Mug shot of convicted murderer Wade Wilson released from Florida's death row

Convicted murderer Wade Wilson, who brutally murdered two women in Cape Coral in 2019 and was recently sentenced to death for those crimes, has a new mugshot.

Normally a prison mugshot wouldn't be a big deal, but this is a death row inmate mugshot – taken at Union Correctional Institution in Raiford, Florida – and there's nothing ordinary about Wilson, his life as a criminal, or even his face.

More:Florida's prisons are filling up with tattooed inmates. Wade Wilson, a death row inmate, is also a face in the crowd

Mug shot of death row murderer Wade Wilson taken at Union Correctional Institution in Raiford, Florida.

Wilson's face is covered in a multitude of tattoos and has been a big part of his story since he was arrested in October 2019 for the murder of Kristine Melton, 35, who he strangled to death in her bed as she slept. Hours later, 43-year-old Diane Ruiz was strangled, beaten, pushed out of a car and repeatedly run over by Wilson.

Wade Wilson, then 25, was arrested the next day and charged with the murder of both women.

There is a striking difference from Wilson's appearance in the death row photo.

Not with his face, but with his hair.

Wilson has a shaved head, giving him a different look than his last appearance in a Lee County courtroom, as he now has thicker hair with gel in it.

The website that features Wilson's mugshot provides basic information about him, including his birth date (May 20, 1994) and the date he was admitted to prison (August 30), as well as his current prison term (maximum sentence) and current release date (death sentence).

Five years after his arrest for the murders, Wilson was tried for the murders. A Lee County jury found him guilty on June 12, 2024, and recommended the death penalty for each of the murders. Trial Judge Nicholas Thompson imposed the two death sentences on August 27, 2024.

On August 30, shortly after 1:30 a.m., Wilson was transferred from the Lee County Jail to death row at the Union Correctional Institution in Florida.

Union Correctional Institution is located about 45 miles southwest of Jacksonville. Wilson was physicalized at the facility, which included a mug shot.

More:Life story of Florida murderer Wade Wilson: The difficult path that led him to death row

Who is Wade Wilson and what has he done?

Wade Wilson was born on May 20, 1994 and grew up in Tallahassee.

He attended Chiles High School and has been arrested multiple times in Leon County since 2012 for sexual assault, burglary, child abuse and weapons offenses, the Tallahassee Democrat reported.

According to prison records, Wilson was incarcerated in the Florida Department of Corrections from November 26, 2013, to September 19, 2014, on burglary and grand theft charges. He served a second prison sentence for firearm theft from October 17, 2017, to July 15, 2018.

On October 7, 2019, Wilson met Melton, 35, and her boyfriend Sailors at Buddah LIVE, a bar in Fort Myers.

After the bar closed, Wilson and the two women went to Jayson Shepard's house, where they stayed for several hours before leaving in the morning.

Wilson, Melton and Sailors then went to Melton's home in Cape Coral. After Sailors left, Wilson strangled Melton in her bed while she slept and stole her car.

A short time later, Wilson saw 43-year-old Diane Ruiz walking down a street in Cape Coral, asked her for directions to a nearby school and lured her into the car.

As Ruiz attempted to get out of the car, Wilson attacked her, punched her, and strangled her before pushing her out of the car and running over her ten to twenty times.

After the murders, Wilson called his biological father, Steven Testasecca, several times, confessing and describing the gruesome details of his crimes.

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