Texas murder suspect detained in Italy after fleeing

A Texas man charged with capital murder in the death of his pregnant wife cut off his court-ordered ankle monitor and fled to Italy via Canada just weeks before his trial was set to begin, authorities said. Lee Gilley, 39, was detained by Italian customs officials in Milan after attempting to enter the country with forged Belgian travel documents under the name Lejeune Jean Luc Olivier. He is now in immigration custody there.

Gilley faces charges in the October 7, 2024, killing of his wife, Christa Gilley, who was nine weeks pregnant at the time. Houston police responded to the couple's home that night after Gilley called 911 to report that she had overdosed. Christa Gilley was found unresponsive, taken to a hospital and later pronounced dead. An autopsy by the Harris County Institute of Forensic Science determined her death was a homicide caused by compression of the neck, with injuries consistent with strangulation. The couple's two young children were home at the time. Gilley was arrested days later, initially claiming his wife was not suicidal or a drug user and that they had argued before her death.

Released on $1 million bond on October 21, Gilley was required to wear a...