Tiger King 1x6

1. OKLAHOMA, 2019

2. I was asked to bail Jeff out of jail two times.

3. The very first time was when he beat up

4. and strangled his first wife, Kathy Lowe.

5. She went to confront him

6. because he was being Mr. Showoff with Lauren,

7. his mistress at that time.

8. But he got violent with her.

9. And then, the second time was in Vegas.

10. They caught him sneaking cubs into the hotels and shit.

11. Lauren and I had leased a big home in Las Vegas.

12. We had tigers in our house, and it got me in trouble.

13. Animal control stormed the place like we were El Chapo,

14. because I had two baby cats up there.

15. The animals weren't all that was taken.

16. Marshals impounded multiple semi-automatic handguns and rifles.

17. You know what?

18. I should've took that as a very strong warning.

19. He is a predator.

20. A hardcore predator.

21. When Jeff Lowe came back from getting in trouble in Vegas

22. is when all hell broke loose.

23. Ever since then, it's been a Jeff Lowe world,

24. and that's when... it all went to hell.

25. Jeffrey Lowe, I am adjudicating you guilty

26. and I'm ordering that you surrender any animals that were confiscated.

27. You will stay out of trouble.

28. That means no illegal activity.

29. If you do that, at the end of the year,

30. I will vacate the jail time.

31. If not, you will serve the 179 days.

32. Do you understand my order?

33. I do.

34. When Lauren and I came back from Las Vegas,

35. Joe was locking me out of the online bank accounts.

36. So we'd snuck back and went to the bank.

37. I wanted 12 months' worth of bank statements

38. because he wasn't providing me the statements.

39. I went up to my cashier.

40. She goes, "You all okay over there?" I said, "Yeah, why?" She goes...

41. "Hmm." She goes, "I'm thinking that Joe was being investigated by somebody."

42. And I looked at Lauren and I said,

43. "By who?" And she goes, "There was a federal warrant."

44. I said, "Really? Can you tell me what it was about?"

45. She goes, "That's all I know. I don't know any more."

46. So, the Feds were watching him.

47. You're gonna get me in fucking trouble, Joe!

48. - And I came here to save your ass! - How am I—

49. You forged my name 20 fucking times on cashed checks.

50. Just in that 12 months

51. while he was running for the governor of Oklahoma,

52. we found, I think, 88,000-some dollars in misappropriated spending.

53. You're gonna do whatever the fuck you want without even asking me, and it's wrong!

54. You are a shitty fucking partner.

55. So, I can put some of my money...

56. I don't give a flying fuck!

57. You lost that when you fucked with Carole Baskin.

58. That's not my fault!

59. It's your fault.

60. You can't funnel and embezzle money!

61. I came here to bail your ass out.

62. You would be fucking who knows where without me,

63. and you even said it before I went to Las Vegas.

64. You're not going to fuck me.

65. You're not gonna put me in trouble and then treat me like shit. Asshole!

66. I have everything covered, Jeff.

67. He'd spent $60,000 in campaign brochures

68. and printing and signs and t-shirts and condoms with his picture on it.

69. It says campaign.

70. Paid by the Park.

71. That's illegal!

72. And it's my ass!

73. They already told me

74. you're being investigated for something else,

75. but they wouldn't tell me what it is,

76. and when the shit hits the fan, I don't need another felony.

77. Let's take off. I'll move.

78. Move! Then do it, and I'll run this park the right way.

79. Jeff Lowe was getting downright ugly...

80. right there in front of everybody else.

81. Right before Joe got kicked off the park,

82. he took and burned all of the records

83. because he didn't want us to be able to prove the embezzlement.

84. Shit, I think he burned laptops. I think he burned transfer papers.

85. I'm sure Joe knew more than what he was telling me.

86. I didn't have a clue where he was going, what he was gonna do.

87. He comes in the office, distraught, tears in his eyes.

88. Never seen this except for when Travis killed himself.

89. Wipe all the computers, get outta here.

90. He said, "I don't know what's about to happen,

91. but Jeff Lowe's taken the park from me."

