View gallery
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 proper 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 grew to become obsessive about Carole Baskin, the proprietor of Large Cat Rescue sanctuary, who led a protest marketing campaign to cease him from proudly owning and touring along 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 every part it’s good 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 unlock cage area for different huge cats.
He ran for president in 2016 and for governor of Oklahoma in 2018
“Very first thing is, I’m not chopping 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 best way I gown. I refuse to put on a swimsuit… 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 might purchase souvenirs within the zoo’s retailer, which included condoms along 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 embrace, “I Noticed A Tiger” and “Right here Kitty Kitty.”
He was as soon as married to 2 males on the similar time
In 2014 Joe married Travis Maldonado and John Finlay, in line with Texas Month-to-month. The grooms all wore matching pink shirts and black denims. Joe and John have since break up. Travis died after by accident taking pictures 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 at the moment behind bars—introduced that he has remarried, this time to a fellow inmate named Jorge Flores Maldonado. He shared a submit on X along with his companion, writing, “By no means been extra happy with somebody. Meet my husband, Jorge Flores Maldonado.”
