Who Killed “Tiger King’s” Don Lewis?

09/02/2020

It's official. Carole Baskin really is "Dancing With the Stars." https://abc.com/shows/dancing-with-the-stars/news/updates/dancing-with-the-stars-2020-celebrity-cast-announced?linkId=98669467

06/11/2020

Did you see Joe Exotic's zoo in Tiger King? Now those animals are suffering because of neglect and abuse, according to a new complaint. This lioness has a partly missing ear and was only fed once in five days, the complaint alleges. https://www.mississippicir.org/news/tiger-king-joe-exotics-former-park-now-called-zoo-of-horrors

06/11/2020

Hey, cool cats and kittens! Remember Jeff Lowe? The zoo he's running in Oklahoma (Joe Exotic's old zoo) has just been called a "zoo of horrors" because of the abuse and neglect allegedly taking place there. And MCIR has exclusive photos and videos.

https://www.mississippicir.org/news/tiger-king-joe-exotics-former-park-now-called-zoo-of-horrors

Tiger King Joe Exotic’s former park is now a “zoo of horrors” because of animal abuse and neglect, a complaint filed with Oklahoma authorities alleges.

06/04/2020

How about that? The sheriff is confirming that Don Lewis' will was forged. https://nypost.com/2020/06/02/cops-knew-will-of-carole-baskins-husband-was-forged-sheriff/

A Florida sheriff has confirmed wild rumors that the will of Don Lewis, the missing millionaire husband of “Tiger King” star Carole Baskin, was forged. “They had two experts deem it 100 perce…

05/27/2020

Expert interrogator Steven Rhoads has made a career out of catching liars.

And he believes Carole Baskin is lying when she shared the last words of her husband, animal sanctuary owner Don Lewis, before he disappeared Aug. 18, 1997.

The multi-millionaire’s disappearance is the subject of the wildly popular Netflix documentary, Tiger King, which has resulted in the reinvestigation of the case.

https://www.mississippicir.org/news/is-carole-baskin-lying-about-disappearance-of-tiger-kings-don-lewis

Expert interrogator Steven Rhoads has made a career out of catching liars. And he believes Carole Baskin is lying when she shared the last words of her husband, animal sanctuary owner Don Lewis, before he disappeared Aug. 18, 1997.

05/25/2020

"Race Against Time" is History in Five's Book of the Month. Hope you like it. And if you'd rather listen to it as an audiobook, you can get my book for free when you sign up for Audible. (Tells the story of four cold cases I worked on.)

05/24/2020

Just got back from Florida, where I've been investigating the 1997 disappearance of Tiger King's Don Lewis. Hope to have a new story soon. If you have any questions, I'll try my best to answer them.

05/21/2020

05/19/2020

Hey, cool cats and kittens! New revelations in the Tiger King case: Will for Don Lewis, who disappeared in 1997, may have been forged. Supposed notary on document says, "I was the housekeeper." Her notary stamp was delivered to home of Carole Baskin.

https://www.mississippicir.org/news/the-will-for-tiger-kings-don-lewis-may-have-been-forged

More evidence has emerged that the will for Tiger King ’s Don Lewis, a Florida multimillionaire who disappeared in 1997, may have been forged.

05/15/2020

New Evidence Emerges in case: Expert says signature of multimillionaire Don Lewis was 'traced' on his will, which emerged after his 1997 disappearance.
https://www.mississippicir.org/news/expert-signature-of-tiger-kings-don-lewis-traced-on-his-will

Tiger King Don Lewis’ signatures on his will and his power of attorney were traced from his marriage record, a handwriting expert concluded of documents that surfaced after the multimillionaire’s 1997 disappearance.

05/05/2020

Here's the interview I did on Tiger King and other cold cases. If you have any further questions, feel free to leave in the comments section below. We're planning a follow-up interview.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxKOpTlbZiA

05/05/2020

Hey, you cool cats and kittens! I'll be interviewed online at 4:30 pm EDT/3:30 CDT on the Tiger King case ... and on cold cases in general. If you have any questions on the Don Lewis disappearance or on other cold cases I've worked on, please submit your questions here, and I'll try to answer them. You can watch the live interview on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxKOpTlbZiA

Jerry and I discussing the Don Lewis case.

