A Florida man known as the “Deadpool Killer” was sentenced to death Tuesday for the “heinous” 2019 murders of two Cape Coral women.
Wade Wilson strangled 35-year-old Christine Melton and 43-year-old Diane Lewis to death within hours of each other on October 6, 2019, in Cape Coral.
Wilson, also known as the “Cape Coral Strangler,” was convicted in June of two counts of first-degree felony murder and two counts of first-degree premeditated murder.
The convicted murderer has a smiley face tattoo stitched onto either side of his mouth, resembling the Joker's permanent “smile” scar.
Florida jurors voted 9-3 in favor of the death penalty in Melton's case and 10-2 in Lewis' murder case.
April 2023, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Parents of the victims of the Parkland school massacre also participated. Signed into law It reduced the number of jury votes needed to carry out an execution, eliminating a previous requirement. The decision was unanimous, with a supermajority of 8 out of 12 members.
On Tuesday, Lee County Circuit Judge Nicholas R. Thompson said:No evidence” He rejected the jury's recommendation and sentenced Wilson to death.
“Given the facts of this case, there is nothing in the defendant's history or mental condition to suggest that the death penalty would be inappropriate,” Judge Thompson said before sentencing Wilson to death.
Wilson's lawyer, Lee Hollander, had asked the court to impose two life sentences instead of the death penalty. Wilson's lawyers argued that his client had a problem with drug addiction, brain damage and having been abandoned by his biological parents after being put up for adoption.
During the trial, Wilson's adoptive parents petitioned for clemency. letter She claimed her adopted son was a “fun kid.”
“Wade was a bubbly child who loved and received great love from his parents and sisters,” his parents wrote. “But as he became a teenager and especially an emerging adult, Wade began to drift away from us, at first becoming withdrawn, insecure and depressed. Then his mental illness was compounded by drug addiction. [he] Frankly, I became delusional and paranoid, and my sense of loss only intensified.”
His parents continued, “They put a little bandaid on him and sent him back out into the world with no diagnosis, medication or follow-up care. We tried to make ends meet but had no idea how to find the support Wade needed to return to his true self.”
“In that tragic moment, when the cancer of severe mental illness and addiction won, we lost a son, a grandson, a brother, a nephew and an uncle,” the family said.
His parents concluded: “Despite everything, Wade is our son and we love him. His hopes and dreams for life are gone, but somewhere his humanity still lingers, and he has suffered more than most of us can imagine.”
Assistant State Attorney Andreas Gardiner attention During the motion hearing, the judge said, “Mr. Wilson's decision was not only callous and senseless, but it tragically reduced Messrs. Melton and Lewis to nothing more than memories and photographs.”
Wade Wilson, 30, is known as the “Deadpool Killer” because he shares his name with the Marvel anti-hero character made famous by actor Ryan Reynolds in the “Deadpool” film series.
Wilson brutally murdered two women within a matter of hours.
Wilson, who was 25 at the time, met Melton and a friend at a live music bar in Fort Myers on October 5, 2019.
The three reportedly stayed at the stranger's house for a few hours before leaving the next morning. They allegedly went to Melton's home in Cape Coral. After amicably leaving, Wilson strangled Melton to death while she was asleep in her bed, then stole her car.
Melton suffered bruises to his face and body, bleeding in his neck, and contusions to his bladder, colon, liver and lungs.
Shortly thereafter, Wilson spotted Lewis walking down a street in Cape Coral, where he allegedly asked Lewis for directions to a nearby school and then lured him into his car.
Based in Fort Myers News Press “When Lewis attempted to exit the vehicle, Wilson attacked her, punched and choked her, before pushing her out of the vehicle and running her over 10 to 20 times,” the report states.
During trial testimony, Wilson claimed he “ran her until she looked like spaghetti.” New York Post.
Lewis suffered a broken nose, multiple broken ribs, a laceration to the left side of his chest and bruises on both sides of his body.
After the brutal murder, Wilson reportedly called his biological father, Steven Testasecca, where Wilson allegedly confessed to the brutal murder.
Wilson's biological parents tracked him down and offered to send an Uber to pick him up, but their information was given to police, who quickly arrested him.
Newsweek Wilson reportedly had several Nazi- and Adolf Hitler-inspired tattoos, including two swastikas, one on his right scalp and one under his right eye.
Wilson had “TTG” carved into his forehead, which is believed to stand for “Time To Go” or “Trained To Go.” The convicted murderer also had the words “Bred for war” inscribed in large letters under his chin.
Wilson has a tattoo around his left eye that reads “Why so serious?”, presumably a reference to a line spoken by Heath Ledger while playing the villainous Joker in the 2008 film The Dark Knight. The convicted murderer has a smile tattoo sewn onto either side of his mouth, which resembles the Joker's permanent “smile” scar.
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