A Texas man's strategic exit may keep him from serving a life sentence or facing execution if convicted of murdering his pregnant wife.

Lee Mongerson Gilley, 40, remains in custody in Italy after fleeing the country in May, just weeks before his scheduled trial for the 2024 murder of his wife, Christa Bauer Gilley.

Extradition efforts have hit a standstill because Italian law prohibits extraditing individuals to jurisdictions where they could face execution or life imprisonment without parole.

Texas authorities are currently negotiating with Italian officials to reach an agreement.

Gilley was been charged with capital murder for allegedly strangling his pregnant wife to death.

A Harris County judge set Gilley's bond at $1 million, Gilley was able to post bail on a surety bond and made a run out of the country.

In an undiscovered turn of events Gilley took a flight to Canada then traveled to Milan Italy with a forged passport in May.

Just weeks before he was expected to stand trial Gilley arrived at Milano Malpensa Airport where he was arrested by border guards.

They flagged him due to his fake Belgian passport and other documents that identified him as ‘Lejeune Jean Luc Olivier.’

Gilley has always maintained his innocence, ‘My wife is dead, and they wrongly blamed me; that’s why I no longer have faith in the justice system,’ he said in a courtroom in Turin, Italy.

He blames the American legal system being the reason why he fled, Gilley stated ‘I fled to avoid being killed. I went to great lengths to escape and seek protection in Italy, according to NBC News.

Harris County has jurisdiction over capital murder cases, which carries the possibility of the death penalty under Texas state law.

Unlike Italy which completely abolished the death penalty in 1948, under the Italian Constitution. 

Although a trial for murder in the state of Houston is eligible for the death penalty, in this case the death penalty was never pushed.

Peyton Peebles, the judge appointed to the trial, was unaware that the death penalty had been discussed.

‘If it were a death penalty case, it would have raised its head well before,’ said Pebbles.

Gilley may just think he's on vacation, in a recent court hearing, he requested a transfer back to the Turin prison, citing its larger spaces and more activities, according to an Italian publication la Repubblica.

He was denied due to overpopulation, he is currently in a prison located in Ivrea, after he was allegedly threatened by inmates.

Gilley originally claimed he arrived home to a dead Bauer, he implied that her death could be due to [taking her own life].

Yet doctors and medical examiners were both suspicious due to the bruising found on her face, once the autopsy was completed they discovered she died by strangulation.

An examination revealed that Bauer was a minimum of eight weeks pregnant when she passed away.