Warning: This article contains discussion of sexual assault which some readers may find distressing.
Netflix has released the second series of the true crime documentary Worst Ex Ever, with the opening episode, Dating the Deadpool Killer, revisiting the October 2019 killings of 35-year-old Kristine Melton and 43-year-old Diane Ruiz.
The episode also examines allegations made months earlier by Wade Wilson’s former girlfriend, Kelly Matthews, who says she was beaten and sexually assaulted by him before the later murders took place just days apart.
Kelly describes an argument in February 2019 while the pair were in a car, linked to Wilson going to ‘rehab’. She says that after she got out of the vehicle, Wilson tried to run her over and ordered her to get back inside.
“As soon as I did that, he started strangling me with both hands,” she said in the Netflix documentary,
Kelly alleges he forced her down onto the car floor and restrained her using her top and sports bra, which she says he cut off with a pocket knife, while threatening to stab her if she moved.
She further claims Wilson later punched her, tore off her shorts, and sexually assaulted her.
The case was assigned to Detective Potter, who interviewed Wilson and ultimately allowed him to leave without charges at that time.
Potter later became the subject of an investigation by the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. He remains employed by the agency, but in a role different from the one he held when he handled Kelly’s report.
As per News-Press, a sheriff’s office spokesperson said Potter joined as a deputy in July 2000 and still works in a road patrol position within the Alternate Response Unit.
After Wilson received a death sentence in 2024, Kelly filed a complaint against the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, arguing her sexual assault report had not been properly investigated.
An internal affairs review by the Sheriff’s Office concluded that Detective Potter did not conduct a thorough investigation into Kelly Matthews’ sexual assault allegation.
According to details shared in the documentary, Potter was meant to receive a three-week suspension, but was ultimately suspended for two weeks instead.
The PBC Sheriff’s Office declined to take part in an interview with Netflix regarding Kelly’s case.
Viewers of the series have since criticised Potter’s handling of the investigation, with the documentary prompting renewed anger online.
The programme says that around four hours after the alleged assault in 2019, Kelly reported what happened to Detective Potter. In audio from calls included in the documentary, she is asked to describe the assault in detail in order to ‘help him understand’ what she meant.
About a week later, Wilson was brought in for questioning and denied the allegations. Potter then told him: “That’s all I need to hear. You know that and I know that,” before telling him he was ‘doing great’.
“I ain’t putting a wrong man in jail, I’ll be damned if I do that,” he said. The documentary states that DNA was taken from Wilson, but the case was later closed before the results were returned.
Explaining his reasoning, Potter says: “I have no proof,” adding: “This is just a ‘he said she said’. There were no witnesses.”
Despite Kelly’s objections, the case was closed.
If you’ve been affected by any of the issues in this article, you can contact The National Sexual Assault Hotline on 800.656.HOPE (4673), available 24/7. Or you can chat online via online.rainn.org