While there are a lot of wild and downright disturbing things to unpack in Netflix‘s Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness, the one that has arguably most captured public interest and imagination is the fate of Carole Baskin’s second husband, Don Lewis. Lewis disappeared in August 1997 and was declared legally dead in 2002 and while the case remains open, the third episode of Tiger King delved into various theories about what happened to Lewis — including one that suggests Baskin is responsible for his death. Now, Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister says that he thinks more than one person is responsible for Lewis’ death.
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Chronister told TMZ that while he can’t rule Baskin out when it comes to the disappearance of Lewis, there’s usually more than one person involved in any given homicide and that the Lewis case in particularly “had to be planned out”.
“I’m extremely suspicious, not just of her, of this whole circle here. Extremely suspicious,” he said. “Like I said, I don’t want to allude to the fact or insinuate that she’s our person of interest and that this is who we’re focusing on. I’m not comfortable saying that yet … Listen, there’s not normally one person that commits a homicide. It’s always a couple people. This had to be extremely planned out. This had to be well thought out. There has to be someone else involved in this. There’s someone who was paid to do it, there’s someone who helped do it. I’m hoping that person wants to come and get this off their chest and help law enforcement do the right thing.”
Lewis disappeared in 1997 and while there have been many theories over the years, no real evidence has surfaced. One of the theories covered in Tiger King is that Baskin fed Lewis to tigers at the sanctuary she runs. Chronister previously addressed the case after Tiger King‘s debut, noting that a detective supervisor has been assigned to the various leads in the case and that Lewis’ will is under review.
“There is a lot of suspicion that surrounds that will,” Chronister said.
For her part, Baskin denies any involvement in Lewis’ disappearance and has had some harsh criticism of the Netflix series.
“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 documentary that exposed abuse at SeaWorld) that would expose the misery caused by the rampant breeding of big cat cubs for cub petting exploitation and the awful life the cats lead in roadside zoos and back yards if they survive,” Baskin wrote. “[The documentary] has a segment devoted to suggesting, with lies and innuendos from people who are not credible, that I had a role in the disappearance of my husband Don 21 years ago,” she wrote. “The series presents this without any regard for the truth or in most cases even giving me an opportunity before publication to rebut the absurd claims. They did not care about truth. The unsavory lies are better for getting viewers.”
Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness is now streaming on Netflix.
