UPDATE: A fire alarm at the courthouse has gone off, causing some to be evacuated and delay Wilson’s sentencing.According to NBC2 crews at the Lee County Courthouse, officials believe a sprinkler issue set off the fire alarm.You can watch Wade Wilson’s sentencing LIVE by clicking the player below.Following a Spencer Hearing, a Lee County judge will decide if Wade Wilson will spend the rest of his life in prison or receive the death penalty. After five years of waiting, a jury found Wilson guilty of six crimes, including the first-degree murders of Kristine Melton, 35, and Diane Ruiz, 43, which took place in Cape Coral on Oct. 7, 2019.Nine of the 12 jurors recommended the death penalty for the murder of Melton. 10 of them recommended death for the murder of Ruiz on June 25, 2024.At 9 a.m., Wilson’s defense attorneys brought forward a neurologist, in a last-ditch effort to convince the judge to choose life in prison. Dr. Mark Rubino took the stand to go over his evaluation of Wilson and any possible brain injury. He explained while completing a series of neurological tests, Wilson was getting frustrated and paranoid.Rubino read through documents claiming Wilson was presenting as “normal” up until 11 years old when he told his parents he was “going crazy.”Rubino said Wilson was also a passenger in a car that went off the highway and crashed into an oak tree. Wilson allegedly left the hospital that day against medical advice without being evaluated for a head injury. The neurologist also noted that Wilson experienced at least two concussions while playing sports as a child.Rubino explained that based on his findings, Wilson’s brain may cause him to experience emotional dysfunction leading to impulsive behavior without fear of the consequences. The defense then read a letter from Wilson’s adoptive parents. The letter explains how Wilson succumbed to his mental illness and the system failed him. They pled for Wilson to be able to live. “The hopes and dreams of his life were already lost. The human is still in there somewhere tortured beyond what most of us can begin to imagine,” the letter read.”Taking his life will not bring back those two beautiful women. There is no justice on Earth for that kind of loss. Taking another life only adds to the tragedy. Please see it in your heart not to kill our son and make our innocent family suffer even more.” Dr. Thomas Coyne, a neuropathologist and Chief Medical Examiner in Tallahassee, testified for the state. Looking at the same brain scans used to support the defense’s claim that brain injuries exist, Coyne suggests there is no evidence of trauma. Coyne claims Wilson’s brain scans look like that of a “normal person” and there are no signs of “chronic traumatic brain injury.””I saw no evidence that there was any underlying abnormalities that was consistent to brain trauma, to me it was a structurally normal brain,” said Coyne. At 2 p.m., Judge Nicholas Thompson is set to make his decision. The State Attorney’s Office will host a press conference immediately after. Count on NBC2 to be inside the courtroom when Thompson announces if he will move forward with the jury’s recommendation for the death penalty or sentence Wilson to life in prison.
UPDATE: A fire alarm at the courthouse has gone off, causing some to be evacuated and delay Wilson’s sentencing.
According to NBC2 crews at the Lee County Courthouse, officials believe a sprinkler issue set off the fire alarm.
You can watch Wade Wilson’s sentencing LIVE by clicking the player below.
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Following a Spencer Hearing, a Lee County judge will decide if Wade Wilson will spend the rest of his life in prison or receive the death penalty.
After five years of waiting, a jury found Wilson guilty of six crimes, including the first-degree murders of Kristine Melton, 35, and Diane Ruiz, 43, which took place in Cape Coral on Oct. 7, 2019.
Nine of the 12 jurors recommended the death penalty for the murder of Melton. 10 of them recommended death for the murder of Ruiz on June 25, 2024.
At 9 a.m., Wilson’s defense attorneys brought forward a neurologist, in a last-ditch effort to convince the judge to choose life in prison.
Dr. Mark Rubino took the stand to go over his evaluation of Wilson and any possible brain injury. He explained while completing a series of neurological tests, Wilson was getting frustrated and paranoid.
Rubino read through documents claiming Wilson was presenting as “normal” up until 11 years old when he told his parents he was “going crazy.”
Rubino said Wilson was also a passenger in a car that went off the highway and crashed into an oak tree. Wilson allegedly left the hospital that day against medical advice without being evaluated for a head injury.
The neurologist also noted that Wilson experienced at least two concussions while playing sports as a child.
Rubino explained that based on his findings, Wilson’s brain may cause him to experience emotional dysfunction leading to impulsive behavior without fear of the consequences.
The defense then read a letter from Wilson’s adoptive parents. The letter explains how Wilson succumbed to his mental illness and the system failed him. They pled for Wilson to be able to live.
“The hopes and dreams of his life were already lost. The human is still in there somewhere tortured beyond what most of us can begin to imagine,” the letter read.
“Taking his life will not bring back those two beautiful women. There is no justice on Earth for that kind of loss. Taking another life only adds to the tragedy. Please see it in your heart not to kill our son and make our innocent family suffer even more.”
Dr. Thomas Coyne, a neuropathologist and Chief Medical Examiner in Tallahassee, testified for the state. Looking at the same brain scans used to support the defense’s claim that brain injuries exist, Coyne suggests there is no evidence of trauma.
Coyne claims Wilson’s brain scans look like that of a “normal person” and there are no signs of “chronic traumatic brain injury.”
“I saw no evidence that there was any underlying abnormalities that was consistent to brain trauma, to me it was a structurally normal brain,” said Coyne.
At 2 p.m., Judge Nicholas Thompson is set to make his decision. The State Attorney’s Office will host a press conference immediately after.
Count on NBC2 to be inside the courtroom when Thompson announces if he will move forward with the jury’s recommendation for the death penalty or sentence Wilson to life in prison.
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