Wade Wilson’s Spencer Hearing: Cold-Blooded Killer’s Last Chance to Speak

Convicted Florida murderer Wade Wilson will have a Spencer hearing on Tuesday just five hours before he is either sentenced to death or life in prison.

Wilson’s Spencer hearing, where he can address the judge if he chooses, is at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, followed by his sentencing at 2 p.m. The 30-year-old was convicted of killing Kristine Melton, 35, and Diane Ruiz, 43, within hours of each other in October 2019.

The goal of a Spencer hearing is to ensure that the evidence is not prejudicial to the defendant and meets legal standards for relevance and fairness. The hearing helps protect the defendant’s right to a fair trial by scrutinizing evidence that might unduly influence the jury.

Named after the 1993 Spencer vs. State case, a Spencer hearing typically involves a judge evaluating whether specific evidence, often related to a defendant’s prior criminal history or other background information, is relevant and should be admitted during the trial.

‘High Level of Interest’

Lieutenant Christopher Fine of the Lee County Sheriff’s Department told Newsweek that officials are “aware of the high level of interest in the Wade Wilson sentencing.”

“Ample security will be put in place, as it always is during high-profile cases. We will work closely with our partners at the Fort Myers Police Department to ensure the safety of the public as well as the orderly running of court proceedings,” Fine added.

Neurologist to Testify at Spencer Hearing

Dr. Mark Rubino, a neurologist in Naples, will testify for the defense at Wilson’s Spencer hearing on Tuesday morning.

Rubino appeared in a Zoom disposition on Monday where Assistant State Attorney Andreas Gardiner asked the doctor about the MRI and brain scans he ran on Wilson last week.

Rubino claimed his series of tests indicate Wilson has brain trauma, including “impairment” with short-term memory along with “cognitive and emotional problems in the setting of psychiatric disease.”

The doctor also spoke with Wilson about his childhood where he claimed to have suffered two concussions in high school from football and baseball.

“He ran into a fence – or something,” Rubino said about the baseball incident while checking his notes. “I don’t know, I can’t read my writing.”

Wilson further alleged to have been in two car crashes “years ago” and was also “knocked out” on three separate occasions when he was “jumped” in his younger years.

Wilson allegedly told Rubino that he “was good until about age 11, until he told his [adoptive] parents that he thought he was going crazy.” He also told the doctor that his biological mother, who was 14 when she had Wilson, used drugs while pregnant. Rubino revealed he never spoke to Wilson’s birth parents because he does not think drug use impacted his test results. He stated that Wilson was previously diagnosed with bipolar disorder and prescribed lithium.

Rubino stated he will testify that “As a result of his head injuries, Wilson sustained something – in addition to psychiatric disease – so his behavior is explained by his head injuries: His impulsiveness, his overwhelming emotion that gets acted upon without any kind of checks and balances by the frontal lobe.”

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