-term ex-boyfriend, Eugene Gleegor. I remember asking Lauren specifically, I was like, well, where is Eugene? And her saying to me that it was too much for him to handle. And I just remember me so upset, just being, are you kidding me? That's the excuse me, that's the most selfish thing I've ever heard. and it just rubbed me so wrong.

It was like, why the hell is Eugene not here? The detectives discover a traffic ticket Gleegor had received during that time and find out that a few days after the murder at the same time as the funeral, he took a long, unplanned road trip to see a friend in Portland, Oregon. Eugene decided he didn't want to go

and instead took a cross-country trip all of a sudden to Portland, Oregon. It made no sense. As part of their investigation, detectives would later interview Eugene's brother Andre and learn that he and his parents did attend the funeral. Andre also knew the prayer family. Did you ever meet Lauren's parents lovely Carl? Yes, yes.

Had you ever been to their house? Yes. The only times I went to their house was in the context of Penn City. Okay. Do you remember the dog? I do. Rumor? Yes.

Yes. Yes. Did he mention that he was in the memorial? He mentioned that he was in town or out of town or anything like that. Can you mention anything because I had to talk to him? We know that he was out of town and we thought that was a little bit peculiar because, you know, if you're a girlfriend's mother got murdered. That's very serious.

I would definitely want to, you know, be there. And obviously you thought he'd be compelled to out. So that's one of the main things that we're kind of confused about. In the case file, Detective C, that nine months after Leslie's murder and in January 2002, a tip had come in about Eugene, who had been living with his mother after his parents' divorce. A lady that lived in the neighborhood where Eugene Gleegor lived, said,

I know that he used to date the victim's daughter. And he was getting in trouble in the neighborhood for noise complaints and just nuisance things where the police had come out there. And for some reason, he stuck out to her. And she said, I just want to let you guys know. Look at this guy. It was just a hunch.

She didn't have any specific evidence to point to he's the killer, but she just got a weird feeling about him and wanted to call in and give his information. So this neighbor calls it in, speaks with police. It's documented, but nothing happened. No, no. They weren't able to locate him, and it just is one of those, you know, loose ends that was never tied up. Eugene was not tested. He wasn't asked for his DNA.

It wasn't interviewed. It just sort of went away. They didn't have probable cause that would connect them in any way to the crime. He was an old boyfriend. And there was no indication that there had been animosity between him and the mom. Another person with the hunch about Eugene at the time,

Lauren's father, Sandy. He never liked him. He never liked him. Even though I was dating him, he thought there was always something off. And then after she was gone, he said, Do you think Eugene can be a part of this? I said, no.

Like, what are you talking about? But what remains unclear to investigators? Why would Eugene Gleegor commit a crime like this? As for Gleegor's run-ins with the law, they don't see anything violent enough to suggest he'd be capable of murder. Eugene did have some police interactions throughout the years. There were a couple of incident reports for thefts or burglaries

where he was listed as a suspect, but he was never charged. because either there wasn't enough evidence or the families decided not to go forward with anything. At some point, he had been charged with marijuana possession. And he had two other contacts with the criminal justice system, but nothing that would have indicated would have been involved in a violent crime.

So these findings didn't really paint a picture of a brutal murderer. No. Not at all. No. No. But then, detectives stumble upon something worrying. Okay. It was very scary, and I ended up calling the police. Now that kind of changes things to where, okay, he might be capable of actually killing someone. I ended up leaving that house that night.

I did not stay there again, because I was afraid of him. In the summer of 2024, 44-year-old Eugene Gleegor has no idea that his life is under the microscope of detectives Augustine and DuPoy. What was Eugene Glegoor doing with his life? He had kept jobs and was just kind of living under the radar life. In the years after high school, he worked in the restaurant industry in New York. At one point, as a matri-D at a Michelin-starred restaurant, then moved back to D.C., working in business development. He built a life for himself.

Married twice, divorced twice. He would host Super Bowl parties. He joined fantasy football leagues. Eugene's life was completely normal in all the tellings from the people who interacted with him. I met Eugene Gleegor in the summer of 2018. We both were working at the real estate technology startup. Eugene did business development and sales.

He was a very bubbly, friendly, gregarious person, you know, a classic salesperson, laughing, joking. He was a mentor, and I learned a lot from him, and I looked up to him, and he was my go-to person to ask for advice. Everyone in his life knew he struggled with alcohol. He was also really open about his journey to become sober and attending AA meetings. He had internalized a lot of self-help best practices, so to speak. I remember him telling me, you know, having control over your thoughts

and being able to see them as they come in and not just impulsively react to them is the first step toward being able to have control over your life. But detectives Augustine and DuPoy find something troubling in court records from 2021. So this is a petition for a protective order, and this was from his second wife after they got divorced. She describes in here an incident where Eugene came to collect his belongings without telling her.

