Wade Wilson, a 30-year-old man known as the “Deadpool Killer” due to his tattoos, was handed a death sentence on Tuesday for the horrific murders of two women in Florida in 2019. Wilson, who remained emotionless during the sentencing, committed the murders simply “for the sake of killing,” according to court records.
Circuit Judge Nicholas Thompson, while delivering the sentence, stated that the evidence pointed to the murders being “heinous, atrocious and cruel.” He further noted that the second murder was “cold, calculated and premeditated.” Wilson was found guilty in June for the murders of Kristine Melton, 35, and Diane Ruiz, 43, which occurred during a frenzied night in October 2019.
The jury had previously recommended the death penalty for Wilson. Judge Thompson, finding the crimes to be so appalling, saw “no basis” to overrule the jury’s recommendation.
The court heard that Wilson first strangled Melton in her home following a drug-induced sexual encounter. He then stole her car and used her phone to contact his girlfriend, Melissa Montanez, 41. After assaulting Montanez, who refused to get in his car, Wilson encountered Ruiz, who was seeking directions in Cape Coral. He invited her into the car, later admitting to strangling her and then running her over with the car.
Assistant State Attorney Andreas Gardiner stated during the trial that this case was about “killing for the sake of the killing,” adding that “strangulation is the epitome of life slipping through someone’s hands.”
Despite the gruesome nature of his crimes, Wilson received numerous love letters and explicit photos during his five-year incarceration. Some even wrote to the judge, asking him to look beyond Wilson’s tattooed face and swastika etchings, claiming that he was a different person when medicated.
Wilson’s defense team argued that he had suffered brain damage due to drug addiction and had abandonment issues from being given up for adoption. His adoptive parents pleaded with the court not to impose the death penalty, stating in a letter that “the human is still in there.” In addition to the murders, Wilson was also found guilty of grand theft, burglary of a dwelling, battery, and petit theft.