Man Accused of Murdering Pregnant Wife Fled to Italy. Now Italian Court Rules He Can Be Extradited on Lesser Charge
Lee Gilley; Christa Bauer GilleyCredit: Christa Bauer Gilley/Facebook
An Italian court has partially granted a request from the U.S. government to extradite Lee Gilley back to the states
Authorities accuse Gilley of killing his pregnant wife and then fleeing to Italy to avoid prosecution
He asked for asylum, telling an Italian judge he chose to flee to the country because of its stance against the death penalty
An Italian court has partially granted a request from the U.S. government to extradite a Texas man, who is accused of killing his pregnant wife and fleeing to Italy, back to the states.
The court denied extradition for capital murder but has granted the extradition of Lee Gilley for a lesser charge of murder, Click 2 Houston reported.
According to KHOU-11, Italy, which has abolished the death penalty, refuses to extradite people charged with capital murder.
In July, the Italian court temporarily blocked the U.S. government’s extradition request for Gilley, who was charged with capital murder in the October 2024 strangulation death of his pregnant wife Christa Bauer Gilley.
The Italian court has sought assurances from U.S. officials that Gilley would not face the death penalty or a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole if he was brought back to the U.S., PEOPLE previously reported.
Lee Mongerson Gilley in the 497th District Court on Oct. 17, 2024, in Houston, Texas.Credit: Melissa Phillip/Houston Chronicle via Getty
In September, the Harris County District Attorney’s Office said they would not seek the death penalty, according to KHOU-11.
“It’s kind of a complicated ruling,” Gilley’s attorney Dick DeGuerin told Houston Public Radio. “Basically, it says that they refused extradition for capital murder but granted extradition for the lesser offense of murder, which carries a wide range of punishment.”
In Texas, a suspect convicted of capital murder can face the death penalty or life in prison without parole. For a murder conviction, a suspect can expect a maximum sentence of life with the possibility of parole, Houston Public Radio reported.
DeGuerin told KHOU-11 that Gilley’s attorneys and prosecutors have 15 days to appeal.
On May 1, Gilley cut off his ankle monitor and fled to Milan, according to a federal criminal complaint. There, he provided immigration officials with a fake Belgian passport and was subsequently denied entry and taken into immigration custody.
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Gilley asked for asylum, telling a judge he chose to flee to Italy because of the country’s stance against the death penalty.
The Harris County District Attorney’s Office had not said they would seek the death penalty.
The case came to light on Oct. 7, 2024 when Gilley contacted police to report his wife, Christa Bauer Gilley, who was nine weeks pregnant at the time, had taken her own life through a drug overdose in their Houston home. She was taken to a hospital where she was pronounced dead the following day.
Gilley was arrested days later after her death was ruled a homicide due to compression of the neck. He was granted a $1 million bond the same month, conditioned on surrendering his passport and wearing an ankle monitor.
At a May 11 hearing in Italy, he claimed that he had been unjustly blamed for his wife’s death.
“That is why I lost faith in the justice system,” he said. “I am innocent. I did not kill anyone. The only crime I committed was fleeing.”
Source: Crime
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