Tiger King's Carole Baskin and her missing husband to be focus of documentary

Carole Baskin founder of Big Cat Rescue in Tampa, in the true crime documentary series Tiger King: murder, Mayhem and Madness.

Tiger King's Carole Baskin and her missing husband Don Lewis are set to be the focus of a new documentary.

Animal rights activist Carole featured in the Netflix documentary Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness, due to her acrimonious relationship with Joe Exotic, a private zookeeper, but many questions have been asked about her spouse Don who went missing in 1997.

He was declared legally dead in 2002 and after Joe alleged Carole killed her husband, True crime network ID have decided to make a new documentary with a focus on Carole and Don.

In a press release for the new TV special Investigating the Strange World of Joe Exotic, ID said: "Love her or hate her, Carole is now in the centre ring of the big cat circus. Is she a selfless crusader and protector of animals, who found unimaginable strength despite the mysterious disappearance of her husband? Or are we witnessing Carole Baskin's master plan finally take effect? Despite her claims of innocence, did she orchestrate the disappearance of Don Lewis to seize control of his fortune, consolidate power and lay waste to her foes? No one seems to be talking - except for one man - and that man is the centre of ID's upcoming investigative series."

Joe Exotic - whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage - is currently serving 22 years in prison after being found guilty in 2019 for paying a man US$3000 to kill Carole and friends say he was obsessed with her and things only got worse after he lost a million-dollar trademark lawsuit in 2011 when he created a company that copied Big Cat Rescue's name and logo.

Carole Baskin founder of Big Cat Rescue, came to fame in Netflix's Tiger King documentary.

Exotic's former employee Kelci 'Saff' Saffery told People: "Carole was the first thing on his mind every morning and the last thing on his mind every night."

Saffery added that Carole and Joe's feud started with them both "standing up for what they believed was right".

However, he went on: "It started to not be about the animals. I don't think that it was only about egos, but I do think they started to focus more on Carole and Joe and less on the bigger picture. And nothing came out of it. It's the worst kind of love story."

Exotic's ex-husband John Finlay added: "Joe had a really bad hatred towards Carole Baskin and a lot of us knew it was going to head in a bad direction. A lot of people told him he needs to stop or slow down and think about what's going on."