Cat Fight: Caged Joe Exotic Rips Apart Carole Baskin's Claim Her Missing Ex-Husband Is 'Alive and Well' In Costa Rica
Jan. 26 2023, Published 1:00 p.m. ET
In a RadarOnline.com world exclusive interview, caged Tiger King star Joe Exotic took out his claws to rip apart Carole Baskin’s sensational claim her long-missing husband is “alive and well” in Costa Rica.
“Don Lewis is NOT alive, I have her original diary and trust me she hated him so bad she could not kill him fast enough,” said the 59-year-old tiger-loving reality star, who is currently serving 21 years in a Texas federal prison following his conviction in a murder-for-hire plot to eliminate Baskin.
“When this story came out, I said I would voluntarily move to death row if he was alive and it made world headlines,” said the former gun-toting zookeeper whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage.“I investigated her so much I am 100% sure she, her father who is now passed away and …. killed Don Lewis and ground him up.”
Baskin, 61, created a media firestorm on January 18, 2023, when she rediscovered an undated U.S. Department of Homeland Security investigative report claiming her ex, who vanished in 1997 and was declared legally dead in 2002, was spotted in the Central American country.
As RadarOnline.com reported, her claim was immediately shot down by Tampa’s Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, who said the case was active.
The family spokesman, Jack “Ripper” Smith, told RadarOnline.com the Costa Rica claim was disproven in 1997 when Lewis’ family conducted their own on-the-ground investigation and determined the Homeland Security tip was based on bogus information.
“We know he's not alive OK,” said Smith who detailed the emotional turmoil Baskin’s claim inflicted on Lewis’ family.
“It’s very disturbing because the family is getting messages from people telling them, ‘Congratulations!'" Smith tells RadarOnline.com. “The family is distraught.”
What’s more, Lewis vanished two months after he obtained an order of protection against his wife claiming, “This is the second time Carole has got (sp) angry enouf (sic) to threaton (sic) to kill me,” according to the court document obtained by this outlet.
Joe Exotic, who vehemently denied he tried to murder Baskin, charges Baskin created the media maelstrom to raise money for her pocketbook instead of her Florida-based Big Cat Rescue organization.
“Carole did not think this stunt through very well but that is what she has done for the last 22 years,” he charges in an email message to RadarOnline.com. “Anything she can to get in the press to raise money for her roadside zoo, which is only a front to scam money."
“She pulled this stunt not thinking that if he was alive, she would have to give all that insurance money back and give all property to him and his daughters,” he alleged. “She is who designed his will, she is the one who reported him missing, she is the one who had him legally declared dead."
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Baskin has vehemently denied having any role in Lewis’ disappearance.
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