05/02/2020

Cold case murders can be solved decades later. Today is the anniversary of a pair of cold case murders that were solved, thanks to the hard work of Thomas Moore, whose brother was killed by the K*K, Canadian filmmaker David Ridgen and the federal authorities who prosecuted the case. On this day in 1964, Moore's brother, Charles, and his friend, Henry Hezekiah Dee, both 19, were simply trying to get a ride back home. Instead, Klansmen abducted the African Americans, took them to the Homochitto National Forest, where they beat the pair and then drowned them in the Mississippi River. In 2005, federal authorities reopened the case. Two years later, a federal jury convicted James Ford Seale, and he received three life sentences. Ridgen did a podcast on the case for the CBC series, “Somebody Knows Something.”

04/30/2020

Today would have been Don Lewis' 82nd birthday. This is a note that his daughter, Gale Rathbone, wrote to him today: "I am going to light a candle for you, sit here with a bowl of ice cream, your favorite dessert, and remember. I will remember the good times, the hard times, and even the lonely times; for this is how I will always keep you alive in my heart."

04/29/2020

So why am I pursuing the disappearance of Tiger King's Don Lewis? USA Today answers.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/04/29/tiger-king-netflix-joe-exotic-carole-baskin-don-lewis-mystery/3046585001/

Jerry Mitchell, central to reopening long-unsolved murders from the civil rights era, saw amid the "Tiger King" lunacy an unsolved homicide.

04/26/2020

Hey, you cool cats and kittens! Like solving cold cases or reading about them? People magazine just listed "Race Against Time" (which tells the story of how four cold cases came to be solved against all odds) on its list of "Best Books to Read During the Coronavirus Pandemic." https://people.com/books/best-books-to-read-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic-people-editors/

04/22/2020

When you go to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office website, which is investigating Don Lewis' disappearance, this is the photo shown of him, and this is what it says about him "Missing Endangered Adult." The sheriff himself recently said he believed it was a homicide carried out by at least two people. Just wondering why he's still listed as a "Missing Endangered Adult."

04/16/2020

Back from Florida on my investigation into the disappearance of Tiger King's Don Lewis. Lots of fascinating new information that I hope to share in the next several weeks on Don Lewis and the case.

04/07/2020

Yep. I'm on it. Please pass on any thoughts and tips! https://www.sunherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article241826316.html

Investigative journalist Jerry Mitchell has helped solve cold cases and aided in the 2016 conviction of a suspected serial killer.

04/07/2020

On Tiger King, Carole Baskin said she grew up poor. She said she ran away after being gang-r**ed at 14 because her parents viewed it as her fault. On the Joe Exotic podcast, Baskin doesn't mention the r**e and said her father was a pilot for the governor of West Virginia. In a YouTube interview, she said she grew up going to private schools and that her parents lost everything and she slept in cars and ate out of dumpsters. All very fascinating.

04/07/2020

04/07/2020

04/07/2020

Episode 3 of “Tiger King” documentary opens with Myrtle Beach Safari’s “Doc” Antle declaring, “Twenty-year-old cold-case murders don’t get solved.” I considered those words a challenge, and now I’m digging into the 1997 disappearance of Don Lewis. If you’re interested in receiving updates on the case, please like this page. And please feel free to pass on any tips to me at [email protected]. If you'd like to be part of our volunteer team digging into this case, reach out to Andrea Ledwell at [email protected].

04/06/2020

Joe Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage, was convicted in 2019 of twice trying to hire hit men to kill animal rights activist, Carole Baskin, as well as killing five tigers and also selling tigers without a federal permit. He is now serving 22 years in prison. Their feud is captured in Netflix's documentary, "Tiger King."

*photo credit, Netflix