There’s a good chance that, even if you haven’t seen Tiger King on Netflix, you’ve heard enough about it to at least garner the basics. To recap, though, Carole Baskin owns a big cat rescue in Florida, and she is the sworn enemy of Oklahoman big cat breeder Joe Exotic.
In the documentary series, much was made about the disappearance of Baskin’s second husband, Don Lewis, from whom she inherited millions of dollars.
Exotic insinuated (and outright stated) that Baskin killed Don Lewis and perhaps fed him to her tigers or order to cash in, a claim that Don’s family didn’t discredit.
It turns out that law enforcement in the case also believes that, at the very least, Lewis’ will was forged.
During a June 2 interview, local Sheriff Chad Chronister made a statement that he believes the will is “100 percent a forgery.”
“We knew that before. The problem was the statute of limitations had already expired. The will had already been executed at that point.
A judge deemed it valid, so the civil side of it would be execution of the will, the disbursements of the funds is one thing.
But then yo have the criminal side of it, it’s unable to be prosecuted because of the statute of limitations.”
There are several people involved with the case, including Lewis’ friend Joseph Fritz and two different handwriting experts, who believe Lewis’ signature on his will is traced from his 1991 marriage record.
In addition, the notary and the power of attorney on the documents have no memory of authenticating them.
Baskin has maintained that she had nothing to do with the disappearance, calling the allegations “the most ludicrous of all lies,” and hasn’t made a statement about the possibly forged will.
Several months ago, Sheriff Chronister revealed the county was reopening Lewis’ case, and that he personally believes Don was murdered. He has also stated that the department has some “great leads” to work with going forward.