Wade Wilson has been convicted of murdering two Florida women who were brutally strangled just hours apart.
The Cape Coral jury deliberated for just two hours and seven minutes before reaching the verdict on Wednesday. Wilson appeared to swallow back tears as he was found guilty on all counts.
Jurors will now be tasked with making a recommendation whether Wilson will face the death penalty or life in prison without parole. Judge Nick Thompson will then make the final decision. The sentencing phase is set to begin on June 20.
Wilson, 30, who was allowed to wear makeup in court to cover the swastika tattoos on his face, refused to testify in his double-murder trial, which began in Cape Coral two weeks ago.
In closing arguments on Wednesday, the prosecution said Wilson killed Kristine Melton, 35, and Diane Ruiz, 43, on October 7, 2019, for the sake of killing.
“This case was about killing for the sake of the killing,” Assistant State Attorney Andreas Gardiner told the court. “Strangulation is the epitome of life slipping through someone’s hands.”
Melton was found dead in her Cape Coral home. She was tied and wrapped. Her skin had turned blue and she had broken fingernails.
“He had driven over her repeatedly and tried to make her look like spaghetti,” Gardiner said.
Ruiz was found dead in an empty lot on the same day, police said. Both had been strangled.
“Both of them died on October 7 of 2019. Both of them had been strangled and both of them were forever silenced. The last person they encountered was Mr. Wade Wilson,” Gardiner said.
The prosecution said Wilson was still bragging about the murders to police three days later and claimed his biggest concern was getting a burger and fries, while Diane Ruiz lay in the field, with bugs eating face, making her unrecognizable.
Wilson’s defense attorney Lee Hollander did not deny that his client was guilty of the killings, but argued there was no premeditation and argued that Wilson was under the influence of drugs at the time.
“We are not claiming that he didn’t do it,” Hollander said. “I suspect the drugs.”
He asked the jury to consider convicting Wilson on the second-degree murder charge.
“I’m not arguing insanity, I’m arguing the state is claiming premeditation, I’m arguing he’s whacked out of his mind for any of this,” Hollander added.
Wilson’s trial has been five years in the making after being plagued with a slew of delays, including the death of his first attorney, and Wilson’s brief escape from a holding jail cell.
Wilson previously denied killing the women in an interview with NBC2. But at his trial, his biological father Steven Testasecca took the stand and testified that his son not only confessed to the crimes in detail but also bragged about them.
“He said ‘I’m a killer—there are two people gone who are not coming back,’” Testasecca told the court.
“He said that he pulled her out of the car and realized she was still breathing. He said he got back in the car and ran her over until she looked like spaghetti.”
Wilson was indicted on the murder charges in November 2019. He has been at the Lee County Jail since October 2019.
He now could face the death penalty.
Juries in Florida only need eight out of 10 members to recommend the death penalty.
