HOUSTON – The Harris County District Attorney’s Office confirmed to KPRC 2 News on Wednesday evening that the Italian government has received a formal extradition request for Lee Gilley.
Gilley, 39, was scheduled to stand trial this month in Harris County on a capital murder charge stemming from the October 2024 death of his pregnant wife, Christa Bauer.
However, authorities say he cut off his ankle monitor while out on bond and used forged travel documents and a false identity to board an international flight to Milan, Italy. Gilley had been released from jail on a $1 million bond before fleeing the country.
During a hearing last month, prosecutors said the U.S. Department of Justice had 45 days from May 8 to submit the extradition request to Italian authorities.
The district attorney’s office declined further comment Wednesday because of a gag order in the case.
It remains unclear what the next steps will be in Italy’s extradition process. No new trial date has been set in Gilley’s capital murder case.
Meanwhile, a separate legal battle involving the couple’s children is expected to continue Thursday in Harris County Family Court before Judge Angela Lancelin.
Bauer’s parents are fighting an initial decision by Lancelin that would require the children to return to Houston. The children have been living with Bauer’s parents in South Carolina since their mother’s death.
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After Gilley fled to Italy, attorneys representing Bauer’s family sought an emergency order to suspend the children’s monthly visits with Gilley’s brother and sister-in-law. They argued the visits posed potential safety concerns while investigators continue examining how Gilley was able to leave the United States and whether anyone assisted him.
In response, Lancelin indicated she wanted the children returned to Houston to eliminate concerns surrounding the visitation arrangement.
Attorneys for Bauer’s family countered that returning the children to Texas would not be in their best interest because their mother is dead, their father remains in custody in Italy, and they no longer have family or a home in Houston.
Lancelin agreed to hear testimony on the issue and is also expected to consider whether visitation with Gilley’s relatives should continue during Thursday’s hearing.