Shea writes, Eugene is an addict and has two guns. His behavior has been erratic and scary for a couple of years off and on. I'm scared to be in my home. He is unpredictable. Eugene repeatedly calls me a whore and yells into my face. He throws objects, punches walls, and I fear for my safety when he has these outbursts. I am seeking protection from this verbal abuse and escalation. The petition for the protective order was ultimately denied by the court, which said there was no reasonable grounds to believe abuse as defined by the statute occurred.

Detectives would later speak to that ex-wife. He had moved out. He was supposed to let me know and get my approval before coming over and he just came in. And it was very scary. And I ended up calling the police. And I ended up leaving that house that night. did not stay there again because I was afraid of him. Yeah.

It was probably the only time that I was like, oh my God, like, this is really scary. So she was frightened. Yeah, yeah. She was afraid of something. She thought he might go after her. What stood out to you the most in this? It just showed a completely different side of him

that hadn't been exposed before. Once I saw that, okay, well, there is a propensity for violence, and now that kind of changes things to where, okay, he might be capable of actually killing someone. After detectives find that petition for a protective order, signs are pointing in the direction. Eugene Gleegor is their guy. But they need proof, especially since there are other males

in the Gleegor line. His brother did dog sit for them occasionally, so we knew his brother did have access to the house as well. When you were dog sitting for the careers, did you have a key to their house? You know, I don't remember. If Leslie gave me a key, that I would give her back, or whether the key was hidden somewhere.

That DNA could match to another Glegoor. Could have matched to Eugene's brother. It could have matched to somebody else in that family. And so they needed Eugene's DNA to confirm their suspicions. We figured, okay, well, if Eugene's DNA doesn't come back a match, then Andre's our next step. Now the challenge, collecting that DNA without Eugene suspecting. And we got information that he was actually overseas

and that he would be returning to the United States on a certain date and we have the flight information. When Eugene Gleegor arrived here at Dulles Airport in Virginia from an overseas trip in June of 2024, he may have thought he was just another anonymous track but it turns out investigators were watching and waiting. They knew he was flying in. They knew he was going to be a dullus,

so he's coming off the plane, and bam, there's some detectives there. They set up essentially a sting. They arranged for him to be pulled aside by customs for a special screening. They had arranged in the interview room several bottles of water, hoping that as he sat there, he would take one of them and they would have their DNA evidence. DNA evidence.

And that is when Eugene unknowingly takes the bait, drinks a bottle of water, and then leaves it there on the table. And after he leaves the room, detectives come in, take that bottle of water, and there they have his DNA. And then you get the call. And then my world was once again upside down. Hayes up! Hayes up!

What's going on? What is this to have? Eugene Gleegor finally confronted by police. I'm sure you're wondering what this is all about. I would really like to know. Finally, 23 years after the murder of Leslie Prier, there's a DNA match to the crime scene. DNA taken from a water bottle Eugene Gleegor drank from

Gore drank from and left here at Dulles Airport. Normally, these things take a lot more time, but the biology lab was great in getting us a quick answer. And so we obtained the sample on a Sunday and by Friday, we had a report saying that it was a match. It's a pretty joyful moment to realize you've got your guy. With Eugene's DNA confirmed, his brother Andre was officially eliminated as a suspect,

as was Lauren's father Sandy, who had died still under that cloud of suspicion. So at this point, we didn't want to alert Lauren and ask her any questions about him because we didn't want anybody to know that he was our suspect yet until we had him in the custody. He was actually living in Washington, D.C. at the time. So officers were sitting outside of his apartment waiting to see if they saw him leave so they could arrest him outside. And he came outside to drink coffee and hang out on his stoop. Hands off! So what's up?

What's what wrong with you? Hands by your back? It's going on. What is this you have? So what was his reaction? He was asking what it was about. Can you tell me what this is about? Yeah, you have a warrant.

For what? He acted like he had no idea. You got a warrant. My boss said to tell you everything about it, okay? It's all. I'll tell you he'll give you a copy of it. So you didn't know anything about this warrant? No.

Okay. I think he was completely surprised. The police wanted to catch him off guard. I don't think he had any idea they were going to be there. When did you call Lauren? So I called her as soon as we knew he was in custody. I said, we have someone under arrest for your mom's murder. It's Eugene Gleegor.

