Interestingly, Don had filed a restraining order against Carole in June 1997, just two months before he went missing. What really struck the nail into place, though, was the paperwork in Jason’s possession that belonged to Donald and the footage recovered from the broken DVR system. At first, he was considered to be a victim as well. Lewis met Carole in January 1981, when she was 20 and he was 42. The document mentioned the word “disappearance” in it. Gradually, the investigation into his whereabouts went cold. Both Don’s lawyer, and his long-term secretary, Anne McQueen found this to be unusual. What followed was the beginning of a new romance as the two drove together through the night. An autopsy later revealed that he died after having been shot three times at close-range. Later, while looking for a playmate for the animal, the two ended up rescuing 56 bobcat kittens that were going to be killed for fur trade. The two dated for years, and eventually got married in 1991, a year after Don’s divorce. While he was quite young, his mother died of cancer but the "stiff upper lip" in favour at the time meant he wasn't allowed to grieve. Several other equally strange theories surrounding Don’s disappearance and death cropped up. Despite this, Carole was shrouded in suspicion, and in the 1998 interview stated: “Can you imagine having people think you killed your husband or wife and not being able to prove otherwise?…Without a body, there is nothing I can do to clear my name.”. The popularity of Netflix's Tiger King has rejuvenated interest in the disappearance of Jack Donald "Don" Lewis. A Florida sheriff says he believes cat conservationist Carole Baskin’s second husband Don Lewis was likely killed and more than one person was behind what could be a murder-for-hire plot. Till this date, there is no proof of how Don Lewis died — or if at all, he died. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. The big-cat owner has accused Carole not just of getting Don murdered, but has also claimed that Carole had fed Don’s remains to the tigers she looked after. The investigation into his disappearance has stretched from Lewis's Wildlife on Easy Street sanctuary in Tampa, co-owned with his second wife Carole Baskin, to land owned by Lewis in Costa Rica. It was suggested that Lewis wished to shift the sanctuary to Costa Rica, where he had purchased a 200 acres near Begaces. The documentary has generated legions of armchair detectives fascinated by Joe Exotic's claim that Carole had murdered her former husband, Don Lewis, back in 1997, and fed him to her tigers. It was also revealed that he used to visit Costa Rica frequently for both business and pleasure, as he was particularly fond of the place. Image: Netflix. Bas… He became an Oxford don and led a sheltered life. In another year, the couple had their first daughter. Therefore, in the end, on July 9, 2018, almost two years after the fact, Jason Small was found guilty of all the charges against him in connection to Donald Ray Lewis’ 2016 murder. Something that, as shown in ‘Tiger King’, Carole wasn’t particularly on board with. While there were claims that the “Power of Attorney” was fraud, nothing against it was ever proven. Subsequently, he could be seen going back and forth from the kitchen to the basement before transferring all the money from the cash till into a black bag, which he appeared to have carried out with him. Two years after their first date, the two got married. They met when Lewis was driving down the street and he saw Baskin crying on the side of the roa… Rep. John Robert Lewis, a Georgia Democrat and civil rights icon, died Friday. The couple had a new-found purpose, and within the next few years, rescued over a 100 cats. So, the very next night, on October 8, 2016, investigators revisited the scene, only to discover the lifeless body of the missing owner, hidden in the basement of his café , having been blocked by cardboard boxes. Lewis was born in 1898 and brought up in a very strict, religious household. He met his first wife, Gladys Cross, while he was working as a bag boy in A&P. Lewis helped Baskin open her sanctuary, Big Cat Rescue, in 1992. Anyone who knew him commended him on his ability to be exceptional in his music and his life, even giving him the title of an overall nice guy. Don’s family and colleagues believed there was foul play involved because of his marital issues with Carole. By August 19, Carole had filed a missing person’s report, and just a day later, Don’s van was found at Pilot Country Airport in Springhill, with the keys inside, just 40 miles away from the sanctuary. Lewis was also an animal lover and used to pet Tigers, Lions and Cheetahs as dogs. And now, if you’re here curious to know all the details of the case, we’ve got you covered. The seven-part docuseries presents before us a buffet of the some of the strangest cases from the dark underbelly of tiger trade in the United States. They then spent the night together, where they just talked and then slept. Donald Lewis’ then-30-year-old employee, Jason