Wade Wilson, the 'Deadpool' killer, is sentenced to death in Florida
Wilson viciously murdered two women on the same night in October 2019, in the vicinity of Cape Coral. He is the first to go to death row since Gov. Ron DeSantis' reform.
Wade Wilson during his trial in Florida.
Wade Wilson, nicknamed the Deadpool Killer for sharing a first and last name with the Marvel character, received his death sentence in the state of Florida on Tuesday after being found guilty last June.
The convicted killer, who gained notoriety for his multiple tattoos and his name, murdered two women in cold blood on the same night in October 2019. He is the first to be sentenced to death since the Republican administration of Ron DeSantis pushed through changes to laws regulating capital punishment.
Wilson's lawyers tried to argue that their client suffered brain damage from drug addiction and had abandonment issues stemming from being given up for adoption by his biological parents.
However, the judge's sentence was final and came down like a sledgehammer. "The evidence shows that the murders were heinous, atrocious and cruel and that the second murder was cold, calculated and premeditated," Circuit Judge Nicholas Thompson told the courtroom.
Two cold-blooded murders
The next day, Wilson went to Melton's home in Cape Coral, where he strangled her to death and left her body outside the house. The same day, Diane Ruiz disappeared after witnesses saw Wilson ask her for directions on a public road on his way to work.
At the time, Wilson was driving a car he stole from Melton's home after murdering her. According to the lawsuit, Ruiz got into said vehicle before she, too, was strangled to death at the hands of Wade Wilson. Ruiz's body was found three days later in a field behind a nightclub.
The events took place between October 5 and 6. Wilson was arrested on the 8th of the same month. He has been incarcerated ever since.
DeSantis’ death penalty reform
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a law in April 2023 to reduce the judicial requirements for applying capital punishment to a convicted person. Since then, it is no longer necessary for the jury to vote unanimously to apply the death penalty, but a majority of eight to four is sufficient.
In the Wade Wilson case, all 12 jurors voted in favor of the death penalty for the murder of Kristine Melton. In the Diane Ruiz case, the votes stood at 10.
LATEST