And I almost fainted. What goes through your mind? I was in shock. I'm still in shock. Total shock. Just what? And she goes, he's actually under arrest right now. You have a seat right there.

You can take the cuss off and just change his ankle. I do. Hi, Eugene. Hello. I am Detective McGrathen. This is Detective DeKoy. Hi there. From Montgomery County.

So when we talked to him, I'm sure you're wondering what this is all about. I would really like to know. This has been really hard. He was inquisitive. inquisitive at first and answered some questions. We were working on a case that came from Chevy Chase. And do you recall back in 2001 Leslie Prier?

Yes, that she was murdered, yeah. Yes, okay. So that's the case that we are investigating. You went to BCC with her daughter at the time? Correct. Is that correct? Okay. And what was your relationship with Morin, the daughter? We had dated. Like, were you still in touch with Lauren when this stuff happened to her mom?

Um, no, we had broken up a couple years before. But once confronted with some evidence, he completely changed his attitude. We actually have a sample of your DNA, and it was compared to the crime scene DNA, and it matched. So we know that you were there at the time when Leslie died. But I never gave a sample of DNA. That's correct. We obtained a sample of DNA. We obtained a sample from a discarded water bottle, and it was compared.

So your DNA matches the crime scene DNA. I don't know what to say. I have no recollection. I have no memory. I have no... I don't know what to say. We tried to get any information from him, any explanation of how or why this could have happened.

Only two people know what happened. two people know what happened that day, you know, he and Leslie, and Leslie can't speak for herself. We can tell you more about, you know, what we think happened. I don't, I mean, what you think happened? I don't know. I can't verify. I don't know. I don't recall. I don't have any memory. I didn't do anything that you're talking about, so I don't know. And I don't feel like I can... I don't know how to answer it going to... I don't want to incriminate myself with questions.

You guys are professionals? I'm not. I don't know. I really do think I need an attorney. Okay. That's fine. We're not going to ask you any more questions. There's no tears coming out of your face.

I'm very dry right now. You're dry? I'm very dry. I'm harsh, like, dehydrated. You can probably see my eyes are bloodshot red because I'm just tired and drained. I know what's going on. You want me to drink water so I can tear?

I don't want you to tear. I just don't want you to say. I'm just trying to say that this seems a little put on. Are you kidding me? Are you fucking kidding me? No. He was putting on a bit of a show, being emotional, and just acting like he doesn't understand

how this could have happened. In your eyes, it's guilty until proven innocent. I get it. Well, honey, your DNA was in the crime scene. That's why, like... But I don't remember. I don't know. I don't know.

I don't know. What we're trying to figure out is how your blood was at the scene that day. Could it have been, you know, an interrupted burglary. Did something happen where you didn't expect anybody to be home? I have no idea. I don't remember. I don't recall. He just kept saying, I don't remember, I don't remember, I don't remember.

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 do it. Oh, I didn't do it. I definitely didn't do it. Like, this is absolutely. That's why we wanted to talk to you. I don't know why your blood is there also. I don't know. Wow.

that knows is Leslie and she can't tell us. He was very much wanting to be the victim in the situation and it was very, very clear that we weren't buying it. I'm trying to give you an opportunity to be a little bit forthcoming before we... I mean, I feel very... I feel a little bit trapped here, like... Well, you're under arrest, so you should be trapped.

Did you think this moment would come? Yeah, I had hoped it would. I didn't think it was going to be him. I thought it was a random person. in person, and when you figure out the relationship to the family, it makes it even worse, because he betrayed any kind of, like, loyalty or relationship and trust that he had with the family. I have been a television reporter for a very long time now, and this is one of the crimes, homicides, murders, that I never forgot about over the years.

And so to ultimately hear on that day that they had made the arrest, was, even for me, stunning. This case remained open for 23 years. Until now, Montgomery County State's Attorney John McCarthy speaking this afternoon moments after this man, 44-year-old Eugene Glygor, now charged with first-degree murder. Like this copacetic, zen person who had been through AA and had all this advice and had taught me a lot,

murdered someone? I couldn't wrap my head around. Like, it just, I think, brings a sense of confusion and betrayal. When you guys were together, did you ever feel unsafe at all around him? Never. At no point. And you were together for a number of years. Yeah. But you never felt as though you were in any danger.

Never. Never. Not once. It was very violent. It's so not what I ever knew of Eugene. We take a breath and then you gear up for helping to prepare for trial and that's the next step because we, you know, we have him in custody, but we have to convince 12 people on a jury that he is the murderer. Investigators know Eugene Gleegor is not going down without a fight. He was adamant that he was fighting it and that he was going to, you know, be out in a few months and everything was going to be fine. But even before they get to trial, there's an unexpected twist. I just could not believe it.

