In a shocking turn of events, a Texas software consultant, Lee Mongerson Gilley, 38, has been accused of murdering his wife and their unborn child. Gilley, who is currently being held without bond in Harris County, was arrested on October 11th, four days after the alleged murder of his wife, Christa Bauer Gilley, 38.
According to court documents, Gilley initially claimed that his wife, who was nine weeks pregnant, had committed suicide by overdosing on drugs. However, the evidence suggested otherwise. The authorities believe that Christa was strangled to death, contradicting Gilley’s claim that she was neither suicidal nor a drug user.
The court documents reveal that Gilley, a self-employed software consultant for the past 13 years and a homeowner for the last seven, told emergency responders that he and his wife had an argument before he went to bed. He claimed to have found her unresponsive three hours later, apparently having overdosed.
However, the medical examiner and the hospital physician determined that Christa, who was nine weeks pregnant, had injuries consistent with strangulation. The documents also noted that Gilley admitted his wife was not suicidal and was not a drug user. The couple’s two small children were the only other people in the house at the time.
The couple’s history dates back to their senior year at Clemson University, where they first met at a dance class. They married in 2017 at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Charleston, S.C., nearly a decade after their first meeting. According to a post on Charleston Weddings Magazine, the couple had gone on one date, then went their separate ways, only to reconnect eight years later in Boston.
In a romantic gesture, Lee flew from San Diego to Houston 11 months later, where he surprised Christa with a proposal. The tragic turn of events has left the community in shock, with a candlelight vigil in Christa’s memory reportedly scheduled for Tuesday night in the Greater Heights neighborhood.