18: Wade Wilson "Tattooed Face Killer" | New Interrogation Footage, Phone Calls & Bombshell Documentary

When Wade Wilson was arrested in 2019 for the brutal murders of Kristine Melton and Diane Ruiz, the case horrified the public; not just because of the violence, but because of Wade himself. His cold demeanor, disturbing confidence, and growing fanbase of admirers turned the case into something far darker than a typical true crime story. In today’s episode, we revisit the full timeline of Wade Wilson’s crimes and reveal everything that’s come to light since our original deep dive. Wade has now been officially sentenced, hundreds of his jail calls have been released, new interrogation footage has surfaced, and the Paramount documentary Handsome Devil: Charming Killer has exposed chilling details about his behavior, his manipulation, and the system failures that allowed him to remain free until it was too late.. If you’re new here, don’t forget to follow the show for weekly deep dives into the darkest true crime cases! To watch the video version of this episode, head over to youtube.com/@annieelise. .🔎Join Our True Crime Club & Get Exclusive Content & Perks..🎧 Need More to Binge? Listen to both of my weekly true crime series 10 to Life & Serialously with Annie Elise wherever you get your podcasts on the Annie Elise Channel!🍎 Apple Podcasts | Where you can also unlock access to 100+ and growing extra exclusive deep dives.💚 Spotify🔴 YouTube🎙️ All Other Platforms.📸 Follow Annie on Socials Instagram: @_annieeliseTikTok: @_annieeliseSubstack: @annieeliseFacebook: @10toLife.👗 Shop Annie’s Must-Haves! ShopMY: bit.ly/AnnieElise_ShopMy Amazon: bit.ly/AnnieElise_Amazon.🫵🏻 Get Involved or Recommend a CaseAbout Annie: www.annieelise.comFor Business Inquiries: [email protected].📚 Episode Sources Bold.pro | Court TV | Daily Mail | Facebook | Florida Courts Appellate Case Information System | Florida Department of Corrections | Fort Meyers PD | Fox 4 News | Gulf Coast News and Weather | Handsome Devil: Charming Killer | How to Deal | Law & Crime | LinkedIn | NBC2 News | News-Press | Newsweek | Phone Calls From Prison | Securus | The Crime Atlas® | Variety | Wink News | Yahoo News••••••••••••••••••🚨Disclaimers1️⃣ Some links may be affiliate links, they do not cost you anything, but I make a small percentage from the sale. Thank you so much for watching and supporting me. 2️⃣ Sources used to collect this information include various public news sites, interviews, court documents, FB groups dedicated to the case, and various news channel segments. When quoting statements made by others, they are strictly alleged until confirmed otherwise. Please remember my videos are my independent opinion and to always do your own research. 3️⃣ The views and opinions expressed in this video are personal and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organization, employer, or company. Assumptions made in the analysis are not reflective of the position of any entity other than the creator(s). These views are subject to change, revision, and rethinking at any time and are not to be held in perpetuity. We make no representations as to the accuracy, completeness, correctness, suitability, or validity of any information on this video and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided on an as-is basis. It is the reader’s responsibility to verify their own facts.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:01Speaker 00

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• 1:22Annie Elise?

  When the news broke back in 2019 that someone by the name of Wade Wilson had murdered two women, people could not look away from this case. And honestly, I completely understand why. For some, it was the sheer brutality of what he did. Two separate victims, total strangers. One woman strangled in her sleep, the other lured, beaten, and then run over by his car. And I mean, the violence, it was just shocking, even by true crime standards. But for others, what stuck with them wasn't just the crimes, it was Wade. His attitude, the way he carried himself afterward. I mean, he just came off disturbingly casual, almost annoyed by the situation,

• 2:06Annie Elise?

  as if being accused of murdering two women was some kind of inconvenience. No remorse, no urgency, just this very chilling sense that he believed that he was above it all. And then add in the part of this case that made so many people just very deeply uncomfortable. And it was the following that Wade developed. A group of women, a large group of women, became fixated on him, drawn to his confidence, his appearance, his tattoo-covered face, and thousands of people have gone on to look past the fact that he brutally took two lives, with some people even claiming that they have fallen in love with him. Now, when we first covered this case back in 2024, we focused on the murders themselves,

• 2:50Annie Elise?

  the people in Wade's life who ultimately turned him in, and also the trial that sealed his fate. But the truth is, since then, a lot has changed. Yes, Wade has now officially been sentenced, but even more than that, hundreds of his personal jail calls with members of his fanbase and the women who are in love with him and people who are just drawn to him, those calls have been released. And they are just as disturbing as you could ever even imagine. And also, just days ago, Paramount dropped a new documentary called Handsome Devil, Charming Killer. And in this documentary, it reveals a lot of shocking details that we didn't previously know.

• 3:31Annie Elise?

  Now, we also had the opportunity to speak directly with the documentary's executive producer and director, Rhonda Schwartz, and she takes us behind the scenes of how this series truly came together. What footage didn't make it in, what almost made it in, what surprised her most about Wade himself, and also the ethical tightrope of telling a story about someone who just so clearly craved attention, admiration, and stardom. So I'm going to be sharing part of that conversation at the end of this episode, but then I also will be sharing the full uncut interview with Rhonda over on Patreon. Now, through all of this too, in all of our research, we also have obtained Wade's interrogation footage.

• 4:13Annie Elise?

  And let me just say, okay, the way that he speaks to the investigators, it is jaw-dropping. And one of the things that we learned that might be the most disturbing of all is that not once, but twice Wade should have been in jail, off the streets, unable to hurt anyone. Yet both times, he was released just days before committing these horrific crimes. So today, we are going to reopen this case with new details about Wade, new footage, new details about the two women that he killed, and also the series of failures that allowed him to keep going. We also will touch on some of the jail calls, some of the fandom that is going on around him, and what he's been

• 4:55Annie Elise?

  up to since being incarcerated and sentenced to death. Now, as a quick reminder, in these reopened episodes, we revisit our original deep dive, and then we layer in every single update along the way. So through that, you may notice some differences in audio as our equipment has evolved over time. But our goal in doing this is to reopen the case, and to bring you the most complete version of this story with a fresh perspective. Now, one quick disclaimer before we start, Wade's now ex-girlfriend, who was his girlfriend at the time of these murders, she sometimes goes by Melissa, and sometimes by Mila. So you will hear both names throughout this episode, but they are the same person. So

• 5:36Annie Elise?

  with that said, we have a lot to get into today, guys. So buckle up, get ready. I'm Annie Elise, and this is 10 to Life, and today, we are reopening the case of Wade Wilson.

• 6:00Annie Elise?

  On October 7, 2019, multiple 911 calls came in regarding a domestic dispute that was happening in Fort Meyers, Florida, right outside a spa. When the officers got there, they learned that the victim, Melissa Montanas, who also goes by Mila, had been badly, badly beaten up. Melissa explained that she had been dating a man named Wade Wilson. They had been dating for a while, and they had a little bit of a rocky relationship, to say the least. She told the police that the night before, She was at a bar with Wade called The Buddha. When they first got there, Melissa gave Wade her keys to hold and hang on to since she didn't have a purse. Then, as the night went on, Wade decided that he wanted to go to his new friend's house and partake in some recreational drug use.

• 6:45Annie Elise?

  However, Melissa didn't know Wade's friend, nor did she want to go over to his house. So she and Wade ended up getting into an argument over it. And then, since Wade had her keys, it seems like he just decided that it was in his rights to take her car and leave with three other people, leaving her behind. Now Melissa was obviously pretty upset over everything, and she ended up just going to her friend Amy's house and staying the night over there. Then, when she woke up the next day, she had a ton of missed calls from numbers that she didn't recognize. It ended up being Wade who was calling her. Now by this point, Melissa was completely done with Wade. Their relationship was already rocky, and this, it was really the final straw for her. So she planned to meet Wade at the spa that she owned so that she could get her car back and really just be done with him once and for all.

• 7:30Annie Elise?

  So her friend Amy took Melissa to this spa, and they got there right around the same time as Wade. But when Wade got there, he wasn't in Melissa's car. Instead, he was in a black Nissan Versa. He was telling Melissa, "Get in the car, get in the car," but she wouldn't, and I mean, why would she? Well, because she was refusing, Wade was pissed, and then he tried pulling her into the car. To try to combat what he was doing, Melissa put her arms straight up so that she couldn't be pulled into the car, which this only upset him more. So eventually, he opened the door and then he tackled Melissa to the ground, as the car, which wasn't in park at the time, moved forward and grazed their legs. Now Wade is 6'6" tall, and Melissa is only 5'2".

• 8:12Annie Elise?

  She's also just over 100 pounds, so she barely even stood a chance, and he was completely overpowering her in this moment. He continued to beat on her over and over, and then eventually, they got upstairs to where her spa was. Now by that point, there were multiple witnesses who had seen what Wade was doing, and they were actively calling 911. While they were upstairs but still outside, Wade held Melissa up against the wall by her neck, and at that point, he began punching her right in the face. Her nose, quote- exploded as her friend Amy described it and it just began gushing blood everywhere. Somehow, as that happened though, she was able to escape him and she was able to run downstairs and into another business so that she could safely get away. But unfortunately, before the police got there, Wade fled the scene.

• 8:55Annie Elise?

  Now, it's important to note that the reason that Amy wasn't involved was because Wade told her that he would kill her if she got out of her car. However, she was actively calling 911. So when the police got to the scene, they took statements from Melissa and Amy. They also took photos of all of Melissa's injuries. The police now had a statement from Melissa. They had photos, they knew that Wade was this violent, horrible man. But where was he? Wade kept reaching out to Melissa after he attacked her that morning and he would go from telling her that he was going to kill her to saying that he just wanted to talk to her, he just wanted to kiss her on the forehead. Just really trying to manipulate the situation, getting her good graces, then threaten her when she wasn't having it and it really was this back and forth.

• 9:39Annie Elise?

  So Melissa, her friend Amy, and the police all decided to work together to set Wade up. The plan was for Melissa to convince him to meet her at a place called Joe's Crab Shack to meet her in the parking lot. And this parking lot was right across from her spa. And Wade, he agreed to this. He did come to meet her. The officer that was waiting blocked Wade in, or so he thought, and he started talking to him. Wade wouldn't get out of the car though, or hand him the keys, but as the officer tried to work with him and was telling him to just hang tight for the other officer to arrive, there was just enough room between the officer's car and the car that Wade was in. Enough room for him to be able to drive away. And just like that, he was gone. The officer followed him for a bit, but also, keep in mind, this was midday.

• 10:24Annie Elise?