92. The last two days, you could tell he was fixing to leave, to bolt,

93. and he was trying to gather up anything he could get ahold of to sell.

94. He really, really got paranoid,

95. like a little birdy had told him something's wrong.

96. Joe had a truck come in here,

97. so he could pick up animals in the middle of the night.

98. - Okay. Here she comes, 'kay? - Back up.

99. He shipped all them money cats out

100. because they were all worth three and four thousand dollars apiece,

101. and he shipped out quite a few.

102. - My little gal. Good, good. - Come on, girl.

103. We transported a bunch of different animals.

104. I took two baby tigers to California.

105. There was $5,000 exchanged in Branson, Missouri.

106. We thought we were helping Joe out.

107. I mean, we didn't know everything going on.

108. We thought Jeff literally was taking everything away from him.

109. You got six minutes.

110. - Six minutes before he... - Three ccs.

111. I'm giving him five.

112. - Keep him looking at you. - Come on, Bubba.

113. - Attaboy. - Going right in his shoulder.

114. I'm sorry.

115. That was the last day that Joe was allowed in the park.

116. I told Joe, "You come on this property again, I'll shoot you in the head."

117. "He's threatening to kill me. If I come back, he's gonna kill me."

118. You damn right. I would have killed him.

119. Whatever Jeff Lowe told him scared the living hell out of him.

120. Joe was gone. Just gone.

121. He won't tell anybody where he's at, not even me,

122. and that's probably the last time I will ever see Joe Exotic.

123. There's just some things that I'd rather just be left unsaid.

124. Some mistakes were made

125. and some attitudes got out of hand.

126. Rather than argue or be accused of stuff,

127. I just decided to walk away.

128. The cats were my responsibility, no matter who owns that zoo.

129. 'Cause I'm the one who bred him and brought him into this world.

130. So I feel obligated that I need to make sure that he's safe and secure.

131. JOE'S HUSBAND

132. Get up. Get up, boy, and get some lunch.

133. It's lunch.

134. I'm glad to see him finally in his final spot.

135. This is where they're gonna stay.

136. You know, there was just—

137. There was a lot of threats thrown around, and I just—

138. would rather just get away.

139. Got new phones, got—

140. They can't track me. They can't do nothing.

141. There you go.

142. Joe, you don't seem like your regular self.

143. Just... 20 years of blood, sweat, and tears, and every dime I had...

144. - I am done. I'm done. - You're done.

145. Who's the winner in this?

146. - Is it Carole? Is it PETA? Is it Jeff? - Nobody.

147. - Who? - In the long run,

148. it's gonna be the animal rights people...

149. are gonna be the winners of this,

150. because they're gonna end up with the property

151. because nobody can afford the lawyer bills.

152. What about Carole?

153. I still think that she deserves to sit in jail for killing her husband.

154. But I truly believe in karma.

155. And a few people got some karma coming.

156. You all right, bud? You want some water?

157. Joe was on the run, and he told everyone

158. that Jeff had a hit out on him,

159. and Jeff was gonna kill him, and that's why he left the park.

160. You know, why does an innocent guy buy a burner phone?

161. We tried to narrow down where he was,

162. but we could just never pinpoint his location.

163. You know, Joe cries victim,

164. that everybody's trying to take my zoo,

165. and everybody's trying to do this and that.

166. Jeff Lowe already owned the zoo.

167. Joe just wanted to put it in somebody's name,

168. and... and continue to be the tiger queen, I mean tiger king.

169. He thought he was more powerful than anybody because he was Tiger King.

170. But that was just all in his head.

171. HANDYMAN | G.W. ZOO

172. Among a bunch of other bad things.

173. - Yeah. - Sorry. My phone cut out.

174. Listen, I just went to the zoo.

175. Yeah, they already called and said you'd been there.

176. That's how fast word travels down here.

177. Um, I'm gonna—

178. I don't want anybody getting Jeff all riled up.

179. All right.

180. You don't understand These people are dangerous.

181. What is it? It's not obvious?

182. You're not gonna notice, huh? Okay.

183. Joe is the man who started this place...

184. about 20 years ago.

