Wade Wilson's release from the Lee County Jail comes less than a day after he expedited two pending cases in Lee County.
Tomas RodriguezFort Myers News-Press
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In the middle of the night Friday, less than 36 hours after a Fort Myers man was sentenced to death for the 2019 murders of two Cape Coral women, he left Lee County custody and began his journey to death row.
Lee County Jail records indicate Wade Wilson, 30, was released from the facility minutes after 1:30 a.m. Friday on his way to the Florida State Prison, in Raiford, where he will await his execution, which could take years. He has been held at Lee County Jail since his Oct. 8, 2019, arrest.
Lee Circuit Judge Nicholas Thompson on Tuesday sentenced Wilson to death for the brutal 2019 murders ofKristine Melton, 35, andDiane Ruiz, 43.
At trial, prosecutors said Wilson killed Melton, hours after meeting her at Buddha LIVE, 12701 McGregor Blvd., in Fort Myers, a venue that provides live music. Hours after killing her, he stopped Ruiz along a Cape Coral street.
Prosecutors said Wilson selected, secluded, tortured and strangled Melton and Ruiz, and described the Oct. 7, 2019, murders to jurors as heinous, atrocious and cruel. Those are the terms Thompson used as he read his reasoning that led to Wilson's death sentence.
Assistant State Attorneys Sara Miller and Andreas Gardiner prosecuted the case.
Wilson then described the killings to his biological father, Steven Testasecca. A phone call disclosed at trial revealed Wilson told Testasecca he tried to make Ruiz "look like spaghetti" when he used Melton's stolen car to repeatedly run her over after he strangled her.
Ruiz's body was discovered days after her murder in an advanced decomposition state after vultures circling in the sky alerted authorities.
Two days after he received his death sentence, Wilson was adjudicated guilty and sentenced for one count of attempted trafficking in amphetamine or methamphetamine between 28 and 200 grams, a second-degree felony, and one count of conspiracy to traffic in amphetamine or methamphetamine, a first-degree felony.
He pleaded no contest to the charges and was sentenced to 12 years in prison. He was also ordered to pay more than $50,000 in fines to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
The court actions allow for Wilson totransfer to death rowmore quickly instead of remaining at the Lee County Jail waiting to resolve the charges in trial.
The State Attorney's Office said the sentences are to be served concurrent with thetwo death sentenceshe received Tuesday for his June 12 conviction of two counts of first-degree murder in the Oct. 7, 2019, deaths ofMelton andRuiz.
A Lee County jury had recommendeddeath sentencesin 10-2 and 9-3 votes for each of the victims following his capital murder trial. Before April 1, 2023, death recommendations required a unanimous vote, but a legislative change modified that to only an 8-4 vote, meaning if at least eight jurors vote in favor of the capital punishment, the accused becomes eligible.
Wilson is the second convicted Lee County killer sentenced to death since the law changed. Joseph Zieler, 62, was sentenced to death June 26, 2023, in the 1990 murders of 11-year-old Robin Cornell and her babysitter, Lisa Story, 32. A third person, Wisner Desmaret, 35, who killed Fort Myers police Officer Adam Jobbers-Miller, was sentenced to life in prison instead of the lethal injection.
Deputies said Wade Wilson was involved in narcotics trafficking at jail
According to an arrest report from the Lee County Sheriff's Office, around 6 a.m. April 20, a K9 conducted a free air sniff outside the main Lee County jail, 2115 Martin Luther King J. Blvd., because of narcotics placed there.
The K9 identified narcotics near an area where landscaping rocks are laid, the report says. Authorities recovered a gray grocery bag with two Ziploc bags inside.
Each bag contained loose cigarettes, suspected narcotics, lighters and pills. Both bags tested positive for methamphetamine. Corrections deputies found Wilson was linked to others in the drug drop, the report says.
The State Attorney's Office said Wilson survived a drug overdose in custody at the Lee County Jail before the Lee County Sheriff’s Office launched an investigation that included the review of jail mail correspondence. That correspondence review revealed the conspiracy to traffic illegal drugs.
Jail escape plot charges dropped as part of no contest plea
As part of the plea agreement, the state dropped the charges in a separate case that accused Wilson ofplotting a jail escape.
In October 2020, Wilson, along with a man accused in a domestic violence case,was thwarted in a bidto escape Lee County Jail.
Wilson and his cellmate at the time, Joseph Katz, 34, were involved, authorities said.
When their roughly 10-foot-by-10-foot cell was checked, the only window in the unit showed signs of tampering with the metal frame holding the window removed and the thick security glass window showingseveral cracks in it.
The Lee County Sheriff's Office report said Wilson was the primary planner and instigator of the attempt and that Katz could not have been ignorant of the attempt or not have taken part in it.
Tomas Rodriguez is a Breaking/Live News Reporter for the Naples Daily News and The News-Press. You can reach Tomas at TRodriguez@gannett.com or 772-333-5501. Connect with him on Threads@tomasfrobeltran, Instagram@tomasfrobeltranand Facebook@tomasrodrigueznews.
