Wade Wilson, a Fort Myers, Florida man convicted of killing two Cape Coral women in 2019, is facing the death penalty as he awaits sentencing scheduled for later this month.
Wilson was found guilty on June 12, 2024. of murdering Kristine Melton, 35, and Diane Ruiz, 43.
Wilson’s jury recommended the death penalty for each murder, but it will be up to the trial judge to impose the sentence.
On July 3, Wilson’s legal team filed a different motion on July 3 asking for a new trial or acquittal on the murder and several other charges. A ruling has not been made on that motion.
Sentencing was initially scheduled for July 23 but a defense motion for a delay over scheduling conflicts for expert mental health witnesses was granted and sentencing delayed to August 27.
Here’s what to know about Wade Wilson’s crimes, trial and upcoming sentencing:
Wade Wilson crimes
Wilson, then 25, met Kristine Melton, 35, and her friend Stephanie Sailors on Oct. 7, 2019, at Buddah LIVE, a Fort Myers bar.
After the bar closed, Wilson and the two women went to the home of Jayson Shepard where they stayed for several hours before leaving in the morning.
Wilson, Melton and Sailors then went Melton’s Cape Coral home. After Sailors left, Wilson strangled Melton to death as she slept in her bed and stole her car.
A short time later, Wilson saw 43-year-old Diane Ruiz walking along a Cape Coral street, asked her for directions to a nearby school and lured her into the car.
When Ruiz tried to exit the car, Wilson attacked her, beating and strangling her before pushing her out of the car and running her over 10 to 20 times.
After the murders, Wilson called his biological father Steven Testasecca several times confessing to and narrating the gruesome details of his crimes.
Wade Wilson victims Kristine Melton and Diane Ruiz
Kristine Melton grew up in Illinois and moved with a friend to Cape Coral where she worked as a waitress.
She reportedly was godmother to her cousin Samantha Catomer’s child, owned a cat and lived in a Cape Coral duplex.
Melton loved to dress up and her favorite holiday was Halloween, Catomer testified during Wilson’s trial.
Melton had a quick wit, made everyone around her feel safe and understood and “was precious, not just to me, but to everyone who knew her,” Catomer said.
Melton was 35 years old when she met Wilson at Buddah LIVE, a Fort Myers bar. After leaving the bar and spending several hours at the home of Jayson Shepard, Melton, Sailors and Wilson went to Melton’s duplex.
After Sailors left, Wilson strangled her to death in her sleep.
Diane Ruiz, 43, a mother and engaged to be married, was described as caring and hardworking.
She worked as a bartender at the Moose Lodge in Cape Coral and never missed a shift in five years.
Ruiz was walking to work for her 10 a.m. shift when she encountered Wilson.
A short time after killing Melton, Wilson saw Ruiz walking along a Cape Coral street and lured her into the car after asking her for directions.
When she tried to leave, Wilson beat and strangled Ruiz, pushed her out of the car and ran her over repeatedly.
Wade Wilson’s father Steven Testasecca was key to his arrest
After the murders, Wilson called his biological father, Steven Testasecca, several times confessing to the crimes in gruesome detail.
“I am a killer,” Wilson said, according to Testasecca’s testimony.
Testasecca said Wilson confessed to choking Melton after she went to sleep and stopping Ruiz for directions before she got into the car, choking her while he drove.
According to Testasecca’s testimony, Wilson said Ruiz was still breathing before he repeatedly ran her over.
After initially dismissing the calls and attributing the admissions to Wilson being a “good storyteller,” Testasecca, 46, put his phone on speaker with Wilson’s biological mother listening in and relaying information to police.
Testasecca asked Wilson for his location and told him he would send an Uber to him. Instead, his whereabouts were provided to police who arrested Wilson on Oct. 8, 2019.
Her body was found in a field three days later.
Wade Wilson charges
Wilson, who shares his name with Marvel character Deadpool, was tried and found guilty of six charges:
Wilson also faces charges in unrelated crimes, including attempted escape from jail and drug charges.
Wade Wilson masterminded escape attempt from jail
Wilson, who shares his name with the alter ego of the Marvel character Deadpool, racked up additional charges while awaiting his murder trial in the Lee County Jail.
In 2020, Wilson and his cellmate were accused of tampering with a window in their cell in an attempt to escape. Wilson, who was reportedly the primary planner and instigator of the escape effort, also tried to set up a getaway car.
Deputies searched the 10×10 cell Wilson and his cellmate were housed in and found the window tampered with. The metal frame holding the window had been removed and there were several cracks in the thick security glass.
Wade Wilson tied to white supremacy prison gang Unforgiven
Court records in the attempted escape case connect Wilson to the Unforgiven, a white supremacy prison gang.
Wilson sports several swastika tattoos, including on the right side of his head and below his right eye.
The swastika was adopted in 1920 as the symbol of Adolf Hitler’s Nazi party, and since 1945 has “served as the most significant and notorious of hate symbols, anti-Semitism and white supremacy,” according to the Anti-Defamation League.
According to the Anti-Defamation League, the Unforgiven gang was founded in the Florida prison system in 1986 and is the largest white supremacist prison gang in the state.
Wade Wilson tattoos, before and after jail
Wilson’s facial tattoos have gained widespread attention, including on social media.
While Wilson had neck tattoos at the time of his arrest in 2019, none were visible on his face in his booking photo and early court appearances.
At his 2024 murder trial, Wilson’s face was covered in tattoos, including a swastika and stitches around his mouth.
Prior to the trial, Wilson’s attorneys were granted motions requesting he be allowed to wear street clothes and to cover tattoos, “that might be objectionable to members of the potential jury pool,” with makeup.
Wade Wilson sentencing: Killer faces death sentence in murders
On June 25, 2024, the jury in Wilson’s trial recommended he receive the death penalty for each of the murders.
During the penalty phase of the trial, jurors had the option of recommending life in prison without parole or death.
Florida juries were required to vote unanimously for a death sentence recommendation until April 2023 when Gov. Ron DeSantis lowered the threshold by signing into law a bill allowing juries to recommend death with as few as 8 votes.
After considering aggravating and mitigating circumstances, the jury voted 9-3 and 10-2 for death.
Sentencing, originally scheduled for July 23, was delayed to August 27, 2024, and it will be up to Judge Nicholas Thompson to decide whether death or life without parole sentences are imposed.
Where is Wade Wilson now?
Wilson is housed at the Lee County Jail in Fort Myers. Once his sentencing and other unrelated charges, including an escape attempt, are resolved, he’ll be transferred into the Florida prison system.
If Judge Nicholas Thompson confirms Wilson’s death sentence, he will end up on Florida’s death row at Union Correctional Institution.
Contributing: Tomas Rodriguez, Fort Myers News-Press
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Wade Wilson, Florida killer: Crimes, trial, what’s next for sentencing
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