185. And he has just recently retired.

186. Now we have new owners, and they're awesome.

187. I was a little nervous about it, I'll admit,

188. but they are awesome and easygoing, so it's all good.

189. Customers would ask where Joe was.

190. Is he coming back?

191. "Oh, he retired..."

192. is what the workers were told to say.

193. As soon as he was gone,

194. anything and everything that had his image went on the burn pile.

195. Word on the street is that Joe left to get his ass out of trouble.

196. The day after Joe left,

197. Jeff and Lauren pulled together the morning meeting

198. and they said, "Look, Joe Exotic is going down."

199. Instantly, I just have an icy cold stabbing feeling going through my heart.

200. It was just... "Christ Almighty, what has Joe gotten into?"

201. Joe's MIA.

202. - Lot of rumors going around he— - Wait, are you filming?

203. - You're getting sound? - Yup.

204. Somebody better be rolling.

205. Joe used money from the zoo, running for president and governor.

206. Is Joe nervous about that? I don't know. I mean...

207. Only Joe knows the truth, so he's either nervous about that

208. or he's nervous about getting his ass kicked, I don't know.

209. What are some of the rumors?

210. Supposedly, I guess he hired...

211. he solicited somebody to kill Carole Baskin.

212. I'm just saying this from hearsay because I don't know for a fact.

213. I'm almost positive that's why the Feds are sniffing around.

214. I mean, we've all said it. "Somebody needs to kill the bitch."

215. I can't tell you how many times everybody said it.

216. You know, nobody's ever just really said

217. how they're gonna kill 'em. They just said,

218. "I wish somebody'd kill that bitch. I wish the bitch was dead."

219. - You just heard it a lot. - From who?

220. From all— I mean, from everybody.

221. I've even said it before. I wish the bitch were dead.

222. There was times that Joe would joke around about it,

223. about taking out Carole Baskin.

224. Joe had some pretty twisted ideas,

225. but... I just took it as jokes.

226. Do I believe that Joe hired someone to kill someone? No.

227. No, Joe doesn't have that in him, one bit.

228. But do I believe that Joe had a conversation with someone

229. and said, "Man, I wish Carole was dead"? Absolutely. He said it a hundred times.

230. One time I was in the park, and Joe's talking to me.

231. He says, "Hey, I hear you can take care of a problem for me in Florida."

232. I said, "What problem would that be?" He said, "Carole Baskin."

233. I said, "No, I can't.

234. I can't and I won't."

235. Being around him, and I was around him quite a bit,

236. you see sides of him.

237. When I do become psychotic, that's my "going to Tampa" gun.

238. You really couldn't tell with Joe

239. if he was serious or wasn't serious half the time.

240. Do you think Joe was acting entirely alone?

241. Some people who were working with Joe were criminals.

242. Jeff Lowe is a felon.

243. He's done numerous things.

244. I know he strangled his first wife in the past.

245. Allen, Jeff Lowe's right-hand man, he's a felon.

246. I don't know for a fact, but James Garretson ought to be a felon.

247. Not only did he get in trouble for pulling a gun on somebody,

248. this the same man that sold me a stolen Hummer...

249. and till this day, I still think there's a case pending

250. in Garvin county over it.

251. They're just all crooked, you know?

252. There's a bunch of rats in the neighborhood.

253. - James. What's happening? - What's going on?

254. Not much.

255. - How's business? - It's not bad.

256. It's a grind like everything else.

257. Just grind, grind, grind.

258. I heard that Joe tried to hire someone to kill Carole.

259. He's been trying to get somebody to kill Carole for years, all right?

260. When Jeff came along...

261. everybody thought Jeff was this multi-millionaire

262. and had all this money... Blah, blah.

263. And whenever Jeff got around, Joe got a big head and...

264. those two...

265. were trying to get Carole whacked.

266. Why are you so convinced of that?

267. Because I was the only one there.

268. You were actually there?

269. Yeah.

270. The first time I met and discussed the whole murder for hire,

271. we were sitting in the meeting.

272. Joe is in his little office back there. Jeff Lowe is right here,

273. and they were talking about the easiest way to kill Carole.

