In October 2019, a Florida man who shares a name with a Marvel anti-hero did not become famous for jokes. Wade Steven Wilson, born May 20, 1994, was later convicted of murdering two Cape Coral women in separate attacks on the same day. He told investigators he wanted to kill someone. Years later, documentaries and social media attention have kept his case in public view, even as the families of Kristine Melton and Diane Ruiz continue to wait for the legal process to finish.

Wilson already had a criminal record before the killings, including convictions related to burglary, theft, a firearm offense, and battery. In June 2024, a Lee County jury found him guilty of two counts of first-degree murder, plus related charges including grand theft, burglary, and battery. In the penalty phase, jurors recommended death by votes of 9-3 in Melton’s case and 10-2 in Ruiz’s case. Florida law, changed in 2023, allows a death recommendation with as few as eight votes rather than a unanimous jury.

On August 27, 2024, Circuit Judge Nicholas Thompson imposed two death sentences. He described the crimes as heinous, atrocious, and cruel, and found no sufficient basis to reject the jury’s recommendation. Wilson was later transferred to death row at Union Correctional Institution in Raiford, Florida, where he remains.

According to prosecutors and trial evidence, Wilson met Kristine Melton, 35, after a night out and later strangled her at her home. Hours later, he encountered Diane Ruiz, 43, a waitress and mother of two who was walking to work. He lured her into a stolen vehicle, attacked her, and ran her over. Wilson later called his biological father, Steven Testasecca, and described what he had done. Testasecca cooperated with police. Investigators cited DNA, phone records, witness accounts, the stolen car, and Wilson’s own statements.

The case has drawn unusual public attention because of Wilson’s appearance, including prominent face tattoos, and because of online messages and letters sent to him in custody. Media coverage has also focused on hybristophilia — attraction to people convicted of violent crimes — and on how streaming documentaries can keep a convicted killer’s image circulating long after trial. Paramount+ released the three-part series Handsome Devil: Charming Killer in January 2026. Netflix featured the case in Season 2 of Worst Ex Ever, in an episode titled “Dating the Deadpool Killer,” which premiered in May 2026. Relatives of the victims have said the years since 2019 have been painful. Ruiz’s father has said he intends to be present if an execution date is ever carried out.

Wilson’s lawyers filed a direct appeal to the Florida Supreme Court, a required step in death-penalty cases. The appeal has focused less on guilt than on whether Florida could apply the 2023 non-unanimous jury rule to murders committed in 2019, when unanimity was still required. In February 2026, counsel told the court that recent state rulings had already addressed similar arguments and indicated plans to preserve the issue for possible review by the U.S. Supreme Court. As of late 2026, Wilson remains on death row. No execution date has been set. Capital cases in Florida typically take many years after sentencing because of mandatory review and later appeals.

The record is not a comic-book story. It is a criminal case about two women who were killed, a jury and judge who imposed the state’s most severe penalty, and a legal system still reviewing whether that sentence was imposed under a valid rule. The families of Kristine Melton and Diane Ruiz have asked that the victims, not the notoriety of the defendant, remain the center of the story.

Sources

• Cape Coral Breeze; USA TODAY / Fort Myers News-Press coverage of the June 2024 verdict and August 27, 2024 sentencing
• Court records and reporting on Wade Steven Wilson v. State of Florida, Florida Supreme Court Case No. SC2024-1345
• Court TV and News-Press reporting on the February 5, 2026 Florida Supreme Court appearance
• People; Forbes; Variety reporting on Handsome Devil: Charming Killer (Paramount+, January 2026) and Worst Ex Ever Season 2 (Netflix, May 2026)
• Wikipedia summary page “Wade Wilson (criminal),” used only as a secondary index to contemporaneous news and court reporting