John Jefferson
Left: Lee Gilley (Harris County Sheriff’s Office). Right: Christa Bauer Gilley (Facebook).
A software consultant, husband, and father of two claimed he woke up one week ago to find that his wife, 9 weeks pregnant, took her own life by overdosing on drugs even though she was neither suicidal nor a drug user and even though the evidence indicated the victim was strangled to death, Texas authorities allege.
Lee Mongerson Gilley, 38, remains behind bars without bond in Harris County in a capital murder of multiple persons case following his jail booking on Friday, Oct. 11, four days after the suspected strangulation slaying of 38-year-old Christa Bauer Gilley at her Allston St. home in Houston.
Court documents obtained by Law&Crime show that prosecutors claim to have “good reason to believe” Lee Gilley on Oct. 7 “intentionally and knowingly cause[d]” Christa’s death by “applying pressure to [her] neck and upper back, and intentionally and knowingly caus[ing] the death of unborn child” as a result.
Suspect Gilley is a self-employed software consultant for the last 13 years and Houston homeowner for the last seven years, according to court documents.
Court documents noting that the capital murder defendant was denied bond said Gilley told emergency responders he and his wife had an argument before he went to bed and that when he woke up three hours later she was unresponsive and apparently overdosed to take her own life.
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But after Christa died a hospital, both the “hospital physician” and the medical examiner determined that the victim, 9 weeks pregnant, had “injuries consistent with strangulation.”
“D[efendant] admitted wife not suicidal and not a drug user,” documents said. “[O]nly two small children he and wife home, had been arguing.”
Christa “went to bed and 3 hours later [Lee] found her in that condition called 911 started CPR,” according to the defendant’s alleged version of events.
The couple married at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Charleston, S.C., in 2017, nearly a decade after they first met at a dance class while seniors at Clemson University, their alma mater.
“After going on one date and then going their separate ways, the two reconnected 8 years later in Boston for their second date. Talk about meant to be!” said a post on Charleston Weddings Magazine. “Lee flew from San Diego to Houston 11 months later where he surprised Christa with a proposal.”
A candlelight vigil in Christa’s memory is reportedly scheduled for Tuesday night in the Greater Heights neighborhood.
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