274. Hey, all you cool cats and kittens, it's Carole from Big Cat Rescue and I...

275. It was a day where she was riding her bicycle down a bicycle path,

276. and she's riding like the Wicked Witch of the West,

277. and Joe says, "Look at this bitch.

278. She rides this entire bike trail and there's nobody around."

279. He says, "That's where you gotta hit her. That's where I gotta get her.

280. Somebody take a shot from the bushes, and get her right there."

281. And then Jeff Lowe goes to Google Earth and...

282. shows the bike path right by Big Cat Rescue and stuff.

283. And he's like, "You can sit right here and then shoot her while she's riding."

284. So Jeff Lowe knew more about the schematics than anything.

285. That was because I was the only one smart enough

286. to bring up the picture on Google Earth and show it to Travis.

287. Travis says, "I can shoot her from there, I can shoot her from there." Joe's like,

288. "You're not shooting her because you're my husband

289. and you'll go to jail forever."

290. I was back at my desk minding my own business...

291. because none of that's on my computer.

292. It's all Jeff Lowe,

293. but Jeff Lowe's had time to remove that all from his computer now.

294. Joe talked about killing this woman...

295. if it wasn't a daily basis, it was definitely every week.

296. He says, "Well, the bitch still lives another day,"

297. and he says, "I'll find somebody."

298. He just wasn't shy about it.

299. Well...

300. Joe brought it up several times.

301. Did I know anybody that could kill the lady?

302. I just put it off, as y'know, bullshit.

303. I came in the office one day, and he's like,

304. "I got this crossbow.

305. You could use this on her nature trail, wherever she walks.

306. You could shoot her with this, nobody'd ever see you."

307. I'm like, "What the fuck?"

308. Okay, I can see me walking around Florida with a fucking...

309. camouflage suit on, okay. But a fucking crossbow?

310. Gimme a break.

311. Allen Glover, he's an old time employee of Jeff. Jeff knows him real well.

312. Supposedly since he has a teardrop tattoo,

313. he's killed somebody before.

314. Joe came to me one day.

315. Just out of the blue he says, "You think Allen can kill somebody?"

316. I said, "Is he capable of it?" I said, "Of course. Who's not?"

317. I said, "I'll cut her fucking head off for ya if you want."

318. And he was all into that.

319. I said, "Would you like me to bring it back?"

320. "No, no, get rid of it in the swamp!"

321. I was like, "Okay...

322. Will do."

323. So Joe put a picture of her property on Facebook

324. and it said, "Finally found where the bitch lives."

325. What the fuck are you doing, you know? What are you, stupid?

326. I love the cute hat!

327. Truth be told, it'd be better for the animal industry

328. if Carole was dead.

329. Little hearts on the bottom.

330. But it started to concern me enough

331. when I realized that Joe has become a complete liability.

332. We're not done yet. We're still gonna dig up Carole's ass.

333. Before I'm done with this,

334. I'm gonna have the bitch's head in a jar.

335. Joe probably thought I was loyal to him and I would never turn on him.

336. I told Lauren, I said, "You know what? I'm calling James Garretson

337. and I want to meet."

338. So Jeff Lowe decided, "Hey, let's meet at Applebee's."

339. Jeff Lowe claims Joe's doing all this illegal stuff.

340. He said, "I want to get rid of that zoo. I want to get out of that headache."

341. And I said, "Call Carole Baskin and tell her for half a million bucks,

342. I will hand her Joe on a silver platter

343. with all the crimes I know he's committed."

344. I said, "Sure I'll do it." He offered me $100,000 to do it.

345. Carole's phone rang and saw that it was the 405 number

346. and did not answer it,

347. and then a text came in that said,

348. "If you want information against Joe, return the call."

349. We sent that to the law enforcement.

350. I waited another day, and then I get a call.

351. I'm like, "Who is this?"

352. And he says, "I'm special agent Matt Brown, US Fish and Wildlife."

353. I'm like, "Really?"

354. Special agents of the Fish and Wildlife Service

355. have very similar powers to FBI agents.