Dixon-McNeal, also known as Jason Small, was the one who killed him. Till this date, there is no proof of how Don Lewis died — or if at all, he died. In the third chapter of the documentary, “The Secret”, we’re exposed to Carole’s past, and the mysterious disappearance of Don Lewis, her husband at the time. However, the police found no evidence inside. Along with that, there were numerous towels, cloths, and aprons, with some plastic gloves, all soaked in blood. The Netflix documentary Tiger King implies that Big Cat Rescue's Carole Baskin killed her ex-husband, Don Lewis, a businessman who disappeared in August 1997 - so what really happened?Even though the theory is based on speculation rather than hard evidence, streamers are naturally curious about the facts because of Baskin's on-camera demeanor and the allegations made by Tiger King's primary subject, … Around the time Don started hauling rock and sand in Dade City, for which he saved and bought 5 trucks. As a young man, Lewis made a vow to his friend, Paddy Moore, to care for Moore’s mother if he died. In 1848, a group from the Tennessee State Commission (including a former Alabama governor) opened Lewis’ grave and reported that “it seems to be more probable that he died by the hands of an assassin.” The police, during the investigation, were open to the possibility of it being foul play. She married an abusive man who fathered her daughter, Jamie Murdock. The search was eventually abandoned, and although there appeared to be no evidence that indicated that Don was murdered, police suspected that he did not disappear on his own. People doubt that Carole killed Don and fed him to the tigers. Read on for the details. His body was never found and he was declared dead in 2002 Baskin says she gave Farr the guns long after Lewis disappeared, according to the Tampa Bay Times. Carole Baskin's millionaire husband, Don Lewis, vanished without a trace on Aug. 18, 1997. Don Lewis. Jack Donald Lewis (April 30, 1938 – legal d. August 19, 2002) is an American missing person who disappeared on the morning of August 18, 1997, after leaving his home in Tampa, Florida. Growing up, Don held several jobs, and worked as a mechanic and a farm hand while still in high-school. Lewis, who helped organize the 1963 March on Washington and served in Congress for decades, was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer in December. As we see in the episode, the investigators race against the clock to turn over every stone in an attempt to find the perpetrator before it’s too late. According to the docuseries, Don’s family believe that Carole did this to negate his will and take most of his estate for herself. It feels as though the main theory people are backing is that Carole killed her husband Don Lewis and then fed him to the tigers at Big Cat Rescue. He wanted to discuss the disappearance of Don Lewis, who ran a big cat sanctuary in the Tampa area before he went missing 23 years ago. On the day Donald was reported missing, Jason was as well, having not shown up for the cooking and cashier job in the café that he had held since May. And the first sign of his guilt was that he ran as soon as he saw the uniformed officers. Even stranger was the “Power of Attorney” that Carole had signed prior to Don’s disappearance which named her his benefactor and the conservator of his entire estate. But the authorities found no evidence to support any of these. But unfortunately, all that changed in 2016, when the musician was 65-years-old. In further looking at the 5 of swords, I see that it is a woman (Carole) and 2 men. On Monday, August 18, 1997, when Don Lewis suddenly went missing, Carole had revealed that he had mentioned that he was planning to transport cars to Costa Rica before he left home. Carole had just ran out of the house after a heated argument with her spouse. Don’s family and employees, however, suggested Carole’s involvement in the matter. Carole, at this point, knew she had fallen for Don. Amid such disagreements, Lewis' ex-wife Gladys Lewis Clark told “Tiger King” producers that Lewis wanted to divorce Baskin. On a Friday, October 7, the police were called to Donald’s jazz café because he was reported missing. He also began to expand his business, buying used washing machines to repair and resell them at profit. No evidence of Lewis being killed has surfaced, but investigators believe it is unlikely that he disappeared on his own… She, at the time, sold fresh bread and worked as a seamstress. And his wife, Celestine, immediately had the feeling that something had gone terribly wrong. In an interview with People from 1998, Don Lewis’ daughters publicly accused Carole, and even speculated that she had fed him to the tigers: “It’s a perfect scenario to dispose of someone…We were upset that the cops didn’t test the DNA on the meat grinder.”