Shivangi Sinha
Kristine Melton and Diane Ruiz both lived in Cape Coral, Florida, but their lives never intersected, and they shared no personal connection. That changed in October 2019, when Kristine was found unresponsive inside her home. Around the same time, Diane was reported missing. Days later, her body was discovered along a roadway she regularly used while walking to work. The similarities between the two crimes led investigators to uncover a single perpetrator. Paramount+’s ‘Handsome Devil: Charming Killer’ revisits the case in detail, tracing the investigation and the events that ultimately brought the killer to justice for both murders.
Kristine Melton and Diane Ruiz Were Killed Within Hours of Each Other
Kristine Melton was born on May 31, 1984, in Cape Coral, Florida, and later moved with her family to Illinois. She shared a particularly close bond with her mother, Katie Melton, and her brother, Robert Melton. She was known for her loyalty and was a devoted friend. That is how those close to her remember her. She later relocated to Colorado with her best friend, Christine Long, before the two eventually made their way back to Coral Springs, Florida. Kristine rented a duplex just three to four houses from where her mother lived. After Katie developed early-onset dementia, Kristine made it a daily routine to meet her mother for coffee and made sure she was well cared for.
Kristine even adopted a cat of her own named Honor and began working as a waitress in the town. She was thriving, enjoying life, and was close to her many cousins and friends. Diane Ruiz was also a resident of Coral Springs. Born on September 17, 1976, she considered herself fortunate in life because of her two sons, Brandon Cuellar and Zane Romero. In 2014, she started working as a bartender at the Moose Lodge in Cape Coral, where she earned a reputation as a dedicated and hardworking employee. She rarely missed a shift, reflecting the same loyalty she showed in her personal life. By 2019, she was engaged to a dockworker named Scott Hannon and was planning a future with him.
On the morning of October 7, 2019, police knocked on Kristine’s door after her friend, Stephanie Sailors, requested a welfare check when Kristine didn’t show up for work and could not be reached. There were growing concerns about her well-being. When officers entered the home, they discovered her remains wrapped in a blanket and bound with her leggings. She had been strangled and had died. Diane had also been unreachable by her family since the morning of October 7, but initial efforts led to no immediate answers. On October 10, her remains were found in a field near her home. The official cause of her death was strangulation and blunt force trauma, and her injuries indicated that she had also been run over by a car multiple times. Police moved quickly to find answers.
Kristine Melton and Diane Ruiz’s Killer Confessed His Crimes to His Father
Stephanie Sailors, a friend of Kristine Melton, told police that on the evening of October 6, 2019, they had gone to Buddha Live, a bar in Fort Myers, Florida, where they met a man. She explained that the group spent some time together before Kristine and the man returned to Kristine’s place, while Stephanie went back to her own home. Before investigators were able to identify the man, they had already developed a lead. On the morning of October 7, at around 7 am, police responded to a reported battery incident at a Shell gas station. A woman named Mila Montanez reported that she had been assaulted by her ex-boyfriend, Wade Wilson, who fled the scene before officers could detain him.
Another report involving Wade surfaced shortly afterward from an office parking lot, where a man reported that Wade was behaving strangely and had arrived in a black car. Wade had already fled by the time police arrived, but the vehicle was identified as Kristine’s, which he had stolen. On October 8, 2010, Wade contacted his biological father, Steven Testasecca, and confessed that he had killed two people. By then, Diane had officially been reported missing. While police already had strong suspicions, Wade told his father that he had seen Diane walking, asked her for directions, and then strangled her. He further admitted that he pushed her out of the car and ran over her multiple times.
In his confession, Wade also admitted that he had been in a rage and under the influence of multiple drugs, carrying out the crimes in what he described as a spree. He said he had spent the night with Kristine and strangled her while she slept beside him. He claimed he intended to remove her remains from the house, but ultimately left them there because they were too heavy to move. He had then asked Mila to meet him, attacked her and then attacked Diane. He had met her around 10 am on her usual walk to work from her home. During his trial in 2024, the defense argued that Wade was suffering from several mental health issues and was not acting with a sound mind at the time of the crimes. Despite this claim, he was sentenced to death for the brutal, arbitrary, and violent nature of the offenses.
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