356. It's just they're mostly focused on animals, not people.

357. This agent shows up here at my shop.

358. We talk.

359. He's like, "You're in a lot of fucking trouble."

360. For what reason?

361. Well, here's the deal.

362. I don't have anything to do with any of this.

363. Other than the lemur I got my ass in a pinch,

364. and the Feds fucking twisted my arm over that and shit.

365. I had bought a lemur with bogus paperwork.

366. They said, you know, I'm probably going to get a charge.

367. My lawyer told me,

368. "You got to do what they want. They got your fucking ass hammered."

369. I don't agree with the laws.

370. I hate the fucking USDA.

371. I don't like the government.

372. That's me personally, but—

373. What do you fucking do?

374. I thought about it for a couple weeks,

375. and I was like, "Do I want to get involved in this?"

376. And I thought it was the noble thing to do.

377. So, I signed up to be a confidential informant.

378. I was told to record all conversations with Joe and Jeff.

379. Had to keep track of 'em and figure out what they were planning.

380. Who is James Garretson in all of this,

381. and why is he working for the Feds?

382. What?

383. That's news for me.

384. I would say James Garretson's involvement

385. is to get himself out of trouble, if he's involved.

386. He's got so much on him, he don't know how he was going to get out of it,

387. so he come up with all this undercover stuff

388. just to cover his own ass.

389. This has nothing to do with that lemur.

390. James is the mastermind behind illegal credit cards.

391. He sold John Reinke a stolen Hummer.

392. As far as I know they could've busted him with a whole bunch of stolen shit.

393. Everything about him is a lie.

394. The man is just a walking Chucky doll, dude.

395. If I stole a Hummer, don't you think I'd be charged? Come on.

396. The guy's delusional.

397. So back in 2017, Joe was just running for office.

398. Everybody looked at him like a clown.

399. He could put his face on billboards,

400. have a limousine to carry himself around, he can be the big hero,

401. but he's really trying to find somebody to kill Carole Baskin.

402. All I knew

403. is Joe had already picked Allen Glover for the hit.

404. So I told the FBI Glover was gonna actually do it.

405. Nobody at the park knew about the undercover stuff.

406. Not even Jeff Lowe.

407. TAMPA, FLORIDA

408. I was sitting at my desk when the phone rang,

409. and it was the FBI.

410. They felt there was an effort by Joe to kill Carole.

411. So when I'm told, "Well there's a credible threat now,"

412. I'm like, "There's been a credible threat all this time.

413. You just caught on to it in the last few days."

414. We were aware that this was a possibility. It's just that call

415. seriously elevated this.

416. We reached out to Ms. Baskin in, I want to say, November of 2017.

417. And this was at the point where we'd heard

418. some recorded phone calls and conversations

419. between Mr. Garretson and Mr. Maldonado-Passage

420. indicating that there was, in fact, a plot coming together.

421. If Mr. Glover was leaving to commit this murder,

422. Mr. Garretson would have knowledge of that.

423. First I heard that Glover was gonna knife her.

424. And then I heard a gun. Joe, he didn't really get into detail.

425. I think he was just leaving that up to the hit man.

426. And when I talked to Glover, Glover was mean and nasty.

427. He said, "If anybody at the park rats me out, or whatever,

428. I'll kill every one of these motherfuckers."

429. And he was drinking a lot, doing a lot of cocaine.

430. When you're in that state...

431. and he didn't have anything to lose, you know?

432. The plan was...

433. Hide. Hunt.

434. Find this woman.

435. And Joe fucking put his trust in me to do it.

436. Carole stopped riding her bicycle to and from.

437. We put in security cameras.

438. We kept guns by the bed,

439. and we carried guns in our car.

440. I got out of my car to get gas

441. and this guy starts coming toward me.

442. The whole time he's approaching me

443. I'm thinking, "At what point is he close enough

444. that I should just turn this gas nozzle into his face?"

445. And naturally, if someone is approaching you,

446. now you're thinking, "Could this be the hit man?"

