An American on trial in the US for the murder of his pregnant wife has been arrested in Italy with a fake Belgian passport. Fugitive Lee Gilley (39) then applied for asylum in Italy because he fears the death penalty in his home country. “I fled to avoid being killed,” he told the court in Turin on Monday.
Lore Vanhaelewyn
Journalist at HLN
Source: CNN, NBC News
The arrest took place at Milan airport. Gilley arrived on a flight from Canada and presented documents in the name of Jean Luc Olivier Lejeune at border control. The Italian police immediately noticed that the Belgian passport was fake. During his interrogation, the man eventually revealed his real identity and admitted that he is wanted in the United States.
Anklet cut
The offenses for which Gilley is wanted date from October 2024. His wife Christa Gilley (38) was then found dead in the couple’s home in Houston. Initially it was assumed that she was a possible suicide, but doctors found injuries and bruises to her face and neck. The autopsy later showed that the woman had been strangled. She was about eight weeks pregnant at the time.
Lee Gilley was arrested a few days later on suspicion of murder, but was allowed to await trial in freedom after posting $1 million bail. He did have to wear a GPS ankle bracelet. On May 1 of this year he cut it and fled to Europe via Canada.
Death penalty
Gilley appeared in court in Turin on Monday. There he opposed possible extradition to the United States and applied for international protection in Italy.
“My wife is dead and they wrongly accused me. I did not kill my wife,” he told the court. “The only crime I committed was running away.”
Gilley consciously chose Italy because the country strongly opposes the death penalty. In Texas, this punishment is still possible in murder cases, although American prosecutors have not yet confirmed whether they will actually demand it.
His lawyer Monica Grosso told NBC News that her client is convinced he can receive protection in Italy. Italy does have an extradition treaty with the United States, but under Italian law suspects cannot be extradited to countries where they risk the death penalty.
The court in Turin has provisionally ruled that Gilley will remain in Italian detention pending a formal extradition request from the United States.
