According to Texas authorities, a software consultant, husband, and father of two reported that he awoke one week ago to discover that his wife, who was nine weeks pregnant, had committed suicide by overdosing on drugs. Even though she was not a drug user or suicidal, and the evidence suggested that the victim had been strangled to death, the individual claimed that his wife had committed suicide.
Lee Mongerson Gilley, 38, is currently incarcerated in Harris County without bond in connection with a capital murder of multiple persons case. He was booked into prison on Friday, October 11, four days after the suspected strangulation slaying of 38-year-old Christa Bauer Gilley at her Allston St. residence in Houston.
Prosecutors assert that Lee Gilley “intentionally and knowingly caused” Christa’s death on Oct. 7 by “applying pressure to [her] neck and upper back, and intentionally and knowingly caus[ing] the death of unborn child” as a result, according to court documents obtained by Law & Crime.
As per court documents, the suspect, Gilley, has been a self-employed software consultant for the past 13 years and a householder in Houston for the past seven years.
The court documents, which noted that the capital murder defendant was denied bond, stated that Gilley informed emergency responders that he and his wife argued before he went to bed. He reported that when he awoke three hours later, his wife was unresponsive and appeared to have overdosed to take her own life.
However, the “hospital physician” and the medical examiner both concluded that Christa, who was nine weeks pregnant, had “injuries consistent with strangulation” after she passed away at the hospital.
“The defendant acknowledged that his wife was not a drug user or suicidal,” according to the documents. He and his wife, who resided in a residence with only two young children, had been in dispute.
According to the defendant’s alleged account, Christa “went to bed and was discovered in that condition three hours later. Lee immediately called 911 and initiated CPR.”
In 2017, the couple married at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Charleston, S.C., nearly a decade after they first encountered each other at a dance class while seniors at Clemson University, their alma mater.
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“After a single date and subsequent separation, the two reconnected in Boston for their second date eight years later. A post on Charleston Weddings Magazine stated, “Talk about meant to be!” “Eleven months later, Lee traveled from San Diego to Houston, where he unexpectedly proposed to Christa.”
According to reports, a candlelight vigil in honor of Christa is scheduled for Tuesday evening in the Greater Heights neighborhood.