447. And then Allen Glover disappeared.

448. Fish and Game guys were like, "Fuck, what's going on?"

449. They didn't want him to get down there and kill Carole

450. because they knew about it.

451. They could arrest him.

452. I had heard through the whistle-blowers

453. that one of Joe's tacks that he would take against me

454. would be to drug me with ketamine,

455. which is a paralyzing agent

456. so that they could put me into the back of a car

457. and drive me out into a swamp,

458. where they could cut my body into pieces.

459. We were just trying to track Glover's whereabouts,

460. like where he's at. Was he down in Tampa?

461. But he's not responding.

462. So it was a big shit show.

463. I knew that he was out there.

464. I knew that he was deranged.

465. I knew that somebody really wants me dead.

466. There was a noise out on our porch,

467. which is right outside where our bed is.

468. It sounded like someone had broken through the screen,

469. and I woke up to see Carole there, holding her gun,

470. - and it turned out to be two— - Dang near shot the neighbor's dog.

471. You don't have to worry about the barking dog

472. so much as the one that's quiet.

473. Those are the people that worry me.

474. Eventually, I made contact with Allen Glover.

475. I was just supposed to small talk with him.

476. No matter what I really said, just to keep him talking.

477. All the text messages were given to the government.

478. TIRED OF THIS SHIT.

479. The conversation that had occurred with Mr. Glover

480. seemed to indicate that plot was over.

481. Mr. Glover was just going back home to South Carolina,

482. and the agents agreed this plot had fallen apart.

483. Apparently, I chickened the fuck out and didn't make it there.

484. I started partying instead.

485. I was pretty fucking scatterbrained.

486. It's fucked up, the way things happened, but it happened out for the best.

487. At that point, the case stopped.

488. Glover ended up in a totally different state.

489. In murder for hire,

490. the federal prosecutors don't wanna bring a case

491. unless it's rock solid,

492. and to get to that point,

493. things have to happen like transfer of money.

494. I thought the plot stopped with Glover,

495. but the Feds wanted me to put in an undercover agent.

496. I picked him up, we rode in my car.

497. I was like, "Hey, Joe, this is my guy.

498. This is the guy who will whack Carole for you."

499. "Really? How much?"

500. They did discuss various details

501. that Mr. Passage should buy some burner phones,

502. or that Mr. Passage should obtain an unregistered pistol from a flea market,

503. and that he would pay him some upfront money.

504. We started out at 5,000 down and 5,000 when she's dead.

505. "Well, let me sell some tigers, and I'll get you $10,000."

506. He was negotiating.

507. He was trying to get the best deal.

508. They discussed in detail:

509. "Follow her into a parking lot, cap her, and drive off."

510. They had the talk, and then they negotiated the price,

511. and... that was the wrap.

512. But why did you need a special agent to pose as a hit man?

513. That was gonna be the nail in the coffin...

514. but there was supposed to be payment.

515. The government doesn't have any evidence

516. that Mr. Passage actually obtained any of the phones or the pistol,

517. and certainly that he did not give any money

518. to the undercover agent.

519. Over the ensuing months,

520. I would just check in with the FBI

521. and make sure that this was still active and happening.

522. We kept waiting for the arrest,

523. but there were months where nothing happened.

524. It just dragged on forever, and it wasn't gonna happen.

525. So we all thought they backed off the plan.

526. So about the same time that the FBI was waiting on Joe,

527. Jeff was dealing with all the problems in Vegas.

528. I am adjudicating you guilty.

529. You will stay out of trouble.

530. That means no illegal activity.

531. If not, you will serve the 179 days.

532. Do you understand my orders?

533. I do.

534. The judge says, "Stay out of trouble for a year."

535. We loaded up stuff and we left.

536. When we came back here from Las Vegas,

537. I had one of my semi-daily conversations with James Garretson.

538. 'Cause we were kind of close at the time. We talked quite a bit.

539. I told Jeff some things that were in confidence.

540. Like what?

541. I said, "I'm working undercover with the Feds and Fish and Game."

542. I told him that they already knew about the plan to kill Carole Baskin.

543. They knew everybody involved.

544. And I said, "Why haven't they come to me?"

545. And he says, "They want to."

546. I asked him if he wanted to cooperate and he said...

547. I'm dying to talk to them and tell them what I know.

548. When Jeff Lowe got in trouble in Las Vegas,

549. he was looking at jail time there and a big fine.

