A Florida judge has sentenced a 30-year-old man to death for the random murders of two women in Southwest Florida in 2019. Wade Steven Wilson, who has ties to a white supremacist gang, was found guilty earlier this summer, facing charges including first-degree murder in the deaths of Kristine Melton, 35, and Diane Ruiz, 43. A jury from Lee County had previously recommended the death penalty.
In Florida, while juries provide recommendations for death sentences, the ultimate decision lies with the judge. On Tuesday, Judge Nicholas Thompson delivered the sentence, stating that the evidence indicated both murders were “heinous, atrocious and cruel,” with the second murder described as “cold, calculated and premeditated.” The judge noted that Wilson caused significant physical and emotional pain to the victims while he was on probation for previous felony convictions.
Wilson’s trial began on June 1 and featured jury deliberations that led to multiple convictions, including two counts of first-degree murder. The jury recommended execution for Ruiz’s murder with a vote of 10 to 2 and a 9 to 3 vote for Melton’s murder. Until April 2023, unanimous jury votes were required in Florida for death penalty recommendations, but changes in the law now allow for a smaller majority.
The details of the case reveal that Wilson met Melton at a Fort Myers bar before he strangled her in her home while she slept. After stealing her car, he assaulted his girlfriend, Melissa Montanez, and later committed a second murder when he lured Ruiz into his vehicle under the pretense of asking for directions. After attacking her, he strangled Ruiz and drove over her multiple times. Her body was discovered three days later, and Wilson was arrested after admitting to the murders during calls to his father.
In addition to the murder charges, Wilson faces other allegations, including grand theft and burglary. He is connected to a white supremacist gang, which has been implicated in various criminal activities throughout Florida.
With his sentencing, Wilson joins 279 other inmates on Florida’s death row. The state is set to execute its next inmate, Loran Cole, by lethal injection on Thursday for the murder of a college student in 1994. If executed, Cole would be the seventh inmate put to death in Florida since August 2019 and the first in 2023.