A 30-year-old man was convicted Wednesday of brutally murdering two women on October 7, 2019, in Cape Coral, Florida.
Wade Wilson was convicted of two counts of first-degree premeditated murder in the slayings of the victims, identified as 35-year-old Kristine Melton and 43-year-old Diane Ruiz, the New York Post reported Thursday.
A recent photo shows Wilson, who has numerous facial tattoos, one of which appears to be a swastika, while another appears to be stitches across his mouth:
Wilson is now eligible for the death penalty, the Post article noted. Prior to the verdict, a Cape Coral police official said, “No matter what the decision is that the jury comes back with on the penalty phase, there is no situation where he is going to be walking the streets.”
“An animal like this needs to be put away,” he added.
On the day of the killings, Wilson took Melton home after visiting a bar before strangling the woman and tying her up. The second victim, Ruiz, was reported missing not long after. Wilson apparently told his father that he had asked her for directions and she got into his vehicle.
However, he also strangled her, threw her out of the vehicle, and ran over her body repeatedly with the car. Jurors were informed he did this “until she looked like spaghetti.”
An image from 2019 shows Wilson, with only a neck tattoo, along with images of the two victims in the case:
A few hours after the killings, Wilson showed up at a local business driving a car belonging to Melton. A witness said he was wearing sweatpants, no shirt, had blood on his front, and he was missing some of his teeth, per NBC 2.
The witness said he behaved frantically and rushed to leave the establishment. Police officers arrived at the scene, but Wilson had already left, and he reportedly broke into a home to hide before calling his father.
“He starts describing what he had done. He describes it in such a way where he’s bragging. He wants his dad to feel that excitement,” a prosecutor said, noting the father apparently told Wilson he would order him an Uber and told authorities where his son was hiding so they could arrest him:
When asked why he committed the killings, Wilson explained, “I just wanted to do it,” a prosecutor said.
In addition to murder, Wilson was found guilty of grand theft, burglary of a dwelling, battery, and petit theft.
“The state is seeking the death penalty but will first have Wilson examined by doctors. The penalty phase starts on June 20, and eight out of 12 jurors will have to vote in favor of the death penalty,” the Post article stated.