A Texas man, weeks away from standing trial for the loss of life of his pregnant wife, confirmed up in Italy this month with what a US prison criticism says was a faux passport and cast paperwork. When Italian authorities confronted him, he proclaimed his innocence of the killing and requested them not to send him back.
Lee Gilley, charged with homicide within the 2024 deaths of his wife and her unborn youngster, was arrested by border police in Milan final week, having flown to Italy after American authorities say he minimize off his court-ordered GPS ankle monitor in Texas.
He appeared in a courtroom in Turin, Italy, on Monday sporting denims and a white T-shirt, making his case for asylum within the strongly anti-death penalty nation.
Gilley, 39, advised the judge he was wrongly accused of his wife’s loss of life. He stated he not has religion within the US justice system and the one crime he dedicated was working away to keep away from the loss of life penalty in Texas, in accordance to Italian media reviews and his lawyer.
The listening to wasn’t an extradition continuing; it was to validate Gilley’s arrest per Italian legislation. The courtroom did so Monday, permitting Italy to hold him in jail till an extradition listening to is requested.
It is unclear whether or not prosecutors in Texas plan to search the loss of life penalty in Gilley’s case or whether or not authorities will file for extradition. The Harris County Attorney General’s workplace declined to remark, citing a May 8 gag order positioned on the case by a district courtroom judge after Gilley fled the nation.
On October 7, 2024, law enforcement officials responded to a name round 11:30 p.m. within the prosperous Houston neighborhood of Houston Heights, about 4 miles northwest of downtown. The name was from Gilley, who stated his pregnant wife, Christa Gilley, “was non-responsive,” in accordance to courtroom paperwork.
Houston Fire Department medics transported Christa Gilley to the Memorial Hermann Greater Heights Hospital, however she was pronounced useless about three hours later, in accordance to courtroom paperwork.
A pathologist with Harris County decided October 9 that Christa Gilley’s trigger of loss of life was “compression of the neck and upper back,” and an arrest warrant was issued for her husband two days later, on October 11, 2024.
Gilley’s trial was initially scheduled for May 29, 2026, in Harris County. He was granted a $1 million bond, in accordance to courtroom data, and launched October 17, 2024. A judge ordered that bond be forfeited after Gilley fled to Italy.
NCS has been in contact with an legal professional for Lee Gilley however he declined to remark as a result of of the gag order.
Just how Gilley made his approach from Texas to Canada, and on to Italy, is unclear. The federal prison criticism says he landed in Milan on Air Canada Flight 894, which originates in Toronto with a cease in Montreal.
NCS has reached out to the US Marshals Service and Houston Police Department for particulars, however within the federal criticism calling Gilley “a fugitive wanted for the felony offense of capital murder resulting in the death of Christa Gilley and one unborn child,” the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas outlines a number of key dates.
On May 1, Gilley minimize off his court-ordered GPS ankle monitor and fled the US, in accordance to the criticism.
He landed at Milano Malpensa Airport on May 3 however border police detained him after he introduced a cast Belgian passport and different documentation, figuring out him as “Lejeune Jean Luc Olivier.”
In Italian custody, Gilley divulged his id and advised authorities there he was awaiting trial within the United States for the homicide of his wife.
On May 4, in accordance to the criticism, Interpol knowledgeable US authorities that Gilley was in custody in Italy, and the following day, the US Attorney’s Office charged him with interstate flight to keep away from prosecution.
Gilley filed for political asylum in Italy, in accordance to native reviews. At Monday’s listening to his lawyer, Monica Grosso, stated that though US prosecutors haven’t stated they’ll pursue the loss of life penalty, the truth that his capital homicide trial shall be in Texas – now scheduled to start June 5 – means they might.
Texas executed 5 folks in 2025 and as of May 2026, has executed three folks, in accordance to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
Grosso declined to give NCS a formal assertion when contacted Monday in Italy.
A formal extradition treaty between the United States and Italy dates to 1983, however beneath Italian law, the nation will not extradite folks to a nation the place they face the loss of life penalty.
Grosso cited the greater than 30-year-old case of Pietro Venezia, accused of killing a Florida state tax collector in 1993 who had frozen his financial institution accounts. Venezia, an Italian citizen, fled to Italy and was arrested there, however the Italian Constitutional Court stated the US-Italy extradition treaty did not provide sufficient ensures Venezia can be spared the loss of life penalty, regardless of guarantees by American authorities, the Associated Press reported in 1996.
The look forward to a courtroom date for these searching for political asylum in Italy is presently greater than 4 years after formal software, in accordance to the Interior Ministry. The backlog is due to the extraordinary quantity of irregular migrants who attain the nation every year.
It is unclear whether or not Gilley can be given a fast-track listening to, a spokesperson for the ministry advised NCS. Political prisoners, refugees from Gaza, and other people coming from lively conflict zones are given precedence, the spokesperson stated. Double murder suspects aren’t a frequent class, she added.