WADE WILSON REMAINS ON DEATH ROW AS LEGAL BATTLE CONTINUES OVER HIS TWO DEATH SENTENCES

Wade Wilson, the Florida man convicted of killing two women in a single day, remains on death row as his legal battle continues more than two years after he was sentenced to death.

Wade Steven Wilson remains incarcerated on Florida’s death row after being convicted of the 2019 killings of Kristine Melton, 35, and Diane Ruiz, 43, in Cape Coral.

Wilson was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder in June 2024. In August of that year, a judge sentenced him to death for both killings. He is currently being held at Union Correctional Institution in Raiford, Florida, which houses the state’s male death-row population.

Despite the extensive attention surrounding the case, Wilson does not currently have an execution date.

Florida Supreme Court appeal

Wilson’s case remains before the Florida Supreme Court under case number SC2024-1345.

The appeal was docketed in September 2024 and challenges aspects of his death sentences rather than serving as a new trial over the underlying convictions. The court held oral arguments on February 5, 2026.

One of the central legal issues involves Florida’s death-penalty system and the use of non-unanimous jury recommendations in capital cases.

During the February hearing, Wilson’s attorneys presented their arguments before the justices. The proceedings followed earlier Florida Supreme Court decisions addressing similar constitutional challenges to the state’s death-penalty law.

The official court docket shows that the case remains open. A May 2026 entry also records the withdrawal of one of Wilson’s attorneys from the case.

The 2019 killings

The crimes occurred on October 7, 2019, in southwest Florida.

According to trial evidence, Wilson first met Kristine Melton at a bar in Fort Myers before going with her to her home.

Prosecutors said Wilson later killed Melton by strangulation and took her vehicle.

Hours afterward, Wilson encountered Diane Ruiz as she was walking to work.

Investigators said Wilson persuaded Ruiz to get into the vehicle before killing her and later abandoning her body.

Evidence presented at trial included Wilson’s own statements about the killings and testimony concerning the events that followed.

Wilson was arrested less than a day after the two women were killed.

Conviction and death sentences

A Lee County jury found Wilson guilty of both first-degree murder charges in June 2024.

Two months later, he was formally sentenced to death.

His case subsequently moved through Florida’s appellate system, where his attorneys challenged the death sentences and raised constitutional arguments concerning the state’s capital-sentencing procedures.

The Florida Supreme Court’s February 2026 hearing represented another major step in that appeal.

However, the legal process has not resulted in an execution date.

Why the case continues to attract attention

Wilson’s case has received renewed public attention in 2026 following the release of the documentary “Handsome Devil: Charming Killer” and Netflix’s inclusion of the case in the second season of “Worst Ex Ever.”

The attention has also extended beyond the courtroom, with Wilson’s appearance and the circumstances of the case becoming the subject of extensive discussion online.

Authorities and victims’ families, however, remain focused on the underlying crimes and the continuing legal proceedings.

What happens next?

For now, Wilson remains in custody on Florida’s death row while his appellate case continues.

The Florida Supreme Court’s official docket lists SC2024-1345 as open, with no future oral argument currently listed.

Any further appeal, including a possible request for review by the U.S. Supreme Court, would represent another stage in the legal process.

Until those proceedings are resolved, Wilson remains under his two death sentences, and no execution date has been announced.

The case therefore remains active more than six years after the two killings and more than two years after Wilson received the death penalty.