CAPE CORAL, Fla. — It started with one message to Fox 4 reporter, Rochelle Alleyne, on Saturday and then they started to flood in.
When those went unanswered, multiple phone calls were placed.
All of the communications were from Wade Wilson, the man now charged in the deaths of Diane Ruiz and Kristine Melton.
"A Lee county grand jury met today and returned an indictment against for two counts of first degree, premeditated murder," said Amira Fox, State Attorney for Florida's 20th Judicial Circuit.
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Rochelle Alleyne spoke to Wilson on the phone Friday.
In the conversation, he claimed he was innocent, but did admit to being with both Ruiz and Melton in the hours before their deaths.
"I did not commit those murders. I'm innocent," said Wilson.
Fox 4 also spoke with Wilson's ex-girlfriend who told us he has admitted to the crimes.
"He admitted over the phone that he murdered, killed both of those women," she said.
His frenzy messages since then have all said the same thing: he wanted to talk to Rochelle Alleyne and to Fox 4, to share something “career making."
But he wanted to be paid for that information.
We told him we weren't interested.
He has since threatened to bring that offer to another news agency.
"Journalists face murky ethical decisions all the time but this isn't one of them. Checkbook journalism is pretty much frowned upon, pretty much whoever you talk to," said FGCU Journalism Professor Lyn Millner.
Millner says there are very strict and rare circumstances under which journalists would ever pay for information.
"If it is going to do the public serious, serious, serious harm if you do not run with it and if you can corroborate it," said Millner.
In this case, our decision was an easy one, because it aligns with the ethics we practice here everyday, which include the following:
"You want to be able to act independently. Remember that you serve the public. You don't serve a source or anyone other than the public, right? You're there for the public good. You want to minimize harm," said Millner.
Fox 4 wants to note again that on Friday Wilson told reporter Rochelle Alleyne several times that he was innocent, in regard to the deaths of Diane Ruiz and Kristine Melton.
Today she asked him if he’s standing by that claim.
He told her that he won't answer that question unless Fox 4 management pays up, which won’t be happening.
