A shirtless Wade Wilson drove away from a police officer who arrested him. The video shows wild bodycam footage from the same day the Florida man brutally killed two women.
Wilson, 30, will be sentenced to death or life in prison on August 27 for the murders of 35-year-old Kristine Melton and 43-year-old Diane Ruiz within hours of each other on October 7, 2019.
In the police bodycam footage from October 7, 2019, which was obtained by NewsweekFort Myers police officers responded to a call from Wilson’s ex-girlfriend, Melissa Montanez, who claimed Wilson attacked her in the parking lot of her business, Mila Spa. Montanez told police Wilson had stolen her car from a bar the night before and left her outside the establishment, and she just wanted it back.
Fort Myers Police Department
Wilson arrived at the Mila Spa in a black Nissan Versa that he had stolen from Melton after meeting her at the bar the night before. He had walked home with her and then strangled her in her bed.
Shortly after Wilson left Montanez, he saw Ruiz walking down the street and stopped to ask her for directions. Ruiz got into the car, where Wilson strangled her and then ran over her “until she looked like spaghetti.”
Parts of the bodycam footage were shown in court on June 11. In one clip, an officer claims he received a tip that Wilson might be in the parking lot of a Joe’s Crab Shack and found him there in Montanez’s car.
Wilson told the officer that he was waiting there for his girlfriend.
Fort Myers Police Department
“I’m going to detain you, not arrest you, okay? I can’t have any problems, you understand?” the officer asks Wilson, although the convicted murderer’s answers are difficult to hear.
The officer tells Wilson, who is missing a front tooth, that he is being detained “due to the assault this morning.” However, Wilson claims there was no such incident.
Wilson appears to argue with the officer, who demands that he turn off the car and give him the keys. The officer tells Wilson to stay in his car until backup arrives, but he starts the car and drives out of the parking lot.
“Don’t go anywhere, don’t do it,” the officer tells himself as Wilson disappears.
Later that same day, another business owner called police to report that Wilson had entered the building shirtless and claimed he had stabbed someone. The caller claimed Wilson was covered in blood.
Wilson fled from police when they arrived and was later found inside a home. The homeowner was not home and told police Wilson was not allowed inside the home. Police called the home on the landline and a man answered. Wilson told police he needed to speak to his father and would come outside, which he eventually did.
Steven Testasecca, Wilson’s biological father, was the one who brought his son to the police. Testasecca testified in court that Wilson called him and admitted to the murder.
Wilson told police he knew he was wanted for domestic violence, so he broke into the home through a rear window. While inside, Wilson “took a shower, ate popcorn, drank five White Claws, and stole the victim’s clothing that she was wearing when she was arrested,” court documents say.
The judge will hear a motion from Wilson’s attorneys for acquittal or retrial in the Melton murder case at 9 a.m. on August 27. Wilson’s sentencing is scheduled for 2 p.m. that day. He is also found guilty of grand theft of a motor vehicle, assault, burglary and theft.
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