Houston serial squatter claims ownership of 12 homes including 2 in high profile murders

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The house on Allston Street had changed since Christopher Bauer left it in May.

No one had lived at the century-old Heights home since its lone occupant, Lee Gilley, fled the country on May 1 to seek asylum in Italy ahead of his capital murder trial. After that, the home where police said Gilley killed his pregnant wife — Bauer’s daughter Christa Gilley — in October 2024 garnered at least one visit from authorities to learn more about his escape.

Bauer checked on the home on May 13 as he braced for the possibility that a judge would force his grandchildren to return to Houston as part of a bitter child custody dispute. When the South Carolina restaurateur returned on June 17, he discovered someone had entered the home.

Makeshift signs had been posted to the windows and doors from the inside, announcing new ownership and warning intruders to stay away. The locks had also been changed.

When a Houston police officer pounded on the door to see if anyone was inside, a voice through a generic doorbell camera that wasn’t there before claimed to be someone named Matthew Jackson — and the new owner of the house, Bauer testified at a recent court hearing in Harris County.

Court records reveal the takeover of the Gilley house was not an isolated occurrence.

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A dozen Harris County properties have been pursued by Jackson through a web of legal filings, according to a Houston Chronicle review of property records. The properties range in value from a $130,000 home to an apartment complex worth $17 million.

At least two homes are tied to homicide victims. They include the Gilley house in the Heights, and the River Oaks townhome where Travelers Table co-owners Matthew and Thy Mitchell died May 4 in a murder-suicide with their children.

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The records show Jackson filed with the Harris County Clerk’s Office what he deemed to be affidavits of adverse possession on multiple homes — colloquially called squatter's rights. He identified himself as a representative of out-of-state limited liability companies Save a Life Homes, Global World Enterprises and Nolan Realty Concierge.

The Gilley home had been empty for less than a week before Jackson had his affidavit of adverse possession notarized. He filed it with the county clerk's office on May 21.

It was another four weeks until Bauer returned to the home and discovered what had happened.

Jackson filed his affidavit on the Mitchell townhome on the same day as the Gilley property. The townhome was void of signage or outside interference last Thursday, unlike the Gilley house.

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A review of Jackson's social media shows he started pitching himself as a financial counselor following his release from prison in 2020 on an earlier Bexar County aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon conviction. He fought the conviction before and after his release — sometimes with the help of a lawyer but more often without

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A renter stumbled upon Jackson on May 31, 2025, inside a home in the 600 block of Edgebrook Drive when she returned to pick up her belongings before her lease ended. She had left about two weeks earlier as police investigated the disappearance of Victor Soliz, whose skeletal remains were found inside the home. His death was declared a homicide.

When the renter returned, the locks were broken and Jackson was inside with an unidentified man — neither of whom she knew. They refused to leave.

Police determined that neither of the men had permission to be there, but only Jackson was arrested. Prosecutors dismissed the case in October after Jackson completed 16 hours of community service and took a “decision making” educational course, according to court records.

He was booked again six months later on misdemeanor charges in connection to the Villa De Prado apartments in the 9300 block of Tallyho Road — which is home to around 100 units, including one where his mother lives in southeast Houston. He gained access to the leasing office on April 19 by showing a locksmith a purported trespassing affidavit, warranty deed and his identification before having him swap out the dead bolt.

The locksmith later told police that Jackson claimed to be the new owner of the apartment complex and that he had fired the property manager over email, according to court records.

Jackson moved to dismiss the charges of criminal trespass and mischief against himself on April 24, citing a lack of probable cause, before an attorney, Stuart Ladner, was appointed to represent him. He attempted to exert his ownership over the apartments that same week through the civil courts to no avail.

He is due back in court on July 23. His bond conditions in the new case require him to not commit another crime or "engage in any conduct that could result in his arrest."

Following his latest arrest, Jackson listed a home on the National Register of Historic Places — a colonial revival home in Houston's gated Courtlandt Place Historic District — as his address on bail paperwork.

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