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Join Telegram ChannelA Florida jury this week recommended the death penalty for a man convicted of killing two women in 2019.
Wade Wilson was convicted of strangling Kristine Melton to death as she slept the morning after meeting her at a bar, and then beating, strangling and running over Diane Ruiz with his car after seeing her on the street that same day.
Ten of the 12 jurors at the Lee County Courthouse in Fort Myers voted Tuesday that Wilson, whose seemingly “smug” and “smiling” demeanor in court has gone viral, should be put to death in Ruiz’s murder, and nine of the 12 voted for death in Melton’s killing. State law requires that eight jurors vote in favor of the death penalty.
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Wade Wilson sits in the courtroom as the verdict is read during the penalty phase of his murder trial at the Lee County Courthouse in Fort Myers on Tuesday. (Jonah Hinebaugh/Naples Daily News/USA Today Network-Florida)
The decision will be returned to Judge Nicholas Thompson on July 23.
Social media users following the trial called Wilson “soulless” and accused the killer of looking “smug” and “smiling” as his crimes were recounted to jurors.
“He is remorseless and says he would do it again. I'm not an 'eye for an eye' type. Never have been. But Wade Wilson's aloof and smug attitude makes me think that life in a cell with three meals a day in the genpop community is not acceptable,” wrote one user on X.
Another added: “Note the psycho smile on the serial strangler's face. »
A third said: “Wade Wilson was sentenced to death in Florida for the murder of two women. His own father turned him because the creature was a soulless monster.”
Judge Nick Thompson speaks during the penalty phase of Wade Wilson's murder trial at the Lee County Courthouse in Fort Myers on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. The jury recommended the death penalty for Wilson. (Jonah Hinebaugh/Naples Daily News/USA Today Network-Florida)
“You know, you’re asking someone to take another life, and so that’s always a difficult thing,” Assistant District Attorney Sara Miller said after the recommendation, according to FOX 4. “I think in this case it was a justified act given the horrific nature of this case.
“Both murders were particularly heinous, atrocious and cruel. He inflicted pain on her and showed complete indifference towards her. [Melton’s] life.”
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A photo of Kristine Melton is displayed to the jury during the penalty phase of Wade Wilson's murder trial at the Lee County Courthouse in Fort Myers on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. The jury recommended the death penalty for Wilson. (Jonah Hinebaugh/Naples Daily News/USA Today Network-Florida)
The defense tried to argue at trial that Wade had a “sick mind” and a “disease of addiction,” the station reported.
But Miller told jurors: “It is not credible that mental illness caused the defendant to murder Kristine Melton and Diane Ruiz.” He was under the influence of power, of lust, of control, of hatred. »
A photo of Diane Ruiz is displayed during the criminal phase of the Wade Wilson murder trial at the Lee County Courthouse in Fort Myers on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (Jonah Hinebaugh/Naples Daily News/USA Today Network-Florida)
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“A lot of people suffer from drug addiction, but they don't commit murder. »