Carole Baskin wanted to murder her husband, but did she actually do it?
Have you ever wanted to break the nearest object out of frustration? Whether it be with a significant other, a best friend, or a family member, we’ve all been frustrated with someone enough that our minds explode. But, have you ever thought about killing them?
Blaming big cat rights activist Carole Baskin for the disappearance of her second husband Don Lewis has been the talk of town for months – especially the rumor that she fed him to tigers. Although we want to confirm these rumors are true for the sake of irony, many wonder if Carole Baskin actually murdered Lewis.
The perfect snack
Carole Baskin gained infamy earlier this year when the Netflix documentary series Tiger King aired. The series explores the world of big cats in America by focusing on the legal feud between Joe Exotic, dubbed “Tiger King”, and Carole Baskin.
Tiger King attracted a huge audience for its absurdity & humor; however, the documentary took a dark turn when it touched on the disappearance of Baskin’s former husband Don Lewis. During an interview, Joe Exotic said he believed Carole killed Don and fed him to the tigers. (This is what we meant when we said the show was absurd.)
Sounds reasonable
The claim started out as a ridiculous allegation but eventually evolved into a national belief. Since, Carole Baskin has received a lot of negativity & hate from people who agreed she fed Don Lewis to the tigers.
In fact, the huge amount of media attention caused the case to reopen. Although we still don’t know if Carole Baskin killed Don Lewis or not, old letters reveal she at least thought about it.
Replaceable
Carole Baskin & Don Lewis met in 1981 and they started a decade-long affair while they were still married to their spouses. Finally, in 1991, they divorced their spouses to be with each other. Big cats were a common interest they shared, so they opened up a big cat sanctuary in Tampa, Florida called Wildlife on Easy Street.
The two eventually butted heads regarding the sanctuary – Don saw it as a business but Carole saw it as a sanctuary to rescue big cats. Their marriage began to crumble when Don reportedly cheated on Carole; Don often flew to Costa Rica to visit his mistresses.
The marriage became so bad, Don contemplated divorce. He tried to take out a restraining order against Carole, which was dropped despite the claims alleging Carole threatened to kill him. Only a few weeks later, Don Lewis was never heard from again.
The investigation initially focused on Carole Baskin; however, no evidence of foul play could be gathered, resulting in her removal from the case. Years of investigation led the police to nothing. Five years after Don’s disappearance, Carole legally declared him dead. In 2004, she married her third husband Howard Baskin.
Fact vs. fiction
Over two decades later, the disappearance of Don Lewis continues to plague Carole Baskin. Don’s family still points fingers at Carole, whom they believe played a role in his disappearance.
According to Baskin, who maintains her innocence, the night before Don went missing, he exhibited erratic behavior and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Don Lewis’s family doesn’t buy Carole Baskin’s story one bit.
Wrong guy
While the investigation into Don Lewis’s disappearance is still ongoing, many are pointing at Carole Baskin, especially since new reports make her look suspicious. An old letter recently resurfaced in which Carole claimed she “would have eventually killed” her husband.
Sounds sketchy, right? The letter actually referred to Baskin’s first husband Michael Murdock, whom she was married to between 1979 and 1991. Murdock had been abusive towards Carole throughout their marriage, and she stated she made that comment in the letter referring to an act she would’ve done in self-defense.
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Don Lewis’s disappearance has been – and continues to be – a huge mystery. Solid evidence hasn’t turned up, but that isn’t stopping people from believing Carole Baskin fed him to the tigers!
