Wade Wilson Murders: Trial, Death Sentence, and Appeal

Wade Steven Wilson is a Florida man on death row for the murders of Kristine Melton and Diane Ruiz, two women he killed in Cape Coral on October 7, 2019. A Lee County jury convicted him of both first-degree murders in June 2024, Judge Nicholas Thompson imposed two death sentences that August, and the Florida Supreme Court upheld the sentences after oral argument on February 5, 2026. Wilson, widely covered online as the “Deadpool Killer” because he shares a name with the Marvel character, is held at Union Correctional Institution in Raiford. No execution date has been set, and his attorneys have said they intend to petition the U.S. Supreme Court.¹

What Happened on October 6 and 7, 2019

Wilson met Kristine Melton, a 35-year-old waitress, at a bar in Fort Myers on the night of October 6, 2019. He went back with her to her home in Cape Coral. After a friend who had come along left, Wilson strangled Melton in her bed while she slept, then took her car.²

He drove Melton’s car to the Fort Myers workplace of his girlfriend, Melissa Montanez. When Montanez refused to get in, Wilson attacked her. She fought him off, got away, and called police.³

Wilson then drove back to Cape Coral. He came across Diane Ruiz, 43, who was walking to her bartending job at the Moose Lodge. He lured her into the car by pretending to ask for directions, beat and strangled her inside the vehicle, drove to an empty lot, pushed her out, and ran over her body between ten and twenty times.²

The Two Women He Killed

Kristine Melton, 35, worked as a waitress in Cape Coral.⁴

Diane Ruiz, 43, was engaged and the mother of a son and a daughter. Coworkers at the Moose Lodge called her the “heartbeat of the bar” and remembered her loud laugh and fierce loyalty to family and friends. Five years after her death, the lodge still keeps a memorial for her at her old workplace.⁵

Arrest and Wilson’s Prior Record

After the killings, Wilson called his biological father, Steven Testasecca, and confessed to both murders. Testasecca contacted police. Wilson was arrested on October 8, 2019.²

Born May 20, 1994, Wilson was placed for adoption as an infant and raised in Tallahassee by Cindy and Steve Wilson. He reconnected with Testasecca at 18.⁶

His record before the murders was substantial. In 2015 he was arrested on sexual battery and kidnapping charges and acquitted at trial. In early 2019 an ex-girlfriend accused him of kidnapping and rape, but investigators did not pursue charges because the two were under a no-contact order. That same year a different Lee County woman accused him of rape and kidnapping and chose not to press charges. In September 2019, he pleaded guilty to pawning property stolen from an ex-girlfriend, receiving credit for time served and probation. He was on that probation when he killed Melton and Ruiz.⁷

The Trial and the Six Convictions

Wilson’s capital trial opened on June 10, 2024, in the Twentieth Judicial Circuit in Lee County. Assistant State Attorneys Andreas Gardiner and Sara Miller led the prosecution under State Attorney Amira D. Fox.³ On June 12, 2024, jurors returned guilty verdicts on all six counts: first-degree murder of Kristine Melton, first-degree murder of Diane Ruiz, grand theft of Melton’s car, battery of Melissa Montanez, burglary of the home of Fannie Amlin, and first-degree petit theft of Amlin’s property.⁸

Between arrest and trial, Wilson had acquired heavy facial tattoos in custody, including two swastikas, the numbers “14” and “88” — recognized white supremacist symbols — and a “stitched-on smile” around his mouth. In May 2024 the judge granted a defense motion to let him use makeup during trial to reduce the risk of jury prejudice, though defense counsel said the makeup provided was not enough to cover the tattoos fully. Court records connected Wilson to a Florida prison gang called the Unforgiven, though an Anti-Defamation League expert said the visible tattoos alone did not confirm membership.⁹

Penalty Phase and the Death Sentences

The penalty phase ran on June 24 and 25, 2024. The defense case turned on mental health. Neurologist Dr. Mark Rubino testified that brain scans and cognitive testing suggested brain damage from adolescent sports injuries and car accidents that predisposed Wilson to impulsive behavior. Psychologist Dr. Mark Mills said Wilson appeared to suffer from a psychotic disorder, possibly schizoaffective disorder. Jail records showed staff had diagnosed Wilson with schizoaffective disorder, depression, anxiety, and adjustment disorder, and had prescribed antipsychotic medication.⁸

The prosecution’s expert, Dr. Michael Herkov, said Wilson’s behavior was better explained by his documented drug abuse than by a psychotic disorder. Medical Examiner Dr. Thomas Coyne testified that Wilson’s brain scans showed no structural defects or frontal lobe impairment.⁸

Wilson’s adoptive parents submitted a letter, read to the jury, describing him as a joyful child who became delusional after developing a drug addiction.⁶ Defense attorney Kevin Shirley conceded that two aggravators — Wilson’s probation status and the contemporaneous nature of the two murders — were not contestable, and asked the jury to treat Wilson’s mental instability as “an explanation, not an excuse.”⁸

