Joe Exotic

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Joe Exotic
Joe Exotic's 2018 mugshot
Born
Joseph Allen Schreibvogel

(1963-03-05) March 5, 1963 (age 61) [citation needed]
Garden City, Kansas, U.S. [citation needed]
Other names
  • Joseph Allen Maldonado
  • Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage
  • Joe Exotic
  • The Tiger King
  • Aarron Alex
  • Cody Ryan[1]
Spouse(s)
Travis Maldonado
​
​
(m. 2015; died 2017)​

Dillon Passage
​
(m. 2017)​
Partner(s)Brian Rhyne (1986–2001)
JC Hartpence (2002–2003)
John Finlay (2003–2014)
Criminal statusIncarcerated at Federal Medical Center, Fort Worth
Criminal chargeMurder for hire, animal abuse
Penalty22 years
Date apprehended
September 7, 2018

Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage (né Schreibvogel; born March 5, 1963),[citation needed] better known as Joe Exotic, is an American former zoo operator and convicted felon. The former owner and operator of the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park (a.k.a. G. W. Zoo) in Wynnewood, Oklahoma, Maldonado-Passage had claimed to be the most prolific breeder of tigers in the United States.[1] He twice unsuccessfully ran for public office, first for President of the United States in 2016 as an independent, and then for Governor of Oklahoma in 2018 as a Libertarian.

In 2019, Maldonado-Passage was convicted on 17 federal charges of animal abuse (eight violations of the Lacey Act and nine of the Endangered Species Act)[2] and two counts of murder for hire, for a plot to kill Big Cat Rescue CEO Carole Baskin.[2] He is serving a 22-year sentence in federal prison. In 2020, Netflix released a seven-part documentary, Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness, focused on Maldonado-Passage, his zoo, and his feud with Baskin.

Early life

Maldonado-Passage was born Joseph Allen Schreibvogel in Garden City, Kansas, on March 5, 1963.[citation needed] He grew up on a working farm in Kansas. When he was five years old, he was raped by an older boy.[1] He and his family moved to Texas where he joined the Eastvale, Texas, police department, soon becoming chief of the small department. He has said that after being outed to his parents as gay by one of his siblings, he attempted suicide by crashing his police cruiser into a bridge.[3] His claims about the wreck have changed over time; in 1997, he told The Dallas Morning News that someone forced the car off the bridge during a police drug investigation. Local residents that were contacted had no recollection of the event.[4]

Career

Animals

Schreibvogel worked at various jobs before opening a pet store with his brother Garold in Arlington, Texas, in 1986.[3] In 1997, after closing the first pet store and opening a new one nearby, Schreibvogel came into conflict with Arlington officials over repeated code violations for decorations and signs; he had been hanging gay pride symbols such as a United States flag with rainbow stripes in the store windows, and he accused city inspectors of homophobia and of targeting the business because of his sexual orientation.[4] After his brother's death in a car accident in 1997, Schreibvogel sold the pet store and purchased a 16-acre (6.5 ha) Oklahoma farm with his parents.[3][4] Two years after his brother's death, the farm opened as Garold Wayne Exotic Animal Memorial Park as a dedication to his brother.[3][5] Two of Garold's pets were the zoo's first inhabitants.[3]

In February 1999, animal-welfare investigators discovered a large number of neglected emus in Red Oak, Texas, and Schreibvogel volunteered to capture the animals and take them to his animal park. However, Schreibvogel, local volunteers, and Red Oak police were quickly overwhelmed by the task of corralling the large and fast-running birds, several of which died. Schreibvogel and another man resorted to killing emus with shotguns and were accused of animal cruelty by police. However, since the emus were considered livestock, they could lawfully be killed humanely in Texas, and a grand jury declined to indict Schreibvogel. Most surviving birds ultimately wound up at Texas ranches.[4]

In 2000, Schreibvogel acquired his first tigers (two abandoned tigers).[3] To feed his growing zoo of big cats, he took in horses that were donated to him. He would shoot the horses and feed them whole to the tigers, lions, and other big cats.[1]

For over 20 years, he was known as Joe Exotic, the owner and operator of the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park (a.k.a. G. W. Zoo), known for its big cats. He operated an online reality television show that he streamed from his zoo. Over the years, he operated sideshows around the country where he allowed people to pet tiger cubs. He also staged shows at fairs and in shopping malls.[6]

In 2006, the G. W. Zoo was cited multiple times by the USDA for violations of Animal Welfare Act standards.[7] In 2011, Carole Baskin, founder of Big Cat Rescue sanctuary in Florida, organized protests against his use of cubs in his shows. To retaliate, Maldonado-Passage used the Big Cat Rescue name and various identifying aspects of the sanctuary's branding in his own marketing. Baskin sued Exotic for trademark infringement and eventually won $1 million in settlements against Exotic.[6]

