Who were Kristine Melton and Diane Ruiz? What to know about Wade Wilson’s victims
WADE Wilson murdered Kristine Melton and Diane Ruiz in October 2019.
The two women were brutally killed in Cape Coral, Florida.
Who were Kristine Melton and Diane Ruiz?
Wade Wilson, now 30, murdered Kristine Melton, 35, and Diane Ruiz, 43, on October 7, 2019.
According to The News-Press, Melton was raised in Illinois. She and a friend moved to Cape Coral, where she worked as a waitress.
Per NBC2, Melton’s neighbors described her as sweet and friendly.
“She was happy-go-lucky, help anybody, very nice person,” Debbie McCabe said, according to the publication.
According to NBC2, Ruiz worked as a server and bartender at the Moose Lodge in Cape Coral.
Co-workers and customers of the engaged mother of two shared kind words about Ruiz following her brutal murder.
“She didn’t have a bad bone in her body. She did not deserve to end up over there like that,” Ernie Carroll said, per NBC2.
As The News-Press reported, during the penalty case in Wilson’s capital murder trial — which began on June 24, 2024 — witnesses remembered the victims of the convicted killer’s heinous crimes.
Melton’s first cousin and best friend, Samantha Catomer, testified through tears.
Per the outlet, she said Melton enjoyed dressing up and that Halloween was one of her favorite holidays.
“He threw her away like garbage,” Catomer said of Wilson.
She later added that Melton “was precious, not just to me, but to everyone who knew her.”
Catomer also said that Melton had a quick wit and that people felt safe and understood around her, per the publication.
“She was a relief just to sit next to her,” she said.
Catomer also shared that Melton was her child’s godmother, which was the latter’s “greatest honor.”
“Kristine will never experience motherhood, a role she was born to play,” Catomer said.
She added that Melton enjoyed traveling and loved to “get to know the world.”
Per The News-Press, Catomer said Melton lived less than a block away from her mother, who relocated to Maryland with one of Melton’s other siblings after being horrified by the murder.
The outlet reported that Melton’s mother had not been present during the trial.
“Losing Kristine is like losing your son. I would not wish it on my worst enemy,” Catomer said.
Catomer also said Melton’s cat sat by her “crumbled body,” as police arrived.
“Look at her. I know you can,” Catomer said while looking at Wilson.
Jurors saw the photos on a screen, per the publication.
The News-Press reported that Ruiz was killed only days before she was supposed to see her then-freshman son, Zane Romero, debut in his high school band program.
“I never got to see her in the crowd,” Romero — whose only living parent was Ruiz before her murder — said during the trial.
Romero said his engaged mother would have been married within months.
“She was so close to getting everything she wanted,” he said.
Romero, filled with emotion, named the accomplishments Ruiz had missed due to her murder, including seeing him complete three years of marching band, get accepted into all the colleges he applied to, and win awards for his photography.
“My mom will never get to see me get married,” he said.
Per the outlet, Romero said he was taken to the intensive care unit during his freshman year of college after he was involved in a severe car accident.
“I wasn’t able to call my mom,” he said.
Romero looked over a series of photos he took of and with his Ruiz and grew emotional when he pointed at a specific picture Ruiz took of him, according to the publication.
Romero said it was the only time he let his mother photograph him, and he did so as a Mother’s Day gift.
Who is Wade Wilson?
Wade Wilson is a convicted murderer from Fort Myers, Florida.
Fox News reported that he went viral on social media for his “smug, soulless” behavior in court.
“Throughout this testimony, Wilson didn’t show any emotion. He sat stone-cold or whispered to his attorneys,” NBC2 stated.
Wilson also gained online attention for his facial tattoos, which NBC2 reported his attorneys requested he be allowed to cover with makeup during jury selection and his trial.
According to the publication, their motion argued, “Wilson has numerous and varied tattoos on his face including ‘stitches’, swastikas and other tattoos that might be objectionable to members of the potential jury pool.
“He would like to appear presentable to the jury deciding his guilt or innocence or whether he lives or dies.”
Despite getting the judge’s approval for both the makeup and a haircut, it did not appear throughout jury selection and the trial that Wilson ever wore the makeup, NBC2 reported.
On June 12, 2024, a Lee County jury convicted Wilson of murdering Melton and Ruiz in the first degree.
According to The News-Press, he was also found guilty of grand theft, battery, burglary, and petty theft.
Per the outlet, Melton and her friend Stephanie Sailors met Wilson, who was 25 at the time, at a Cape Coral bar on October 7, 2019. The three of them went to Melton’s duplex that morning.
After Sailors left, Wilson murdered Melton by strangulation as she slept in her bed before stealing her car.
Shortly after killing Melton, Wilson asked Ruiz for directions to a school in the area after he saw her walking along a Cape Coral street, per the publication.
The News-Press reported, “Wilson lured her into the car and when she tried to leave he beat and strangled her before pushing her out of the car and running her over 10 to 20 times.”
Three days later, Ruiz’s body was found in a field, with vultures circling overhead, per the outlet.
When is Wade Wilson being sentenced?
Following his June 12, 2024 conviction, the jury recommended that Wilson be sentenced to the death penalty following a little over an hour and a half of deliberations, per NBC2.
According to The News-Press, it will be up to trial Judge Nicholas Thompson to decide if the convicted murderer will receive the death sentence.
Wilson’s sentencing is scheduled for July 23, 2024.