The Wade Wilson murder case is the prosecution of a Florida man convicted in June 2024 of killing two women in Cape Coral on the same day in October 2019 and sentenced to death that August. Wilson, who shares his name with Marvel’s Deadpool character and became known online as the “Deadpool killer,” strangled 35-year-old Kristine Melton in her bed and, hours later, beat, strangled, and ran over 43-year-old Diane Ruiz. He is now on Florida’s death row, and his mandatory appeal is pending before the Florida Supreme Court.
What Happened on October 6 and 7, 2019
Wilson met Kristine Melton, a waitress originally from Illinois, at a Fort Myers bar on the night of October 6, 2019. They went back to Melton’s home in Cape Coral. The next morning, while she slept, Wilson strangled her, stole her car, and left.1News-Press. Wade Wilson Death Sentence Florida Killer
Later that morning he came across Diane Ruiz, a mother of two who was walking to a 10 a.m. bartending shift at the Moose Lodge in Cape Coral. Wilson lured her into the car by asking for directions, then beat and strangled her, pushed her out, and ran her over repeatedly in an empty lot.2Yahoo News. Wade Wilson Killed 2 Women At trial, Wilson’s biological father, Steven Testasecca, testified that his son called him after the killings and said he wanted to make Ruiz “look like spaghetti.”3USA Today. Wade Wilson Kristine Melton Diane Ruiz Death Sentence
Testasecca tipped off police, and Wilson was arrested on October 8, 2019. A Lee County grand jury indicted him on November 19, 2019, on two counts of first-degree murder along with grand theft of a motor vehicle, battery, burglary of a dwelling, and first-degree petty theft. The State Attorney’s Office for the 20th Judicial Circuit filed notice to seek the death penalty in December 2019.4News-Press. Wade Wilson Florida Killer Death Row Timeline
Who Wade Wilson Is
Wade Steven Wilson was born on May 20, 1994, to teenage parents who placed him for adoption. He grew up in Tallahassee with adoptive parents Cindy and Steve Wilson and attended Chiles High School. He reconnected with Testasecca at 18, though contact stayed sporadic. In a letter read at trial, his adoptive parents described him as a “joyful child” who became “delusional” after developing a drug addiction.5News-Press. Worst Ex Ever Wade Wilson Episode
Before 2019, Wilson had cycled through several serious accusations. He was arrested in 2015 in Tallahassee on sexual battery and kidnapping charges but was acquitted at trial. A former girlfriend accused him of kidnapping and rape in early 2019; investigators declined to pursue charges, citing an existing no-contact order. A different woman in Lee County accused him of rape and kidnapping in September 2019 but chose not to seek charges. He had pleaded guilty to pawning stolen property that same month and was on probation when he killed Melton and Ruiz.6News-Press. Wade Wilson Florida Killer Timeline Path to Death Row
Court records also linked Wilson to the Unforgiven, a white supremacist prison gang founded in 1986 within Florida’s prison system. The tie surfaced in records related to a 2020 escape attempt Wilson masterminded at the Lee County Jail, in which he and another inmate connected through the gang tried to tamper with a window frame and security glass.7News-Press. Lee Jail Inmates Gang Connection May Have Played Role Escape Attempt His swastika tattoos, including one on his head and one below his right eye, were visible markers of the affiliation.8News-Press. Wade Wilson Florida Killer Crimes Trial Sentencing
The Trial and Guilty Verdict
The trial took place in the 20th Judicial Circuit Court at the Lee County Courthouse in Fort Myers before Judge Nicholas Thompson. Assistant State Attorneys Andreas Gardiner and Sara Miller led the prosecution under State Attorney Amira Fox. Attorney Kevin Shirley represented Wilson.9State Attorney’s Office, 20th Judicial Circuit. Wilson Sentenced to Death10Court TV. FL v. Wade Wilson Strangled Women Murder Trial
Jury selection began on June 1, 2024. The delay from arrest to trial was extended by the pandemic and by repeated attorney changes that required new attorneys to review discovery and take new depositions.11News-Press. Wade Wilson Murders Prosecutors Kristine Melton Diane Ruiz The court granted a defense motion to cover Wilson’s swastika tattoos with makeup so the jury would not be prejudiced by them.8News-Press. Wade Wilson Florida Killer Crimes Trial Sentencing
Prosecutors argued that Wilson “selected, secluded, tortured and strangled” both victims in killings they described as “heinous, atrocious and cruel.”11News-Press. Wade Wilson Murders Prosecutors Kristine Melton Diane Ruiz Testasecca’s account of the phone confession was central. On June 12, 2024, the jury convicted Wilson on all six counts.3USA Today. Wade Wilson Kristine Melton Diane Ruiz Death Sentence
The Death Sentence and the Non-Unanimous Jury
In the penalty phase, the defense argued for life without parole and offered extensive mental health evidence. Its experts testified that Wilson had neurocognitive brain impairment potentially linked to youth sports injuries and car accidents, along with diagnoses including bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety, schizoaffective disorder, and antisocial personality disorder. One expert raised the possibility of a psychotic disorder and noted jail records showing Wilson had been treated with antipsychotic medications. The prosecution’s rebuttal expert, Dr. Michael Herkov, argued that Wilson’s documented drug abuse was a more likely explanation for his behavior, and prosecutors pointed to test results indicating Wilson knew what he was doing during the murders.10Court TV. FL v. Wade Wilson Strangled Women Murder Trial