  There were tons of people on the road and all that the police had at that point was a domestic case. So ultimately, police felt like putting the public at risk over a domestic case wasn't worth it. But then, not long after that, another 911 call came in. This time, it was from a man named Joshua who owned a printing company called Mateo Graphics. Joshua and Wade were acquaintances at the time and Wade came into one of the buildings on the property. And when he did, Wade was absolutely frantic. He was shirtless, he didn't have any shoes on, he was only wearing sweatpants. And more than that, he was covered in blood and he was missing a couple of teeth. Joshua was finishing up with a customer before he could help Wade, but was kind of just like, "What the heck is going on, man?"

• 11:08Annie Elise?

  Meanwhile, Wade was pacing back and forth. And then when he was talking to Joshua, he was trying to get help with a plane or a bus ticket so that he could leave town. As all of this was going down, he confided in Joshua that he had killed people. Now, at this point, Joshua knew what happened with Melissa that morning through a mutual friend. So, he brought it up to Wade and he told Wade, "Look, if that is all it is, then you're okay." But then Wade replied, "No, you don't understand. I killed people." So Joshua gave Wade a cigarette and he told him, "Hey, just stay here, relax, I'll be right back." But instead, he went to another building that was on the property and he called 911. Now, this call is a little hard to hear, but it is so eerie to hear how crazy Wade was acting.

• 11:52Annie Elise?

  So, I really wanted to include it. Plus, it is pretty short. So if you're listening to this episode on audio and you want to follow along with captions, feel free to pop over to the YouTube version on the Annie Elise YouTube channel.

• 12:09Speaker 04

  I have a stable man that I just wanted to get out of my office. He's got this car with a parkway.

• 12:21Speaker 04

  He's got tattoos, he's shirtless, he's very filthy, and he just hurt a girl.

• 12:29Annie Elise?

  But get this, by the time that the police got there, Wade was nowhere to be found. Once again, it was like he just vanished. All they found was a black Nissan Versa with bloodstains inside of it. At first, the officers thought that maybe someone was in the trunk, so they broke into the car. But nobody was there. So then they ran the car license plates. And when they did, they found out that this car belonged to somebody named Christine Melton. So that's when the police started connecting the dots that something really, really terrible- might have happened here. Earlier, when they were talking with Melissa, she wasn't sure what number Wade had been calling her from. Remember, she had multiple missed calls. It was from Wade, but it was a number that she didn't recognize. It also wasn't a number that he had ever used before.

• 13:13Annie Elise?

  So when they reverse searched the number, they determined it did, in fact, belong to a woman named Christine Melton. So now they had Christine's phone being used by Wade and also her car being used by him with blood inside of it. But who was Christine? And how did she even know Wade? Police were able to get in contact with Christine's cousin Samantha, who was listed as her emergency contact. Samantha hadn't heard from or seen Christine all day that day, but she knew Christine's best friend Stephanie and knew that she could probably help more. So then, with her help, the police raged out Stephanie. According to Stephanie, she and Christine went out the night before. They were best friends since they were teenagers, and they used to live in Illinois. They grew up together. They lived together all throughout their twenties before then moving and settling down in Florida,

• 13:58Annie Elise?

  where both of their families happened to relocate. The two of them literally did everything together. They even worked at the same restaurant and a bar called Duffy's together. So the night before, they decided to go to the Buddha Bar together. They met at Christine's apartment, and then they Ubered to the bar together somewhere between 10:00 and 10:30 p.m. The bar wasn't overly crowded, probably since it was a Sunday night, but there were people there dancing, drinking, having a good time. So while there, they were socializing with quite a few people. And then, towards the end of the night, as the girls were walking to the upstairs bar, a man jumped out in front of Stephanie so he could get her attention. And when he did, he said, "Hey, who's your friend?" Kind of gesturing towards Christine. He introduced himself as JR, and he seemed really friendly.

• 14:42Annie Elise?

  So Stephanie introduced him to Christine, and the three of them, plus JR's friend Jason, who he had also met that night, they all talked and just mingled together, hanging out at the bar. Christine and JR seemed to be interested in each other, and Christine really was gushing over JR's looks, his big dimples. She was really into it. So at the end of the night, when the bar was closing, the four of them walked outside, continued hanging out until it was time to leave.

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• 16:18Annie Elise?

  Christine wanted to go with JR and Jason back to Jason's house. So she and Stephanie both got in the car with JR and Jason, and they drove there. When they got to the house, Jason's mom was still awake and she was on the couch. She was also not very happy that he was bringing people home super late. So they tried to make small talk to ease the situation, but they ended up just going back to Jason's bedroom. Then, pretty quickly after getting to Jason's house and going in that bedroom, Christine and JR started having sex, all while Jason and Stephanie hung out outside where they drank, they smoked, and sat on the trampoline. At some point, according to Stephanie, Jason, Christine, and JR all did one to two lines of cocaine. So everybody was partying, everybody was hanging out, everybody was having a good time.

• 17:03Annie Elise?

  But then Christine, Stephanie, and JR all left to go back to Christine's duplex. JR was gonna drive them in the car that they had taken to Jason's, but it was a stick shift and JR didn't know how to drive a stick. He kept trying, but eventually Jason was basically kind of just like, "Hey dude, you gotta stop. You don't know how to drive this. Like, it's not happening." It was also the middle of the night, and the car, which was a Dodge Hellcat, was just revving and revving and revving. So instead of creating a ruckus and continuing to try, they decided to call an Uber instead. When the Uber driver got there, the car was in the middle of the street. So he ended up parking it for them and then drove them all to Christine's house. At some point during all of that, before heading to Christine's house, JR apparently lost his phone.

• 17:45Annie Elise?

  A few minutes after getting to Christine's, Stephanie ended up needing to leave. Her son had stayed with her mom the night prior and she needed to get him to school, but she also was scheduled to work the morning shift at Duffy's. So she had to bail and ended up leaving around 6 a.m. This left Christine and JR alone together. Before she left, she gave Christine a big hug, made sure that she was comfortable, and they agreed that they would talk later. So later that day in the early afternoon, Stephanie had texted Christine and said, "Hey, you know, you up?" Now although Christine wasn't responding, it wasn't really a huge red flag, because I mean, they had a late night, basically an all-nighter. She also wasn't scheduled to work, so she probably was just still sleeping in. So when Stephanie got off work, she decided to call Christine. But then Christine still didn't answer.

• 18:29Annie Elise?

  So then Stephanie called Christine's cousin Samantha, who also hadn't talked to Christine that day. She told her all about their night, and nobody was too concerned. But then after that call was when the police made that phone call to Samantha, who then connected them to Stephanie. So now they were all connecting the dots, and this obviously caused them to all start panicking, and they headed directly to Christine's apartment. But when they got there, there were a lot of police there. There was also crime scene tape up all around, and they weren't allowed to go into the apartment. Christine's mom also lived really close to Christine. So once they saw that this crime scene tape was up, they went over to the mom's house until the police came to talk to them. And that was when they learned that Christine had died. When the police entered the house,

• 19:14Annie Elise?

  there was bedding in between the bedroom and the kitchen with leggings, shirts, and a swimsuit top wrapped around it. When they started moving the bedding, they saw a leg, and they realized somebody was wrapped inside this comforter. They quickly realized that that someone was actually Christine. And Christine had no pulse. Externally, she had bruising all over her face, a swollen eye, and bruising all over her torso and arms. So to say that she had struggled is an absolute understatement. And I mean, her fingernails were even broken, which frustrated just how hard she truly fought against whatever had happened. We've since learned even more heartbreaking details about how Christine was found.

• 19:59Annie Elise?

  Her beloved cat, Monty, was lying beside her body, confused, even licking her arms as if he were trying to wake her up. And the most devastating piece of all of it is that there was evidence that Christine had also been sexually assaulted. Investigators determined that objects from around her home had been used to violate her body after she died, which I want you to just think about that for a moment. This means that postmortem, going to even more lengths to disrespect her body and humiliate her, taking objects from her own home to use on her body. It is sick. So to recap all of this, they have Melissa getting badly beat by her boyfriend Wade,

• 20:41Annie Elise?

  Wade having Christine's car and phone, saying that he killed two people, Christine being dead, but then JR being the last known person to see Christine, and now Wade was nowhere to be found. So this was a literal nightmare situation that was needing to be untangled and figured out, and figured out fast. After Christine was found, Stephanie went to the police station so that she could give a statement. While she was there, they showed her a lineup of six people so that she could see if she could identify anyone. Well, she could. She saw JR. And if you haven't guessed by now, JR was not named JR. JR was actually none other than Wade Wilson. So law enforcement was trying to figure out how to find Wade. They somehow ended up

• 21:26Annie Elise?

  getting in contact with Wade's biological father, Stephen. And to give you a little bit of a background on Stephen, Stephen found out that he was going to be a father when he was around 14 or 15 years old, and the girl that he had gotten pregnant was a year younger than him. They were both super young and definitely not in a place to be able to raise a child. So Wade ended up being placed up for adoption. He ended up being adopted by a couple who went to church with Wade's biological mother's parents. Then, when Wade turned 18, he reconnected with his dad, Stephen, for the first time. They exchanged phone calls with each Every so often, but they only saw each other once when Steven went to visit him in Tallahassee. That's where he was living during that visit.

• 22:06Annie Elise?

  When they reconnected, Wade was struggling with drug addiction and Steven was really wanting to help him. So he ended up getting him a motel room here and there and actually helping Wade get into rehab in South Florida. So when law enforcement now got ahold of Steven, Steven told them that he actually had heard from Wade. They had talked on the phone and Wade said that he was in trouble, that he needed help. He specifically needed help with leaving town. He said that he did something that he couldn't take back. And this wasn't really a new thing and it wasn't alarming at first. Because their relationship was more of one where Wade would call Steven whenever he needed help. So that specific day, Steven didn't know what was going on, but he was at work. So he told Wade to call him at dinnertime and then they would figure it all out from there.

• 22:50Annie Elise?

  Then they had a second phone call and Wade said that there were two people who wouldn't be here anymore. And that he was a killer. At first, Steven didn't really believe him. Wade was known to make up stories and remember, he was also under the influence. So it's not really all that surprising to think that maybe he was just saying stuff, that he was going off on a rant, maybe spiraling. But still, it seemed like he was confessing, now confessing to more than one person. So after Steven had talked to Wade, the detective called saying that it was crucial that they talked to Wade. She left her phone number to call back if Steven had heard from him. Later that evening, around 9:30, 10:00 PM, Wade made a third phone call to Steven. And in this phone call, he told Steven everything.

• 23:32Annie Elise?

  Steven has since said that Wade's description of the crimes were so callous and so graphic that it made him want to physically throw up.

• 23:41Speaker 05

  Was it that bad, huh?

• 23:43Speaker 04

  It was that bad. I mean, I ran over there with a fucking car a hundred times, you know? I mean, it was, that's, that's the part that made it bad, my dad. It wasn't bad until, until that happened, then it got bad.

