🚨 “HE CUT OFF HIS ANKLE MONITOR AND VANISHED” — Texas Fugitive Accused of Killing Pregnant Wife Found in Italy

Lee Gilley, the Texas man who fled to Italy this month to seek asylum weeks before he was scheduled to stand trial in the 2024 killing of his pregnant wife, Christa Bauer Gilley, could face extradition back to the U.S.

On May 1, Gilley, 39, who was out on bond, cut off his ankle monitor that he was required to wear and fled the country, according to a federal criminal complaint that accuses him of interstate flight to avoid prosecution. Gilley traveled to Milan on an Air Canada flight and landed on May 3, the complaint says. He had been traveling under the name Lejeune Jean Luc Olivier. He showed immigration officials Belgian identification documents that were found to be forged and, while awaiting deportation, he disclosed his true idenтιтy and that he was going to go on trial for the murder of his wife. He has claimed asylum in Italy.

At a hearing in Turin, Italy, on Monday, May 11, Gilley said he sought out the country because of its opposition to the death penalty and professed his innocence. To date, the Harris County District Attorney’s Office has not announced plans to seek the death penalty.

The Texas judge overseeing Gilley’s case has issued a gag order, limiting what Gilley’s attorneys and prosecutors can publicly say. Prior to the gag order, a spokesperson for the district attorney’s office told PEOPLE it is coordinating with U.S. and Italian authorities to secure Gilley’s return to stand trial.

Here’s a timeline of the case, including events the district attorney’s office listed as evidence last month in a pretrial filing.

Lee and Christa Gilley on their wedding day, Jan. 28, 2017.

Hyer PH๏τography

2023: Prosecutors have alleged in a pretrial court filing that they intend to present evidence at trial that Gilley had a 𝒔𝒆𝒙𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝒶𝒻𝒻𝒶𝒾𝓇 with a woman in San Diego in or around 2023.

March 18, 2024: Prosecutors have also alleged in the pretrial court filing that Gilley posted on Reddit that he was “bored” in his marriage and “seeking a college-aged female for a friends-with-benefits arrangement.”

Police outside the Gilleys’ house in Houston.

Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle/Getty

Oct. 7, 2024: Gilley called 911 on the evening of Oct. 7, 2024, to say Christa had taken her own life through a 𝒹𝓇𝓊𝑔 overdose in their home in Houston, according to court documents. He claimed he had performed CPR. Court documents also indicate that he later told police Christa was not suicidal and did not use drugs. Responding officers found Christa unresponsive and she was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced ᴅᴇᴀᴅ on Oct. 8, 2024. Christa, 38, was nine weeks pregnant, court documents state. Gilley purchased a new SUV on Oct. 7, 2024 without her consent, prosecutors say, which led the two to argue later that day before he claimed to have found her unresponsive.

Oct. 11, 2024: After a Harris County medical examiner ruled Christa’s death a homicide caused by compression of the neck and back, Gilley was arrested on a capital murder charge in the death of Christa and their unborn child. Houston police said in a statement announcing his arrest that staff at the hospital where Christa was pronounced ᴅᴇᴀᴅ indicated she had bruising and apparent trauma to her face.

Lee Gilley in court in 2024.

Melissa Phillip/Houston Chronicle/Getty

Oct. 17, 2024: Gilley was released on a $1 million bond. He was required to surrender his pᴀssport and to wear an ankle monitor.

April 2025 to May 2025: Between April and May 2025, prosecutors allege in a pretrial court filing, Gilley communicated with the woman he is alleged to have had an 𝒶𝒻𝒻𝒶𝒾𝓇 with in 2023 about plans to flee to other countries and discussed how to remove his ankle monitor. He also raised the possibility of marriage to obtain a new idenтιтy and asked whether she knew of a Mexican idenтιтy he could ᴀssume to escape the U.S., prosecutors allege.

May 1, 2026: Gilley cut off his court-ordered ankle monitor and fled the U.S., according to the federal criminal complaint against him. Harris County Pretrial Services received an automated alert and unsuccessfully attempted

to contact Gilley.

May 3, 2026: Gilley landed at the Milano Malpensa Airport in Milan and showed immigration officials Belgian identification documents that were found to be forged, according to the federal criminal complaint. He had been traveling under the name Lejeune Jean Luc Olivier, according to state and federal authorities. Faced with deportation, he told Italian authorities his real name and that he was awaiting trial in the U.S. for his wife’s murder.

May 4, 2026: The prosecution, defense and Judge Peyton Peebles, who is presiding over Gilley’s state case, found out Monday, May 4, that Gilley was in Italy. His escape has been “devastating” to Christa’s family, according to their attorney, Tim Ballengee. “The Bauers are profoundly disappointed by the breakdown of the system,” Ballengee said. “They were hoping to have the trial and to have him held accountable.”

May 12, 2026: Gilley professed his innocence to a judge at a court in Turin, Italy, as he pleaded for asylum. “I ran away to avoid being killed and to escape the relentless media persecution,” Gilley said, in part, in the Italian court. “I worked very hard to escape and request protection in Italy.”

“I did not 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁 my wife,” he also said. “I fled because I was afraid of being killed.” Monica Grosso, Gilley’s attorney in Italy, told reporters he maintained his innocence and had no known ties to Italy.