Wade Wilson was expressionless, make-up caked on his stone-face to hide his garish tattoos, throughout his two-week trial for the murders of two women the prosecutors said he killed “for the sake of killing.”
In the end, a Florida jury deliberated just two hours before finding the man with the swastika tattoos he didn’t want jurors to see guilty of two counts of first degree murder in the deaths of 35-year-old Kristine Melton and 43-year-old Diane Ruiz as well as charges of grand theft, battery, burglary, and petty theft, the Fort Myers News Press reported.
Prosecutors said that Wilson, 30, killed Melton on October 7, 2019, stole her car, and used her cell phone to call another woman, 41-year-old Melissa Montanez, as CrimeOnline reported. He met up with Montanez and attacked her, then fled in Melton’s car. Then he encountered Ruiz in Cape Coral, killed her, and repeatedly drove over her body in the stolen car.
After killing Ruiz, Wilson reportedly went into a nearby business and told an acquaintance that he’d killed two women, but he fled on foot when the acquaintance called 911. He broke into a nearby home, leading to the burglary and petty theft charges.
The two women were killed days apart; Melton was found dead in her home, and Ruiz was found dead in Melton’s car, abandoned in a field near her home. Both women’s cell phones were in the car.
In closing arguments, Assistant State Attorney Andreas Gardiner told the jury the “case was about killing for the sake of killing,” and the murders were premeditated.
“It only takes two minutes, he doesn’t get scratched, he doesn’t get hurt, they don’t yell, they’re quiet, they can’t get away even if they wanted to, he’s too strong … ” he said, according to WBBH.
Assistant State Attorney Sara Miller reminded the jury of Wilson’s phone call to his biological father after the murders, the Daily Press said.
Steven Testasecca testified that he didn’t believe him when his son called him asking for help because he’d just killed two women, Law&Crime reported.
“I choked that b****,” Testasecca said his son told him of killing Melton, then did the same to Ruiz. But Ruiz wasn’t dead yet, the father said.
“He said he got back in the car and ran her over until she looked like spaghetti,” he said, testifying that his son seemed proud and without any remorse.
No remorse,” Miller said in her closing arguments after recounting Testacca’s testimony, according to the Daily Press.
Wilson declined to testify during the trial, and his attorneys didn’t argue that he wasn’t guilty. They argued that he was on drugs and should only be convicted of second degree murder, which would keep him from the death penalty.
The jury, however, agreed with first degree murder. They will return to court on June 20 to begin the penalty phase.
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[Featured image: WINK screenshot]