• 23:55Speaker 05

  Yeah, but just go, did you stand there first, girl?

• 23:59Speaker 04

  Exactly.

• 23:59Speaker 05

  That or no?

• 24:02Speaker 05

  He choked her? Yeah, he choked her, yeah. Okay. Okay.

• 24:06Annie Elise?

  He told him about his argument with Melissa the night before and how he went home with some girl that he met after the bar. He said that they hung out for a while and then she went to sleep. Then he said, after she went to sleep, he got on top of her and he strangled her. Strangled her until she died. His exact words were, "I choked that bitch." He stayed in the house for a while and then eventually he rolled her up inside that comforter. His initial plan was to put her in the trunk of her car, but apparently she was too heavy and he couldn't lift her. Then, that's when he took her car and he left, which is when he went and met Melissa. When Steven asked him why he did this, Wade said, "I don't know, Dad. I don't know why I did it. I just wanted to do it."

• 24:48Annie Elise?

  Wade said that after his argument with Melissa that morning, he had seen a woman walking down the street and he said that he stopped and he asked her for directions. And when he did that, she got in the car. After she got in the car, he choked her while he was driving. And then he began looking for a place to put her body. Just now really spiraling, becoming unhinged and kind of just killing anybody who came in his path of destruction. When he ended up finding a place to put her body, he pulled her out of the car and realized that she was still breathing. So then, he put her on the ground and according to him, he quote, "ran her over until she looked like spaghetti." He said that after that, he got out and then moved her body. Now by the time that Wade was explaining all of this to Steven, he was hiding out in

• 25:33Annie Elise?

  a house locally. But Steven didn't know where Wade was exactly, so he told him that he was gonna send an Uber and that he needed the address of where he was, which Wade gave to him. So as Wade and Steven continued talking, the phone was on speakerphone. And Steven's wife Melanie was relaying the information to the detective with the US Marshals through text so that they could go, they could get him, they could reprimand him. So when the Marshals got to the house to get Wade, they called the home landline phone and Wade answered. But when he did, he told them that he needed to talk to his dad one more time before he could come out. Eventually, he did come out and he surrendered. Once Wade was finally in custody, police interviewed him. And since we last looked at this case, we've been able to get our hands on that interrogation footage.

• 26:17Annie Elise?

  And guys, let me just say, this guy is an absolute piece of work. He starts by completely bossing this detective around, as if he gets to decide how the questioning is going to go.

• 26:30Speaker 04

  Nope, just got picked up and brought here.

• 26:32Annie Elise?

  Okay, alright. What these rights is?

• 26:34Speaker 04

  It's like me.

• 26:35Annie Elise?

  Alright, so you wanna talk about what's going on here?

• 26:38Speaker 04

  Not necessarily, I just see him with my view of it.

• 26:40Annie Elise?

  You just wanna wire here?

• 26:42Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 26:42Annie Elise?

  Okay.

• 26:42Speaker 04

  That would be a good start.

• 26:43Annie Elise?

  Alright, whose house were you in?

• 26:46Speaker 04

  I don't know.

• 26:48Annie Elise?

  Okay, how long did you get in that house?

• 26:49Speaker 04

  Uh, just through the back, it was open. Watered in.

• 26:54Annie Elise?

  Alright, so you didn't have permission to be in that?

• 26:56Speaker 04

  Not as far as I know.

• 26:58Annie Elise?

  Okay.

• 26:58Speaker 04

  I don't know who owned that house. Just a place to be, you know?

• 27:03Annie Elise?

  How is it that you came to be in that tonight?

• 27:07Speaker 04

  You know, what am I here for? How about we, how about you give me something, then I'll give you something? Tell me what I'm here for, tell me what you're thinking, what am I charged for something, questioning me for something?

• 27:17Annie Elise?

  Well, there was a disturbance between-

• 27:18Speaker 04

  This would be a good start.

• 27:19Annie Elise?

  Right, there's a disturbance between you and your girlfriend today, right? This morning?

• 27:25Speaker 04

  Are you saying right, or are you telling me?

• 27:26Annie Elise?

  I'm, I'm asking you.

• 27:28Speaker 04

  You got phrases in the right way now.

• 27:29Annie Elise?

  Well, I'm asking.

• 27:30Speaker 04

  You're telling me that's the one I'm here for, then I'm going with what you're telling me. But I'm not, I'm not answering these type of questions, I'm just curious why I'm here.

• 27:38Annie Elise?

  You left in a black Honda?

• 27:39Speaker 04

  I did.

• 27:40Annie Elise?

  Okay, how did you get that Honda? Did it belong to you?

• 27:44Speaker 04

  Keep going first, uh, there's more I feel, and then we can talk. You're doing alright, but I feel like you should just tell me. I'm listening.

• 27:54Annie Elise?

  Did you call your dad and tell him you did something tonight?

• 27:57Speaker 04

  No.

• 27:57Annie Elise?

  I mean, the way that he tells the detective, you're doing alright, but you should just tell me more. It just feels very condescending. I mean, you're the one in the handcuffs, buddy. So maybe, I don't know, get off your high horse for a minute and like, let the detective do his job? And you know what else I noticed here? He's acting so calm, so cool, so collected, which, look, I'm not a psychologist or anything like that, guys, I get it. But to me, it's not giving that he's insane and he just snapped. It's giving, he doesn't give a shit about the terrible thing that he just did. And naturally, when the detective brings up Christine, Wade totally denies everything.

• 28:37Annie Elise?

  Do you remember her name?

• 28:38Speaker 04

  Not at all.

• 28:39Annie Elise?

  No.

• 28:40Speaker 04

  No, I don't. vaguely knew her, vaguely spent time with her. Don't know her, don't know where she's at, don't know where she's going, and don't really care. Not my friend, not an acquaintance.

• 28:56Speaker 04

  Don't even know her name.

• 28:58Annie Elise?

  Okay, so you didn't even get her first name?

• 29:00Speaker 04

  No, I know nothing of that.

• 29:04Speaker 04

  It's unfortunate for anybody. And I'm sorry to hear that. But you and I are not talking about something that I don't have knowledge of. That's what you're talking about, not what we're talking about.

• 29:17Annie Elise?

  Okay, well, that's what I would like to talk. Is that fair? For me to say?

• 29:23Speaker 04

  It's not fair. Cause now you're being unreasonable of me.

• 29:26Annie Elise?

  No, I'm not trying to be, but what I'm saying.

• 29:28Speaker 04

  In a way, in fashion. I see, I don't.

• 29:30Annie Elise?

  No, I'm not.

• 29:31Speaker 04

  If I knew anything about that, I could, I could assist you with that, you know? Or if I had any inclination of maybe.

• 29:39Speaker 04

  Would occur. I didn't do anything to this girl. I'm sorry. But I'll tell you this.

• 29:47Speaker 04

  Mila, um, Josh.

• 29:52Speaker 04

  I took Mila from her ex, and her ex is like Josh's friend or whatever. So like it, it doesn't surprise me that like Mila maybe would tell you that because like they're all kinda in the wringer. On this with the whole like hate Wade clique. Now, you know, because like me and her, so. He probably got in contact with her. He should definitely tell her, well, maybe they're fucking in mid talking, cause. I wouldn't doubt it. Yeah, you gotta understand the fucking weird circle I'm in with them.

• 30:26Annie Elise?

  Then I got Mila. I got Josh.

• 30:30Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 30:31Annie Elise?

  And I got your father saying that you called all the, told all three of them that you killed somebody tonight.

• 30:36Speaker 04

  My dad said?

• 30:37Annie Elise?

  Yeah.

• 30:38Speaker 04

  I didn't tell my dad that.

• 30:41Speaker 04

  They all just do this to me, honestly. I'm not, it's nothing to, to not, they've done this to me before. They've all said, I, I beat Mila. Mila went back and told him I didn't beat her. And dropped the charges.

• 30:55Annie Elise?

  Right.

• 30:55Speaker 04

  It's just whatever the fuck dude, they wanna say about me at any given time.

• 31:00Annie Elise?

  And if you think that Wade was an asshole to this detective, wait until you hear how he acts when a new detective comes in and starts bringing up all of his past charges.

• 31:11Speaker 04

  He gave a history of, uh, beaten women.

• 31:16Speaker 04

  What's up? You say so. No, I can read it to you if you want. I'm good asshole.

• 31:22Speaker 04

  So say, well, there was a brief description of the latest act of, uh.

• 31:24Speaker 04

  When I said I'm good asshole, do you hear me? I don't wanna hear it anymore. You can read it to yourself. You don't have to be a smart guy. I'm not being smart. He was polite and talked. You've been replayed. Okay, then. I'm not being not polite. I don't wanna hear your shit, man. We're waiting for the, well. If I, you say you wanna hear it and I say no, then I don't wanna hear it, man. Okay. Go read to yourself, huh?

• 31:44Speaker 04

  Be a man, don't act like you're tough. I mean, I, it's, it's not beating women. Just be a man. Don't act like you're tough.

• 31:54Speaker 04

  Are you curious to know how she died?

• 32:10Speaker 04

  How'd she die?

• 32:14Speaker 04

  How? Sorry? How'd she die, little dick, man? How'd she die? If you heard it, it's something since, since you're the one that you think I did and you think, you think that I have no character. How'd she die? Oh, I know, I think you do. Uh, uh, uh, tell me, how'd she die? Very similarly to these reports. That's good. Just, just mention, just tell me. I don't want you to mention me. Just tell me how she died. I won't mention you. I'll, I'll read this to you, cuz it's very similar. Cool. How'd she die? Well, but, uh, let me read this charge for this. And then you. Since you asked. No, you said, you asked me.

• 32:50Speaker 04

  He attacked me, attempted to strangle me. What is this?

• 32:55Speaker 04

  That's how the girl died?

• 32:58Speaker 04

  No, how did the girl die? We're getting there. Cause it's almost identical to this. Never mind, bro. I don't even tell you about it. No, the funny thing is, the door was locked at the house.

• 33:14Speaker 04

  Which means nobody went in or left afterwards.

• 33:19Speaker 04

  So only the person with the key.

• 33:24Speaker 04

  Then that would be you.

• 33:29Speaker 04

  Cause you need a key.

• 33:36Speaker 04

  Those are the little things that. Add up.

• 33:41Speaker 04

  I don't care, man. Well, the key's proven. When I lock a door, guess what? Here's the top lock, here's the bottom. All you do is turn the bottom. You don't need to keep it.

• 33:57Speaker 04

  This house, the dead horse. That's the last person who left. I don't know, so. That would be you. Cause the video across the street shows. Well, you just wanna talk to me. No, I'm just saying, the girl that you said was sleeping on the couch.

