Florida
Who is the Deadpool Killer? Wade Wilson sentenced to death for ‘atrocious and cruel’ murders of 2 Florida women
Wade Wilson, known as the Deadpool Killer, was sentenced to death on Tuesday, August 27, for brutally murdering two Florida women “for the sake of killing.” The 30-year-old tattooed killer, of Fort Myers, appeared stoic as Lee Circuit Judge Nicholas Thompson sentenced him to death.
“The evidence shows the murders were heinous, atrocious and cruel. and that the second murder was cold, calculated and premeditated,” Circuit Judge Nicholas Thompson told the courtroom, according to New York Post.
Back in June, Wilson was found guilty of killing Kristine Melton, 35, and Diane Ruiz, 43, during an October night in 2019. The jury had recommended that he should be awarded the death penalty.
Who is Wade Wilson?
Wilson shares a name with the Marvel anti-hero that Ryan Reynolds made famous. On the fateful night, he first strangled Melton in her home after a drug-fueled sexual encounter with her, according to prosecutors. He then stole Melton’s car and called his girlfriend, 41-year-old Melissa Montanez, using the victim’s phone. He later went on to assault her, but she refused to enter the car.
Wilson then came across Ruiz, who was asking for directions in Cape Coral. He invited Ruiz into the car, and strangled her and threw her out of the vehicle. He later returned and ran Ruiz over “until she looked like spaghetti,” according to testimony from the trial.
“This case was about killing for the sake of the killing,” Assistant State Attorney Andreas Gardiner previously told the court. “Strangulation is the epitome of life slipping through someone’s hands.”
During Wilson’s five years in prison, he received thousands of X-rated photos and love letters. This bizarre trend isn’t uncommon, as notorious serial killers Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer and Richard Ramirez were among violent people who received such attention while in prison.
In Wilson’s case, the judge received several letters urging him to look past Wilson’s inked face because, as many believed, he was a different person while on medication. Wilson’s attorneys claimed that he suffered brain damage from drug addiction and even had abandonment issues as his biological parents had given him up for adoption.
The killer’s adoptive parents urged the court not to give him the death penalty. In a letter, the parents stated that “the human is still in there.” “Please see it in your heart not take our son,” they wrote.
Additionally, Wilson was found guilty of grand theft, burglary of a dwelling, battery and petit theft.
Melton’s cousin, who asked to be identified as Samantha Kelly, reportedly said that the time between the deaths and the sentencing felt like “five years of agony.” Ruiz’s father, Felix Ruiz, said he would want to be present at Wilson’s execution. “I didn’t get to say I love her,” Felix said, according to The News-Press. “I miss her.”
Isa Torres, Lonni Alameda talk about beating UF in playoff-like atmosphere
Isa Torres led FSU softball with a two-home run performance. She embraced the playoff-like atmosphere in 3-1 win over Florida. Lonni Alameda talks about the victory.
No. 8 Florida handed No. 10 Florida State a narrow midweek loss, edging the Seminoles 4-3 Tuesday night at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
It was FSU’s first loss at Gainesville in five years.
FSU (43-8, 18-3 ACC) matched UF hit for hit for much of the game but could not overcome a pair of early deficit swings, falling to the Gators (46-8, 16-5 SEC) for the second time this season.
The Seminoles scored three runs on seven hits and drew three walks. Ashtyn Danley and Kennedy Harp each went 2-for-3, and five different FSU players recorded hits.
FSU struck first in the second inning. Singles by Bella Ruggiero and Harp, along with a walk to Shelby McKenzie, loaded the bases. Hayley Griggs followed with a soft single to left to plate Ruggiero, and Isa Torres added a sacrifice fly to score McKenzie and give the Seminoles a 2-0 lead.
Florida answered with two runs on two hits in the bottom of the third to tie the game, then pushed ahead 3-2 in the fourth on an RBI single.
The Seminoles responded in the fifth, again loading the bases. Anna Hinde lifted a sacrifice fly to deep right, allowing Torres to tag and score to tie the game at 3.
Florida regained the lead in the bottom half of the inning with a solo run and held the Seminoles scoreless the rest of the way to secure the 4-3 victory.
Bella Dimitrijevic started for FSU and worked three innings, allowing two earned runs on three hits with one strikeout in her 13th start of the season. Marlee Gaskell (2-1) relieved in the fourth, pitching 2 1/3 innings and striking out three while surrendering five hits. Makenna Reid entered in the sixth and recorded two flyouts to keep the Seminoles within a run.
Florida State will resume ACC play with a road series at Boston College beginning Friday, May 1, in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.
How to watch FSU softball vs. Boston College
- Date: Friday, May 1
- Time: 4 p.m. EST
- Where: Harrington Athletics Village, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
- TV/Stream: ACC extra
Peter Holland Jr. covers Florida State athletics and Big Bend Preps for the Tallahassee Democrat. If you like to pitch a story on a high school athlete, don’t hesitate to get in touch with him via email at PHolland@Gannett.com or on X @_Da_pistol.
