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re: Human Remains Found inTiger King Zoo &TRUMP May Pardon Joe
Tiger King Star Joe Exotic's Secret Son and The Feud That Drove Them Apart
Netflix viewers have been captivated by the story of Joe Exotic and his unbelievable crimes show in the documentary series Tiger King, but his secret son wasn't mentioned at all
Daily Mirror UK, 11 APR 2020
Hit Netflix series Tiger King appears to have glossed over a major aspect of Joe Exotic's life - he has a son.
The documentary series has won fans the world over for its gripping examination of the feud between exotic animal keeper Joe Exotic and animal rights activist Carole Baskin.
Despite deep-diving into the chaotic love life of Mr Exotic - full name Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage - something that didn't receive focus was Joe's family history.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Exotic's niece Chealsi Putman discussed a number of details about her infamous uncle's past - including that he has an adult son.
In the early 1980s, Joe lived with his girlfriend Kim in Eastvale, Texas, where he worked as a police chief.
The pair had a son, Brandon Chappell, who is now 38 and has three children of his own.
Putman said: "Joe was in and out of Brandon’s life when he was growing up, at one point just a few years ago Brandon and his then wife, both worked at the zoo with Joe."
Exotic's niece says that he was very open about Brandon being his son.
"Joe would go around telling everyone this was his son, he made no secret about it," she said.
In addition to revealing that Brandon is visible in some scenes of Tiger King, Chealsi also claims to know why Joe Exotic's relationship with his son fell apart.
The pair are said to have fallen out after Joe tried to push Brandon's wife to commit fraudulent activities by doctoring the zoo's books and checking accounts.
A clash over this ultimately saw Brandon leave Exotic and the zoo with his wife and children.
Chealsi Putman is not supportive over calls for her uncle to be pardoned, either, and has slammed celebrities who are calling for his freedom.
She said: "If it would up to me, I would have sentenced him to life behind bars, he wouldn't have ever seen the light of day."
Exotic is currently serving a 22-year prison sentence, but reports suggest a pardon is under consideration from President Donald Trump.
Trump Vows to 'Look at' Joe Exotic's Case After His Son Sees Hit Netflix Show
Netflix show Tiger King has gripped the world, and there could be a sequel after US *President Donald Trump said he could pardon jailed star Joe Exotic
Daily Mirror UK, 11 APR 2020
His incredible life story has *already been made into a hit Netflix TV series.
Now there could be a sequel after US *President Donald Trump said he could pardon jailed Tiger King star Joe Exotic.
The seven-part documentary Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness has drawn in more than 35 million viewers since its March 20 release – and become Netflix number one show in the UK.
It charts the crazy life of Joe, real name Joseph Maldonado-Passage, who kept 176 tigers, as well as lions, bears and *alligators at his Oklahoma home, which was also the US’s largest private zoo.
Joe would post videos on YouTube of him playing, swimming and wrestling with the dangerous animals.
He was also a proud polygamist with five husbands along the way, a country music singer with songs such as Here Kitty Kitty and a candidate for US *president in 2016, with the slogan: “I’ve had two boyfriends for most of my life. I’ve had some kinky sex. I’ve tried drugs. I’m broke as sh*t.”
The Netflix show is a true crime series after he attempted to add one more accomplishment to his CV – murder.
In January, Exotic was sentenced to 22 years in prison for twice trying to hire a hitman to kill Carole Baskin, who owned the rival Big Cat Rescue sanctuary, in Florida, as well as animal cruelty and breaking conservation laws.
Ms Baskin, who bedecks herself in animal print clothing, had publicly *criticised Exotic’s zoo and taken a dispute about a trademark infringement to court, where he was ordered to pay nearly $1million.
In the first assassination attempt, Exotic gave a man $3,000 to travel from Oklahoma to Florida, with a promise to pay more money after she was dead, prosecutors said at his trial last year.
He then tried to hire another hitman, who was an undercover FBI agent.
The trial also revealed a much darker side to Exotic’s big cat sanctuary which included claims he abused staff and hooked some on drugs. All said they had witnessed animal cruelty on an astonishing scale.
Despite all this – and admitting he had never seen the Netflix show – Donald Trump has said he would look into 57-year-old Exotic’s case, after his son Donald Trump Jr brought up the issue.
“I’ll take a look,” Trump said. On Monday the president’s eldest son called Exotic’s 22-year prison sentence “aggressive” after watching the documentary series.
“I don’t even know exactly what he was charged with... I watched the show, but it was like, I don’t know exactly what he was guilty of or wasn’t,” Trump Jr. said.
“It doesn’t seem like he was totally innocent of anything. But when they’re saying, ‘We’re putting this guy away for years,’ I’m saying that seems sort of aggressive.”
