‘Tiger King’ sidewalk poll in Modesto: Did Carole Baskin kill her husband?
If you are familiar with the popular documentary on Netflix, “Tiger King”, odds are you know who Carole Baskin is.
Not only was Baskin the main rival of former Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park owner Joseph Maldonado-Passage, also known as Joe Exotic, but she was involved in a controversy from 1997 that has to be solved.
Baskin’s first husband, Don Lewis, mysteriously vanished in August 1997 and he was declared dead in 2002 although his case has yet to be solved.
In episode three of the series titled “The Secret”, the show looks into Lewis’ disappearance and Baskin is depicted as a subject of the investigation.
Although she has never been charged with a crime, a sidewalk chalk poll in Modesto near MJC has voters clearly thinking she killed her ex-husband.
Over 50 respondents chose “Yes” in the “Carole killed her husband” poll while not a single person voted no.
Maldonado-Passage was sentenced to 22 years on Jan. 22 after being convicted of two counts of murder-for-hire, eight counts of violating the Lacey Act for falsifying wildlife records, and nine counts of violating the Endangered Species Act.
Maldonado-Passage’s target in the murder-for-hire scheme was Baskin, who feuded with Maldonado-Passage over the treatment of animals at his park. Baskin owns Big Cat Rescue, a non-profit animal sanctuary in Florida.
Since the show was released on Mar. 20, it has been widely popular and had over 34 million views in its first 10 days, according to Variety.
This story was originally published April 14, 2020 at 2:21 PM.
