Only one date is missing to complete the chronology of the life story of convicted murderer Wade Wilson up to his death.
If he is killed.
On Tuesday afternoon (August 27), Wilson sat in a Lee County court where Judge Nicholas Thompson handed down the death sentence to Wilson for the 2019 killings of Kristine Melton and Diane Ruiz. Wilson will now face trial on the death sentence in Florida.
According to our court reporter Tomas Rodriguez, who was in the courtroom on Tuesday, “Wilson remained stoic and leaned forward to speak to his attorney as the judge spoke.”
This timeline describes Wilson’s life as a criminal since his youth.
Wade Wilson Timeline: Convicted Murderer’s Life of Crime
May 20, 1994: This is Wilson’s birth date. His birth parents gave him up for adoption. He grew up in Tallahassee, attended Chiles High School, and is listed in the class of 2012.
2015: Wilson was arrested on sexual assault and kidnapping charges after a woman told investigators he raped her in his SUV after they met at a party in Tallahassee. Wilson denied the charges, and a six-person jury acquitted him at trial.
2018: Wilson appeared as a character in the Tallahassee trial of Denise Williams, who was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy in the death of her husband, Mike Williams. She and her lover, Brian Winchester, had planned to make the incident look like a boating accident. His disappearance in 2000 was one of the most baffling mysteries in Tallahassee until investigators finally brought charges against Winchester and later Williams.
Winchester, who testified against Denise Williams, told jurors he tried to get Wilson, one of his prison mates, to falsify evidence in the case. He said Wilson even went so far as to kill Denise Williams, who was eventually sentenced to life in prison.
February 19, 2019: Wilson’s ex-girlfriend accused him of stealing her laptop and cell phone in January. The following month, she told investigators he kidnapped and raped her. However, Wilson and his ex-girlfriend had a restraining order and investigators decided not to pursue the rape and kidnapping allegations.
September 2019: According to media reports, Wilson pleaded guilty to pawning stolen property in his ex-girlfriend’s case and received credit for time served and probation. A media report also said another woman in Lee County accused him of rape and kidnapping, but later decided not to press charges.
July 1, 2019: Wilson was arrested by the Lee County Sheriff’s Office and charged with assault.October 7, 2019: Wilson, then 25, met Kristine Melton, 35, and her friend Stephanie Sailors at Buddah LIVE, a bar in Fort Myers. Steven Testasecca, Wilson’s biological father, said he received a call from Wilson on Oct. 7, 2019, while he was at work. According to Testasecca, Wilson asked for help and said he had done something he couldn’t take back.
October 8, 2019: Wilson was arrested for the heinous crimes he committed.
October 11, 2019: Cape Coral Police have confirmed that 25-year-old Wade Steven Wilson of Fort Myers is the person in question in connection with the deaths of Diane Ruiz and Kristine Melton.
30 September 2020: Officials at the Lee County Jail received information about a possible escape attempt involving Wilson and his cellmate Joseph Katz. Wilson was charged with attempted escape and criminal damage.
April 20, 2023: A sniffer dog discovered narcotics in the Lee County Jail, near an area where landscaping stones are laid out. Authorities recovered a gray grocery bag with two Ziploc bags inside. Each bag contained free cigarettes, suspected narcotics, lighters and pills. Methamphetamine was detected in each bag. Authorities concluded that Wilson was working with other inmates to plant the narcotics in the Lee County Jail.
June 12, 2024: Wilson was found guilty of the murders of Kristine Melton (35) and Diane Ruiz (43) in 2019.
June 25, 2024: The jury in Wilson’s trial recommended that he receive the death penalty for each murder.
15 August 2024: Lee District Court Judge Nicholas Thompson on Thursday denied Wilson’s request for a retrial.
27 August 2024: Wilson is sentenced to death by Judge Nicholas Thompson in the Lee County Courthouse.
