LEE COUNTY, Fla. — A man accused of brutally murdering two Cape Coral women has been writing to NBC2 for months. Wade Wilson has been in jail since 2019, awaiting trial for the murders of Kristine Melton and Diane Ruiz.
Through dozens of letters, Wilson made some wild accusations: from claiming his innocence to a conspiracy that reaches the depths of Lee County institutions.
For the first time ever, he’s talking about it all on-camera with NBC2 from his jail cell.
“Did you kill Kristine Melton and Diane Ruiz?” NBC2’s Kyla Galer asked.
“No. Absolutely not,” Wilson said.
No surprise there, considering he pleaded not guilty.
Wilson seemed confident, even smug at times while sporting his orange jumpsuit and a more sinister appearance since he was first charged with murder more than three years ago.
“I’m not a monster. I’m not a saint either by any means. I’ve made bad decisions in the past, of course. Everybody has,” Wilson said.
While Wilson is accused of taking two lives, he claims to have tipped off investigators about a plot to kill another woman while he was behind bars.
According to an arrest report, late last year Tristan Gendron asked Wilson to help kill the mother of his child so his domestic abuse charges would be dropped.
Wilson couldn’t do it himself, he was in jail, but Gendron asked if “his crew” on the outside could.
“He just thought that I was the person to ask for that,” Wilson said.
NBC2 obtained a copy of the note Gendron wrote Wilson in jail with details of the hit job. It came with a $200,000 payout. Gendron said the money was in a safe at Gendron’s Funeral & Cremation Services in Fort Myers and provided security codes.
“People would accept $10,000, $200,000? Surely. But I’m not that type of person,” Wilson said.
Instead, he reported it to the State Attorney’s Office and became a sworn witness, despite not knowing the victim.
“I don’t know her personally whatsoever from a can of paint, but it doesn’t matter…she’s a person,” Wilson said.
Investigators later found out there was a safe at the funeral home with cash inside. And those security codes in the note were accurate.
The funeral director said the murder-for-hire charges against Gendron are, “B.S.”
As you might imagine, anyone tied to Wilson isn’t keen on talking. The State Attorney’s Office can’t. It’s not clear — all the evidence it has against Wilson, but it’s enough for prosecutors to go for the death penalty.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: State Attorney’s Office seeks death penalty against Wade Wilson
“It doesn’t worry me. It worries me only because of the corruption, the level of corruption around here in Fort Myers that I was involved with,” Wilson said.
Some of that evidence may include a confession, which Wilson said he was forced to make after he was charged.
“When coming to jail I knew that I had to get something out there as far as a confession because I was told to do that otherwise my parents were going to be harmed, my children were going to be harmed,” Wilson said.
Wilson’s own father spoke on the record. He told investigators Wilson called him after spending the night with Melton asking for help. She was a server at a Cape Coral bar.
Wilson’s father said his son admitted to strangling Melton while she was sleeping, then rolled her up in a carpet.
He does admit, he met her at a bar the night before she was found dead and slept at her house. But claims she was alive when he left in her car.
He told his dad he then picked up a lady, asked for directions, then choked her and ran her over so many times, “he made her look like spaghetti.”
“I was forced. That wasn’t a call that I willingly wanted to make,” Wilson said.
Investigators say that other woman was a mother of two, Diane Ruiz.
“As far as Diane Ruiz, I never ran across her, never seen her. There’s nothing that will say otherwise than that,” Wilson said.
Wilson only briefly mentions Ruiz and Melton in his letters. Never giving these women the dignity of saying their names, just that he was set up.
He talks more often about a high-profile case of another Cape Coral woman, Lauren Dumolo. She hasn’t been seen since June of 2020.
PREVIOUS STORY: Family reveals new details on Lauren Dumolo’s mental state before disappearance
Wilson claims it’s all part of a conspiracy being covered up, one that he’s trying to expose.
He said he was recruited from Key West to be part of a crime organization in Lee County.
“A lot of things we were doing from Key West to Fort Myers including the human trafficking and various other things: prostitution with the women, drug trafficking,” Wilson said.
Wilson said some of the prostitution was happening at a local spa and he claims he can prove there was nefarious activity happening there.
“Cell phone records will show, text messages will prove and these are things that my lawyers already have,” Wilson said.
When Galer called Wilson’s lawyer, he wouldn’t answer any questions.
NBC2 is not sharing the name or location of the spa. Wilson claims Dumolo has ties there. He also said high-profile people used the spa and some of the people involved in the alleged crime ring are testifying against him in his murder trial.
“I am the loose end that is so easily just x-ed out,” Wilson said.
Wilson admits he is trying to save his life. But it will be up to a jury to figure out fact from fiction.
“Are you just trying to discredit the people who are testifying against you at trial?” Galer asked.
“Absolutely not, no. I’m just trying to tell the truth,” Wilson said.
Overall, it appeared Wilson is trying to bring up these topics to save his own skin.
He mentioned former Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott a number of times and claimed he was part of certain cover-ups. Scott told Galer over the phone that Wilson’s allegations are outlandish and not true.
As for the alleged crime ring, Fort Myers Police told NBC2 they haven’t found anything regarding human trafficking.
Officer Brandon Sancho with Cape Coral Police (CCPD) said the Lee County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) and the State Attorney’s Office are aware of Wilson’s claims, but CCPD is not looking into it because it didn’t happen within their jurisdiction.
A spokesperson with LCSO said they couldn’t answer NBC2’s questions.
As far as Wilson’s claims about Lauren Dumolo, Officer Sancho said they don’t think there’s any connection between the two because Wilson was incarcerated before Dumolo disappeared.
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