Carole Baskin Wins Control Of Joe Exotic's Former Zoo From Jeff Lowe

Carole Baskin is to be handed control of Joe Exotic's former zoo from Jeff Lowe, a federal court has ruled.

A judge has today (Tuesday) passed judgement in a 2016 lawsuit between Big Cat Rescue Corp. and Shirley Schreibvogel, the mother of Exotic (real name Joseph Maldonado-Passage).

Judge Scott Palk ordered Jeff Lowe to vacate the GW Exotic Zoo in Wynnewood, Oklahoma, and hand over control to Baskin's sanctuary, Big Cat Rescue.

Baskin was awarded the property after Judge Palk ruled it was fraudulently transferred by Exotic to his mother to avoid paying her a settlement in a trademark infringement lawsuit.

The ruling states that Lowe must vacate the land within 120 days and remove all of the animals too.

It reads: "It is further ordered, to effectuate the equitable relief awarded in this case, that GWDG (Greater Wynnewood Development Group): (1) shall vacate the premises of the Zoo Land within 120 days of the date of service of this Order on GWDG, which vacation of premises shall also require removal of all zoo animals from the Zoo Land."

Exotic and Baskin's feud was propelled into the international limelight following the release of Netflix docuseries Tiger King.

Exotic is now serving a 22-year prison sentence, having been convicted in 2019 of attempting to hire a hitman to kill Baskin, as well as a series of violations of the Endangered Species Act, including killing five tigers.

Despite this, many Tiger King viewers have supported Exotic. However, a juror from his trial - named only as Kristin - has said the show didn't tell 'the same story' to that which was heard in court.

Speaking to Nancy Grace on Fox Nation series A Tiger King Investigation, she said: "Don't believe everything you see, because there was so much more to it than what they're showing you.

"They made him out to be almost a victim. It just wasn't even the same story.

"It did a huge injustice to the jury because now people think that we convicted him based on absolutely nothing."

Kristin went on to say that the strongest evidence supporting his conviction was omitted from the series.

She said: "There was a long recording of [the apparent hitman] meeting Joe and we could have convicted on both murder for hire counts based on one sentence that Joe said, which was 'the first guy that I hired to kill her ran away with my $3,000 (£2,427). Now we're going to try this again.'"

Featured Image Credit: Netflix

Topics: Entertainment, TV and Film

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey