A Florida jury this week recommended the death penalty for a man convicted of murdering two women in 2019.
Wade Wilson was convicted of strangling Christine Melton as she slept the morning after meeting her in a bar, and of beating, strangling and running over Diane Lewis after meeting her on the street the same day.
Ten of the 12 jurors in the Lee County Courthouse in Fort Myers on Tuesday voted that Wilson, whose “smug” and “smirking” demeanor in courtrooms has been the subject of public attention, should receive the death penalty for Lewis’ murder, while nine of the 12 voted in favor of the death penalty for Melton’s murder. Under state law, eight jurors must vote in favor of the death penalty.
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Wade Wilson sits in court as the verdict is read to him during the sentencing phase of his murder trial Tuesday at Lee County Courthouse in Fort Myers. (Jonah Heinbaugh/Naples Daily News/USA Today Network Florida)
A decision is due to be handed down by Judge Nicholas Thompson on July 23rd.
Social media users following the trial called Wilson “soulless” and accused him of being “smug” and “smirking” while his crime was told to the jury.
“He shows no remorse and says he would do it again. I’m not an ‘eye for an eye’ person, never have been, but the smug aloofness shown by Wade Wilson makes me think solitary confinement with three meals a day is a bad idea,” wrote one X user.
Another added: “Note the psychopathic grin on the serial strangler’s face.”
A third added: “Wade Wilson was sentenced to death in Florida for murdering two women. His father killed him because he was a soulless monster.”
Judge Nick Thompson speaks during the sentencing phase of Wade Wilson’s murder trial, Tuesday, June 25, 2024, at Lee County Courthouse in Fort Myers. The jury recommended the death penalty for Wilson. (Jonah Heinbaugh/Naples Daily News/USA Today Network Florida)
“You know, it’s always difficult because you’re asking someone to take another life,” Assistant State Attorney Sarah Miller said after the recommendation. According to FOX4“Given the horror of this incident, I believe this was the right thing to do.”
“Both murders were particularly heinous, brutal and cruel. He inflicted pain and showed total indifference to her. [Melton’s] life.”
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A photo of Christine Melton is shown to jurors during the sentencing phase of Wade Wilson’s murder trial at Lee County Courthouse in Fort Myers, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. Jurors recommended the death penalty for Wilson. (Jonah Heinbaugh/Naples Daily News/USA Today Network Florida)
During the trial, the defense tried to argue that Wade was “mentally disturbed” and suffered from “the disease of drug addiction,” the station reported.
But Judge Miller told the jury: “I find it difficult to believe that the defendant was mentally ill when he killed Christine Melton and Diane Lewis. He was under the influence of power, lust, control and hatred.”
A photo of Diane Lewis is displayed during the sentencing phase of Wade Wilson’s murder trial, Tuesday, June 25, 2024, at the Lee County Courthouse in Fort Myers. (Jonah Heinbaugh/Naples Daily News/USA Today Network Florida)
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“Lots of people suffer from drug addiction, but no one commits murder.”
