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On Jan. 22, 2020, Oklahoma-based zookeeper Joe Unique was sentenced to 22 years in jail for plotting to homicide an animal rights activist who made it her mission to place him out of enterprise. Now the 57-year-old’s life story is being informed in Netflix’s new must-see docu-series, Tiger King: Homicide, Mayhem & Insanity, which premieres on the streaming service on March 20.
It’s the right distraction as you self-isolate amid the coronavirus outbreak. What’s fascinating is that the wild story is true. Now behind bars, Joe (whose actual identify is Joseph Maldonado-Passage), is an eccentric blond, mullet-wearing wannabe-country singer who loves lions and tigers, which he as soon as proudly confirmed off in his zoo, Garold Wayne Unique Animal Memorial Park. However his life started to unravel when he turned obsessive about Carole Baskin, the proprietor of Massive Cat Rescue sanctuary, who led a protest marketing campaign to cease him from proudly owning and touring together with his unique animals. A bitter on-line feud spiraled right into a thwarted murder-for-hire plot that landed him in jail. Right here’s all the things you have to find out about Joe and his wild story:
Joe was convicted of two counts of murder-for-hire, after a jury discovered him responsible in 2019 of paying a person $3,000 to journey all the way down to Florida to homicide Carole.
Joe was additionally convicted of eight counts of violating the Lacey Act for “falsifying wildlife information” and 9 counts of violating the Endangered Species Act. The Justice Division accused him of killing 5 tigers in October 2017 to release cage house for different huge cats.
He ran for president in 2016 and for governor of Oklahoma in 2018
“Very first thing is, I’m not reducing my hair,” the zookeeper mentioned in a marketing campaign video performed on an episode of Final Week Tonight With John Oliver in October 2016. “I’m not altering the way in which I gown. I refuse to put on a go well with… I’m homosexual. I’ve had two boyfriends most of my life… I’m broke as s***.”
He was obsessive about fame
Along with internet hosting his personal on-line sequence, Joe filmed footage for a actuality TV present that he was planning to pitch to a community. In the meantime vacationers may purchase souvenirs within the zoo’s retailer, which included condoms together with his face on it.
He was an aspiring nation music star
Just a few of Joe’s music movies are featured within the docu-series. His songs embody, “I Noticed A Tiger” and “Right here Kitty Kitty.”
He was as soon as married to 2 males on the identical time
In 2014 Joe married Travis Maldonado and John Finlay, in keeping with Texas Month-to-month. The grooms all wore matching pink shirts and black denims. Joe and John have since cut up. Travis died after by accident capturing himself within the head in October 2017. Two months later, Joe married Dillon Passage, whom he later divorced in 2023.
Now in 2025, Joe—who’s presently behind bars—introduced that he has remarried, this time to a fellow inmate named Jorge Flores Maldonado. He shared a put up on X together with his accomplice, writing, “By no means been extra pleased with somebody. Meet my husband, Jorge Flores Maldonado.”
