TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — The big cats are all gone, sold to a sanctuary in Arkansas, but the land that was once the site of “Big Cat Rescue” is being sold.
Big Cat Rescue became infamous as a result of the Netflix hit “Tiger King.” Joseph Maldonado-Passage, better known as “Joe Exotic,” has often claimed his rival and owner of Big Cat Rescue, Carole Baskin, killed her second husband on the property.
The property was originally established as “Wildlife on Easy Street” by Don Lewis. After his apparent disappearance in 1997, his wife, Baskin took over the operation and renamed it Big Cat Rescue. Baskin later married Howard Baskin, who appears alongside her in “Tiger King.”
There is no evidence that Lewis was murdered or that Carole Baskin or anyone else killed him. Despite that, there have long been rumors and speculation that Lewis was killed and then buried on the property, perhaps in a septic tank.
Chris Castillo is a former assistant state attorney who has prosecuted many criminal cases. He is now a private attorney handling criminal defense and civil litigation.
He told Nexstar’s WFLA that it would not be easy for investigators to obtain a warrant to search the land where Big Cat Rescue is located, while the Baskins control the property.
“You have to establish that there is actually facts or evidence through sworn testimony that a crime is occuring, has occurred, or will occur. Just mere speculation or conjecture or rumor is not enough to establish probable cause,” Castillo said.
Howard Baskin has, however, confirmed the massive 56-acre property is being sold and is expected to become housing.
The new landowners could be motivated to allow law enforcement to search the property, Castillo said, but it’s unlikely they would want authorities to “come in and break up their foundation to dig and see what is inside that septic tank.”
Even if investigators do search the land, Castillo believes it would be very difficult for them to find any evidence of murder.
“This missing person’s report was filed with the sheriff’s office years and years ago, and so even if there was some evidence at the time that Mr. Lewis went missing that existed in that septic tank, there is a probability or a possibility that it may no longer exist in that location,” Castillo explained.
Jim Williamson lives near Big Cat Rescue and has done work for the Baskins. He tells WFLA he doesn’t believe the rumors surrounding the Tampa-area property.
“Her and her husband now have always been very, very nice to me and so, got nothing bad to say about her,” said Williamson.
He also doesn’t believe Carole Baskin could have murdered Don Lewis.
“I don’t buy all of the stuff that she chopped him up and all of that stuff, so it doesn’t register with me at all,” said Williamson.
He does have a warning for the new owners of the property about something else though, before they start building homes.
“I would tell [them] they might want to consider trying to buy up the pig farm that’s back there because it gets quite smelly at times,” Williamson said.