A Texas man who cut off his ankle monitor and fled to Europe using a fake name and passport after he was accused of strangling his pregnant wife in 2024 told a courtroom in Italy that he is innocent.
Lee Gilley, who is seeking asylum in Italy, appeared Monday at the Palace of Justice for a hearing in connection with his May 3 arrest in Milan. Turin Court of Appeals Judge Marta Sterpos asked Gilley whether he consented to extradition to the U.S. or wanted the international protection application process to proceed.
“I do not consent,” Gilley told the judge, before making unsolicited statements about his wife’s death.
“My wife is dead, and they wrongly blamed me. That’s why I no longer have faith in the justice system. I am innocent. I did not kill my wife,” he said. “The only crime I committed was fleeing. I fled to avoid being killed. I went to great lengths to escape and seek protection in Italy.”
Gilley’s wife, Christa Gilley, 38, was found unresponsive in the couple’s Houston home on Oct. 7, 2024, after police received a call about a suicide, officials said. She was pronounced dead at the hospital the following day, according to court documents.
Hospital staff noticed bruising and “apparent trauma to her face,” police previously said. Her death was determined to be a homicide due to compression of the neck. An autopsy revealed that she was about eight weeks pregnant at the time.
Lee Gilley was arrested on Oct. 11, 2024, on a charge of capital murder, but was released on bond days later.
According to court documents, Gilley was scheduled to appear in a Texas court later this month for trial, but on May 1 he cut off his court-ordered GPS ankle monitor and fled the country.
Last week, Interpol Washington received information that Gilley had been apprehended and placed in immigration custody upon landing at Milan Malpensa Airport on an Air Canada flight. The court filing states that he had been traveling under the pseudonym “Lejeune Jean Luc Oliver” and had used a passport and other Belgian identification documents, which were found to be false and forged.
While awaiting deportation, Gilley disclosed his true identity and said he was awaiting trial in the U.S. for the murder of his wife, according to the documents.
In court Monday, Gilley told the judge that he would like to remain in Italy “because of the lifestyle, the culture, the international protection, and to receive a fair trial.”
“Did you want to move to another country?” the judge asked.
Gilley replied, “I chose Europe because of its due process guarantees, and Italy because there is strong public opposition to the death penalty.”
He then thanked the judge twice in Italian.
The Ministry of Justice spokesperson told NBC News that Italian Justice Minister Carlo Nordio hasn’t yet decided on the extradition.
A spokesperson for the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it is unlikely the minister will comment on the case and that the office has limited jurisdiction over Gilley because he is not an Italian citizen.
An attorney for Christa Gilley’s family said they were “devastated” to learn that Lee Gilley fled the country, and they look forward to his return to the U.S. to face trial.
“The family has grappled with the loss of Christa and has struggled to see the man accused of killing her free on bond while the legal system progressed for a year and a half to a trial that the Defendant has now attempted to avoid,” attorney Tim Ballengee said in a statement.
Ballengee said the family is “outraged” by Lee Gilley’s claims of innocence.
“Christa’s family welcomes a trial based on the truth and evidence that will provide justice for Christa and her unborn child,” he said.
A U.S. judge last week issued a gag order limiting public comments on the case, NBC affiliate KPRC in Houston reported.
Monica Grosso, an attorney for Lee Gilley, told NBC News that Gilley is “confident that he will be able to obtain international protection from Italy.”
Grosso also said she will look into having Gilley released, and she does not believe he will try to flee again because he has no documentation.
