Body language expert analyses 'Deadpool' killer's 'hateful and angry' appearance as he faces death penalty
They say a picture speaks a thousand words, so video footage must be worth at least ten times that.
We can all draw our own conclusions about what a person's behaviour might suggest about their psychological state from footage, but body language boffins can help us fill in the blanks by sharing their expert opinions too.
Dr John Paul Garrison, better known online as Dr G, has done exactly that in one of the recent videos uploaded to his YouTube channel where he discussed the chilling case of the 'Deadpool killer'.
As a clinical and forensic psychologist, he's more than qualified to share his thoughts on the murderer's reaction to the penalty phase of his trial.
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Last month, a jury called for Wade Wilson - who shares a name with Ryan Reynolds' character in Deadpool - to be sentenced to death for the October 2019 murders of Kristine Melton, 35 and Diane Ruiz, 43.
He then called his father to boast about his sickening crimes in graphic detail, including how he ran over Ruiz with a car 'until she looked like spaghetti', while prosecutors told the court he simply killed for the sake of killing'.
The 30-year-old was convicted of the slayings that took place in the span of a few hours in Fort Myers, Florida, as well as battery, burglary, theft and grand theft auto in June this year.
Footage of the moment that Wade found out what fate the jury had decided for him to face went viral as people noticed him flash a strange hand signal, but according to Dr G, there was a lot more to pick up on in the video too.
He painstakingly assessed the reaction of the heavily-tattooed defendant - who has inkings of Swastikas, a Joker-like mouth tattoo, the digits 666 and the words 'Bred for war' - as he found out that the jury recommended the death penalty.
Dr G reckons that Wilson purposely putting his tattoos on full display each time he saw an opportunity was in an attempt to 'intimidate' the court, in a bid to conceal his real emotions regarding the fact he could face execution.
He believes that the killer was leaning back in his chair with his 'nose in the air' to try and appear 'casual and calm', but added: "There's a lot more going on under the surface than initially meets the eye.
"We put our nose in the air to show everybody else that we're were better than them, that were above a certain situation, so he's basically saying this doesn't affect me," Dr G explained.
"But as we can see, it seems very much to affect him."
The body language expert noted that the double murderer was 'probably feeling very intense' and had a 'lot of anxiety and stress that he doesn't want to show', hence why he was seen swallowing hard and breathing heavily.
Dr G explained: "As our mouths dry out as we're getting more and more anxious, it makes us aware of the different processes going on in our body, so it ends up causing us to think about the sensations in our throat.
"You're seeing him swallowing which means that he's got a lot of anxiety right now, you're also seeing him look around everywhere. That's the last way that he would want you to think that he feels right now.
"The leaning back is an attempt to counterbalance how he's feeling."
He then went on to discuss how Wilson twitched the corner of his mouth before the verdict was announced as a 'sign of contempt' because he has 'no control at this point' - and as he wanted the court process to speed itself up.
Dr G continued: "It's torturous to him how long it's taking...he's impatient and impulsive...he's simmering and struggling to make it through this because he has to sit there and listen and wants an answer quickly."
According to the psychologist, Wilson was also very aware that he had cameras pointed at him and didn't want to show any signs of weakness, which he believes is the reason why the killer continuously smirked in the footage.
"Think about the tattoos he has, he's very big on appearance," Dr G said. "You don't get a swastika tattoo on your face without knowing people are looking at you and thinking about how people are perceiving you.
"It's mental dominance, we know that he is hateful and angry - the mouth stitches are probably a throwback to The Joker.
"He's telling us he's unpredictable and wild to the point he is trying to wear who he is, trying to speak to people without saying anything. He wants people to be afraid of him, he wants to be intimidating, to control how others feel and here, he has no control right now."
Wilson's fate will be decided by Judge Nick Thompson when he is formally sentenced on 23 July.
Topics: US News, World News, Mental Health, Crime, True Crime
Olivia Burke