Crazed Zookeeper Joe Exotic Accused Of Hiring Hitman To Murder Activist Rival
Sep. 11 2018, Updated 6:50 p.m. ET
An outspoken Oklahoma zookeeper who once ran for President as an openly gay man, has just been accused of trying to have his animal activist rival killed.
RadarOnline.com has learned the 55-year-old man, who calls himself Joe Exotic—but Is also knows as Joseph Maldonado-Passage, Joseph Allen Maldonado and Joseph Allen Schreibvogel—has held a grudge against a cat sanctuary owner from Florida for many years.
Last Friday, he was indicted on two counts of hiring a person to commit murder, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a press release. The first count comes after Maldonado-Passageallegedly hired "an unnamed person in November 2017 to murder 'Jane Doe' in Florida."
He allegedly paid the person $3,000 to travel from Oklahoma to South Carolina to Florida to commit the murder, and agreed to pay the person more once the target was dead.
It is unclear what happened to the hitman after he arrived in Florida, but the U.S. Department of Justice explained "Jane Doe did not suffer any physical harm."
The second count comes after Maldonado-Passage "repeatedly asked a different unnamed person to find someone to murder Jane Doe in exchange for money" in July, 2016.
Instead, the person put the zookeeper in touch with an undercover FBI agent, who, disguised as at the hitman, met up with Maldonado-Passage and arrested him.
While Jane Doe's identity has not been confirmed, Big Cat Rescue CEO Carole Baskin claimed she was the target, and added that it's not the first time she has received death threats for the work she does in her company.
On the Big Cat Rescue website, Baskin explained the situation.
"It is important to understand that this is not the isolated act of one crazy bad apple," she wrote. "A significant part of our mission has been to stop mistreatment and exploitation of big cats at roadside zoos, particularly those who rip tiger cubs from their mothers at birth to charge the public to pet and take photos with them."
Baskin added that Maldonado-Passage ran "one of the most notorious cub petting roadside zoos in the country" and was doing great business until her company began educating people on the mistreatment of animals.
"When Big Cat Rescue educated the malls about the miserable life this created for the cubs and the malls starting cancelling Schreibvogel's traveling exhibit, Schreibvogel retaliated by renaming his traveling show 'Big Cat Rescue Entertainment' in order to confuse the public into thinking the show was operated by Big Cat Rescue," explained Baskin, claiming that her zookeper rival has always had it out for her.
Towards the end of her message, Carole Baskin thanked the FBI for working tirelessly to arrest the crazed man and keep her safe.
Joseph Maldonado-Passage was arrested last Friday. If found guilty of murder-for-hire, he could spend up to ten years in prison for each charge.
We pay for juicy info! Do you have a story for RadarOnline.com? Email us at tips@radaronline.com, or call us at (866) ON-RADAR (667-2327) any time, day or night.