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as we go behind the scenes with some of the amazing actors, writers, and crew from season five. The audience should never stop suspecting anything. How can you not be funny crawling around on a coffin? No, that's true. Catch Only Murders in the Building official podcast. Now streaming. Wherever you get your podcasts

and watch only murders in the building. Streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney Plus for bundle subscribers. Terms apply. With Eugene Gleegleegor in custody, the state starts preparing its case. This is when they track down the people from his past who were closest to him,

starting with his ex-wives. Okay. He has two ex-wives, and both of them, kind of reiterated that he was a completely different person when he would drink. When we met, I had no experience with addiction in my life, and so I didn't recognize what it was. But within about two months, I was like something's wrong, but he was an alcoholic and he would drink and then pass out. And it was just a mess and it was really very, very sad.

And that they oftentimes feared for his own safety when he would drink because he would be very reckless. Was he like a danger to himself? like saying he would harm himself or just being impulsive going out drinking and driving or what kind of stuff second okay okay we definitely started taking two different directions where my friend was making celery juice and his was hiding a bottle under you know inch encounter while working kind of thing but he did really good job of i guess juggle and hiding at it got to a point with both of them that they ended up getting divorced because of his substance abuse issues detectives then interview Eugene's brother Andre, who is shocked.

I'm sure it's very hard, and we understand that this is a difficult, you know, predicament that you're in. I don't even know what to say. It's just, it's beyond shocking. Detectives learned that Andre feared his brother may not only steal from him, but also interfere with his life. There's anything else that made you fearful of him? I was concerned or scared that he was going to start. was going to sort of sabotage my life. According to detectives, Andre was living in a townhouse owned by their mother.

And with Eugene's recent separation in 2021, Andre feared Eugene might do something to get him kicked out. He was sort of posturing and maneuvering to come after my living situation that he wanted me to get kicked out of where I live. So that's why I felt threatened by him. And I just had a gut feeling that perhaps he was. Could be dangerous.

Andre would tell police that he was so unsettled about his brother Eugene, he actually reached out to Lauren Prere. As I reached out to somebody who I thought knew him, his character, not recent character, but from the past. I wanted to sort of confirm or deny my gut. And so that's why I messrs. Warren, I didn't really get an answer. Do you remember what that means that you wrote to her? I just basically said, you know, I feel like my brother dislikes me. Some days I'm scared of him.

Should I trust my instinct or am I going crazy? The picture that was painted for us was that he tended to be manipulative in his relationships according to these people. And he would always try to make himself the victim and at the expense of other people. In my mind, he would put one persona out there, but behind closed doors, he was a different person.

The case against him, I think, was rock solid. He did this crime. That was not going to ever be the issue. The issue was going to be is at first degree, second degree manslaughter. Then with the trial approaching, there's a surprising announcement. Gleegor agrees to plead guilty to second degree murder. Were you both surprised that he pled guilty? I was.

Now he's saying that he's responsible for it and that he's pleading guilty because he is in fact guilty. What was your reaction to them? Thank God. You didn't want to go to trial? No. That would have been hell. Call in criminal, KC, 15-0-24-870,

State of Maryland versus Eugene Teodorovigore. Sir, are you pleading guilty here today freely and voluntarily? Yes, Your Honor. Are you pleading guilty because you do believe that you were guilty of second-degree murder? Yes, Your Honor. Did he look at you? No, nothing.

He didn't look at anybody. But he knew. I know he saw us. Did he seem remorseful at all? No, nothing. He sat there and just stared, basically stared down. Based on all of this evidence, what do you think happened to Leslie that morning when she was killed?

I think that Eugene was breaking into the house, thinking no one was home, and he encountered Leslie. And knowing that she would recognize him and he would get in trouble, I think that he just panicked and only thought about himself and made a selfish decision to kill Leslie in the heat of the moment just so he could get away. Knowing your mom so well, what do you think her reaction was

when she saw Eugene? I think she was probably in shock, and I think she was like, you know, Lauren's not here. What's going on? And then I think he got scared because he was in the house and she saw his face and knew exactly who he was. And then he freaked out.

And she ran for her life. It took her into the shower, thinking that the DNA was going to be gone. But it wasn't. None of her fingernails. And then there was blood in the house. It was horrifying. It's terrifying. It's haunting.

Your ex-boyfriend killed your mother. Yes. Literally. And the fact that someone I knew that I dated went to prom with. It's insane. And then... He almost got away with it. He almost got away with it.