. By 1960s he was driving around for Texaco and Red Wing Carriers in Tampa. Carole Baskin’s husband, Don Lewis was a gun lover. But the authorities rejected the petition. He was declared dead in 2002, although no body has ever been found. He was 80 years old. Donald "Duck" Dunn (November 24, 1941 – May 13, 2012) was an American bass guitarist, session musician, record producer, and songwriter.Dunn was notable for his 1960s recordings with Booker T. & the M.G. After all, the police complaint said that the café “was unlocked and that Donald Lewis was nowhere to be found.” Even the cash register had been emptied, and the security system that was usually in the kitchen “had been forcibly removed.” Initially, the theory was that the café had been robbed and Donald abducted, but there was no evidence to back that up. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Congressional Black Caucus confirmed the news of his death. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. Donald Ray Lewis, born February 6, 1951, was a Milwaukee, Wisconsin, resident, a famed jazz musician, a beloved music teacher, and a successful entrepreneur as the owner of the Young Urban Jazz Café near 24th and Fond du Lac Ave. While the series follows the rise and fall of Joe Exotic, the self-fashioned “Tiger King” from Oklahoma, one of its focal points remains Joe’s heated rivalry with Carole Baskin, his fiercest and most vocal critic. Don Lewis was reported dead on 2002, five years after his disappearance. But over the years, the sanctuary turned into just another business for Don. She actively works to end both breeding and selling of exotic cats, and hopes to see a day when none of these animals will be held captive in the country. This is where Joe Exotic comes in. Carole, on the other hand, is open to the possibility that Don left for Costa Rica to start afresh. When she declined, he returned with a revolver and asked her to hold it to his head if she didn’t trust him. Baskin was previously married to self-made millionaire Don Lewis, who she met when she was 20 and he was 42. 's and as a session bassist for Stax Records.At Stax, Dunn played on thousands of records, including hits by Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Rufus Thomas, Carla Thomas, William Bell, Eddie Floyd, … Carole Baskin (née Stairs Jones; born June 6, 1961) is an American big-cat rights activist and CEO of Big Cat Rescue, a non-profit animal sanctuary based near Tampa, Florida.. Baskin drew public attention when she was featured in the 2020 Netflix documentary series Tiger King about Oklahoma-based private zoo operator Joe Exotic.The Netflix series follows both Baskin and Joe Exotic, as well as exotic animal … Don was 17 at the time, while Gladys was 14. Carole Baskin and Don Lewis got married in 1991, and they opened Big Cat Rescue in 1992. Carole loved cats with a passion, and the couple soon bought their first bobcat. It is believed that Don was a ladies man. On the same day, Don was also supposed to deliver some real-estate signs to his lawyer’s office. Strangely, the signs had been left at the office before it even opened, and there was no sign of Don. But on the afternoon of October 8, after officers responded to a call about someone “hiding in an attic crawlspace” in a duplex near 13th and Concordia Street, they found Jason alive and well. The surveillance videos from the café showed Jason removing the firearm that Donald kept under the counter for safety reasons and then following his boss into the kitchen at the top of the basement stairs. About Don Lewis; Known As: Jack Donald Lewis, Bob Martinez: Age: 64 Years: Birth: April 30, 1938 Dade City, Florida: Death: August 19, 2002 Florida (Disappeared, Declared Dead) Gender: Male: Height: 5 feet 10 inches: Spouse: Carole Stairs 1991 - 2002 (Disappeared, Declared Dead), Gladys Cross 1955 - 1990: Children: Gale Rathbone, Lynda Sanchez, Donna Pettis: Nationality: American Even 22 years after Don Lewis’ disappearance, the case remains unsolved. However, Baskin admitted in the docuseries that they clashed over whether to breed the cats; for her it was about caring for animals she loved and for Lewis it was a business, she said. Don Lewis’ disappearance, and maybe death, till this day remains unsolved. He graduated a year early from Pasco High School, in 1955, and continued working. She hired a private investigator, and the police did their own enquiries, but Lewis was never found. As per the documentary, Baskin grew up poor, mostly living in mobile homes. Don Lewis files a restraining order against Carole, claiming she threatened to kill him and was in possession of two guns. So, what happened to Don Lewis, you ask? Next to the duplex was a garbage bin, which upon search, unveiled components of a broken DVR system, similar to the security surveillance that Donald had installed in his establishment. But the docuseries adopts an unbiased lens as it looks at the rescuer critically, while also maintaining a sense of empathy. Something that, as shown in ‘Tiger King’, Carole wasn’t particularly on board with. Netflix’s latest offering, ‘Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness’ is its meatiest true-crime treat yet. © 2021 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. Investigation