Provided/Harris County Precinct 1 Constable’s Office
Harris County Precinct 1 deputies repossessed the Gilley family home on Monday, July 6, after a man allegedly attempted to claim ownership.
The potential extradition of Lee Gilley, a Houston man accused of murdering his pregnant wife inside their Heights home in 2024, has been delayed as the Italian court that received the U.S. government’s extradition request has asked for clarification regarding the penalty he could face if convicted in Texas.
That’s according to Dick DeGuerin, who is Gilley’s defense attorney in Houston. In a Tuesday statement to Houston Public Media, DeGuerin said the Italian court might not grant the extradition request if Gilley, 39, faces the death penalty or life in prison upon conviction.
DeGuerin said Italy does not have a death penalty, nor does it have a sentence of life in prison.
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“As I understand it, the Italian court has asked the U.S. Department of Justice for clarification of the punishment options facing Mr. Gilley, that is, whether the only possible punishment, should he be convicted, is death or life in prison without the possibility of parole,” DeGuerin wrote in an emailed statement. “Texas law provides that upon conviction of capital murder, those are the only sentences.”
In 2024, Gilley was charged with capital murder in Harris County in connection to the strangulation death of his wife, Christa Dauer Gilley, who was pregnant at the time. In late October of that year, he posted a $1 million bond and was released from jail.
In May, Gilley was reportedly arrested overseas in Turin, Italy, after allegedly using fake travel documents to travel to Canada before then traveling to Italy. He is currently in Italian custody and fighting his extradition to the U.S.
The Harris County District Attorney’s Office declined to comment, citing a gag order in the case.