Tiger King’s Carole Baskin has claimed that her second husband Don Lewis showed signs of a ‘devestating’ illness before he disappeared.
Animal rights activist Carole was one of the central figures in Netflix’s viral hit series, thanks in part to her feud with zoo keeper Joe Exotic.
Joe – real name Joseph Maldanado-Passage – is currently serving a 22-year jail term for the attempted murder-for-hire of Carole and various counts of animal abuse.
One of the series’ most contentious episodes dealt with theories that Carole had an involvement in the disappearance of her second husband, which she has strenuously denied.
Penning a blog post after the show’s premiere, the rights activist claimed that Don may have been showing signs of early on-set Alzheimer’s before he vanished.
‘In the few years preceding his disappearance Don’s behavior was gradually showing signs of mental deterioration,’ she wrote.
‘His behavior became increasingly strange. He started refusing to use the bathroom and defecating outside.’
She continued: ‘He brought in a homeless man to stay in our house. I rescheduled an appointment for him to see the specialist Dr. Gold. But he disappeared before the appointment date.’
Don Lewis went missing in 1997, and was declared legally dead five years later.
Carole herself, who runs the Big Cat Rescue sanctuary, has since slammed Tiger King for its portrayal of her.
Taking to the Big Cat Rescue website, Carole accused the seven-part series of being ‘salacious and sensational’ just to draw in viewers.
‘Don was not easy to live with and like most couples we had our moments,’ she began.
‘When he disappeared, I did everything I could to assist the police.’
Tiger King is available to stream now via Netflix.
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