Florida
FBI asking for help locating missing truck driver after suspected car hauler hijacking in Florida
BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – The FBI is investigating the suspicious disappearance of truck driver Alejandro Jacomino Gonzalez and is asking for the public’s assistance in locating him.
On April 16, investigators say Gonzalez picked up multiple vehicles from the Port of Brunswick, in Georgia. He departed the Brunswick port headed South for Miami, Florida, the drop off location for the vehicles.
Timeline of disappearance
At approximately 1:21 a.m., the FBI says Gonzalez arrived at a truck stop in Brevard County, Florida, where he rested for several hours. At 7:49 a.m., GPS from the truck driven by Gonzalez indicates the truck drove South one exit and then turned North towards Jacksonville. Soon after, Gonzalez became unreachable and the truck was reported missing.
On April 17, the truck was located in Port Wentworth, Georgia, however Gonzalez was not located in the truck. Additionally, several vehicles were missing from the hauler. Since the discovery of the truck, three vehicles have been located in Florida. Others are still missing, along with Gonzalez.
The FBI is seeking photos and video footage from any people located in or around the Brevard County Rest Area in Grant-Valkaria, Florida, between the hours of 1 a.m. and 8 a.m., on Friday, April 17, specifically focusing on the southern portion of the rest area near the ramp that enters back onto I-95 South.
The public is encouraged to share those photos and videos here.
Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.
Wildlife researchers have found an unconventional way to help control invasive Burmese pythons in the Florida Everglades – by using one of the snakes’ favorite prey.
Opossums are a key food source for Burmese pythons, which are top predators in the Everglades and have established a permanent breeding population in South Florida, severely harming the ecosystem by wiping out native animals, according to the Conservancy of Southwest Florida.
In 2022, researchers discovered the new technique accidentally while studying the movements and behaviors of small mammals. The team had fitted GPS collars to opossums and raccoons on Florida’s southern coast and discovered an added side effect: They could also track the enormous snakes after they swallowed the tagged animals whole, LiveScience reported.
“We need everything that we can find to remove as many pythons as possible,” Michael Cove, one of the researchers and curator of mammals at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, told The South Florida Sun-Sentinel in 2023.
With that in mind, Cove, A.J. Sanjar and other researchers expanded the effort to track and euthanize invasive pythons as part of Florida’s conservation work. Here’s how they do it.
How the GPS-collared opossums are tracked
Researchers hope to have at least 40 GPS-collared opossums in their conservation program by later this summer. It’s almost a given that some of these furry creatures will meet their doom in the coils of an invasive python diet in the food chain, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported.
Although the use of live prey as bait has drawn criticism, the scientists insist that they are researching natural behavior and that the collars do not limit the mammals’ range or raise their risk, but rather use predatory patterns as a means of detection.
“We’re not putting these animals out there and in harm’s way,” Crocodile Lake National Wildlife Refuge manager Jeremy Dixon told the South Florida Sun Sentinel on April 19. “Harm’s way is there. We’re just documenting what’s happening.”
Where Burmese pythons have been reported in Florida
Burmese pythons in the Sunshine State have reduced the population of raccoons by 99%, opossums by 98% and bobcats by 88%, causing a massive ecological collapse in Florida’s Everglades.
A U.S. Geological Survey report shows that Burmese pythons are expanding their range so quickly that it can be marked in miles per year in some areas.
Here’s where they’re most prevalent in Florida:
About the invasive Burmese python
Originally from Southeast Asia, the Burmese python has been introduced to South Florida either through accidental escape or intentional release of captive animals.
In 1979, the first observation of a Burmese python in the wild in South Florida was recorded in Everglades National Park. The heaviest python ever caught in Florida was an 18-foot, 215-pound snake. It was caught by a biologist with the Conservancy of Southwest Florida in Naples in 2022.
How big do pythons get?
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission keeps track of the length and weight of Burmese pythons after sightings are reported. The longest Burmese python ever captured in Florida, in July 2023, measured more than 19 feet.
Since their arrival in Florida, the snakes have brought harmful, non-native parasites and reduced medium-sized mammal numbers by more than 90%, changing the ecosystem, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History.
Source: North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, South Florida Sun Sentinel, Popular Science, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Naples Daily News and USA TODAY research
-
Milwaukee, WI2 minutes agoMPS staff to get phased inflationary raises despite union objections
-
Atlanta, GA8 minutes agoCelebrate Cinco de Mayo, Kentucky Derby and more May food events in metro Atlanta
-
Minneapolis, MN14 minutes agoMinneapolis apartment chaos: Teens smash door, attack tenant and party on rooftop
-
Indianapolis, IN20 minutes agoWoman critically injured in shooting on northeast side of Indianapolis
-
Pittsburg, PA26 minutes agoSpringsteen, Lyle Lovett, Don Toliver and more Pittsburgh concerts in May
-
Augusta, GA32 minutes agoFederal rental aid audit prompts Augusta to bring in outside investigators
-
Washington, D.C38 minutes agoDC weather: Showers and thunderstorms likely Wednesday
-
Cleveland, OH44 minutes agoCleveland has Ohio’s highest apartment rents – NEOtrans