• 34:16Speaker 04

  Just letting you know, you said she was still there. I don't even know too much. It's not my business. It isn't your business being accused of killing someone? I know, but I didn't do anything, so why would it be my business? I'm not worried. You don't care? That you're being accused of. Once you do your job, I'll figure out. I mean, I'm not worried about it. Well, you're in. There goes a trial. So I think it's been figured, right? No, it hasn't.

• 34:41Speaker 04

  It's called trial and jury's. Sure, a couple of years from now.

• 34:47Speaker 04

  So how do you explain the, the lies? Little thing is that the inconsistencies. The statement from your girlfriend, the statement from the employee at the top place. No, I agree. I'm not disagreeing with you. We're we're doing as good a job as we can.

• 35:04Speaker 04

  The shoes aren't yours then either, right? All this shit's mine. I'm just bullshitting. If you want me to change it, I can. All this is mine. Well, you just, well, I'm confused now. I'm a liar though, right? Are you lying that you didn't? I'm gonna tell you that. Suck my dick, Cracker. How about that? I'll see you in trial. Suck my dick, bitch. The items you wear, they belong to you or they don't? They do. Before you said they did. I'm a liar, right? I never said you were lying, did I? I I'm asking you about the clothes. I've never said you were a liar. These are my clothes. Suck my dick.

• 35:40Speaker 04

  Go ahead, say one more comment. You're that typical, hate typical intelligent man. Go ahead, say one more comment because you you are a little dick bitch. You have to say one more. Go ahead. I'll take your child and we're gonna and I'll be proof. Go ahead. What do you wanna say? I wasn't gonna say anything. Nothing?

• 35:57Speaker 04

  Why would I say anything? I don't know. Usually would. Go ahead. One more? One more? Why? I'm trying to figure out what you want me to say. I'm trying to figure out the clothes. Whatever you wanna fill your mouth with, huh? Whatever you wanna fill your mouth with. Go do your job. They can see the temper. Sure, do your job, bud. You have one, don't you? Doesn't set me up. No, it's clearly your temper. There's no. With your bodyguards, you can say whatever you want. It doesn't matter saying whatever I want.

• 36:22Speaker 04

  So. You sure? Are you angry enough to saying you're angry enough to do something if they weren't here? You get angry at them easily? See, sure. Yeah, I do. So you have a temper. Go prove it. So these, I'm just curious. Just go prove it, bud. These reports. Prove whatever you want. Where you beat women. Go prove whatever you want. True or not true? Not true. Prove whatever you want. Okay, that's fair.

• 36:45Speaker 04

  Thank you. The real bad dick bits.

• 36:48Annie Elise?

  Honestly, it is so satisfying to see Wade's whole mask just begin to fall. I think that he's trying so hard to come off as this like cool, unbothered guy. But then by the end, you can see how much the detective got to him and he just lost it. So while the investigation was pending, Wade was held with no bond and he was held on multiple charges related to the incident with Melissa and for breaking into this house that he was hiding out in. Now, I know by now you're probably wondering who exactly the second woman was that I mentioned earlier. Well, while all of this craziness was going down with Wade, the Cape Coral Police Department were also investigating another missing person. So at some point that same morning that everything happened with Melissa, a purse

• 37:32Annie Elise?

  was picked up outside a local elementary school and it was turned in to the school resource officer. The officer found that the purse belonged to a 43-year-old woman named Diane Ruiz. When the officer couldn't get a hold of her, he asked another patrol officer to swing by the house and see if she was there and if they could return her purse. When the officer went to the house, Diane wasn't there, but her son was. He told them to take the purse over to her work where she had walked to that morning. She worked less than a half a mile from the school at a place called The Moose Lodge. She worked there as a bartender and a server. She had worked there, in fact, for the past few years. That morning, their family friend, who was an Uber driver and usually took her to work, wasn't available, so she had decided to walk, which only usually would take about 10 to 15 minutes.

• 38:14Annie Elise?

  Well, when he went to go take the purse to her work, big surprise, she wasn't there. She was a no-call, no-show, which is something that she had never done before. So the police went back to her house and at the direction of her son, she ended up being reported as a missing person. Her fiance came home from work around lunchtime after hearing what was going on and from that, a huge search started almost immediately. She was listed as missing and endangered. The community worked together to try to find her, all while law enforcement was working very quietly behind the scenes, connecting the dots to everything. Three days later, on October 10th, law enforcement announced that Christine's murder and Diane's disappearance were believed to be connected.

• 38:55Annie Elise?

  In the Paramount documentary, Diane's body was so carefully concealed that police almost found it by accident. Two officers had stepped away from the search party to go eat lunch when, at that moment, they noticed this like buzzard circling over a section of a field near the vacant lot, which that's eventually where they find Diane, just discarded there, like she meant nothing. When she was found, one of her fingers and her nasal bone were both fractured. She also had a laceration underneath her left breast and bruising on both sides of her body. She also had bruising on her forearms and the backside of her hand. Also on that same day, Wade had an interview

• 39:36Annie Elise?

  with law enforcement where he admitted that he had killed both Christine and Diane. So as the investigation continued, autopsies for both Christine and Diane showed significant internal injuries. Christine had bruising on her organs, including her liver, her colon, she had some bruising behind her bladder, she also had swelling of the brain, Diane had broken ribs, a broken hyoid bone, and damaged tracheal cartilage, among many other things. Finally, in November, over a month after the murders, Wade was indicted by a grand jury for both Christine and Diane's deaths. A couple of weeks later, the state announced that they would be seeking the death penalty. While in jail awaiting trial, Wade was not staying out of trouble either. In

• 40:21Annie Elise?

  October of 2020, he was caught trying to escape from jail, and apparently Wade had slid a note under another inmate's door. He referred to that inmate as Curtis, and the note said that he was there for two murders, that he didn't know anybody, that he wanted to leave that day or the next around 1:00 or 2:00 a.m., and he even wrote an address of where he wanted to be picked up at. So after sliding the note under the door, Wade confirmed with Curtis through the vents that the note was received. Curtis' cellmate went to jail staff and told them about everything, though. He told them about the note to Curtis, whose name wasn't actually Curtis, the talking through the vents, and that he had heard pounding sounds coming from Wade's cell, which was right above them, that he had heard this pounding noise for days. So then, when Wade's-

• 41:04Annie Elise?

  Cell was searched, the metal frame on the window had been removed and the glass was cracked. A metal stool that was bolted to the ground had also been pried off, which I will say, this guy was determined. So Wade and his cellmate were brought in for interviews, but they refused to talk. Wade ended up being charged with attempting to escape and criminal mischief for the damages. Wade's cellmate didn't report it, and since their cell was so small, jail staff claimed that there was no way that he didn't know about the plans or actively participate in the plan. So he also ended up being charged with criminal mischief and aiding the attempted escape. Now, obviously Wade was no stranger to getting in trouble in jail, but he was also no stranger to speaking out publicly.

• 41:46Annie Elise?

  As he sat in jail awaiting trial, he reached out to the news multiple times, all trying to clear his name. A month after his arrest, he told a news station that Christine was alive and well when he left her, and also that he had just given Diana a ride and that he dropped her off at a bus stop after he had stopped to ask for directions. Then she asked for a ride. He even did an on-camera interview backing up these claims. Did you kill Christine Melton and Diane Ruiz?

• 42:14Speaker 05

  No, absolutely not. Absolutely not.

• 42:17Annie Elise?

  No surprise there, considering he pleaded not guilty. He seemed confident, even smug at times while sporting his orange jumpsuit and new face tattoos.

• 42:27Speaker 05

  I'm not a monster. Yeah, I'm not a saint either. By many means, I've made bad decisions in the past.

• 42:33Annie Elise?

  But his claims didn't hold all that much weight, because by this point, we know that Wade had already admitted to the murders to his dad Joshua and also to Melissa. And if that wasn't damning enough, he talked about the crimes even more on recorded jailhouse phone calls with Melissa. The audio on the calls is pretty clear, too, but just in case there are parts that are a little muffled or difficult to hear, I am going to have captions over them on the YouTube version.

• 42:59Speaker 06

  They, they're dead. They're dead because of you.

• 43:02Speaker 05

  I know. I know that neither. I know that.

• 43:06Speaker 06

  Why did you do this? Why? Why? I need answers.

• 43:11Speaker 05

  Why? Because, because I was freaking out on drugs, dude. You know how I get.

• 43:14Speaker 06

  That's not an answer, Wade. That's not an answer.

• 43:16Speaker 05

  How is it not a?

• 43:17Speaker 06

  You're killing people.

• 43:18Speaker 05

  Okay. Okay. I know.

• 43:23Speaker 04

  I know, now I have to suffer, I'm sorry, I know.

• 43:26Speaker 06

  You're gonna suffer forever in jail, you know that.

• 43:28Speaker 04

  I'm gonna suffer, trust me, I've already been suffering. They put me in a fucking room and all I do is stare at the wall all day long, Mila. It's terrible. It's unimportant.

• 43:36Speaker 06

  That's what they have to do to people that kill people, you're not safe to be around people.

• 43:41Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 43:42Speaker 06

  Well, they, Mila's was all over the place because of what happened outside.

• 43:47Speaker 04

  Yeah, yeah, oh, because of that?

• 43:50Speaker 06

  Yeah.

• 43:51Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 43:52Speaker 06

  Did you kill her and then come, kill, try to kill me and then go try to kill the other girl?

• 43:57Speaker 04

  No, I, I tried to, I tried to come, I tried to, I tried to come see you to tell you what I had done.

• 44:04Speaker 06

  Yeah, but did you kill the second girl at that point?

• 44:07Speaker 04

  Um, no, I think I killed her later.

• 44:10Speaker 06

  You think?

• 44:12Speaker 04

  Yeah, I'm pretty sure I did, I killed her after I saw you. What was it?

• 44:17Speaker 06

  These are like, these are things that people remember when they kill somebody.

• 44:20Speaker 04

  Um, I killed her after I saw you.

• 44:24Speaker 06

  Why, why couldn't you just rob her, why did you have to kill her?

• 44:27Speaker 04

  I'm sorry, I don't know.

• 44:28Speaker 06

  Why, I, I kinda wanna know why, what was going through your head?

• 44:32Speaker 04

  Um.

• 44:34Speaker 06

  So I heard that you choked her out, she didn't die, she got up and ran, you ran her over with the car, is that how it went?

• 44:40Speaker 04

  Um, that is, yeah, it is, she didn't, she didn't get up and run, she didn't get up and run, that's not true. Um, I choked her out, pushed her out of the car, and then I ran her over with the car.

• 44:50Speaker 06

  How did you get her in the car?

• 44:52Speaker 04

  She got in by herself.

• 44:54Speaker 06

  Killed the first girl, I wanna know why, what we, why did you kill her?

