An attorney for a Fort Myers man sentenced to death for the Cape Coral murders of two women said he plans to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, surprising Florida Supreme Court justices with his brief address.
Lee Circuit Judge Nicholas Thompson in August 2023 sentenced Wade Wilson, 31, to death for the brutal 2019 murders of Kristine Melton, 35, and Diane Ruiz, 43.
Michael Ufferman, who represents Wade Wilson in his appeal, spoke for roughly four minutes Feb. 5 before Florida’s Supreme Court justices.
Wilson, with numerous face tattoos, has gained notoriety across the nation, including a three-part docuseries about him, “Handsome Devil: Charming Killer.”
His defense attorney succinctly offered his plea to the court.
“I don’t intend to waste this court’s time rearguing things that have already been considered,” Ufferman said, adding that most of his arguments have already been raised in two other cases and that those appeals were denied.
Wilson’s direct appeal raises seven issues and seeks to reverse his two death sentences. They include challenges to new death penalty guidelines that changed in 2023 and arguments that the death sentences violate Wilson’s constitutional rights.
Ufferman said Wilson’s attorneys plan to take Wilson’s case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Jurors on June 25, 2024, voted 9-3 as for Melton’s death and 10-2 in Ruiz’s slaying. Before April 1, 2023, death recommendations required a unanimous vote, but a legislative change modified that to only an 8-4 vote, meaning if at least eight jurors vote in favor of the capital punishment, the accused becomes eligible.
Wilson’s attorneys are challenging the change from a unanimous vote.
“To those in the audience, it usually doesn’t go this way,” Justice Renatha Francis said, chuckling as she insinuated hearings typically take longer than four minutes. “I promise you.”
Lee Circuit Judge Nicholas Thompson on Aug. 27, 2024, sentenced Wilson to death for the brutal 2019 murders of Melton and Ruiz.
At trial, prosecutors said Wilson killed Melton hours after meeting her at Buddha LIVE, 12701 McGregor Blvd., in Fort Myers, a venue that provides live music. Hours after killing her, he stopped Ruiz along a Cape Coral street using Melton’s car.
The state said Wilson tortured Ruiz before he repeatedly drove over her body, saying he wanted to make her look “like spaghetti.”
Prosecutors said Wilson selected, secluded, tortured and strangled Melton and Ruiz, and described the Oct. 7, 2019, murders to jurors as heinous, atrocious and cruel. Those are the terms Thompson used as he read his reasoning that led to Wilson’s death sentence.
Wilson then described the killings to his biological father, Steven Testasecca. A phone call disclosed at trial revealed Wilson told Testasecca he tried to make Ruiz “look like spaghetti” when he used Melton’s stolen car to repeatedly run her over after he strangled her.
Authorities discovered Ruiz’s body days after her murder in an advanced decomposition state after vultures circling in the sky alerted authorities.
Wilson is the second convicted Lee County killer sentenced to death since the law changed. Joseph Zieler, 63, was sentenced to death June 26, 2023, in the 1990 murders of 11-year-old Robin Cornell and her babysitter, Lisa Story, 32.
A third person, Wisner Desmaret, 37, who killed Fort Myers police Officer Adam Jobbers-Miller, was sentenced to life in prison instead of death by lethal injection.
Wilson was also involved in a narcotics trafficking scheme at the Lee County Jail, as well as an attempt to escape the detention facility. Wilson pleaded no contest to the drug charges, and, as a result, the state dropped the charges related to the plotted jail escape.
Tomas Rodriguez is a Breaking/Live News Reporter for the Naples Daily News and The News-Press. You can reach Tomas at TRodriguez@usatodayco.com or 772-333-5501. Connect with him on Threads @tomasfrobeltran, Instagram @tomasfrobeltran, Facebook @tomasrodrigueznews and Bluesky @tomasfrodriguez.
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This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: ‘Handsome Devil’ Wade Wilson taking death penalty case to Supreme Court
Reporting by Tomas Rodriguez, Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News / Fort Myers News-Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