When a reporter brought up his son’s comments, Trump said: “Which son? It must be Don. I had a feeling it was Don.
“I know nothing about it… he has 22 for what? What did he do?”
After the reporter explained what the big cat owner was in for, Trump asked: “Do you think he didn’t do it? Are you on his side? Are you recommending a pardon?”
The US president then asked other journalists in the briefing, asking, “Would you recommend a pardon?”
Trump has a history of pardoning controversial characters, including his close friend, disgraced media mogul Conrad Black, who was jailed for six years for defrauding investors.
If that does happen, it would be the next incredible chapter in the life of the man born Joe Schreibvogel, who was raised on a farm in rural Kansas with his two brothers and two sisters.
Joe Exotic is serving time in prison for hiring a hitman to kill Carole (Image: Daily Mirror)
Exotic has since said that his mum and dad, a Korean War vet, never told him that they loved him, and that he was repeatedly raped by an older boy in his own home when he was five.
Instead he chose to give his love to animals, raising show pigeons and taking in squirrels and raccoons. He would shoot sparrows with his BB gun, then bring the injured birds back so he could nurse them back to health.
He dreamed of becoming a vet, but after high school became a police officer in a nearby country town.
Aged 19, he was beginning to come to terms with his sexuality, but before he could tell his parents one of his siblings outed him to his father, who made young Joe shake his hand and promise not to attend his funeral.
(Image: Facebook)
Soon after, he was approaching a bridge in his police car when he veered into the concrete barrier, nearly *plummeting over the edge.
He was severely injured and moved with his older brother Garold, to West Palm Beach, Florida to undergo therapy.
There, he married his first husband, Brian Rhyne, in an unofficial ceremony in 1986 and together with Garold bought a pet shop, selling reptiles, birds and fish, and later more exotic animals such as armadillos and opossums.
But disaster struck in 1996 when Garold died after being hit by a drunk driver.
He sold the pet shop and with the help of $130,000 he had won in a lawsuit over Garold’s death, bought 16 acres of land an hour’s drive from Oklahoma City.
He opened the animal sanctuary and it wasn’t long before people started dropping off exotic animals they no longer wanted, including a bear, a mountain lion, and his first tigers, Tess and Tickles.
In 2000 his husband Brian died of an infection.
(Image: Netflix)
Within a year he was remarried to 24-year-old JC Hartpence, but fell in love with a 19-year-old he hired, John Finlay, and continued a relationship with both men.
When, in 2003, he wanted to break up with JC, he left a photo of his largest tiger, Goliath, baring his teeth over a slab of meat along with the words “JC’s remains”.
Attached was the Post-it note: “If you don’t get your s**t together, this is gonna be your reality’.
He was building a name for himself as a “gay, gun-toting cowboy with a mullet”, and gaining fans who saw him as an eccentric animal rescuer.
(Image: Netflix)
As his zoo grew to hold more than 1,000 animals, with annual donations of more than $500,000, his Joe Exotic TV channel was getting hundreds of thousands of hits online.
He sold branded skin-care products, alcohol and condoms, and opened a bar and pizza joint close to the zoo.
It was at the height of his success that animal rights activist Carole Baskin, owner of the Big Cat Rescue sanctuary in Tampa, Florida, began to criticise Joe’s conservation credentials.
She accused him of mistreating his animals and overbreeding and even inbreeding tigers for financial gain.
When she found out he was taking animals on tours of shopping malls, she mobilised her supporters to write to malls he was booked at.
Carole Baskin In January 2011 Carole sued him in federal court
Joe began using the Big Cat Rescue name and logo to advertise his travelling animal show.
In January 2011 Carole sued him in federal court.
Joe’s frequent online tirades against Carole became more sinister before finally in February 2014, he brought out a blow-up doll with a blonde wig before shooting it in the head.
Still married to John, he fell in love with Travis Maldonado, a meth addict. Exotic, John and Travis married a month later in a zoo-themed ceremony with monkeys as flower girls and a macaque as ring bearer.
Soon after, John left Joe after 11 years. Travis shot himself while showing off a pistol in the zoo’s gift shop.
Exotic was forced to file for bankruptcy and lost his zoo but while he had lost everything, he still had his liberty - until he began to put into action his plan to assassinate the woman he blamed for all his woes.
Another zoo employee overheard his conversation with a maintenance man, offering him $5,000 to kill her with a cross bow or long-range rifle.
The FBI was already on the case, and when he offered the same sum to fake hit man “Mark”, telling him, “That bitch has just got to go away. Just follow her into a mall parking lot, cap her, and drive off”, his fate was sealed.
Now it is the Tiger King who is living behind bars. But maybe, Donald Trump will change all that...
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