JOE Exotic, from the hit Netflix docuseries Tiger King, was convicted for murder for hire and animal abuse.
Exotic, the self-proclaimed ‘Tiger King’, is a zookeeper and roadshow entertainer who formerly owned the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park in Oklahoma, home to over 200 lions, tigers, and pumas.
The Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness series, released earlier this year, follows Exotic’s whirlwind of layered drama from his allegations of animal abuse to his plot to murder his rival, fellow big cat-obsessed Carole Baskin.
The seven-part series drew in 34million viewers in just 10 days and Exotic became a global phenomenon. It has been labeled as one of Netflix’s most popular and successful series of all time.
Exotic, full name Joseph “Exotic” Maldonado-Passage, was arrested on September 7, 2018, for conspiring to murder his nemesis, 57-year-old Big Cat Rescue owner Carole Baskin, as well as for accusations of illegally killing endangered tigers at his park to make room for new exotic animals.
He and Baskin’s decades-long feud came to a head when Exotic attempted to pay a man named Allen Glover $3,000 to kill her in 2017.
Baskin, a vocal critic against Exotic’s park and animal keeping practices, had secured a million-dollar settlement against the Tiger King after he lost a trademark infringement suit in 2011. Since the rivalry began, Baskin claims Exotic’s threats against her life were “constant” and that as a result, she saw “every bystander as a potential threat.”
“There is no where that I have felt safe, and worse, no way that I feel I can safeguard those around me,” Baskin once said in a statement.
“So many of his threats involved blowing me up, so that he could thrill over seeing me burn to death.”
Baskin wasn’t the only one threatened by Exotic’s irrationality—his tigers also came in the firing line.
Erik Cowie, the head zookeeper at the GW Exotic Animal Park in Oklahoma, claimed Exotic put down hundreds of tigers over his time as owner of the Greater Wynnewood park.
“They euthanized them and had a veterinarian sign off on them with excuses like, they were too old, sick, etc” he told the Daily Mail.
“Most of the time a veterinarian wasn’t even around when things like that would happen, but he would write it down on a log, so he could be covered in case government inspectors wanted to check his books.”
The courts found Exotic guilty of two counts of murder-for-hire, eight counts of violating the Lacey Act for tampering and falsifying wildlife records, and nine counts of violating the Endangered Species Act for killing tigers.
Exotic was sentenced to 22 years behind bars.
As a result, Exotic has reportedly filed a $94 million federal lawsuit against the government for alleged civil rights violations.
His loyal supporters, Team Tiger, weren’t satisfied with the court’s decision either. Earlier last month, Exotic’s team drove 1,350 miles from Fort Worth, Texas to Washington, D.C. to protest the zookeeper’s conviction and seek presidential pardon from President Donald Trump.
In April, the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., told radio hosts that he “watched the show” but he didn’t seem to know “exactly what he was guilty of or wasn’t.”
“It doesn’t seem like he was totally innocent of anything. But when they’re saying, ‘We’re putting this guy away for 30 years,’ I’m saying that seems sort of aggressive” Trump Jr. concluded.
Rick Kirkham, a tv producer who spent a year filming Exotic for a reality tv show that never aired, staunchly believes the eclectic zookeeper is “evil” and that he will “get his revenge”.
“The very fact that Trump would even possibly consider pardoning someone as evil as Joe, is beyond my belief,” he told The Sun.
“Anyone who would support Joe being let go and out of jail has no idea that this was a man who will hold the revenge.”
Exotic, who is serving his time at a prison in Forth Worth, Texas has recently hit out against his critics and claims the officials involved in the case conspired against him.
In a three page note penned from prison, Exotic has claimed his new legal team has “evidence, text messages from the agents and witness’ phones that two assistant U.S. Attorneys, two FBI agents and a federal wildlife agent all conspired to commit perjury.”
The Tiger King practiced polygamy and had five husbands.
Over the series, viewers are provided a glimpse into the romantic web of Exotic’s marriages.
Exotic met his first husband Brian Rhyne in the late 80s at a gay cowboy bar in Texas. Rhyne was 19 years old at the time and soon moved into Exotic’s trailer, where the two would then open the zoo together in 1998. Rhyne died of complications from HIV in 2001.
24-year-old J.C. Hartpence became Joe’s second husband. He helped the exotic animal enthusiast develop Joe’s traveling tiger/magic show, where he would let kids pet tiger cubs in state fairs and malls all over the country. Their relationship took a dark turn, and Hartpence is currently serving a life imprisonment sentence for a murder unrelated to Exotic.
In 2003, Joe Hired 19-year-old John Finlay as a zoo and roadshow hand, and shortly entered a relationship with him thereafter. In 2014, Joe Exotic brought 19-year-old Travis Maldonado into the relationship, and the trio married in a three-way ceremony.
Maldonado tragically died after accidentally shooting himself in the zoo’s gift shop, while John Finlay later got out of the relationship, claiming Joe was obsessive, controlling, and paranoid.
Exotic took to gay app Grindr to look for new ‘prospects’ after Maldonado’s death, and soon found and married 22-year-old Dillon Passage two months later.
The pair moved to Gulf Breeze, Florida, before Exotic’s conviction, and are reportedly still married. In a recent Instagram post, Passage shared handwritten by Joe addressed to fans, claiming that his “heart is breaking.”
“He is living in hell right now and I’m outraged by the way he is being treated. I can’t even begin to imagine how that is breaking his spirit.
“I love Joe and I’m standing by him. The photos that I post on here are a highlight reel of my life…
“What you don’t see are the hours that I’m alone at home, missing my husband and my friend.”