550. I promise you, he's trying to squash that bullshit in Las Vegas

551. by feeding them Joe. I mean,

552. there's a motive behind their madness, I promise you.

553. I trusted James.

554. And he said, "Look, they asked me to bring Joe a hit man,"

555. and had Joe

556. pulled a five dollar bill out of his pocket as a deposit...

557. that would have been the impetus to storm the park,

558. but because he didn't commit the overt act of...

559. of actually paying,

560. they had to wait.

561. It was right after that I told James

562. that the day before Allen left,

563. Joe paid him to go kill Carole.

564. James brought the FBI,

565. and I started spilling my guts.

566. The Feds had me call Allen

567. and try to find out Allen's side of the story.

568. And he says, "Can you get me immunity?" I said, "I can't."

569. I said, "That's not my position." I said,

570. "But the closest thing you're gonna get to immunity

571. is if you come back and help these guys,"

572. I said, "because they don't want you, they want Joe."

573. - They know all about Joe. - Right.

574. What I recommend strongly...

575. You don't wanna be on Joe's side when this comes down.

576. You wanna be on the government's side.

577. - I gotcha. - What that— What that means...

578. is you've gotta tell me, like,

579. when he, I don't wanna put any words in your mouth, so...

580. like, let's just say from the very first time he approached you,

581. what he said, and I'll let you go.

582. He would ask me, "Hey bro,

583. "you know anybody to go kill that woman for me?"

584. What did he offer in exchange?

585. Well, he was supposed to give me $5,000 cash to leave with.

586. But it's your understanding, when he gave you that money,

587. he did it for the purpose of you going down to Tampa and killing Carole Baskin.

588. Yeah, he gave me three grand.

589. Supposed to get $5,000, but he only got three.

590. But that wasn't about the fucking money.

591. It was about fucking him over.

592. Allen is Jeff's right-hand man.

593. That's what makes no sense to all this.

594. I'm going to hire a $3,000 crackhead to kill her?

595. But I knew something was going to come down sooner or later

596. because Jeff and James was con-artist buddies.

597. They record everything.

598. Because that's how they blackmail you.

599. You're fucked.

600. And you know how you thought James recorded you? You're right.

601. You are going to jail.

602. You'll hide all of this shit.

603. And then just tell me what you want me to hear.

604. What am I hiding?

605. You paid somebody to kill Carole Baskin.

606. That is not what I was talking about.

607. When I started asking him about where the money came from for the hit man,

608. you know, he didn't want to answer, he just turned his head.

609. I think that was the straw that broke the camel's back.

610. Not that he wasn't already planning on leaving,

611. but that's why he packed up and left.

612. The government did not know that Mr. Glover had, in fact,

613. been given money by Mr. Passage,

614. that he had given him a cellphone with photos of Carole Baskin.

615. None of that was known to the government until July of 2018.

616. That was obviously new information,

617. and we indicted him.

618. During the summer of 2018,

619. Mr. Passage had moved to a house within Oklahoma

620. and then rapidly broken his lease, packed up his things, and moved.

621. His social media posts seemed to be designed to indicate

622. that he was in Belize and that he was not where he was.

623. I had seen online all the pictures showing that they were in Belize.

624. I figured it was because he didn't want to be around any of it,

625. and he was hiding from everybody.

626. Before the Feds even said anything,

627. I knew the picture in Belize was bullshit.

628. I was like, "That's Florida water.

629. That's Panhandle water."

630. We all knew they were in Florida.

631. The Feds want you, they're gonna get you.

632. You can't hide.

633. The Fish and Wildlife and FBI had obtained phone numbers

634. that were believed to be associated with Mr. Passage,

635. and they do what they call pinging his phones off of cell towers

636. to try to determine his location.

637. And with the assistance of some local law enforcement,

638. he was arrested in a parking lot.

