A Florida man convicted of killing two women earlier this year has been sentenced to death. Wade Wilson, known as the “Deadpool Killer,” strangled the women to death in 2019. The 30-year-old showed no emotion when Lee Circuit Judge Nicholas Thompson pronounced the death sentence.
Wilson, who shares a name with the Marvel villain, was convicted in June of murdering Christine Melton, 35, and Diane Ruiz, 43, the New York Post reports.
On the night of the murder Wilson first attacked Miss Melton in her home after they had sex following a drug-fuelled affair. He strangled her, stole her car and used her phone to call his girlfriend Melissa Montanez, then attacked her when she refused to get into the car.
Wilson then encountered Ms. Ruiz in Cape Coral, who was asking for directions. He lured her into his car, strangled her and dumped her body. He then ran over Ms. Ruiz repeatedly with his car “until she looked like spaghetti,” as described during the trial.
According to the New York Post, Judge Thompson described the killings as “heinous, atrocious and brutal,” and said the second killing was “planned, calculated and premeditated.”
Assistant State Attorney Andreas Gardiner strongly criticized Wilson’s actions, saying they were motivated solely by a desire to kill, and described strangulation as “a symbol of life slipping through one’s fingers.”
Despite the severity of his crimes, Wade Wilson received thousands of fan letters, love letters, and X-rated photos from fans while he was in prison. Some people wrote to the judge asking for leniency and claimed that Wilson’s behavior changed when he was on medication. His lawyers argued that he was suffering from brain damage and abandonment issues that resulted from his drug addiction and being adopted as a child.
Wilson’s adoptive parents also pleaded for mercy, saying they believed “the human is still in there” and urged the court not to impose the death penalty. In addition to the murder charges, Wilson was also found guilty of several other charges, including grand larceny, burglary, assault, and petty theft.
