HOUSTON (Court TV) — A man who fled to Italy after he was charged with killing his wife can return home, but only because Texas prosecutors have agreed to lesser charges in his case.
Lee Gilley is charged with murder in the death of his wife, Christa Gilley. (Law & Crime)
Lee Gilley, 39, was initially charged with capital murder in the death of his wife, Christa Gilley, 38. Lee Gilley was free on bond awaiting trial, scheduled to start in May, when he allegedly cut off his ankle monitor and fled the country.
Prosecutors say the defendant killed his wife, who was nine weeks pregnant, and then tried to frame her death as a suicide. A medical examiner ruled that her cause of death was compression of the neck and upper back.
Lee Gilley also faces federal charges after investigators said he cut his ankle monitor off, fled his home on a bicycle and then took a private jet to Canada before flying into Milan under the name “Lejeune Jean Luc Olivier.” Italian authorities took him into custody after suspecting his documents were forged; at that point, the defendant sought asylum.
Italian authorities refused to extradite Lee Gilley on the charge of capital murder. In Texas, the penalty for the charge is either the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole — neither of which is a punishment legally allowable in Italy. After an extradition hearing, an Italian judge denied extradition for capital murder, but allowed extradition for the lesser charge of murder.
In Texas, a charge of murder carries a penalty of five to 99 years, but offenders can become eligible for parole.
Lee Gilley’s attorney, Dick DeGuerin, confirmed the latest developments to Court TV, but said he has no timeline for when his client is expected to return. DeGuerin said Italian authorities told him they plan to appeal the extradition ruling, but he could not say what relief they seek.
Once he returns to the United States, Lee Gilley will face the federal charges and a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by Christa Gilley’s family that seeks more than $1 million in damages.