639. He said, "At 10:45, I pull into the hospital parking lot,

640. parked the truck and as I'm approaching the main entrance,

641. five cars and trucks surround me,

642. and one Gulf Breeze officer screams, 'Get on the ground.'

643. Three large officers kneel on my back

644. and all you could see is the barrel of the gun.

645. You would've thought they just caught Ted Bundy."

646. "Somehow, some way, I'm going to make this up to you.

647. I've never been more proud of being married to anyone

648. as I am of you. Let's hope—

649. Let's hope this all works out in Oklahoma.

650. Just never forget I love you."

651. What would you say to Joe now

652. - if you could talk to him about— - I would just hug him.

653. You know, that's what he needs.

654. He doesn't have any contact, and he's a very affectionate man.

655. So I would definitely just hug him as tight as I could.

656. Hey, everyone. It's Carole at Big Cat Rescue.

657. Today, Joseph Schreibvogel-Maldonado-Passage,

658. also known as Joe Exotic,

659. was arrested for seeking to hire someone to murder me.

660. We are enormously grateful to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,

661. the FBI for the many months of incredibly hard work

662. that went into this investigation.

663. Joseph Maldonado-Passage, perhaps better known as Joe Exotic—

664. - Joe Exotic— - Joe Exotic—

665. Joe Exotic—

666. The well-known 55-year-old former zoo owner

667. was taken into custody today.

668. Maldonado-Passage is being held without bond

669. and was appointed a public defender by a federal magistrate judge today.

670. A court date has not yet been set.

671. This pisses me off.

672. He thinks he's above the law.

673. I just can't believe he actually paid somebody to do it.

674. NEW AT 10:00

675. Hiya, Miss Silva, this is Joe Exotic

676. from your local jail in Chickasha, Oklahoma.

677. Joe Exotic makes good TV. He makes good news.

678. Even if it's a train wreck, you can't help but look.

679. They strip you butt naked, put you in a six-by-eight-foot concrete room

680. with no windows, no blankets, no nothing.

681. I am supposed to be in this country,

682. born, raised...

683. innocent until proven guilty.

684. And I've been stripped off my clothes, my rights, my identity, my dignity.

685. You can't get him to stop talking,

686. and if the cameras are rolling, even better.

687. Maldonado-Passage tells me he has a mountain of evidence

688. that will prove he was framed.

689. He says he's just counting down the days to his trial

690. so he can tell his side of the story.

691. Oh, I know what happened.

692. I've got three felons that want my zoo.

693. We are starting fresh, all brand new stuff.

694. Brand new attitudes. New employees.

695. The reputation of this zoo will be just dragged through the mud

696. with this whole Joe fiasco.

697. I want to get away from this...

698. Joe Exotic-haunted place.

699. So we're building a new zoo.

700. I envision a great big four or five million dollar zoo right now.

701. Jeff Lowe asked me if I wanted to be part of the new zoo.

702. I told him where I would build a zoo.

703. I'd build a zoo down in Thackerville by the WinStar,

704. so it's closer to the Texas border.

705. Oklahoma's poor.

706. You're gonna get all your customers from Texas anyways.

707. We found almost 40 acres

708. about one mile behind the WinStar casino.

709. Everything is gonna be huge, it's gonna be open,

710. it's gonna be the best that our money can afford.

711. We're gonna build that zoo in six months.

712. Once we move, it'll be a whole different ballgame.

713. Everybody will be comfortable.

714. It won't be no bullshit.

715. It will be nice.

716. Not like with Joe.

717. God, I hate that bitch.

718. Well, when I was told...

719. the FBI was involved, I went,

720. "Holy fucking shit."

721. They went there and took my story like three different times

722. to make sure it was fuckin' accurate

723. before they took it to the grand jury or jury or whatever the hell it is.

724. And all I did is like Jeff told me to do

725. is just come and tell them exactly what the fuck happened.

726. And... thank God I did.

727. I'd be sitting in there with fucking Joe.

728. Let me show and tell the whole thing.

729. Because then you'll get it.

730. Then you'll say, "Jesus fucking Christ, why are you in jail?"