Killer sporting Nazi facial tattoos is sentenced for the murdering two women following an emotional appeal from his parents

Wade Wilson appeared motionless in the Florida courtroom

By Michelle Del Rey

Aug 27, 2024 10:38 PM

A slain man wearing Nazi faces that brutally killed two women was found guilty of murder on Tuesday.

Wade Wilson, 30, appeared to be in a tense the courtroom located in Lee County, Florida while his sentence read aloud as the crowd roared with cheers and claps from the crowd. Wilson had opted not to speak to his court in earlier afternoon.

On June 6, Wilson has been found guilty of two charges of first degree criminal murder and two counts of premeditated first-degree killing in connection with the murders of Kristine Melton 35, as well as Diane Ruiz, 43. The women were strangled within hours of one another on the 6th of October, 2019 on the beach in Cape Coral.

The jury voted for an appeal to the execution 9-3 in the Melton case as well as 10-2 for Ruiz’s murder. In Florida the state of Florida, only eight of 12 jurors have to suggest the death penalty in order for it to be examined by a judge.

The jury also had to establish that the crime involved aggravating factors. The jury concluded that the crimes were atrocious or atrocious and committed by someone who was who was convicted of a different crime and had been previously sentenced to a felony in prison.

At a hearing for motions on Wednesday morning, Wilson’s lawyer, Lee Hollander, requested that the court issue two life sentences in lieu of the death sentence.

Hollander demanded the County Circuit Judge Nicholas R Thompson to consider whether the client was able to comprehend the criminality of the act or was significantly impaired at the time the crimes took place.

“We’d ask the court to take into consideration that death is permanent,” Hollander stated, a sentiment that assistant state attorney Andreas Gardiner agreed with.

“Mr Wilson’s decisions were not only pitiless and consciousness less, but they amounted to tragically reducing Ms Melton, as well as Ms Ruiz, to nothing more than memories and photographs,” Gardiner stated at the time of motion hearing.

Prosecutors say Wilson was seen with Melton at the live music venue prior to murdering her at her residence at Cape Coral, where her body was found.

Wilson left the house and spotted Ruiz walking down the Cape Coral street. He walked up to her in the car he taken from the home of Melton. Wilson requested Ruiz for directions, and she was able to get into the car. As the woman tried to exit the car, Wilson strangled her and “ran her over until she looked like spaghetti,” the court was told. The two women weren’t acquainted with each other.

Through the entire trial jurors was presented with evidence of the many injuries that the women suffered. Melton suffered from bruising on her body and face as well as hemorrhages in her neck and lungs, as well as contusions to the as well as the liver, bladder, and colon, among other things. The injuries Ruiz was afflicted with included the fracture of her nasal bone as well as a laceration on the breast of her left, bruises across both her bodies as well as numerous fractures to her ribs.

Judge Thompson was the sole judge in determining whether the defendant should be sentenced to death or a life within the prison system without parole. In imposing death sentences the judge had to take into account every aggravating factor determined by the jury, as well as all other circumstances that could mitigate.

“Given the facts of the case, nothing in defendant’s background or mental state would suggest that a death sentence is inappropriate,” Thompson declared prior to sending Wilson to be executed.

Prior to the hearing for sentencing three women wrote Judge Thompson letters asking Wilson to not take his life. They highlighted the victim’s history of mental health issues, drug abuse and an apparent lack the parental backing.

“With regards to the Wade Wilson case, it appears clearly documented that Mr Wilson suffers with mental health issues that appear to be severely aggravated by the use of drugs,” Lindsay Brann the mother of two sons in Alberta, Canada, wrote in a letter Lee County Circuit Court records indicate.

In the course of legal instances, Wilson’s parents wrote a letter to the court declaring that Wilson is “a joyful child” and “loved his parents.” They also claimed that Wilson was deluded following the onset of his addiction to drugs. A forensic expert testified that Wilson was on drugs prior to the murders.

Sara Miller, an assistant state attorney, told the media that Wilson was admitted to hospital in the jail due to an overdose of fentanyl.

At the time of the motion hearing Dr. Thomas Coyne, a neuropathologist and assistant medical examiner gave evidence of an expert witness that stated he did not observe any injuries to Wilson’s brain or skull that could have been a deterrent aspect when considering death penalty.

Dr. Mark Rubino, a neurologist was not in agreement with the conclusion. He claimed he discovered evidence of emotional and cognitive impairment in Wilson that led to a worse attitude and less mental clarity as well as the brain injury. The mix of his brain injury and the medication he was taking at the time probably led to the murders, Rubino said.