A convicted double murderer was caught making a mysterious hand sign as he sat impassively while being sentenced to death.
Wade Wilson, 30, made headlines in October 2019 after murdering two women within hours, with images of his striking tattooed appearance widely circulated.
Nicknamed the ‘Deadpool Killer’ because he shares a name with the Marvel character, Wilson was convicted of the murders of Kristine Melton, 35, and Diane Ruiz, 43, whom prosecutors said he killed ‘for the sake of killing.’
Footage of Wilson’s creepy hand sign sparked speculation online, with some morbid female fans also appearing to swoon over the killer’s heavily tattooed appearance.
Convicted double murderer Wade Wilson, 30, made a mysterious hand sign as he was sentenced to death this week.
Wilson strangled two women to death within hours of each other during a chilling crime spree in October 2019.
Kristine Melton, 35, and Diane Ruiz, 43, were killed by Wilson ‘for killing’
Wilson was also found guilty of several charges during an hours-long crime spree, including the assault of Melissa Montanez, 41, the robbery and burglary of two homes and the theft of Melton’s car.
It started on the afternoon of October 6, 2019, when he met Melton at a bar with live music 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.
The same day, Ruiz was reported missing after Wilson asked her for directions while walking to work.
He was driving a car he stole from Melton’s home after killing her, which Ruiz got into before she too was strangled to death.
Wilson’s father’s testimony said he ran her over until she was tangled in a spaghetti skein. Ruiz’s body was found three days later in a field behind a Sam’s Club.
The 30-year-old killer also drove to Fort Myers in Melton’s car and attacked Montanez, his ex-girlfriend.
Wilson was arrested on Oct. 8, where he remained behind bars without bail until he was convicted of murder this month.
Wilson has added several tattoos since he was arrested, and his face includes several swastikas, threatening mouth tattoos similar to the Joker, and a neck tattoo that reads, “Bred for War.”
Jurors voted to send him to death row, and footage from the courtroom shows Wilson looking impassive as he learned his fate.
Wilson’s striking facial tattoos, seen during his trial on June 25, 2024
Wilson was also convicted of assaulting his ex-girlfriend Melissa Montanez, pictured testifying against him at his trial.
Wilson’s father, Steven Testasecca, 46, said in his testimony that Wilson had been adopted as a baby because he and the killer’s mother were teenagers when they had him.
He said his contact with his son had been “sporadic” since they reconnected when he turned 18, but said Wilson approached him on Oct. 7 after he killed Melton and Ruiz.
“He said, ‘I’m a murderer,'” Testasecca said, adding that she initially believed her son was simply telling her a “story.”
“He’s a good storyteller,” he testified. Later that day, after another phone call, he said he realized his son was telling the truth.
Testasecca said her son then went into gory details of how he killed the two women, including how he strangled Melton after she fell asleep.
Ruiz was also still breathing when Wilson repeatedly ran her over, Testasecca said she was told.
“I was excited,” he said. “He wanted me to feel the same way he did…I would have done it again.”
Wilson fled Florida in the stolen car and drove to Ohio, where he broke into the home of Fanny and Kent Amlin, a retired couple.
He was reportedly found inside the home with several White Claw alcoholic beverages.
Kristine Melton’s cousin said she always dreamed of being a mother and said in a victim impact statement that she “will never experience motherhood, a role she was born to play.”
Ruiz was described as having a “magnificent” personality who “always had everyone’s back.”
In heartbreaking statements about the impact on victims following Wilson’s trial, Melton’s cousin Samantha Catomer said she was a witty and kind person who dreamed of being a mother.
“Kristine will never experience motherhood, a role she was born to play,” she said.
Zane Romero, 19, one of Ruiz’s two sons, said his mother was killed just days before he was set to make his debut in his school’s marching band, something he said she had been looking forward to.
“I never got to see her in the crowd,” Romero said. “My mom will never get to see me get married.”
Ruiz, a bartender, was remembered by her colleagues as ‘the heartbeat of the bar’ where she worked, who never missed a shift for more than five years.
“She always had our backs. She had a personality that was really uplifting. She had a really loud laugh that you could hear for miles,” he said.
