- Kelly Matthews fell for charming personal trainer Wade Wilson, but soon discovered his drug use, deception and increasingly controlling behaviour
- After she survived a horrific attack in 2019, Kelly was devastated to learn Wade had gone on to murder two women, Kristine Melton and Diane Ruiz
- Now Kelly is sharing her story to warn others about abusive relationships, missed warning signs and the importance of getting help
Here Kelly,34, shares her story in her words.
‘Can I kiss you?’ my date Steven, then 24, asked, his deep brown eyes peering into mine.
I’d met Steven online and, after chatting over text, I invited him to dinner at my house in October 2018.
A 6ft 5in muscular personal trainer, he was well-dressed and charming.
Working as a dog groomer and pet photographer, I adored animals. So watching Steven dote on Alkatraz, my Mexican hairless dog, warmed my heart.
When he asked me to be his girlfriend after a few dates, I was elated and introduced Steven to my parents. I usually laughed at people who naively rushed into love, but I was totally smitten.
Steven was so sweet, I found myself daydreaming about our future – and one day even walking down the aisle towards him.
But when I caught him using drugs the next month, I was really disappointed.
It’s not all the time, I reasoned, trying to see the good in him.
The following month, when my laptop went missing, Steven broke down in tears, confessing he’d pawned it to get cash to buy drugs.
It tugged at my heart strings. I knew he’d been adopted and was sure things had been tough for him, so I wanted to try and help him kick the habit for good.
READ MORE TRUE CRIME: Brave Mum: My twisted ex stabbed me 16 times
But I discovered through Steven’s ID that his real first name was Wade – Steven was his middle name. He dismissed my concerns, saying he’d had trouble with an ex.
But soon my PlayStation went missing along with money from my account, and Wade became increasingly paranoid.
As I found empty biros and other drug-taking paraphernalia, I became increasingly worried, but he always had a sob story and managed to charm me. And when he sweetly cooked dinner for me, I couldn’t resist.
One night I found him staring at my video doorbell.
‘People are watching us,’ he said, convinced someone had hacked into the system.
‘You really need to go to rehab,’ I told him.
As friends and family became suspicious of Wade, I felt increasingly isolated, constantly trying to defend our relationship. Mum and Dad knew that Wade was taking money from me, and told me he was bad for me.
READ MORE TRUE CRIME: He crashed his ex’s party in disguise and murdered nine people
My best mate Nichole begged me to leave him, giving me an ultimatum.
‘Throw him out or we can’t be friends anymore,’ she threatened.
I realised I was risking everything for this man, but still, I was infatuated with Wade.
But when I caught him cheating on me, after reading messages on his phone from another woman, my heart was shattered. Kicking him out, I vowed never to let him hurt me again.
Sure there was more in Wade’s past, I researched him online, discovering he had a string of criminal charges and I barely knew him at all.
But weeks later in January 2019, Wade rang.
‘He promised he’d never do it again.’
‘I’m so sorry. I’ll never do it again,’ he promised, begging me to take him back.
But as much as I loved Wade, something still felt off – I knew he was using drugs again.
Wanting to see the good in Wade, I tried to convince him to go to rehab. I truly believed if he got the right help, he could be a changed man.
‘I want to help you but you can’t stay with me. You’ve got to go to rehab,’ I told him firmly on February 18, 2019, the day before my birthday.
And when Wade agreed I breathed a sigh of relief.
‘You’re doing the right thing,’ I told him as he drove us in my car.
But with the facility hours away and Wade still clearly on drugs, we began to argue and he stopped the car in a car park.
I got out of the car determined to leave, but Wade convinced me to get back in. With both of us in the car, his eyes suddenly darkened menacingly, and his hands clamped around my neck, choking me.
As I fought in terror, he bit and punched me.
Throwing me onto the floor of the car, he cut off my clothes with a knife, before he covered my face with a shirt, then tied up my hands and feet with a garbage bag. He’d also gagged me, so I was unable to scream when he sexually assaulted me.
‘I was convinced I’d never make it out alive.’
‘I’m going to stab you and throw you in a ditch,’ he threatened.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I was convinced I’d never make it out of the car alive.
When he was finished, he tossed me into the back seat like an animal, before taking off again.
As we drove for several hours, I pictured my parents’ faces.
Will I ever see them again? I panicked. Will they find me dead in my car?
But Wade, like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, held my hand and said, ‘I’m sorry.’
Telling me he was going to meet another woman who’d take him to rehab, I convinced him to let me take my blindfold off and sit in the front seat.
When he pulled into a servo, he grabbed his bag and left with another woman.
Shaking in terror, I sped for four hours back to my parents’ house.
My distraught mum gasped at my battered face and took me to hospital, where nurses collected a sexual assault kit.
I also gave a statement to police.
But days later, when Wade still hadn’t been arrested, I was devastated.
It felt like I wasn’t believed.
READ MORE TRUE CRIME: Gloria’s ex Billy started turning up everywhere. Two months later she was dead
Soon after, I was shocked when Wade’s biological father, Steven Testasecca, reached out to me after I posted about my assault on social media – he warned me Wade was dangerous.
That October, eight months after he attacked me, I gasped in horror at the TV news report that Wade had been arrested for killing two women, Kristine Melton and Diane Ruiz on the same day.
But when my phone rang weeks later, I shuddered at Wade’s voice.
‘Hi,’ he said sweetly.
‘There’s nothing for me to say to you,’ I spat, disgusted, before hanging up.
When he kept calling and emailing me, I contacted the jail, asking them to block my number.
‘I barely recognised the man I once loved.’
In June 2024, Wade Steven Wilson, 30, appeared in the Lee County Circuit Court in Florida, US.
Watching the televised case from home, I barely recognised the man I once loved, his face now covered heavily in tattoos.
It broke my heart to hear he’d met Kristine Melton, 35, at a bar, before going back to her house where he’d strangled her to death in her bed as she slept.
Then, stealing her car, he’d lured Diane Ruiz, 43 – a mum who was engaged to be married – into his car on her walk to work, under the pretence of needing directions.
As she tried to escape, he attacked her, before pushing her out and running over her more than 10 times.
Her body was found in a field three days later.
‘He said he’d do it again.’
Afterwards, he’d called his biological father, Steven, confessing to everything. It was his dad who’d turned him in. My evil ex later told detectives, ‘I would do it again.’
‘This case was about killing for the sake of the killing,’ lawyer Andreas Gardiner said during closing arguments.
My heart went out to the families of his victims, as I realised how close I’d come to losing my life.
After a jury found him guilty of both murders, Judge Nicholas Thompson sentenced Wilson to death for the ‘heinous, atrocious and cruel’ murders.
Wilson plans to appeal his death sentence.
I’m convinced if police had jailed Wilson after my report, the murders wouldn’t have happened.
After an internal investigation, the officer who’d failed to properly investigate my allegations was suspended for a matter of weeks.
Now, I’m desperate to help other victims of domestic violence. There is help out there to leave violent situations.
If you’ve been affected by this story, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 (Aus) or Safe To Talk on 0800 044 334 (NZ).
