Nazi-tattooed 'Deadpool Killer' Wade Wilson sentenced to death for 'heinous' murders of Florida women

A Florida man known as the "Deadpool Killer" was sentenced to death on Tuesday for the "heinous" murders of two Cape Coral women in 2019.

Wade Wilson strangled 35-year-old Kristine Melton and 43-year-old Diane Ruiz to death within hours of each other on Oct. 6, 2019, in Cape Coral.

Wilson — also known as the "Cape Coral Strangler" — was convicted of two counts of first-degree felony murder and two counts of first-degree premeditated murder in June.

The convicted murderer has a stitched-on smile tattoo on both sides of his mouth, which is similar to that of the Joker's permanent ‘smile’ scars.

A Florida jury voted in favor of the death penalty — 9-3 in Melton’s case and 10-2 in Ruiz’s murder.

In April 2023, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was joined by parents of the victims of the Parkland mass school murder to sign a law that reduced the jury votes needed to administer capital punishment — dropping the previous requirement from unanimous to a supermajority of eight out of 12.

On Tuesday, Lee County Circuit Judge Nicholas R. Thompson found “no basis” to overrule the jury recommendation and sentenced Wilson to death.

"Given the facts of the case, nothing in defendant's background or mental state would suggest that a death sentence is inappropriate," Judge Thompson said before sentencing Wilson to death.

Wilson’s attorney, Lee Hollander, had requested the court impose two life sentences instead of the death penalty. Wilson's attorneys argued that he had suffered brain damage from drug addiction and had abandonment issues from being given up for adoption by his biological parents.

During the trial, Wilson's adoptive parents pleaded for clemency in a letter that claimed their adopted son was "a joyful child."

"Wade was a joyful child, loved his parents and sisters, and was loved immensely in return," the parents wrote. "But over the teen years, and then especially in the early years of adulthood, Wade began to slip away from us, becoming withdrawn, erratic, and depressed at first. Then his addiction was added to mental illness and [he] became, frankly, paranoid and delusional and a sense of loss became increasingly sharp."

The parents continued, "They put a tiny band-aid on it, and then sent him back into the world without a diagnosis, medication, and without follow-up care. We tried to hold pieces together but had no idea how to find the support Wade needed to be the person he was inside."

"In those tragic moments when the cancer of severe mental illness and addiction won, we lost our son, grandson, brother, nephew, and uncle," the family said.

The parents concluded, "Despite everything, Wade is still our son and we love him. The hopes and dreams of his life are already lost, but the human is still in there somewhere, tortured beyond what most of us can even imagine."

Assistant State Attorney Andreas Gardiner noted during the motion hearing, "Mr. Wilson’s decisions were not only pitiless and consciousness less, but they amounted to tragically reducing Ms. Melton, as well as Ms. Ruiz, 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" movie franchise.

Wilson brutally murdered two women within hours of each other.

Wilson, then 25, met Melton and her friend at a live music bar in Fort Myers on Oct. 5, 2019.

The trio reportedly went to another person's home for several hours before leaving in the morning. They allegedly went to Melton's home in Cape Coral. After the friendly left, Wilson strangled Melton to death as she slept in her bed and then stole her car.

Melton suffered bruising to her face and body, hemorrhages on her neck, and contusions to the bladder, colon, liver, and lungs.

Shortly after, Wilson saw Ruiz walking down a street in Cape Coral. He allegedly asked her for directions to a nearby school and lured her into the car.

The Fort Myers-based News-Press reported, "When Ruiz tried to exit the car, Wilson attacked her, beating, and strangling her before pushing her out of the car and running her over 10 to 20 times."

Testimony during the trial claimed that Wilson had "run her over until she looked like spaghetti," according to the New York Post.

Ruiz suffered a nasal bone fracture, multiple rib fractures, a laceration to her left breast, and bruising on both sides of her body.

After the gruesome murders, Wilson reportedly called his biological father — Steven Testasecca. Wilson purportedly confessed to the grisly murders.

The biological parents gathered Wilson's location and told him that they were sending an Uber to pick him up. Instead, Wilson's information was provided to police, who arrested him shortly after.

Newsweek reported that Wilson had several tattoos inspired by Nazis and Adolf Hitler, including two swastika tattoos: one on his right scalp and another under his right eye.

Wilson had a "TTG" on his forehead, "which allegedly stands for "Time To Go" or "Trained To Go." The convicted murderer also has "Bred for war" in big letters under his chin.

Wilson has a tattoo around his left eye that reads: "Why so serious?" This is likely a reference to Heath Ledger's quote in the 2008 "The Dark Knight" movie, where he portrayed the Joker villain. The convicted murderer has a stitched-on smile tattoo on both sides of his mouth, which is similar to that of the Joker's permanent "smile" scars.

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