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For anyone who’s watched Netflix’s Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness, one thing is abundantly clear: Joseph Maldonado-Passage‘s fixation with Carole Baskin ran deep. And its culmination — Maldonado-Passage serving 22 years in prison after being found guilty in 2019 for paying a man $3,000 to kill the Big Cat Rescue founder — may have been a long time coming.
“Carole was the first thing on his mind every morning and the last thing on his mind every night,” Kelci “Saff” Saffery tells PEOPLE in this week’s cover story of his former employer, Maldonado-Passage, a.k.a. Joe Exotic.
Like Saffery, those around Maldonado-Passage and his zoo, the Garold Wayne Exotic Animal Memorial Park in Wynnewood, Oklahoma, grew increasingly concerned about his feud with Baskin, which included posting threatening videos and creating a company that mimicked Big Cat Rescue’s name and logo (for which Maldonado-Passage lost a million-dollar trademark lawsuit in 2011), from an early stage.
“When I first met Joe, he was all about the animals, and he was one of the most kindhearted, lovable, smartest guys in the industry,” says Maldonado-Passage’s friend Tim Stark, a former zoo owner. “When he started doing battle with Carole, I told him he was going to get his ass kicked. He just kept going on. He didn’t listen.”
“Joe wanted to be the big cat and he wanted to show Carole Baskin,” Stark adds.
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joe exotic and carole baskin
“Joe had a really bad hatred towards Carole Baskin and a lot of us knew it was going to head in a bad direction,” John Finlay says of his ex-husband and former employer at the zoo. “A lot of people told him he needs to stop or slow down and think about what’s going on.”
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Carole Baskin/Facebook Carole Baskin
When Maldonado-Passage, 57, found himself swimming in debt after the trademark lawsuit, his hatred of Baskin took a dark turn. “Joe lost all concept of reality,” Stark says. “From that point forward, Joe’s life was controlled by desperation to do whatever he could to protect the zoo — anything and everything.”
And a few years later, when Maldonado-Passage ran for President of the United States in 2015, things became clear to zoo staff, Finlay says, that he had “started losing sight of what really mattered: the animals.”
Saffery mirrors that sentiment, saying both Maldonado-Passage and Baskin began their feud as animal lovers “standing up for what they believed was right. “But 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.”
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Netflix Joseph Maldonado-Passage
From jail, Maldonado-Passage recently filed a lawsuit against various government agencies, as well as former business partner Jeff Lowe, seeking $94 million in damages. And he told Netflix on March 22 (and posted April 3) that he is ready to put his rivalry with Baskin in his rearview.
“I’m done with the Carole Baskin saga,” he said. “It’s now time to turn the tables and Joe get out of jail a free man and exonerated from all these charges.”
Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness is streaming now on Netflix.
Related slideshow: Stars of Tiger King: Where Are They Now?
Tiger King
Joseph “Joe Exotic” Maldonado-Passage
Joe Exotic was found guilty in 2019 for paying a hitman $3,000 to kill his rival, Carole Baskin, an animal activist and big-cat lover who runs a sanctuary called the Big Cat Rescue in Tampa, Florida. The hit did not go through, and he is currently serving 22 years for the attempted murder plot.
Joe was also found guilty of killing tigers to make room for more big cats at his exotic animal park in Oklahoma.
Since the release of the docuseries, he has filed a federal lawsuit against various government agencies, as well as his former business partner. In his complaint, he is seeking $94 million in damages.
According to the lawsuit obtained by PEOPLE, the former zookeeper and country music singer claimed $73,840,000 is for loss of personal property; 18 years of research; and care of 200 generic tigers and cross-breeds for 365 days a year, at a boarding rate of $60/day per animal.
The additional $15 million is for false arrest, false imprisonment, selective enforcement and the death of his mother, Shirley.
The lawsuit, which was filed against the U.S. Department of Interior, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and government agents, accuses them of violating his civil rights.
Carole Baskin
The seven-episode series focuses on the long-standing, increasingly bitter rivalry between Baskin — who runs the exotic sanctuary, Big Cat Rescue, in Citrus Park, Florida, and Joe, the now-imprisoned zookeeper.
Baskin’s then-husband, self-made millionaire Don Lewis, vanished without a trace in August 1997, soon after the couple decided to divorce. At the time, relatives of Lewis questioned whether Baskin may have been involved, and whether she may have fed his remains to her tigers.
