Tattoo-covered Wade Wilson was adopted by loving, church-going parents before going off the rails in high school, taking drugs and stealing before eventually going on a murder spree.
The so-called ‘Deadpool Killer,’ 30, was sentenced to death in a Lee County courtroom on Tuesday for brutally murdering Kristine Melton, 35, and Diane Ruiz, 43, in 2019.
But his heinous crimes sent shockwaves through Florida, as revealed by his former classmates. Newsweek Magazine that the “troubled” man had been adopted by the “super friendly” Steve and Candace Wilson.
One of Wilson’s former school friends said: ‘He had the whole world at his disposal, he had a nice house in the suburbs with his parents who adopted him.
“They had greyhounds and expensive vehicles, but they weren’t just interested in material goods. Their mentality was also right.”
According to former classmates, Wade Wilson was known for his “strange appearance” and “dealing drugs” in high school. Pictured: Wilson as an 11th grader in the 2012 Chiles High School yearbook
Wilson, known as the ‘Deadpool Killer,’ was sentenced to death on Tuesday after killing two women in October 2019.
Wilson was convicted of the murders of Diane Ruiz, 43, and Kristine Melton, 35, whom prosecutors said he killed “for the joy of killing.”
But those who saw him grow up believed that all this was taken for granted.
One classmate even recalled that Wilson stole his parents’ car before disappearing for three days.
Another woman, who remained anonymous, said she attended Deerlake Middle School and Chiles High School with Wilson and said he and his friends “looked really creepy.”
He said that during lunch time, none of the group of friends would eat, but instead they would pass drugs.
The woman said Wilson was also the first person she smoked marijuana with when she was just 14 years old.
‘We used to smoke in the woods before school started, and that became an almost daily occurrence after the first time.
‘Sometimes it was just Wade and I, and sometimes (her boyfriend) was there.
“But every time I was alone with Wade, he never gave me any sense that he was in danger,” she said.
Wilson was previously convicted in June of two counts of first-degree murder, strangled to death within hours of each other on Oct. 6, 2019, in Cape Coral.
Prosecutors said Wilson began his killing spree on the evening of Oct. 6, 2019, when he met Melton at a live music bar and went home with her.
Wilson strangled her to death inside their Cape Coral, Florida, home the next day, where her body was found inside.
That same day, Ruiz was reported missing after Wilson saw her asking for directions while walking to work.
Wilson was previously convicted in June of two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of first-degree premeditated murder in the deaths of the two women, whom he strangled within hours of each other on Oct. 6, 2019, in Cape Coral.
He was driving a car he stole from Melton’s home after murdering her, which Ruiz got into before she, too, was strangled to death.
In Wilson’s father’s chilling testimony, he was said to have run her over “until she looked like spaghetti.”
Ruiz’s body was found three days later in a field behind a Sam’s Club.
Melton suffered bruising to his face and body, bleeding in his neck and contusions to his lungs, liver, bladder and colon, among others.
Some of the injuries Ruiz suffered include a fractured nasal bone, a laceration to his left chest, bruising on both sides of his body and multiple rib fractures.
The killer also drove to Fort Myers in Melton’s car and attacked Melissa Montanez, his ex-girlfriend.
Wilson was finally arrested on October 8 and remained behind bars without bail until his murder conviction.
He has since added a number of face tattoos, including several swastikas, menacing mouth tattoos similar to the Joker, and a neck tattoo that reads, “Raised for War.”
Throughout the trial, Wilson’s lawyers attempted to argue that he was under the influence of drugs.
His adoptive parents submitted letters saying he was a “happy child” who “loved his parents” and claimed he suffered from delusions after his drug addiction began.
During his sentencing on August 27, Wilson made one last morbid request to the court.
“I understand he has other pending cases here and elsewhere… but Mr. Wilson has asked me to ask the court, with all the authority I have, to put him on death row as soon as possible,” his lawyer said.
Since his arrest, Wilson has gotten several tattoos on his face, including several swastikas, menacing mouth tattoos resembling the Joker, and a tattoo on his neck that reads, “Raised for War.”
The string of criminal charges against Wilson date back four years to the murders of Melton and Ruiz, after he was arrested on sexual assault and kidnapping charges in 2015.
A woman told investigators he raped her in his truck after meeting them at a party in Tallahassee, but he denied the charges and a six-person jury later acquitted him at trial.
Eight months before the Fort Meyers massacre, in February 2019, Wilson’s ex-girlfriend came forward to accuse him of stealing her laptop and cellphone.
Just a month later, she told officers that he had kidnapped and raped her, but because they were both subject to a no-contact order, investigators decided not to pursue the rape and kidnapping allegations.
Wilson’s drug habits in high school followed him into prison following his arrest for his horrendous October 2019 murders.
In April 2023, a K9 identified narcotics at the Lee County Jail, where Wilson was being held.
Authorities discovered a grocery bag with two Ziploc bags inside containing loose cigarettes, suspected narcotics, lighters and pills.
Both bags tested positive for methamphetamine and officials later confirmed that Wilson had been working with other inmates to plant the narcotics inside the prison.
Following Tuesday’s sentencing, Ruiz’s father said he plans to be there when Wilson is on death row, recounting how he “wasn’t able to tell her that he loved her” to his daughter before her untimely death.
Meanwhile, prosecutors said Wilson will now be just a number at the Florida Department of Corrections, awaiting death.
