Italy has granted part of a United States request to extradite Texas murder suspect Lee Gilley, accused of killing his pregnant wife in 2024 and then leaving the country while free on bond.
In an Oct. 19 order, an Italian judge denied extradition for capital murder and approved his return for the lesser charge of murder, according to a filing reviewed by KPRC 2 News and reporting by the Italian newspaper la Repubblica, as translated by USA TODAY. The court of appeals also set a condition that Gilley, who Harris County records show is 40, would be charged only with the murder of his wife and not with the death of the fetus.
Christa Bauer Gilley, 38, was pregnant with her third child when authorities allege her husband killed her in Houston. Court documents show he was due to appear for trial in Harris County on May 29 and did not appear. Last month, Texas said it would not seek the death penalty. Under Texas law, capital murder for an adult is punishable by death or life without parole, while murder carries a maximum of life in prison with the possibility of parole.
A May 5 filing in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas says Gilley fled to avoid prosecution. A U.S. Marshals Service deputy said he cut off a court-ordered ankle monitor on May 1 and flew to Italy, where he was arrested. Milan Border Police stopped him at the airport after he presented a passport and other Belgian identification documents that were later found to be forged. While awaiting deportation, he told officials his real identity and said he was due to be tried in the United States for killing his wife. U.S. officials also charged him with interstate flight to avoid prosecution.
On May 11, Gilley appeared before Judge Marta Sterpos of the Turin Court of Appeal. La Repubblica and NBC News reported that he said he left the United States to seek a fair trial and denied killing his wife. Asked about moving abroad, he said he chose Europe for its legal guarantees and Italy because public opinion there strongly opposes the death penalty. He asked for protection, said he had been wrongly accused, and said the only crime he committed was running away to avoid being killed.
In July, the Italian appeals court temporarily blocked extradition. Judges had sought assurances that Gilley would not face the death penalty or life imprisonment without parole if returned. According to a Council of Europe fact sheet, Italy is one of 45 European countries that have abolished the death penalty.
USA TODAY contacted defense attorney Ed McClees and Tim Ballengee, attorney for the victim's family. Both said a Harris County gag order limits what they can tell the media. Ballengee said Bauer's family was devastated to learn the defendant had fled the United States. He said they look forward to his return for a fair trial that will hold him accountable and provide justice for Christa and her unborn child, and that the family struggled to see the accused man free on bond before a trial he then tried to avoid.
On Oct. 22, Harris County District Attorney's Office spokesperson Rafael Lemaitre told USA TODAY that a gag order prevented him from commenting on the pending case or saying whether prosecutors planned to reduce the capital murder charge.
Houston police said officers were sent to a home after a report of a suicide. Gilley told police he had found his wife unresponsive. Paramedics took her to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Hospital staff reported bruising and apparent trauma to her face. An autopsy by the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences ruled the death a homicide caused by compression of the neck and found she was about eight weeks pregnant. Charges were filed on Oct. 11, 2024. He was booked into the Harris County jail and released six days later on $1 million bond.