• 45:01Speaker 06

  I wanna know why.

• 45:02Speaker 04

  Because I wanted to.

• 45:03Annie Elise?

  And what's even more disturbing in this, is that not only does Wade totally admit to the murders and the assaulting against Melissa, but he even blames her for it, then starts cracking jokes about it.

• 45:15Speaker 04

  And I didn't even, first of all, when I came to see you at the spa, I didn't even wanna jump on top of you, I was just so freaked out about, I was so, I was so freaked out, I was so freaked out about what I had just done.

• 45:26Speaker 06

  You dressed up, you tried to force me into your car, do you not remember any of this?

• 45:30Speaker 04

  I remember, I remember, I remember, I remember, I remember, I remember, Mila, I, Mila, I had just killed somebody, I was Trying to tell you that and you weren't allowing me to, you know? So that was kinda like.

• 45:42Speaker 06

  What did you want me to do? I'm not gonna help you hide a fucking body dude.

• 45:46Speaker 04

  I didn't, I know that dude. I know that Mila. I just wanted to be able to tell you, that was it. I just wanted to tell you and you wouldn't let me. You wouldn't let me tell you or nothing, you know?

• 45:56Speaker 06

  It fucked me up a little bit.

• 45:57Speaker 04

  I know.

• 45:58Speaker 06

  Like, did you not see how much blood came out of my system when he punched me?

• 46:02Speaker 04

  Yes, I'm sorry baby. I was trying.

• 46:05Speaker 06

  I was parked for a little bit.

• 46:06Speaker 04

  That was an, baby, that was an intense punch. I didn't even mean, baby, I didn't even.

• 46:11Speaker 06

  You trying to knock me out? I'm like, I.

• 46:13Speaker 04

  No. Baby, I was trying.

• 46:15Speaker 06

  I'm trying not to. I'm like, thank God I have three brothers. I have three brothers that beat me up my whole life. I can take a fucking punch, motherfucker.

• 46:25Speaker 04

  I'm sorry baby, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to.

• 46:28Speaker 06

  I'm so glad I could take a punch.

• 46:30Speaker 04

  Yeah, no shit dude, you took that, I'm gonna tell you the truth baby, you took that punch like a fucking champion.

• 46:35Speaker 06

  I hate you.

• 46:36Speaker 04

  I know you do and I hate myself for doing that, but I'll tell you what, you were like, you were like Floyd Mayweather taking that punch baby. You were like Muhammad Ali taking that shit.

• 47:27Speaker 01

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• 47:46Annie Elise?

  To make things even worse, if you can even do that, Wade then starts trying to convince Melissa to stay with him, to wait for him to get out of jail so that the two of them can be together.

• 47:58Speaker 06

  You can still love me, baby. Yes, you can. If you want to. Don't tell me, unless you just want to stop loving me because of what I did. You're a psychopath. But then you never loved me to begin with, if you stopped loving me. I didn't know you were a killer. I didn't know you could kill somebody. You knew I was a killer. Stop it. Baby, why would I want to live the rest of my life in prison, especially if I'm not gonna have you? You just talked about this right before you went back. Why would I want to live the rest of my life in prison if I don't have you? Neela, you're my everything. You know that. What? Say that again. You know I'm not gonna wait for you. This is ridiculous. You're not gonna wait for me? Why would I? Because I fucking love you so fucking much, Neela. Why would you not? Do you not see what you're putting me through? Yes, baby, I'm sorry.

• 48:43Speaker 06

  I do see. Why would you not wait on me, Neela?

• 48:46Annie Elise?

  Now Melissa seems reluctant at first. I mean, obviously, who wouldn't be? But in later calls, she seems to be totally on board with taking care of Wade and sticking by him, which I think that that really does go to show just how truly manipulative this guy can be.

• 49:02Speaker 06

  Hey, baby. Daddy. Hey. What's up? I'm gonna take care, I'm gonna take care of you. What's up? What happened? What happened? I'm gonna take care of you. I'm gonna take care of you. Thank you, baby. Were you able to put the money on there? No, but I, I'm, I am, I've made a decision. I'm just gonna take care of you.

• 49:21Speaker 04

  Thank you, baby. Thank you so much.

• 49:23Speaker 06

  I may never see you again, but I will take care of you.

• 49:26Annie Elise?

  Then, after all that back and forth with Wade admitting to the murders, then saying that he's innocent, then admitting to it again, he just came out with another news story in 2020. And this time, he not only denied being the killer, but he said that he was involved with a high-level trafficking ring, and that they are the people who set him up for this whole thing. Which, since our last deep dive, we have learned a lot more about this ring that Wade claimed, you know, framed him for these murders. And it's just pretty unbelievable. But according to Wade, he says that he started working for this top-secret organization in February of 2019, only a couple of months before the murders. He says that this organization

• 50:09Annie Elise?

  quickly moved him down to the Florida Keys, and they let him live there rent-free. In exchange for that, though, he was supposed to provide security. But he claims that it didn't take him very long to realize that this property was actually a meth house. So Wade eventually became second-in-command within this organization. And he says that he started noticing young women coming through the house from all sorts of places, places like Costa Rica, Aruba, just in and out. And according to Wade, both Mila's spa and Josh's graphic design company were actually just fronts for this trafficking operation. He went on to say that after he and Mila started dating, the two of them started talking

• 50:51Annie Elise?

  about getting out of this organization. The plan, according to him, was to escape to Hawaii. But then he said that that idea did not at all go over well with the ring's leaders. So from there, Wade's story kind of folds back into the story that we already know. He says that on the night of the murders, he left Christine's place around 5:00 a.m. to go off and do a drug run. And that's when, according to Wade, the people who were running this organization told him that they were going to kill Christine and Diane, and that they expected him to take the fall for it. He also says that apparently if he refused, the organization said that they were going to hurt his family, which feels very far-fetched. Right, but to back this up, Wade pointed to something that happened after his arrest.

• 51:36Annie Elise?

  See, about a month later, in January of 2020, his adopted parents' house in Tennessee burned down. And Wade claimed that this was a message from the organization, a message that he wasn't safe. His family wasn't safe, even in jail, which, let me just say, if this sounds far-fetched to you, you're in good company, okay? You are not alone. This had a ton of people rolling their eyes. Like, it was kind of just, you know, another way for Wade to avoid taking any sort of responsibility. Yet, there were also a lot of people who seemed to believe this story. And so much so that support groups started forming for Wade, groups all over the internet.

• 52:17Annie Elise?

  Now, I will say this, his supporters seemed to primarily be women, and a lot of them seemed to be very attracted to him, sexually attracted to him, physically attracted to him, all sorts of things, which, ew, I mean, to each their own, I'm not trying to shame that, but I don't see the allure. And at one point, it seemed like anywhere you went on the internet, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, there were so many people advocating for Wade, women, again, primarily, making thirst trap videos of him, petitions, wherever you looked, it was like, free Wade Wilson. So Wade's fanbase continued to grow as he waited for his trial, which, by the way, ended up being delayed for over four and a half years

• 52:58Annie Elise?

  due to all sorts of crazy things that were going on, some like his lawyers passing away, him attempting to escape from jail, just bad behavior, all sorts of different things. And Wade was apparently so difficult to work with that four teams of lawyers had quit before the trial even started. And Wade wasn't demanding only of his lawyers. Throughout all of the pre-trial delays, he consistently and constantly pressured women in his fanbase to prove their loyalty to him, prove their loyalty by helping him financially. He even expected them to buy him designer Gucci suits and alligator skin shoes for all of his pre-trial hearings, so that he could, like, come into the courthouse looking sharp, looking good, probably knowing that those-

• 53:41Annie Elise?

  Images and videos would end up all over the internet and that it would grow his female fanbase even more. But I mean, the entitlement of this guy, it truly is something else. Wade's terrible attitude also made jury selection about 10 times harder than it needed to be. He was known for just like staring down potential jurors, shooting them nasty looks, making them feel very uncomfortable. It got so bad that several people had to be dismissed simply because they were scared of him. So much so that at one point Wade even made a prospective juror cry. But finally, the trial was set to begin on June 3rd, 2024, and it was scheduled to be three weeks long. But there was one final issue that needed to be resolved. While Wade was in jail,

• 54:25Annie Elise?

  he got many, many facial tattoos, including a swastika under his eye, stitches around his mouth that make him look like the Joker, and the word glory on his temple. Before the trial, Wade wanted to be granted permission to cover his tattoos and to get a haircut, probably realizing if he wanted any shot in hell at not being judged by the jury, that he needed to look different than how he looked. Especially because Wade's own lawyer was Jewish and very uncomfortable with all of Wade's neo-Nazi tattoos. Well, the judge granted him permission to alter his appearance and efforts for his looks to not have an impact on the jury, and he was cleaned up. But when jury selection day came, Wade's tattoos were still very visible,

• 55:09Annie Elise?

  and they stayed that way for the entire trial. And the trial only ended up lasting three days in total. That included the verdict watch. During opening statements, the prosecution presented the timeline. Then, the prosecution let the jury in on the motive right away. You're gonna hear that when they asked him

• 55:31Annie Elise?

  why he killed Ms. Melton,

• 55:37Annie Elise?

  he said, "I just wanted to do it."

• 55:46Annie Elise?

  And then...

• 55:52Annie Elise?

  They asked him, "Well, what about Mr. Reese?"

• 55:58Annie Elise?

  His response was,

• 56:05Annie Elise?

  "F it."

• 56:08Annie Elise?

  "Should kill her."

• 56:11Annie Elise?

  "I got one down." They brought up numerous witnesses, the first one being Stephanie. Stephanie shared about their night together and all of the events that led up to Christine's death, including the aftermath of finding out that Christine had been killed. She got a little bit emotional too as she identified Christine in these photos and it really was heartbreaking to watch. The prosecution also called Melissa to testify, and it seemed that she had a completely different outlook than she did from those jailhouse calls from years earlier. In that time, she finally moved on from Wade, moved on for good, and she met and married her now husband in 2021. So by the time the trial rolled around, I mean, she was ready to tell her story about what happened the day that she was assaulted.

• 56:54Speaker 06

  He opens the car door, obviously forgets to put it in park. The car starts to roll forward. He tackles me to the ground. The car grazes both of our legs and I'm pummeled to the ground.

• 57:08Annie Elise?

  Um, how hard did he push you to the ground?

• 57:11Speaker 06

  Uh, I'm sorry, I don't recall. It was, this is also fast and he's very heavy and I'm, I'm 5'2", he's 6'6", so.

• 57:19Annie Elise?

  Now, um, what happens after you are pushed to the ground?

• 57:23Speaker 06

  I start to get beat.

• 57:26Annie Elise?

  Describe what you mean when you say he was beating you.

• 57:28Speaker 06

  It all went so fast and so slow, whether it be punches, slapping, choking, that kind of nature.

