Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness viewers know all about Carole Baskin — and soon enough, so will fans of Dancing with the Stars. The owner of Big Cat Rescue in Florida was featured in the uber-captivating Netflix series and quickly became one of the most controversial characters on a show that wasn’t short for them. That’s because of the alleged claims made by the show’s leading man, Joe Exotic, who accused Baskin of murdering her husband by using the meat grinder she had at her facility.
Baskin has denied this, calling his claims lies, but ever since the show aired, more and more information has trickled out, and attention has been ramped up in regards to the unsolved murder of her husband, Don Lewis, in 1997. The latest claims against her come by way of a new CBS limited series, 48 Hours Suspicion, which sees Trish Farr-Payne express her beliefs that her ex-husband, Kenny Farr, who was a former handyman of Baskin, played a role in his disappearance. She says on the show that she was told by him to not speak of his death on the night he went missing, and perhaps more damning suggests that her ex brought home a padlocked freezer that suddenly was removed from the house about a week after Lewis was reported missing. The episode is set to air on Sept. 9.
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Farr-Payne has previously spoken with law enforcement about the subject, previously doing so in 2000, three years after the incident. A Tampa Bay Times article notes that her husband had stayed home from work randomly when everything was happening, telling officials that her ex-husband had actually driven home that night in Lewis’ van, which she said was filled with weapons. She also mentioned how she was threatened by him, saying she was told by him that if she ever spoke to the police about what she believes she heard and saw, he would use the grinder “like I did Don.”
While all of this comes out, Baskin, who recently was named as a celebrity dancer on Dancing with the Stars, remains unfazed at the claims. She previously wrote a statement on her organization’s website denying everything that came out on the show. “There are not words for how disappointing it is to see that the series not only does not do any of that,” she explained, “but has had the sole goal of being as salacious and sensational as possible to draw viewers.”
