A Texas man accused of killing his pregnant wife cut off his ankle monitor and fled to Italy just before his trial began, his attorney said.
Lee Mongerson Gilley, 39, who is charged with murdering his wife, Christa Bauer Gilley, in Houston in 2024, was due to appear in court on Tuesday but instead flew to Italy, where he is now in custody.
Gilley flew from Texas to Canada and then Italy — and told authorities there he was seeking asylum because he was being “wrongfully prosecuted” and feared he could face the death penalty, his lawyer Dick DeGuerin revealed Monday.
“I’m concerned that the prosecution will try to say that it’s evidence of consciousness of guilt that he’s running from it, but I think he’s just scared,” DeGuerin told KPRC.
Christa Baur Gilley was nine weeks pregnant when her husband allegedly killed her and her unborn baby by “applying pressure to [her] neck and upper back” on Oct. 7, 2024, according to charging documents obtained by People Magazine.
Lee Mongerson Gilley initially told police that she overdosed and he had tried to save her with CPR. However, a medical examiner confirmed there were signs of strangulation and ruled her death a homicide.
The couple had been arguing before she died, police allege.
He’s been out of jail on a $1 million bond since Oct. 21, 2024 but was required to wear an ankle monitor. On Friday, authorities were notified when the device alerted it had been tampered with.
The trial was slated to begin next month, and prosecutors said in a filing just weeks ago that Gilley had an affair with a woman in 2023.
While he was out on bond last year, he and the woman discussed “a detailed plan” for removing his GPS monitor, running off for Mexico and getting married, prosecutors claim.
“The Defendant also inquired as to whether she knew of a Mexican identity he could acquire to facilitate his departure from the country,” the document said.
Texas has to confirm with authorities in Italy, where the death penalty has been abolished since 1889, that Gilley is not subject to the death penalty, which prosecutors never said they were seeking, according to DeGuerin.
Officials are working to have him returned to the US, he added.