• 57:37Annie Elise?

  In the Paramount documentary, Melissa said that testifying against Wade was one of the hardest things that she had ever done. But what really swayed her to do it is when prosecutors pointed out that she was the only victim left with a voice. Christine and Diane couldn't tell the jury who Wade really was, but Melissa could. She also said that she carried- Some guilt for being the only survivor from that day. In her words, it would almost make more sense if Wade had killed her since they had such a history together. But to take the lives of two strangers, it's unthinkable. So next Wade's dad took the stand and he explained all of the horrifying details of Wade's confession.

• 58:19Annie Elise?

  So let's start with the first girl. If you could tell the jurors, what did he tell you? He just said he met a girl at a bar. They went back to her house, hung out for a little bit and then she fell asleep. What did he say happened after she fell asleep? He said he got on top of her and choked her. What name did he call her?

• 58:43Annie Elise?

  Did he, did he refer to her in a derogatory term? He said, I, I choked that bitch. Um, and what did he say he did after he choked her? He said he stayed in the house for a little while and then, um, he rolled her up and was gonna try to put her in her trunk, but he couldn't lift her. Did he say why he was unable to put her in her trunk? He said that he felt like rigor mortis had started to set in. And does rigor mortis make your body stiff? You didn't know? I think so. Um, so he just told you that that was the reason that he couldn't lift her and get her into her trunk? Yes, ma'am. And when he said her trunk, he, it was the trunk of her car he was gonna put her in? Yes, ma'am.

• 59:28Annie Elise?

  So what did he tell you he did when he couldn't get her body into her own trunk? He left her there and took her car. What did he say, uh, about the second girl?

• 59:41Annie Elise?

  He said he saw her walking down the street and stopped and asked her for directions.

• 59:48Annie Elise?

  And she got in the car with him. What did he say happened once she got in the car with him? He said he reached over and choked her. And did he tell you that he choked her while he was driving? Yes, ma'am. Now,

• 1:00:03Annie Elise?

  what did he say happened after he choked her?

• 1:00:08Annie Elise?

  He said he was looking for a place to look at Roddy. Um, did he find a place where he eventually dumped her body? Yes, ma'am. What did he tell you about, uh, the situation when he got to the place where he was gonna dump her body? He said that he Her out of the car and realized that she was still breathing. So what did he tell you he did when he realized she's still breathing?

• 1:00:36Annie Elise?

  He said he got back in the car and ran her over until she looked like spaghetti.

• 1:00:44Annie Elise?

  As he's telling you all these things,

• 1:00:48Annie Elise?

  what's his demeanor as he's telling you?

• 1:00:53Annie Elise?

  He was excited. You say excited, what do you mean by that?

• 1:00:58Annie Elise?

  He just, I felt like he was wanting me to feel the way he felt about it. Did he seem proud of it?

• 1:01:06Annie Elise?

  Yes. Did he seem to show any kind of remorse? Oh man. And was he able to go into great detail about both of these ladies deaths? Yes ma'am. Stephen shared that he was initially conflicted about helping Wade or turning him in. But ultimately, he turned him in after he thought about if it was his daughter, his sister, or his wife that he had done that to. He was also worried about Wade doing the same thing to somebody else in the future. Before resting their case, the state showed some truly graphic and very heartbreaking autopsy photos of Christine and Diane. And this made it painfully clear how hard they fought for their lives. And as for Wade,

• 1:01:48Annie Elise?

  according to people in the courtroom, he just stared at the photos as they were shown. Almost like he was proud of his work and what he had done. I mean, absolutely disgusting. Once the state rested, the defense rested pretty much immediately. They didn't call up a single witness. Instead, they saved their argument for closing statements. Although maybe I'm being generous in saying that, because honestly, Wade's lawyer really didn't do much arguing on his behalf. I want to get up here and I want to argue about premeditation.

• 1:02:23Annie Elise?

  I mean, not arguing whether, whether these ladies are dead.

• 1:02:29Annie Elise?

  We're not arguing, he didn't do it. There's solid evidence that he is responsible for those two deaths. And the battery of Ms. Montanes. But Ms. Montanes's testimony, you need to think about that, whether this was premeditated in term, I mean.

• 1:02:54Annie Elise?

  Ms. Milton had sex with him. He could have just gotten up and left, or stayed with her. Instead, he murders her? That's not clear thinking, shall we say? I'm not arguing insanity. I'm not arguing. I'm just arguing that the state's claiming premeditation. And I'm saying, he's whacked out. He's just out of his mind for any of this. And the state had a rebuttal right up, ready to go for that one. Take a listen.

• 1:03:27Annie Elise?

  This was premeditation all day long. The defendant's attitude toward these women was despicable. He bragged about their deaths to his dad after he killed them. No regret, no remorse. And he replaced the name Christine's mother gave her at birth with the name bitch. I killed a bitch.

• 1:03:54Annie Elise?

  I choked that bitch out. And three days later, he's still bragging about it to law enforcement. This is a man with no respect for women, with no respect for human life. And I want to start with the defendant's own words about premeditation and how we know that he took a second to think about what he did before he did it.

• 1:04:20Annie Elise?

  All right. The truth is, I picked the girl up and killed her. I wasn't worried about the school, you know? Remember, this is during the day. School's in session and it's an elementary school. Little kids being dropped off by moms and dads and buses. I wasn't worried about school, you know? I choked her out until she couldn't breathe anymore. She wasn't fully dead yet. Now, she's, he's choking her. He could have stopped, but he decided to continue so that he could kill her. She wasn't fully dead yet and she was still alive. And I pushed her out of the car and she tried to get up. And I ran her over with a car and I ran over maybe like 10 times, 10, 20 times. Her head, her body. He says, I put the window down and I said, hey, do you know where the high school is? Where the school's at? Could you show me?

• 1:05:05Annie Elise?

  She said, it's right down there. I said, I drove by there and I didn't see it. Could you please show me? She got in the car. That's all it took. That's all it took. Got her in my car and then from there we drove to the school and I was going to drop her off. But I knew in my mind, I wasn't gonna drop her off. There's the mind. I knew in my mind, I wasn't gonna drop her off. But she wanted to get dropped off there. I said, okay, you can go. As soon as she went to get out, whatever, I grabbed her by the neck and choked her. That's when I was choking her, right there. I was choking her out, right there. She came back to life through her four times. I mean, she was a fighter for sure, I'll give her that. When I pushed her out, she fell out still alive, trying to get up.

• 1:05:51Annie Elise?

  I backed up and just ran and hit her, ran and hit her, ran and hit her until she was not moving anymore. That's not premeditated murder, ladies and gentlemen. I don't know what is.

• 1:06:02Annie Elise?

  And after Christine Melton, when he picked up Diane Ruiz, he told the detectives. I was like, you know what? I've already done it once, I'm gonna do it again. It came across my mind, a murder, just murder, murder, just kill, kill, kill.

• 1:06:18Annie Elise?

  He talks about, I could get sex with her and then I was going to kill her. This is going to sound weird, I'm just really horny. So I was looking for an easy piece of pussy and saw her walking and she was strolling or whatever, early in the morning. So I was like, whatever, I'll give it a shot. When I give it a shot, it usually is nine, times out of ten, works for me. And it, it did, you know, I should kill her.

• 1:06:46Annie Elise?

  He says, she did not need a ride afterwards, which is why I started choking her, cuz she was going to get out of the car. She said, drop me off here at school. I could tell she was getting scared. I saw the fear and I think the fear triggered me to just kill her. It was going in a weird direction. I could tell things were off cuz she wanted to be pulled over and she really wanted to get out of the car. Bad at this point, and I could tell she was getting, I can sense you fear. I'm like a fucking lion and you're the prey and I can sense it. They can't get away from me even if they wanted to. I'm too strong. I mean, I don't look strong maybe necessarily, but I can't believe it or not. I'm not trying to be mean. I can take either one of you guys down. And this is what he's telling detectives. He's locked up in the Lee County Jail. Confessing and bragging to the detectives about these murders that he committed.

• 1:07:30Annie Elise?

  So ultimately, just a little over two hours after the jurors began deliberating.

• 1:07:35Speaker 06

  They came back with a guilty verdict. Then it was time for the sentencing phase, which is really where the defense wanted to put their resources and their time arguing, all in efforts to spare Wade's life. It was initially set to begin the Thursday after the verdict, but it got postponed to the following Monday based on the defense's request. It started with victim impact statements by Christine's cousin Samantha. There are no words to describe the absolutely lovely Christine Anne Melton, but I will try.

• 1:08:04Speaker 06

  She was precious, not just to me, to everyone who knew her. She was a daughter, a sister, an aunt, a niece, and a cousin. She was loved and her life had value.

• 1:08:19Speaker 06

  Christine was remarkably funny, had a quick wit, and an entirely unique personality. If you were with her, you laughed.

• 1:08:30Speaker 06

  We laughed every single day. When you were with her, you felt safe and understood, never judged.

• 1:08:40Speaker 06

  She was a relief to your soul just to sit next to her.

• 1:08:45Speaker 06

  She had a way about her. Children loved her because Christine was good and they could feel it. She wasn't an aunt. She was the aunt. Christine was the godmother of my son, and it was her greatest honor and one that she deserved. Our children miss her in ways I could never articulate, and it is gut-wrenching to see them so destroyed. They were robbed of her.

• 1:09:16Speaker 06

  Christine will never experience motherhood, a role she was born to play.

• 1:09:23Speaker 06

  Christine was strong, brave, independent, loyal. She was the friend you wished you had. She was the friend who got more fired up about your problems than you did.

• 1:09:35Speaker 06

  She was fiercely protective and always on your side, even if you were wrong.

• 1:09:42Speaker 06

  Christine loved traveling and exploring the world. She would buy plane tickets and figure out the rest later. She loved camping and concerts and Halloween and a themed party of any kind and celebrating life and accomplishments.

• 1:09:58Speaker 06

  Christine adored her mother and loved being with her. They were two peas in a pod.

• 1:10:04Speaker 06

  They were the same and different in all the most beautiful ways. They lived less than one block apart in 2019 when this occurred. Every relationship or friendship she had was special because she was part of it. She was a cheerleader to us all. She loved us unconditionally, completely, and with her entire being until October 7th. After Samantha gave an impact statement, Diane's youngest son gave a statement. My mother's life dream was to be able to get married and raise her family. She was so close to getting everything she wanted. She was really excited for my future because she knew I was going to achieve big things. And I refused to disappoint her, even in death, because it helps me put on every day.

• 1:10:47Speaker 06

  I would like to share some achievements I've been able to accomplish.

• 1:10:52Speaker 06

  I did three years of marching band. We achieved superiors in the Blue Ribbon.

