A killer with Nazi facial tattoos who brutally murdered two women was sentenced to death on Tuesday.
Wade Wilson, 30, sat motionless in the courtroom in Lee County, Florida, as the verdict was read, while spectators in the gallery erupted in cheers and applause. Wilson had declined to speak in court earlier in the afternoon.
In June, Wilson was found guilty of two counts of first-degree intentional murder and two counts of first-degree premeditated murder in connection with the deaths of 35-year-old Kristine Melton and 43-year-old Diane Ruiz. He strangled the women within hours of each other on October 6, 2019, in Cape Coral.
The jury voted 9 to 3 for the death penalty in Melton's case and 10 to 2 in Ruiz's case. In Florida, only eight of 12 jurors need to recommend the death penalty for a judge to consider it.
The jury also had to prove that there were aggravating circumstances. In this case, the panel found that the crimes were heinous, cruel, or atrocious; committed by a person who had been convicted of another crime and who had previously served time in prison for another crime.