Music

Maldonado-Passage was an aspiring country singer. Under the pretense of buying music for a planned reality television series, he commissioned country songs from other artists, with his creative contributions reportedly being limited to suggesting song topics and singing some backing vocals. He then produced music videos for the songs and posted them on YouTube, depicting himself as the main performer and taking full credit for the music, allegedly without having notified the actual artists.[8] In 2015, he released a video for the song "Here Kitty Kitty", a diss track against Carole Baskin. In the video, he had a Baskin look-alike feeding her second husband, Don Lewis, to the tigers. Lewis has been missing since 1997,[9] and was declared dead in 2002.[10]

Politics

Maldonado-Passage ran as "Joseph Allen Maldonado" as an independent candidate in the 2016 election for President of the United States, attained ballot access in Colorado, and received 962 votes (including recorded write-ins) nationwide.[11]

He then ran as "Joe Exotic" in the primary election for the Libertarian party in the 2018 election for Governor of Oklahoma. He received 664 votes in the primary, finishing last among the three Libertarian candidates.[12][13][6]

Initial primary results by county:
Chris Powell
  •   100%
  •   80–90%
  •   70–80%
  •   60–70%
  •   50–60%
  •   40–50%
Powell/Lawhorn tie
  •   <40%
  •   40–50%
  •   50%
Rex L. Lawhorn
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  •   70–80%
  •   100%
Joe Exotic
  •   40–50%
  •   70–80%
  •   100%
No votes
  •   No Votes
2018 Libertarian gubernatorial primary[14]
Party Candidate Votes %
Libertarian Chris Powell 1,740 48.9
Libertarian Rex L. Lawhorn 1,154 32.4
Libertarian Joe Exotic 664 18.7
Total votes 3,558 100%

Arrest and conviction

Carole Baskin in 2019, the target of Maldonado-Passage's murder-for-hire plot.

Maldonado-Passage was indicted for attempting to hire someone to murder Big Cat Rescue CEO Carole Baskin.[15] He had tried to hire an undercover FBI agent who was posing as a hit man. On September 7, 2018, he was arrested[16] in Gulf Breeze, Florida, and held at the Santa Rosa County Jail until September 19 when he was transferred to federal detention. He was later transferred to Grady County Jail in Chickasha, Oklahoma.[17]

On April 2, 2019, Maldonado-Passage was convicted on two counts of murder for hire, eight violations of the Lacey Act, and nine violations of the Endangered Species Act.[13][2] On January 22, 2020, he was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison.[18] As of March 2020, he is incarcerated at FMC Fort Worth.[19] That same month, Maldonado-Passage began seeking a presidential pardon from President Donald Trump.[20]

Personal life

Joe Exotic is openly gay. He has referred to numerous partners as his husbands despite not being legally married.[21] His first known partner was Brian Rhyne, who died of complications from HIV in 2001.[1] The following year, he started a relationship with J. C. Hartpence, an event manager who aided Joe Exotic with his traveling animal show. In mid-2003, John Finlay was hired as an employee of the G. W. Zoo, and within a month, had begun a relationship with Schreibvogel. By this point, the relationship between Joe Exotic and Hartpence had deteriorated, due to drug and alcohol addiction. It finally ended after Joe Exotic threatened to kill Hartpence and feed his remains to the zoo's largest tiger, and when Hartpence woke Schreibvogel up by putting a gun to his head, leading to his arrest by the local authorities. Hartpence was later convicted for child molestation and first-degree murder.[3]

Travis Maldonado arrived at the zoo in December 2014, and just like Finlay, began a relationship with Schreibvogel within a month. Schreibvogel, Maldonado and Finlay were unofficially married in early 2014. Joe Exotic and Finlay eventually fell out, and following an incident in the zoo's back parking lot, Finlay was arrested and charged with assault and battery. In 2015, Joe Exotic legally wed Travis Maldonado, and his legal name became Joseph Maldonado.[3] As revealed in Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness, both John Finlay and Travis Maldonado were heterosexual, and both had affairs; John Finlay had impregnated the zoo's receptionist, which was one of the reasons leading to his departure, and Travis Maldonado was regularly having sex with multiple women on the grounds of the zoo. On October 6, 2017, Travis Maldonado died in an accident involving a firearm,[22] which occurred at the zoo, in front of Joe Exotic's campaign manager.[23] On December 11, 2017, Joe Exotic married Dillon Passage; one of the witnesses was Travis Maldonado's mother.[22][3][24] Upon his marriage to Passage, Joe Exotic's legal surname became Maldonado-Passage.