I think the burning question right now that everyone wants to know is why. Like, why did it have to result in murder? Do you think you'll get answers from him in the sentencing? If he wants to talk. Thank you, Your Honor, and Your Honor, make no mistake about it. Today is a day of recommending for this defendant who, for 23 years, hid in plain sight. And just two weeks ago, what Eugene Gleegor had to say in court.

At this time, Mr. Gleegor, you do have the absolute right to address the court before I sentence you in this matter. If there is anything that you would like to say to the court, now is your opportunity to do. Your Honor, yes, I would. The day has finally come for Eugene Legore to be sentenced after pleading guilty to murdering Leslie Prier. But for those who knew her, there are still so many unanswered questions. I want to know why you were so violent to this woman. What snapped in you? Many family members are present today here in the courtroom for the honor of the memory.

They're also here to finally see justice done after 24 years. Before Gleegor is sentenced, Lauren gets the opportunity to speak directly to him. Why would you kill my mom? She was the sweet as long to say that she never judged anyone. Your own officer, Oakville, who keeps closing. All right, well, thank you very much. Mr. Gleegor, if there is anything that you would like to say to the court, now is your opportunity to do so. Your Honor, I want to express my deepest regret, shame, and remorse for the devastating tragedy that I caused.

And to help back up that remorse, Gleegor's defense submitted a pre-sentencing memorandum that included these photos of him smiling, along. alongside Lauren, saying after their breakup, there was no animosity between them. And he only had positive memories of Leslie Prier. I'm sorry it's taken me this long to take full responsibility. I'm grateful the time has come. I'm relieved the secret is over. I had many blackouts leading up to the evening of May 1st in the morning of May 2nd, 2001.

But none that resulted in the most regretful and devastating event of my life. Although in court, Gleegor said that most of the day was a blur, a memorandum filed by prosecutors prior to the sentencing quoted a more specific account from Gleegor, saying on May 1st, 2001, Mr. Gleegor remembered drinking both shots and mixed drinks. He stated that he vaguely remembered driving to work and stopping off at the prayer house around 9.30 a.m. on May 2, 2001. a vague memory of going into the house, and he and Mrs. Pryor having some sort of physical altercation. He does not recall placing her in the shower or trying to clean up the crime scene. The Lauren and Leslie's family, I'm so sorry for causing you so much misery and hardship. After Eugene Gleegor's statement, the judge sentenced him to 22 years in prison with five years of supervised probation. Our Maryland Bureau Chief Brad Bell is joining us now live, first tonight.

and he's been covering this case since we learned that Leslie Prier's murderer was identified. Yeah, a lot of emotions at play in the courtroom. The family finally today able to stand around this picture and take a family portrait and say they are thankful for some amazing detective work. This is a history-making case. I want to thank the family. There's no closure in these cases, but the sentence given by the judge was appropriate. You heard him speak today?

What do you think? John says no remorse. I think it's the Eugene show in his mind, and I think it's the same thing over and over. I don't believe anything he says. I can't believe it's over. It's been so long. Almost 25 years.

I'm 48 years old. I thought I was going to die without knowing. And it's over. It's over. We did it. Thank God. Thank you. We all had these questions of who did.

it for years and you know now we finally have an answer and some kind of idea to allow us carry on with their lives with Gleegor now behind bars Lauren Prier finally has some answers but they're answers that came too late for her father Sandy how do you process that knowing that he passed a few years ago and it was so close to seeing this day I have pictures of them in the guest bedroom and I talked to them and I said I wish you had been here I said daddy thank you for being such a wonderful father and I'm so sorry that you didn't get to see justice but you're getting justice she seemed like a wonderful wonderful mom she was smart she was beautiful she's an incredible human being yeah she was my angel we should point out tonight that eugene gleegore could be

eligible for parole after serving just half of the 22 years he's already filed a motion asking for the court to reconsider his sentence. David, as for Lauren Prier, she tells us there are no words to express her gratitude to those two cold case detectives who never gave up on bringing her mother's killer to justice. That's our program for tonight. Thanks so much for watching. I'm Deborah Roberts. And I'm David Muir from all of us here at 2020 and ABC News.

Good night. I'm Dennis Cooper, host of Culpable, and I want to tell you about this case I've been following in a small Ohio town. When 17-year-old Danny Violet stormed out of his house one afternoon in 1998, his family thought it was just another episode of teenage angst. But their worst fears materialized when his lifeless, asphyxiated body was later found in a nearby cornfield. The question remains, what happened to Danny?

From Tenderfoot TV, an all-new season of Culpable is available now.