• 1:10:58Speaker 06

  Throughout high school, my senior year, I achieved my high school's most principal award. Sophomore year, I won my first scholarship based off of my art portfolio. I graduated high school. I got accepted into all the colleges I applied and also received a full ride scholarship from one. My senior year, I received the John Phillips user award for marching band. I got my driver's license. I received my first car. During COVID, I ran a whole jewelry business for two years at 16. I got my first job. I'm getting my first apartment July. I'm a year ahead in my college education and I have my first internship as a graphic designer.

• 1:11:39Speaker 06

  I only listed 13 out of many, both big and small achievements, all 13 of these achievements.

• 1:11:48Speaker 06

  My mom didn't get the chance to see me accomplish. My mother will never get the chance to see me get married, get to see me graduate college as a fresher generation. And graduate, get to see me get my first real job.

• 1:12:01Speaker 06

  During college, I was sent to the ER for the first time. I got into my first car accident and the only person I wanted to call was my mom. Or how she went missing. I trusted my gut so much. Everything told me that she was coming home and I haven't been able to trust her again. Or how when I was told she was missing while walking home from my bus stop. Or how everybody in my town knew that she was dead before me. Or how on my fifteen birthday, I almost killed myself because I couldn't bear that idea without turning fifteen without my mom. I lived five years without her and not a single day has gone by where I haven't been able to not think about her.

• 1:12:42Speaker 06

  My mother only loved, only had love in her, only wanted the best for me and nothing that happened to her was ever deserved. And she just wanted to live a normal life.

• 1:12:50Annie Elise?

  The defense then brought up two expert witnesses in the mental health field who spent time with Wade prior to the sentencing. The first witness on the stand was Dr. Einstein, who was a neuropsychologist.

• 1:13:02Speaker 04

  The records going back over ten years um were indicative that uh Mr. Wilson presented with numerous psychiatric psychological symptomatology.

• 1:13:18Speaker 04

  He was on a variety of different psychotropic medications.

• 1:13:24Speaker 04

  They tried many, many medications. Uh he currently is on uh medication, uh lithium and Celexa. Uh both, those are psychotropic medications. He's been diagnosed with several different bipolar.

• 1:13:42Speaker 04

  He's been diagnosed with depression, anxiety. Um he's been diagnosed um with schizophrenia. Um he's been diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder, um adjustment disorder. Uh there's a variety of different diagnosis that have been uh offered um in in the uh records.

• 1:14:04Annie Elise?

  Dr. Einstein's final conclusion was that Wade suffers from neurocognitive brain impairment. This all based on sports-induced head injuries that he received as a child and after a car crash. That coupled

• 1:14:17Speaker 06

  With his substance abuse, apparently only made those symptoms worse. But it turns out, Dr. Einstein might not be as reliable as it seemed. During cross-examination, it came out that he's been in over 150 capital murder cases. And every single one of them, he testified for the defense. In nearly all of those cases, he claimed that the defendant had some kind of brain injury, just like Wade. So the prosecution's point was basically saying, you know, this guy's not exactly neutral here. And so they brought in their own expert to give a very different opinion on Wade's mental state. They brought in Dr. Hercove, who is a clinical and forensic neuropsychologist. Dr. Hercove's evaluation results were that Wade does not struggle with any mental psychotic disorders,

• 1:15:02Speaker 06

  and that Wade's behavior was not impulsive, and in fact, it was premeditated.

• 1:15:07Annie Elise?

  He didn't murder Christine or Diane in front of people. He gained trust. He selected Christine at the Buddha, and he selected Diane as she was walking. He secluded Christine in her own home, and he secluded Diane in the car. And then he tortured and strangled them both. He used calm and cool reflection. He waited to kill Christine. He waited after they had left Jason's home. He waited all night into the early morning hours, after Stephanie had gone home. And that's when he killed her, not in the heat of passion, but when she had gone to sleep.

• 1:15:44Speaker 06

  And while the prosecution argued that Wade's crimes were premeditated, the defense, once again, argued that they weren't. And they made lots and lots of references to his mental health problems and his drug use as well during this. Now, how is Wade Wilson planning all this? We're gonna go to this residence, we're gonna leave this, we're gonna go to this residence? How is that part of a grand scheme of anything? Well, it's not. It's circumstances happening. So they leave Mr. Shepherd's, they would go over to Ms. Melton's with Ms. Johnson. Was that part of the plan for Ms. Johnson to come along? Now, oh my gosh, I'm gonna have to wait now till Ms. Johnson leaves before I murder Ms. Melton?

• 1:16:30Speaker 06

  No, that wasn't a plan at all. There was no- He was freewheeling. He was having sex with this willful participant. He was having a great time. In his statement to law enforcement, he tells them there was no planning. After Ms. Johnson left, all of a sudden, something came over him, and he strangled Ms. Melton. He's not in his right mind all the time. And it's worse when you throw drugs on top of it. When he was a little boy, what did he do? They found him wearing a long-sleeved

• 1:17:14Speaker 06

  shirt with the shirt stapled to his arms. This isn't something that just occurred overnight. This is something that's been growing in Wade Wilson for a long, long time.

• 1:17:29Annie Elise?

  After that, the jury was sent to deliberate, and not too long later, they came back recommending the death penalty. As of last year, Florida law only requires eight of 12 members of the jury to recommend the death penalty, and the judge will consider it. In regards to Christine's murder, nine out of 12 recommended the death penalty. For Diane's, 10 out of 12 recommended the death penalty. Now, since we last looked into this case, several jurors have come forward to explain how they landed on the death penalty. And one of them, juror 87, spoke out last year and said that while Christine's murder was undeniably brutal, some jurors apparently felt that it lacked real forethought, almost like Wade didn't necessarily go out that

• 1:18:11Annie Elise?

  night intending to kill someone. However, Diane's murder was different. And according to juror 87, they felt like Wade deliberately set out to find someone to kill, almost like he was hunting Diane. So that difference between the two murders is ultimately what led to an extra vote in favor of the death penalty for Diane's murder. After the jury made its recommendation, the final decision about Wade's punishment rested with the judge. And in August 2024, a final sentencing hearing was held to determine his fate. Which in a last ditch effort to save his life, the defense called another doctor who testified that Wade's brain scans showed all sorts of

• 1:18:52Annie Elise?

  abnormalities that are similar to those found by the previous defense witnesses. Wade's adoptive parents also submitted letters on his behalf, arguing that the system had failed him, that he suffered from serious mental health issues, and that he should be given grace for that. But after weighing all of this, the judge issued a final ruling. It is ordered to the judge that the defendant Wade Stephen Wilson be sentenced as follows. Count one, first degree murder of Christine Melton. The defendant is hereby sentenced to death. Count two, grand theft of a motor vehicle. The defendant is sentenced to five years imprisonment in the Florida Department of Corrections. Count three, battery. The defendant

• 1:19:33Annie Elise?

  is hereby sentenced to 364 days in Lee County Jail. Count four, first degree murder of Diane Ruiz. The defendant is hereby sentenced to death. Count five, the burglary of a dwelling. The defendant is hereby sentenced to 15 years imprisonment in the Florida Department of Corrections. For the very callous murders of two innocent women, Wade would face the ultimate punishment. My brother had his identity stolen. My neighbor did too. Identity theft is the number one crime in America. My gosh, my manager, my cousin. LifeLock detects, alerts you to, and fixes identity theft, guaranteed or your money back. Wow, that's a lot of people. Kind of makes you think.

• 1:20:15Annie Elise?

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• 1:20:27Annie Elise?

  Now, for those of you watching on YouTube, you can actually see his demeanor as this sentence is handed down. And some people have said that he looked totally calm, just unbothered. But I noticed something else. The moment that the sentence was read, the actual moment, he started breathing very heavily and swallowing kind of hard, which to me, in that moment, just that brief split second, he looked terrified. And honestly, if that's true, I'm glad because after what he did to Christine and Diane, he deserves to feel some fear of his own, like some real, like, deep rooted fear. But what's crazy, though, is that when the judge asked the defense if Wade had any final

• 1:21:10Annie Elise?

  words before the trial officially ended, they said that he just had one request: to be moved to death row as soon as possible. Now, I don't know if that's because the conditions are better on death row. They are usually, you get more privileges. It's bad and, you know, it's good and bad, but a lot of people prefer to just be moved directly there rather than sit in jail. So I don't know if that was the motivation behind Wade's request, or maybe if Wade was just trying to come off as a tough guy, being like, "Just send me to death row, I don't even care." But either way, the moment just felt super eerie. Then, just two days after his sentencing, Wade found himself in trouble yet again. He was charged with one count of attempted drug

• 1:21:55Annie Elise?

  trafficking and one count of conspiracy to commit drug trafficking. Now, at that point, I have to say, it seems like he knew how bad things were because he didn't even try to fight it. He just pleaded guilty. So he was sentenced to an additional 12 years in prison, and in exchange, prosecutors agreed to drop the charges related to that escape attempt from back in 2020. But that would not be the last time that Wade was in trouble in prison, not by a long shot. Because less than a month after arriving on death row, Wade drew a very weird picture, signed it, and then mailed it to somebody who he so lovingly calls "sweet cheeks", which, gross, I mean, cringe, ick, all the things. Now, he told this "sweet cheeks" person

• 1:22:40Annie Elise?

  to sell the drawing, saying that it would, quote, "rake in the dollars", which honestly, I'm not surprised at all at this point. It seems like everything that this guy does and everything he comes up with is just to stroke his own ego. He also had created a GoFundMe, too. He just felt like he wanted the limelight, he got the limelight, and then he wanted to exploit it and just rake in as much as He possibly could now just days after this sweet cheeks incident Wade misused his prison tablet. So because of that, he lost his tablet privileges for three months. Then not long after getting it back, he somehow managed to break it while trying to use the USB port. Which first of all, I have to say this, I'm not sure why death row inmates get tablets.

• 1:23:25Annie Elise?

  It feels a little cushy to me. Truly, it does. And second, not for nothing, but we already knew that Wade wasn't exactly the brightest bulb. But breaking a tablet because you can't figure out the USB port. That is a new level of being an idiot in my opinion, like, how do you not figure it out? It's not like he hasn't been around technology for 10 years and he is seeing an iPhone for the first time or a tablet for the first time. Like, it's literally a port. Like, what do you mean? But nothing surprises me with this guy. Now I've also got to say, speaking of hitting new lows, the Paramount documentary has released new photos of Wade and his life in prison. And look, I'm sorry, ladies, for all of you who thought he was cute in prison before.

• 1:24:08Annie Elise?