Discovery’s ‘The Murder Tapes’ is a series that follows baffling criminal investigations to its close by utilizing surveillance videos and interrogation room footage, along with one-on-one interviews, to give us a complete picture. It is believed that Don Lewis was an unusual man who wore clothes that he bought from yard sales, but carried enough cash to buy an airplane. Don had claimed that Carole had threatened to shoot him. Lewis passed seven months after a routine medical visit revealed that he had stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Though the docuseries focuses on the feud between G.W. McQueen also revealed that she had been asked specifically by Don to take care of a copy of the restraining order against Carole. There's no doubt in Harvey Levin's mind that Carole Baskin's missing wealthy husband Don Lewis was murdered. Forensic examinations were able to determine that the blood belonged to Donald, whereas the fingerprints left inside the gloves were Jason’s. At the time Lewis vanished, he and Baskin were running Wildlife on Easy Street, a sanctuary for exotic cats in Tampa. He seriously questioned his religious beliefs and finally left the church. An autopsy later revealed that he died after having been shot three times at close-range. © 2021 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. He was born in Dade City, Florida, in 1938, to a single mother of three. Carole maintained her innocence, and found the meat grinder theory to be absurd. It was suggested that Lewis wished to shift the sanctuary to Costa Rica, where he had purchased a 200 acres near Begaces. Joe Exotic blamed Baskin for Don’s death and he also made a video to tease her. Jack Donald Lewis was a self-made multimillionaire who earned his success over the years through real-estate, trucking and other businesses. On August 19, 2002, five years to the day Don Lewis was reported missing, Carole had a judge declare Don dead. And it’s Season 4 episode, ‘The Great Don Lewis,’ chronicling the disappearance and brutal murder of Donald Lewis is no different. Baskin met Lewis, a multi-millionaire, in 1981 when she was 20 years old and he was 42 years old. The producer of "TMZ Investigates: Tiger King - What Really Went Down?" Picture: Netflix What we don't see in the original trailer is that Baskin's multi-millionaire husband, Jack "Don" Lewis, went missing and was never re-traced back in 1997 and the show's third episode 'The Secret' addresses his disappearance, hinting that she may well have had something to do with it. Lewis’ death came months after he was diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic cancer in December 2019, which his office said was discovered during a routine medical visit. Derek Chauvin Trial Stream CBSN Live Carole Baskin was trying to get Joe's 'roadside zoo' shut down for the mistreatment of animals. So, the very next night, on October 8, 2016, investigators revisited the scene, only to discover the lifeless body of the missing owner, hidden in the basement of his café , having been blocked by cardboard boxes. Lewis was also unfiltered in his criticism of President Donald Trump and refused to attend the 2018 State of the Union address after Trump characterized Haiti and African nations as “shitholes.” The congressman said in May 2019 that if King were alive today , Lewis would tell him that Trump is “a racist” who “doesn’t understand the meaning of your life and the significance of the civil rights … However, early on, it reveals that Baskin’s second husband, Jack “Don” Lewis, disappeared, leaving her a wealthy woman but also under a cloud of suspicion. This led to several clashes between Don and Carole over how the facility should be run, and eventually caused marital tension between the two. But viewers of the series seem especially fascinated by one particular aspect of her past - the story of her first husband Don Lewis. Lewis who was driving by the area, pulled over next to her and asked her if she need a ride. Both Baskin and Lewis were married to other people at the time, and he had children as well. Baskin had suspicions Lewis had staged his own disappearance, according to a 1998 People magazine interview. C.S. This led to Lewis building a 40 acre wildlife sanctuary called “Wildlife on Easy Street”. While many suspect Carole to behind the murder, no implicating evidence has been found against her. He soon also began investing in used cars and earned from auctions, and eventually real-estate. His daughters only received 10% from everything. Carole Baskin is an animal advocate who runs Big Cat Rescue in Tampa, Florida. While there is no proof, the people who were close to Don Lewis believe that even if Carole wasn’t behind any foul play, there could be things that she’s hiding. But they never found evidence strong enough to prove it. He was a rich person yet used to spend his life like a cheapskate. I see that it is a woman ( Carole ) and 2 men where they just talked and then.... 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