An Italian court ruled Monday that Lee Gilley, the Houston man charged with capital murder for the 2024 death of his pregnant wife, will not be extradited back to the U.S. for capital murder, according to his defense attorney.
Gilley's Houston-based defense attorney Dick DeGuerin told Houston Public Media on Monday that the Italian court's 56-page ruling did leave the possibility open for Gilley to be extradited if the charge was lowered from capital murder to murder. In Texas, a person convicted of capital murder can be sentenced to death or life in prison without parole. The maximum sentence for murder in Texas is life with the possibility of parole.
"It's kind of a complicated ruling," DeGuerin said. "Basically, it says that they refused extradition for capital murder but granted extradition for the lesser offense of murder, which carries a wide range of punishment."
In a statement to Houston Public Media, the Harris County District Attorney's Office said it was reviewing the Italian court's opinion.
In late September, Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare filed a "state's punishment notice" in which Teare said his office "will not seek the death penalty" against Gilley.
In May, Gilley was reportedly arrested in Turin, Italy, after allegedly using fake travel documents to travel to Canada before then traveling to Italy.
Following his arrest, Gilley's Italian attorneys had fought his extradition, arguing that since Italy did not have the death penalty, he should not be extradited for a crime that could result in him being sentenced to execution upon conviction.
Italy also does not have life in prison without parole.
DeGuerin said that during an Oct. 7 hearing, the Italian court had asked if any mechanism existed to reduce a sentence of life without parole in Texas.
"And of course the answer to that is no," DeGuerin said. "Life without parole means you die in prison and there's no effective way for that to be lessened, and that's why, apparently, they said they're extraditing only for murder."
As of Monday, however, Gilley was still charged with capital murder.
DeGuerin said Gilley's Italian attorneys planned to appeal.
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