Tiger King star Carole Baskin claimed a year ago that her ‘dead’ husband is alive
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Video footage of Carole Baskin, who starred in the Netflix documentary Tiger King, claiming that her missing – and presumed dead – husband had been found alive in Costa Rica is going viral.
Baskin, 61, was accused by Tiger King, Joe Exotic, of murdering her ex-husband Jack ‘Don’ Lewis, who mysteriously disappeared in 1997. She has since pleaded her innocence.
It now emerged that in a 2021 UK television interview, Baskin referred to a Department of Homeland Security document that allegedly proved his innocence.
In the undated and unverified Homeland Security letter, which appeared briefly in a second season episode of Tiger King, an FBI agent reportedly wrote: “Don Lewis is currently alive and well in Costa Rica.”
The investigation report concludes: ‘Lewis could reside in Costa Rica indefinitely. This investigation will be closed.
Lewis, was 59 years old when last seen and would be 81 if he were still alive today.
Carole Baskin, 61, said on UK television in 2021 that her ex-husband, whom she accused of killing, was found alive in Costa Rica.
Jack ‘Don’ Lewis, was 59 years old when he was last seen in 1997. If he were still alive today, he would be 81.
In the undated and unverified Homeland Security document that appears briefly on the show, an FBI agent reportedly wrote: “Don Lewis is currently alive and well in Costa Rica.”
“One of the really exciting things that came out of Tiger King 2 is that they produced a Homeland Security letter,” Baskin said during last year’s interview with ITV This Morning.
‘They said my husband, Don Lewis, is alive and well in Costa Rica. And yet all this drama has been made about me having something to do with his disappearance, when Homeland Security knows where he is,” he added.
Baskin claims that the document was issued after August 2002, when Lewis was declared legally dead, and to prove this he pointed out that the Department of Homeland Security was not established until November of that year, which is true.
She and her new husband Howard also tried to draw attention to this. in a blog post posted on his website on 18 November 2021, the same day his interview was broadcast on ITV.
In that post, the couple wrote that although the second season continued as the first season did to “falsely convince the viewer that Carole was involved in the disappearance of Don Lewis”, it did have some “redeeming features”.
Carole (left) and Howard Baskin (right) photographed in August 2021, three months before citing the Homeland Security document
Carole and Howard Baskin said in a 2021 blog post that the second season of Tiger King had some redeeming features, as it revealed that Lewis routinely flew small planes to Costa Rica and could have arrived in the country undetected.
The Homeland Security investigative article shown in the Netflix series concludes: ‘Lewis could reside in Costa Rica indefinitely. This investigation will be closed
Joe Exotic (pictured), whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage, is now serving a 21-year prison sentence for hiring two hitmen to kill Baskin.
They wrote: “Season 2 confirms that he was still flying planes without a license and therefore could have crossed the gulf, that he could have gone to Costa Rica with small planes making stops along the way.”
He also made reference to the money he was carrying illegally to Costa Rica before his disappearance.
“He was bringing large amounts of cash into Costa Rica and, more importantly, he was dealing with dangerous individuals who may have been responsible for his demise,” they wrote.
It’s unclear why this alleged evidence that Don Lewis was found in Costa Rica after his supposed death suddenly went viral, and why Tiger King fans ignored it when season two first aired.
Baskin is the owner of Big Cat Rescue, a sanctuary for exotic cats. The accusation that she is guilty of murdering Lewis and feeding her carcass to tigers became popular after Joe Exotic made it.
Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage, is currently serving a 21-year prison sentence for hiring two hitmen, including an undercover FBI agent, to kill Baskin.
In January 2022, a federal judge denied his request for a commutation of sentence.