  And maybe you sane people like me who did not think that he was cute in prison before. Regardless which side of the fence you stood on, it is now without a doubt, he is 100% full of go disgusting. You know, slithering human being, he is so foul. I don't even know the word to use to describe him. Prison has clearly not been kind to Wade and thank God for that. Because anything he was using as leverage before, trying to bank on his looks to lure women in, that is out the window now. I mean, the only thing uglier than his appearance is what he keeps in his cell. And I mean that through and through because we have learned that this vile excuse for a human being

• 1:24:50Annie Elise?

  actually has photos hanging up in his cell of the field where Diane's body was found. Almost like he wants to remember it, a trophy, a memento. It is sick, which what a disgusting thing to do, to hang up someone's murder location like it's art. Which, sorry to go off on a tangent here, guys, but I can just not deal with this freaking. Monster and it upsets me so much that there are still people who advocate for him. So moving on a little bit later in 2024 Wade tested positive for drugs and he was also repeatedly flirting with all of the female guards, which big surprise, right?

• 1:25:30Annie Elise?

  Then a couple of months later, he was disciplined yet again, this time for using the cash app from jail, which that's kind of like Venmo, but it's, you know, a different platform. So his behavior has just continued to spiral and currently at this moment in time, he's currently in disciplinary confinement with no visitors allowed, which talk about somebody who refuses to learn his lesson, right? Now somehow in between all of the times he lost his tablet privileges, he had to go into confinement, all of these things Wade still somehow managed to find love on the outside. And over the past year, more than 100 of Wade's prison calls have been released and they show him flirting with not one,

• 1:26:14Annie Elise?

  but multiple women, even a couple of men as well. Now, one woman in particular named Jessie, she appeared in a ton of these calls and she claimed to be in a very serious relationship with Wade, talking about how she couldn't wait to have sex with him. She loved him, all of these things, but she has since sued the Lee County Sheriff's Office for these calls being released. Even has sued the state attorney's office saying because these calls have been released, she's now being bullied online, she is having people threaten her. Ever since the public learned about her interactions with Wade, they're just coming after her, which hi, maybe don't fall in love with a murderer and have phone sex with him while he's in prison

• 1:26:59Annie Elise?

  and do that on a recorded line, hoping that it won't get released. Of course it's going to get released, right? And Jessie isn't alone in all of this. Wade has a huge fan base of women who now even call themselves Wade's wives. And they not only believe that he is innocent, but they also find him very physically and sexually attractive. So apparently Wade receives hundreds of messages from. Interested women every single day, more messages than he can even respond to. But I will say this, when he does respond to these messages, he makes sure to sign his name with a swastika. I mean, so unbelievably vile. I don't even know again, what term to use.

• 1:27:43Annie Elise?

  I truly do not get the obsession with this man. I don't see it, even if he were attractive, which sorry, I don't see it. He's a convicted murderer. It's not exactly someone that you would bring home to meet your family or your parents, right? Not that he could leave prison anyway, but you get what I'm saying. And I know that there's this weird psychological thing where women think they can save men and vice versa. Men think they can save women. That's why so many men fall in love with like strippers and sex workers, you know? I think they have been like in pop culture, they're called like Captain Save a Hose or something like that. But there's always this weird psychology where people feel like they can save someone who has done wrong or is in a tough spot, a tough situation. We see it with Chris Watts, the women who have all fallen in love with him.

• 1:28:28Annie Elise?

  We saw it a little bit in the early days with Scott Peterson. I'm sure there is still some element of it now. I don't know about Jodi Arias and if men are falling in love with her, maybe not. But maybe it's worth getting a psychologist on here to like break it down a little bit for us. Like what is going through these people's minds to where even if they find him hot? Again, it's like, even if he's the hottest man on the planet, if it's Tom Cruise, or which I don't think Tom Cruise is hot either. So that's a bad example. Who do I think is really hot? You know who I think is hot? Um, the guy from Walking Dead, what's his name? He played, he was in Grey's Anatomy too, not the main guy in Walking Dead. Two hours later. Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Okay. I think Jeffrey Dean Morgan is one of the hottest guys on the planet. Okay? He would be my hall pass. My husband knows, don't spread rumors.

• 1:29:13Annie Elise?

  But even if it were Jeffrey Dean Morgan in prison, okay, and he had killed two people, one person, whatever it is. I wouldn't even, I wouldn't be writing him, thinking I could save him. It's like, because even if it's the hottest person in the world, how do you mentally get past the fact that they murdered somebody? Or took their family's lives, their children's lives, like Chris Watts, like how do you even? Do those kinds of mental gymnastics to get to that point? I don't understand. I do not understand. But apparently, I'm in the minority here. Wade's fanbase has only grown since the trial. They have offered him money, sex, legal support, basically whatever the hell he wants. They also flood social media insisting that he's innocent, and they go after anyone who says otherwise.

• 1:29:58Annie Elise?

  Now, everyone who has testified against Wade, including Melissa and even Wade's own father, they have reportedly received death threats from his, you know, fanbase, the most unhinged supporters. Some of the Wade wives have even gotten tattoos of his name, which imagine permanently branding yourself with this guy's name. It is psychotic. Now, I will say this. One person who is not on Wade's roster of women is Melissa. As I mentioned earlier, she completely changed her stance and decided to testify against him. However, just last year, the spa that she had been running for more than a decade, it burned down under serious suspicious circumstances. Now, some people have questioned whether Wade could be involved in this

• 1:30:43Annie Elise?

  and if it's some sort of retaliation. However, others point out that when you combine this fire with the fire at Wade's parents' home in Tennessee, that makes two people close to him whose homes or businesses have gone up in flames. And it makes you wonder, what's really going on here? Could Wade be telling the truth about this organization that is supposedly targeting him? Or is he orchestrating these incidents himself from the inside? Or is this all just a disturbing coincidence? We also learned something else about Melissa. We learned that the attack on the day of the murders was not the first time that she tried to report Wade's abuse. In June of 2019, just a couple of months before the murders,

• 1:31:27Annie Elise?

  Wade apparently saw text messages on Melissa's phone that he was not at all happy about, and he completely lost it. She apparently tried to jump out of the car during this altercation, but Wade ripped her skirt off, leaving her running down the road naked, trying to Find help. Wade, unfortunately, eventually caught up to her and allegedly he choked her until she passed out. Now, according to Melissa, after that Wade bound her hands, blindfolded her, and sexually assaulted her. And when she reported this incident to the police, she also disclosed multiple other times that Wade had been abusive. So he was arrested and he spent a couple of months in jail, but the charges were ultimately dropped due to lack of evidence.

• 1:32:11Annie Elise?

  And he was released just days before Christine and Diane were murdered. And tragically, this wasn't the first time that the system failed to hold Wade accountable. In February of 2019, another ex-girlfriend, Kelly Matthews, also had reported Wade to police for not only beating her, but sexually assaulting her. And those are the allegations that you heard that detective reading during Wade's interrogation. And even though Kelly's injuries totally corroborated what she said, including a busted lip, bite marks on her chin, bruising on her neck, and rope marks on her wrists, the charges were dropped just one day later, simply because there was no third-party witness. How infuriating is that?

• 1:32:54Annie Elise?

  And to make matters worse, the arresting officer didn't properly file a report documenting Kelly's allegations. So that officer was eventually reprimanded following an Internal Affairs investigation, which found that he didn't properly investigate the case at all. But the problem was by then, it was already too late. Christine and Diane were dead after multiple missed opportunities to keep Wade off the streets. It is heartbreaking to think about just how different things could have been if Wade had been held accountable for his earlier assaults. Or if he had made a different choice on that horrific day in 2019. To imagine the lives Christine and Diane might have gone on to live, and the countless

• 1:33:39Annie Elise?

  people that they would have continued to impact, it's heartbreaking to think about. Diane's two sons are now grown and successful, but it's devastating that they had to grow up without their mother. And Christine's family is also left wondering every single day What life might have looked like if she were still here? Now, before we end today's episode, as I mentioned at the beginning of this episode, one of my producers had the opportunity to sit down with Rhonda Schwartz, the executive producer and the director of the documentary Handsome Devil Charming Killer. And they talked about what it was like uncovering the details of Wade's life, also what surprised her most during production, and again, the ethical challenges of telling this story, and what ultimately didn't even make it on the screen.

• 1:34:23Annie Elise?

  So I'm going to play a portion of that conversation right now next, but the full, uncut, uncensored interview is available on Patreon. I'm Rhonda Schwartz. I'm an executive producer at Long Crime Productions and producer and director of Handsome Devil Charming Killer, along with my longtime partner here, Brian Ross. And I'm Brian Ross. I wrote and along with Rhonda, produced and directed this three-hour series on the handsome devil. Thank you both so much. Thank you for joining. We're excited to have you. I have watched the series. As of now, it will be out and just incredible work. I loved it. For listeners who may not know a ton about the case, what initially drew you to Wade Wilson as a subject?

• 1:35:05Annie Elise?

  Wade Wilson was a young man who committed two horrible, brutal murders. And yet, once his mugshot was posted online, became a favorite of thousands of women who somehow fell in love with him and supported him and ignored the facts of these terrible homicides. Once we started looking into this and we realized the tragedy of the victims behind this story, those women and the lives that were lost, and also more about the people who loved him and tried to, throughout his life, have an influence on him, the story just got deeper and deeper. I knew this beforehand, but watching, you know, this documentary you both created,

• 1:35:49Annie Elise?

  it really showed just how much he seems to crave notoriety and fame. So I'm curious, was it tricky making this without feeding into that? Exactly. It's a very good question because we didn't want to glorify him in any way or make him seem like he was a hero. He was a terrible person. And we wanted to expose him. And one of the best ways to do that is to... To let him talk and he talked plenty. He confessed to the crime three or four times to his father, to his former girlfriend and to law enforcement officers, describing in graphic detail how he killed these two women. And we thought that's the best thing. Let, let the sun shine on this guy and let's understand what he really is.

• 1:36:32Annie Elise?

  And as you say, he seemed to crave the attention, but primarily he wanted these women to, I guess, adore him. And most importantly for him, they want, he wanted them to send money to his canteens so he could buy snacks in the county jail. We did indeed think about trying to interview him and he did initially agree to an interview, but he's been in disciplinary confinement and is not allowed to have any contact with the media. So we were unable to do that. I'm not, unfortunately not surprised there. In this series, it does a really, really strong job of keeping the victims Christine Mountain and Diane Ruiz. Thank you so much for listening to Christine and Diane's story.

• 1:37:15Annie Elise?

  Before you go, don't forget to subscribe on YouTube or follow the show on your podcast app. Also, if you are someone who is a Wade wife or you think he's hot and you're obsessed with him, like, I'm gonna get you the card of a very good therapist because this guy is so diabolical and so scary. So please, just stop, knock it off, knock it off. So for all of you listening, thank you so much for tuning in to another episode of 10 to Life Reopened. I will be back with you next week with an all new case. Until then, stay safe. Bye.

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