On June 25, 2024, the jury recommended death 9–3 for the murder of Melton and 10–2 for the murder of Ruiz. Neither recommendation was unanimous.⁸

At a Spencer hearing on August 27, 2024, Judge Nicholas Thompson imposed two death sentences, saying he saw “no basis to override the jury’s recommendation.” He found the aggravating factors “greatly outweighed” the mitigating circumstances, called both murders “heinous, atrocious and cruel,” and found the killing of Ruiz “cold, calculated and premeditated.” Wilson also received a concurrent 21-year sentence on the battery, theft, and burglary counts.⁸

The Online “Deadpool Killer” Following

The nickname is a coincidence of names, not any link to the Marvel character. But the online attention around it produced something real: a large and mostly female fan following that sent Wilson letters, photos, and messages. In the month between his conviction on June 12, 2024, and July 12, 2024, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office reported that Wilson received 3,903 messages, 65 letters, and 754 photos, 163 of which were rejected as inappropriate.¹⁰

State Attorney Amira Fox held a press conference to denounce the phenomenon and the online fundraising for Wilson, calling him “a vicious killer” and saying, “I have never seen someone as evil as Wade Wilson.”¹⁰ A Change.org petition against the death penalty in his case, started in the United Kingdom, had gathered over 6,700 signatures by mid-July 2024. At least three people also wrote directly to Judge Thompson asking for leniency; the judge dismissed those letters as improper ex parte communications.¹¹

The Appeal and Florida’s 8–4 Death Penalty Law

Wilson’s death sentences triggered an automatic direct appeal to the Florida Supreme Court, docketed as Wade Steven Wilson v. State of Florida, Case No. SC2024-1345.¹² The appeal raised seven issues. The central one was whether Florida could apply its 2023 death penalty law, which lets juries recommend death on a vote as low as 8–4, to a defendant whose crimes were committed in 2019, when Florida required a unanimous jury recommendation.¹³

That 2023 law, Senate Bill 450, was signed by Governor Ron DeSantis on April 20, 2023, dropping the jury threshold from unanimity to 8–4. It followed the 2022 Nikolas Cruz trial, in which a 9–3 vote for death produced a life sentence because unanimity was then required.¹⁴

Wilson’s appellate attorney, Michael Ufferman, argued that applying the lower threshold to a 2019 crime violated the ex post facto clauses of the U.S. and Florida constitutions and a Florida statute prohibiting retroactive application of laws dealing with a crime or its punishment.¹⁵

The Florida Supreme Court had already closed off that path. On December 18, 2025, in the cases of Michael James Jackson and Michael H. Hunt, the court unanimously upheld the 2023 law against Sixth Amendment, Eighth Amendment, and equal protection challenges, holding that Ramos v. Louisiana, which requires unanimity for guilty verdicts, does not extend to capital sentencing. Justice Jorge Labarga, concurring, called Florida’s 8–4 threshold the “lowest standard in the nation” and the state an “absolute outlier” among death penalty states.¹⁶

Wilson’s oral argument on February 5, 2026, was accordingly brief. Ufferman declined to re-argue his written brief and said his aim was to preserve the issues for a petition to the U.S. Supreme Court. The state’s attorney, Rick Buchwalter, waived argument. The Florida Supreme Court upheld the death sentences.¹⁵

Where the Case Stands

Wilson remains on death row at Union Correctional Institution in Raiford. No execution date has been set. His attorneys have said they plan to seek review in the U.S. Supreme Court.¹

1
NJ.com. Does Wade Wilson Have an Execution Date After Death Sentence
2
USA Today. Wade Wilson Sentenced to Death for Murders of Kristine Melton, Diane Ruiz
3
State Attorney’s Office, Twentieth Judicial Circuit. Wilson Sentenced to Death
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People. Wade Wilson Murders What to Know
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Gulf Coast News Now. Cape Coral Friends Remember Diane Ruiz
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News-Press. Worst Ex Ever Wade Wilson Episode
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News-Press. Wade Wilson Florida Killer Timeline Path to Death Row
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Court TV. FL v. Wade Wilson Strangled Women Murder Trial
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Newsweek. Wade Wilson Killer Tattoo Face Meaning
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Newsweek. Wade Wilson Killer Prosecutors Sentencing Florida Death Penalty
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News-Press. Online Petition Says Death Penalty Not Solution for Wade Wilson
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Florida Courts. Wade Steven Wilson v. State of Florida, SC2024-1345
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Florida Supreme Court. February 2026 Oral Argument Summaries
14
Miami Herald. Florida Death Penalty Bill Signed by Governor
15
Court TV. Wade Wilson’s Attorney Promises to Take Appeal to U.S. Supreme Court
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WLRN. Florida Supreme Court Rejects Challenges to Death Penalty Law