Lewis’ disappearance remains unsolved.
Baskin continues to run Big Cat Rescue (alongside her husband Howard Baskin), but says she’s haunted by some of the past traumas the Netflix series dredged up.
In a statement provided to PEOPLE, Baskin said, “A lifelong animal lover, I was immediately drawn to the possibility of exposing the misery caused by the rampant breeding of big cat cubs for exploitation and the awful lives these majestic creatures are forced to endure in roadside zoos and back yards.”
Baskin added, “There are no words for how disappointing it is to see that the series not only does not do any of that, but has instead chosen to be as salacious and sensational as possible to draw in viewers. As part of that, they devoted an entire segment to 23-year-old lies and innuendos suggesting I was involved in my husband Don’s 1997 disappearance.”
Bhagavan “Doc” Antle
The downfall of Joe Exotic isn’t the only focal point of the docuseries. Viewers also met Bhagavan “Doc” Antle, who runs The Institute for Greatly Endangered and Rare Species, T.I.G.E.R.S., in South Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Antle has been called out by Baskin and PETA for exploting animals. Baskin also claims in the docuseries that Antle is the most notorious big cat cub breeder.
Aside from his work with animals, Antle quickly became an internet senstation for his multiple wives.
Antle has since released a statement about the docuseries on Facebook, explaining “We are very disappointed that our facility was mentioned in the new Netflix series. We can only assume it is because Doc Antle has been such a high profile wildlife personality.”
Jeff Lowe
Jeff Lowe stepped in to save Joe’s zoo before the subsequent murder-for-hire incident. After hearing of Joe’s financial troubles, Lowe decided to invest in the zoo and keep some of his own animals there. After Joe filed for bankruptcy, Lowe bought the Oklahoma zoo. When he later learned that Joe was being investigated for the murder-for-hire plot, he became an informant and his work ultimately led to Joe’s arrest.
Today, Lowe is still running the zoo, which is the largest privately-owned animal park in the U.S.
Joshua Dial
Dial served as Joe’s campaign manager when the Oklahoma zookeeper ran for president in 2016 and govenor in 2017. Dial, a former Walmart employee, also witnessed the death of Joe’s 23-year-old husband Travis Maldonado.
“I have tried to move on, and I have been successful so far. I was given a new life and a second chance when I met my fiancé; I have no desire to bring any of that pain into my life,” Dial told Oxygen.com.
He currently resides in Oklahoma, but no longer dreams of working in politics.
John Finlay
Throughout the docuseries, viewers are introuced to Joe’s lovers, including his now ex-husband Finlay.
Finlay, who was candid about his use of methamphetamines during his relationship with Joe, was filmed in the series with multiple missing teeth.
However, in a new photo obtained by TMZ, Finlay revealed that he underwent a dental transformation thanks to dentures in July 2019.
He also told TMZ that the cause of his missing teeth was not from drug use (he said he hasn’t used any in six years), but a result of genetics.
Finlay joined the G.W. Exotic Animal Park staff in 2003 at 19 years old. According to a profile in Texas Monthly, within a month, Finlay moved in with Joe and the two began a relationship. In December 2013, the pair entered a throuple with then 19-year-old Travis Maldonado, who came to the animal park from California.
In response to the docuseries, Finlay launched a Facebook page called The Truth About John Finlay, in which he revealed he is now married to a woman.
“She is my wife, more then [sic] I could have ever hoped to find, my soul mate and true love,” Finley wrote.
Kelci “Saff” Saffery
Saffery lost part of his arm when he stuck his hand in a tiger cage in order to close the door.
“It’s not the tiger’s fault on my end… you don’t have to put it down. It wasn’t put down. We just moved it off of the park,” Saffery explained during an appearance on Lights Out with David Spade.
Saffery still works for the zoo today, Variety reported.
Rick Kirkham
Kirkham had been producing a reality series called Joe Exotic, Tiger King.
Aside from his work with Joe, Kirkham received his degree in Broadcast Journalism from University of Central Oklahoma in 1981, according to his LinkedIn account. He later became a crime reporter for NBC and ABC News.
Today, he works as a freelance reporter in Norway where he lives with his wife, according to his Facebook page.
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