On June 25, 2024, the jury recommended death on both counts: 9 to 3 for the Melton killing and 10 to 2 for the Ruiz killing. Neither vote was unanimous. That mattered because of a Florida law Governor Ron DeSantis signed in April 2023, prompted in part by the non-death verdict in the Parkland school shooting case. The law dropped the threshold for a death recommendation from unanimity to a minimum of 8 jurors out of 12.1News-Press. Wade Wilson Death Sentence Florida Killer
Wilson’s defense filed a motion for a new trial on July 3, 2024, arguing that under the previous unanimity rule the split votes would not have produced a death recommendation.12News-Press. Online Petition Says Death Penalty Not Solution for Wade Wilson Judge Thompson denied the motion on August 15, 2024, and formally imposed two death sentences on August 27, 2024. He found the aggravating factors “greatly outweighed” the mitigating ones. Those aggravators included Wilson’s probation status and prior felony conviction at the time of the offenses, the contemporaneous convictions, the “heinous, atrocious and cruel” nature of both killings, and a finding that the murder of Diane Ruiz was additionally “cold, calculated and premeditated.” Thompson said he “found no basis to override the jury’s recommendation.”10Court TV. FL v. Wade Wilson Strangled Women Murder Trial
Jail Drug Charges and Transfer to Death Row
Two days after the death sentences, on August 29, 2024, Wilson pleaded no contest to separate drug charges from an incident at the Lee County Jail. Wilson had survived an overdose in custody in 2023, and the Lee County Sheriff’s Office investigation that followed, which included a review of jail mail, uncovered a conspiracy to bring methamphetamine into the facility.13State Attorney’s Office, 20th Judicial Circuit. Convicted Killer Wade Wilson Sentenced in Drug Trafficking and Conspiracy Case
He pleaded no contest to attempted trafficking in methamphetamine and conspiracy to traffic in methamphetamine, receiving 12 years on each count to be served concurrently with his death sentences.14News-Press. Wade Wilson on Way to Florida Death Row After Settling Jail Charges Charges tied to his 2020 escape attempt were dropped as part of the resolution. Wilson was transferred to death row at Union Correctional Institution in Raiford, Florida, on August 30, 2024.4News-Press. Wade Wilson Florida Killer Death Row Timeline
The Pending Florida Supreme Court Appeal
Because Wilson received a death sentence, his case was automatically forwarded to the Florida Supreme Court for mandatory review. The appeal was docketed on September 16, 2024, as case number SC2024-1345.15Florida Appellate Case Information System. SC2024-1345, Wade Steven Wilson v. State of Florida His attorneys have raised seven issues, including a challenge to the retroactive application of the 2023 non-unanimous jury law as unconstitutional.16Cosmopolitan. Wade Wilson Now
Oral arguments were held on February 5, 2026, and the appeal remains open. If the Florida Supreme Court affirms the conviction and sentence, Wilson could petition the U.S. Supreme Court for review.17Florida Supreme Court. February 2026 Oral Argument Summaries and Schedule18News-Press. Convicted Killer Wade Wilson Lives on Death Row
The non-unanimous death recommendation law is being contested in Florida beyond Wilson’s case. In January 2026, the Florida Supreme Court unanimously upheld the 2023 statute in Jackson v. Florida and Hunt v. Florida, rejecting challenges under the Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments. Attorneys in those cases signaled they would seek U.S. Supreme Court review, and the ACLU condemned the ruling. Florida’s 8-juror threshold is the lowest in the country; Alabama, the only other state that permits non-unanimous capital sentencing recommendations, requires at least 10 jurors.19State Court Report. Florida Supreme Court Refuses End Non-Unanimous Death Verdicts
The “Deadpool Killer” Fan Following
Wilson’s case drew attention well beyond a typical Florida murder trial because of an online fan following that formed around him. The “Deadpool killer” label grew out of the coincidence of his name, and his mugshot circulated widely. His visible face tattoos, including swastikas and a stitched-on smile pattern, and what media outlets described as a “bad boy” persona and “seductive smile” drove interest on social media.20New York Post. Fans of Deadpool Killer Wade Wilson Begged Him to Impregnate Them
Over five years in custody, Wilson received love letters and explicit photographs from admirers, and during the 2024 trial he had explicit video calls with fans from jail. One woman, Alexis Williams, identified herself as his girlfriend and spent thousands of dollars on designer clothes and accessories for his court appearances. She later told documentary filmmakers she “fell in love with the killer’s smile” but said victim impact testimony from Diane Ruiz’s son, Zane Romero, “shattered” her illusions.21Daily Mail. Wade Wilson Deadpool Killer Female Fans Prison Calls A Change.org petition against Wilson’s death sentence, started in the United Kingdom on June 29, 2024, gathered over 6,700 signatures within weeks. At least three members of the public wrote directly to Judge Thompson asking for leniency; the judge dismissed the letters as improper communications about a pending matter. The defense referenced an online petition with more than 23,000 signatures during the sentencing phase.12News-Press. Online Petition Says Death Penalty Not Solution for Wade Wilson
Prosecutor Sara Miller said Wilson used the attention from female admirers to fund his prison commissary account and called him “the ultimate bad boy” whom some women found irresistibly attractive despite the violence of his crimes.21Daily Mail. Wade Wilson Deadpool Killer Female Fans Prison Calls The case and its fan phenomenon became the subject of a three-part Paramount+ docuseries, Handsome Devil: Charming Killer, released on January 20, 2026, featuring police bodycam footage, recorded jail calls between Wilson and his father, and interviews with State Attorney Amira Fox and Alexis Williams.22Naples Daily News. Handsome Devil Wade Wilson Killer Documentary