Documentary

The 2020 documentary series Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness is centered on Maldonado-Passage.[25][26] He had previously appeared in the Louis Theroux documentary America's Most Dangerous Pets.[27]

Lawsuit

On March 17, 2020, Maldonado-Passage filed a lawsuit against the United States federal government at the Grady County Jail. In the lawsuit, he asks for $94 million from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). He is also seeking a presidential pardon from Donald Trump, and plans to represent himself in the lawsuit.[28] The lawsuit specifies damages by the USFWS of $79 million for the loss of his tigers. He also demands $15 million for false imprisonment and a litany of other charges including the death of his mother, Shirley. The lawsuit also accuses his former business partner, Jeff Lowe, of switching his medicine with illegal drugs and ruining his property.[29][30]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Moor, Robert (September 3, 2019). "American Animals Joe Exotic bred lions, tigers, and ligers at his roadside zoo. He was a modern Barnum who found an equally extraordinary nemesis". Intelligencer. Retrieved January 24, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c Brulliard, Karin (January 22, 2020). "Zookeeper who killed tigers and tried to have rival murdered is sentenced to 22 years in prison". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Reigstad, Leif (March 13, 2019). "Joe Exotic: A Dark Journey into the World of a Man Gone Wild". Texas Monthly. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d Steele, Tom (April 3, 2020). "Before he was Joe Exotic, 'Tiger King' star owned Arlington pet stores". The Dallas Morning News. Dallas, Texas. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
  5. ^ Kaplan, Michael (March 19, 2020). "Everything you need to know about Netflix's new Joe Exotic doc, 'Tiger King'". New York Post. Retrieved March 20, 2020.
  6. ^ a b c Guynup, Sharon (November 14, 2019). "Captive tigers in the U.S. outnumber those in the wild. It's a problem". National Geographic. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
  7. ^ "AWA Docket No. 05-0014 Consent Decision and Order" (PDF). United States Department of Agriculture. January 26, 2006. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
  8. ^ Adams, Sam. "Behind the Music of the Tiger King". Slate. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  9. ^ Bruney, Gabrielle (March 28, 2020). "Joe Exotic's 'Here Kitty Kitty' Music Video Might Be the Best Part of Tiger King". Esquire. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  10. ^ "Disappearance on Easy Street". WTSP. November 1, 2002. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  11. ^ https://transition.fec.gov/pubrec/fe2016/2016presgeresults.pdf
  12. ^ "State Election Results, Statewide Primary Election, June 26, 2018". Ok.gov. Retrieved April 5, 2020.
  13. ^ a b Clay, Nolan (April 3, 2019). "Joe Exotic found guilty in murder-for-hire case". The Oklahoman. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
  14. ^ https://www.ok.gov/elections/support/ok_results_seb.html
  15. ^ Clay, Nolan; Wallace, Josh (September 7, 2018). "Joe Exotic, former Oklahoma gubernatorial candidate, indicted, accused in murder-for-hire plot". The Oklahoman. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
  16. ^ "Jail View". jailview.srso.net. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  17. ^ Madani, Doha (January 22, 2020). "Wildlife park owner 'Joe Exotic' sentenced to 22 years in plot to kill animal rights activist". NBC News. Retrieved January 24, 2020.
  18. ^ "'Joe Exotic' sentenced to 22 years in federal prison on murder-for-hire, wildlife charges". ABC KOCO News 5. January 22, 2020. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
  19. ^ Federal Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator (https://www.bop.gov/inmateloc/); Register Number: 26154-017
  20. ^ Pham, Jason (March 31, 2020). "'Tiger King' Season 2 Will Be 'Just as Dramatic' as the First, According to the Producers".
  21. ^ Turner, Laura Jane (April 1, 2020). "The Tiger King documentary left out information about Joe Exotic and his husbands". Digital Spy. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
  22. ^ a b Patrick (December 7, 2017). "Joe Exotic is getting married on Monday…". The Lost Ogle. Retrieved January 24, 2020.
  23. ^ Keeping, Juliana (October 7, 2017). "Shooting death at Wynnewood zoo under investigation". The Oklahoman. Retrieved January 24, 2020.
  24. ^ "Tiger King on Netflix: what happened to Joe Exotic's husbands John Finlay and Travis Maldonado?". www.yorkshirepost.co.uk.
  25. ^ "Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness". Netflix. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
  26. ^ Miller, Julie (March 10, 2020). "Netflix's Wild Tiger King Is Your Next True Crime TV Obsession". Vanity Fair. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
  27. ^ "Joe Exotic, tiger breeder who appeared in Louis Theroux documentary, facing trial over alleged murder plot". ABC News. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
  28. ^ Denney, Andrew (March 26, 2020). "'Tiger King' star Joe Exotic files $94M lawsuit, wants presidential pardon". New York Post. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  29. ^ Martoccio, Angie (March 26, 2020). "'Tiger King' Star Joe Exotic Sues Government Agencies, Former Business Partner". Rolling Stone. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  30. ^ Pelisek, Christine (March 26, 2020). "Joe Exotic of Tiger King Files $94M Lawsuit from Prison, Claims Civil Rights Violations". People. Retrieved March 29, 2020.

External links

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