Since Netflix released the documentary Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness in early 2020, fans still can’t get enough of the faces featured in the series. However, after viewers witnessed Carole Baskin’s side of the story, a lot of people questioned whether she had something to do with her husband’s disappearance or not, and since then, more-and-more answers have been surfacing. Now, according to a county Sheriff in Florida, the will of Don Lewis was absolutely forged.
“We knew that before because the girl who came forward and said, ‘Hey, I was forced to witness and say that I witnessed this signature,’” Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said according to Tampa Bay CBS station WTSP. “The problem was the statute of limitations had already expired. The will had already been executed at that point.” Chronister added, that the “only reason” legal action hasn’t been taken is because of the statute of limitations’ expiration but that Lewis’ will is “100 percent a forgery.”
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“There’s no rescue,” he explained. “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 you have the criminal side of it, it’s unable to be prosecuted because of the statute of limitations.” There was already quite a bit of suspicion surrounding Baskin following her side of the story.
During the seven-part docuseries, producers dove into the case that resulted in Lewis leaving for Costa Rica and never being seen again. He went missing in 1997 and was declared dead five years later. Joe “Exotic” Maldonado-Passage has accused the Big Cat Rescue owner of murdering her husband and feeding him to her tigers for years. When Tiger King came out, fans couldn’t help but wonder if she was really innocent or not. “Investigators have some great leads, they’re working through them. I hope something pans out,” Chronister added. Local police announced shortly after the Netflix original went viral that they were receiving several phone calls a day about potential leads.
However, Baskin has denied being involved in his potential death. “Don was not easy to live with and like most couples, we had our moments,” Baskin said on her BCR website according to PEOPLE following the release of Tiger King. “But I never threatened him and I certainly had nothing to do with his disappearance. When he disappeared, I did everything I could to assist the police. I encouraged them to check out the rumors from Costa Rica, and separately I hired a private investigator.”
