The brother of Lee Gilley, far right, appears in a video call during a Harris County child custody hearing involving Gilley’s two children.
Contributed photo/KTRK-TV
Authorities have questioned the family of Houston fugitive Lee Gilley amid an investigation into how the capital murder defendant fled the United States.
Lee Gilley’s older brother, Matt, testified Tuesday in a Harris County child custody hearing that law enforcement visited his North Carolina home and spoke to his wife following his sibling’s escape ahead of his June trial.
READ MORE: Italian court hears asylum plea from fugitive Houston murder defendant Lee Gilley
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The visit followed worries by other relatives that Lee Gilley — accused of killing his pregnant wife, Christa Gilley, in October 2024 — could direct his brother to help deliver the couple’s kids to him.
Matt Gilley didn’t say what authorities asked his spouse, but while sitting alongside her on a Zoom call, he denied helping Lee Gilley flee the country, denied having knowledge of his flight and denied any plot to bring the children overseas. He said he wanted what was best for his brother’s children.
“They just don’t have parents right now and they deserve better than all this hate and negative energy,” the brother testified. “We want to give them as much as we can to get away from this.”
The brother has since hired a Houston-based criminal defense lawyer, Sarah Moss, to represent him. He has not been charged with a crime. Moss declined to comment on Matt Gilley’s testimony, citing a gag order preventing attorneys from discussing some aspects of the case.
Lee Mongerson Gilley and his defense attorney, Ed McClees, right, are shown in the 497th District Court at the Harris County Justice Center, 1201 Franklin, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in Houston. He is charged with capital murder in death of his wife, Christa Gilley.
Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer
‘Give hugs to the kids’
Lee Gilley, a 39-year-old software engineer, was free on a $1 million bond following his arrest in the death of his wife following an argument over the purchase of a new car. She was pregnant with their third child.
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The brothers last communicated on May 1 — the day Lee Gilley removed his ankle monitor and left for Italy, where he is seeking asylum, according to testimony. Matt Gilley sent his younger brother a text message saying that Lee Gilley’s daughter loved a song by Texas singer-songwriter Forrest Frank during a recent visit.
“Give hugs to the kids,” Lee Gilley responded.
The message did not cause concern for Matt Gilley until later, he testified. The time of the May 1 message was not disclosed during the court hearing.
Authorities have not publicly said how Lee Gilley traveled from Texas to Canada, where he then boarded a flight to Milan. He left his car at his Heights home and was detained May 3 at the Milano Malpensa Airport with a fake passport.
His asylum case remains pending despite pleas from his attorneys to waive extradition proceedings ahead of a June 5 trial that is now uncertain to happen. It’s unclear when Lee Gilley could return to U.S. soil, and two of his three attorneys have since asked Judge Peyton Peebles to withdraw from the criminal case, court records show.
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Christa Gilley, 38, is shown in an undated photo. She died Oct. 7, 2024. Police arrested her husband, Lee Mongerson Gilley, days later on a capital murder charge. He reported she had committed suicide at their Houston Heights residence.
courtesy
A heated custody battle
Matt Gilley’s testimony was part of a heated custody battle involving his brother’s children. A Harris County family court judge, Angela Lancelin, decided against the wishes of lawyers on both sides — the children’s maternal grandparents and paternal aunt — and ordered the children, ages 3 and 5, to be returned to Texas, where she said she could have better control over what happens.
The maternal grandparents, who are temporary joint conservators, had wanted to suspend the children’s visit to Lee Gilley’s sister-in-law, fearing he could arrange to have them brought overseas through her husband or someone else. The children were traveling between North Carolina and South Carolina to visit both sides of the family in the wake of their mother’s death.
“I am not here to regulate the adults’ behavior,” Lancelin said Tuesday. “I can’t control it. All I can do is put orders in place that can protect the children. I cannot do it from here while they’re in (the Carolinas).”
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Both sides appeared upset by the ruling. The attorneys raised their voices at each other and challenged the judge.
‘He did not flee in a vacuum’
The two-day hearing in the 245th District Court prompted testimony from Christa Gilley’s father, Christopher Bauer, about his concern that the children were in danger. He penned an affidavit May 6 alleging that Lee Gilley told a woman that he would flee the country and that his brother would “deliver the kids to him.”
Bauer alleged that Gilley’s family could do his bidding.
“He did not flee in a vacuum,” Bauer wrote. “He had to have money and resources to do so.”
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Bauer’s attorney, Angela Stout, suggested that Lee Gilley changed his appearance ahead of his flight by showing a photo taken last month at his mother’s funeral. He had grown out his hair and a beard and gained weight — a stark difference from his lean, clean-shaven look following his 2024 arrest.
The brother asked Lee Gilley about his new look. He replied that he didn’t plan on cutting his hair.
The judge’s ruling noted that no evidence was shown that Gilley’s family did anything wrong, but it prevents Matt Gilley from visiting the children once they’re in Texas until his brother is brought back from Italy.
“Having said that, should a report come out showing that there was collusion by the family, I will entertain this hearing again,” Lancelin said.