During her investigation of Tiger King subject, Joe Exotic, Fox Nation host Nancy Grace spoke with Joseph R. Fritz — the lawyer for Carole Baskin’s ex-husband, Jack “Don” Lewis. Grace along with Fritz spoke about Lewis’ alleged murder, with Fritz stating that in his view, “there’s no question but that he was murdered.” After further inquiry from Grace, the attorney shares a popular adage from where he’s from: “As we say in the south, ‘DRT: Dead Right There.’”
Lewis and Baskin married in 1991, and in 1992 the couple founded Wildlife on Easy Street — an animal sanctuary for big cats in Tampa. Baskin later changed the name of the facility to Big Cat Rescue. As documented in the hit Netflix documentary series, Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness, Lewis went missing in 1997. While he was legally declared dead by Baskin, it should be noted how his body has never been found. Regarding the notion that Lewis could have simply chosen to leave, Fritz told Grace that if he “loved those cats,” he would “never just walked away from them” ever.
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He further contends: “He wouldn’t have done it. He was proud of those cats. He loved those cats. Some force made him leave. […] “I don’t know who is a murderer and who is not a murderer, but I know who’s a liar. And I can definitively state that somebody is lying about it,” Fritz stated. “This very clearly seems to be in reference to Baskin’s claims that she had no involvement with her ex husband’s disappearance.
Baskin has not been shy about her upset in the characterization of her life in Tiger King. In March, she issued a statement that expressed her disapproval with the documentary, citing how when the directors first approached her, she was under the impression it would be similar to another critical favorite documentary. “When the directors of the Netflix documentary Tiger King came to us five years ago, they said they wanted to make the big cat version of Blackfish, the acclaimed documentary that exposed the horrible abuse taking place at SeaWorld and other similar parks around the world,” Baskin wrote.
“A lifelong animal lover, I was immediately drawn to the possibility of exposing the misery caused by the rampant breeding of big cat cubs for exploitation and the awful lives these majestic creatures are forced to endure in roadside zoos and back yards if they survive their time used for petting,” she continued. “There are no words for how disappointing it is to see that the series not only does not do any of that, but has instead chosen to be as salacious and sensational as possible to draw in viewers. As part of that, they devoted an entire segment to 23-year-old lies and innuendos suggesting I was involved in my husband Don’s 1997 disappearance. I will not use this platform to bring further attention to Netflix or their unethical practices, especially when so many of their so-called inside sources have been clearly shown to be heavily biased.”
At this time, the police investigation into Lewis’ disappearance is still active. For more on Tiger King, keep it locked to PopCulture.com for more details and the latest news, and while you’re at it, follow us on Twitter for the very latest in news, entertainment and everything in between!
