HE WAS ON DEATH ROW — THEN THE PRISON CALLS TURNED WADE WILSON INTO AN INTERNET OBSESSION

Wade Wilson was behind bars for killing two women. Yet outside the prison, strangers were lining up for his attention.

The man later dubbed the “Deadpool Killer” became the center of an unusual online following after his 2024 murder conviction. Women calling themselves “Wade’s Wives” contacted him through jailhouse calls and video chats, with some openly expressing romantic and sexual interest in him.

Some of those conversations became particularly explicit.

Fox News reported that one woman pleaded with Wilson to impregnate her, while another talked about wanting “marathon sex.” The reports were based on prison communications examined for the documentary Handsome Devil: Charming Killer.

But the sheer volume of attention was perhaps even more striking.

The Lee County Sheriff’s Office told Newsweek that Wilson received 3,903 messages in just one month after his June 2024 conviction. He also received 65 letters and 754 photographs. Of those photographs, 163 were rejected as inappropriate, according to the reporting.

The calls offered an unusual glimpse into how the fascination worked.

Documentary producer Brian Ross said women told filmmakers that Wilson made them laugh during conversations and told them he loved them. Some supporters apparently began imagining a relationship with him despite knowing he was incarcerated for two killings.

The phenomenon became so recognizable that prosecutors, police and people online began referring to the women as “Wade’s Wives.” The documentary’s creators said supporters came from around the world, with some writing to Wilson and others attempting to support him financially.

One supporter reportedly even spent her own money buying Wilson clothing to wear in court.

Another had a tattoo associated with him.

And a fundraising effort connected to his supporters reportedly collected about $100,000.

For the filmmakers, the prison recordings became important because they showed something that photographs and courtroom appearances could not.

They showed the interaction.

The three-part documentary Handsome Devil: Charming Killer was built in part around recorded jail calls and video calls obtained from the sheriff’s office through a Freedom of Information request. Producer Brian Ross said the recordings helped reveal how Wilson interacted with women who had become fascinated with him.

That does not mean every woman who contacted Wilson had the same motivation.

Criminologists interviewed for the documentary offered possible explanations for why some people can become attracted to dangerous offenders. One explanation discussed was that communicating with someone who is physically confined can create a perceived sense of safety. That is an interpretation from experts interviewed for the documentary, not a conclusion that applies to every supporter.

There was also a stark reality behind the online fascination.

Wilson had been convicted of murdering Kristine Melton and Diane Ruiz in 2019. He was sentenced to death in August 2024.

While supporters were discussing romance, marriage and even children, the families of the two women were still living with the consequences of their deaths.

That contrast is what makes the prison-call material so unsettling.

The attention did not come after Wilson was cleared.

It came after a jury convicted him of two murders and after he was sentenced to death.

Yet his notoriety continued to generate fascination online.

The case became a strange collision of true crime, social media and celebrity culture — where a convicted killer’s appearance and personality became the focus of conversations that seemed almost completely disconnected from the lives he had destroyed.

And behind the prison walls, the calls continued.

Women called.

Messages arrived.

Photographs were sent.

Some wanted his attention.

Some wanted his love.

And according to the reported prison conversations, some wanted something even more permanent.

A child.

The disturbing question left behind by the recordings is not simply why people contacted Wade Wilson.

It is how a man convicted of two murders became, for some strangers online, someone they wanted to bring into their lives rather than someone they wanted kept away from society.