"Deadpool Killer" Trial: Wade Wilson Sentenced to Death for Murders of 2 Women

Wade Wilson, often dubbed the "Deadpool Killer" because he shares the same name with the Marvel character, has been given the death penalty for killing two Florida women.

A grand jury indicted the 30-year-old in 2019 on charges of first-degree murder over the deaths of Kristine Melton, 35, and Diane Ruiz, 43. Wilson had confessed to police soon after his arrest that he had killed both women on Oct. 7, 2019. 

In June, after he was found guilty of the murders, a jury concluded by two majority votes this past June that he be given the death sentence. Lee County Circuit Judge Nicholas Thompson agreed at a hearing Aug. 27.

"The evidence showed that both murders were heinous, atrocious and cruel," he wrote in the sentence order, obtained by E! News, "and that the second murder was cold, calculated and premeditated."

Wilson's attorney said he plans to appeal the death penalty sentence, telling Newsweek after the sentencing that his client, "understands the law and he understands what it takes to override a jury recommendation."

According to the sentence order, Wilson had turned himself in to police days after the killings, at his father's recommendation. His dad had testified that the same day the women were killed, his son had called him to ask for help, saying he was speaking from a house he had broken into.

Wilson's father said his son told him he had met a girl at a bar, then went to her house, choked her after she fell asleep, left her body in the house and took her car. His dad also said Wilson told him he later choked a second woman who had gotten into a car with him after he asked her for directions, and then ran her over.

Wilson's dad testified that his son sounded “excited” while recounting his crimes and did not express any remorse.

Three days later, while in jail, Wilson confessed to the murders of Melton and Ruiz. He stated to police that he met Melton at a bar, had consensual sex with her at a "dude's house" and later continued to do so at her home, before he "killed her."

In his confession, Wilson told police he picked up Ruiz after asking her to show him how to get to the local high school, choked her when she tried to leave, pushed her out of the vehicle and ran her over repeatedly. He added that at the time, he was "on a rampage" and "on drugs." He said that when he's under the influence, he becomes "the devil," the sentence order stated.

The sentencing order noted that evidence showed that Wilson severely beat Melton with a curtain rod before suffocating her.

Police had found her battered body inside her apartment, hidden inside a bundle of bedding and clothing. Her wrists had been tied with a white scarf and a curtain rod with a red stain on it was found nearby. Forensic testing on the items showed they contained DNA matching both her and Wilson's, the documents stated.

As for Ruiz, her body was found in the woods, while her blood, cell phone and work uniform name tag were located in Melton's car.

She suffered a broken nose and finger, a chest laceration and fractures to 11 ribs and her neck—the kind commonly seen in strangulation cases, the medical examiner testified, adding that her injuries were also consistent with a vehicle driving over her body. He also said it appeared Ruiz had tried to defend herself before she was killed.

He also said it appeared Ruiz had tried to defend herself before she was killed.

The judge considered several factors before rendering the death sentence.

He noted that Wilson had "inflicted serious physical and emotional pain on the victims" and "committed the murders while on probation for prior felony convictions and he committed two first degree murders contemporaneously with each other and with grand theft of a motor vehicle, battery and burglary of a dwelling."

"Under the totality of the circumstances and evidence," the judge wrote in his decision, "the Court finds no basis to override the jury's verdict."

After the decision was rendered, the families of Melton and Ruiz thanked law enforcement involved in the case.

"I didn't get to say I love her and I miss her," Ruiz's father Felix Ruiz told reporters. "This is not the end. The end is when the accused takes his last breath. And I will be there at the execution. That's a promise."