Tiger King: Sheriff says missing husband's will 'a forgery'

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Carole Baskin and a lion in a cageImage source, Netflix

The will of Carole Baskin's husband was "100% a forgery", according to the Sheriff investigating his disappearance.

Don Lewis went missing in Florida in 1997. Carole was left with millions of dollars.

The case is back in the public eye after featuring in the Netflix documentary Tiger King.

She's never faced any criminal charges over his disappearance and has strongly and repeatedly denied being involved.

Just a warning, there are spoilers coming up.

Image source, Netflix
Image caption,

Joe Exotic is currently serving a 22 year jail sentence

If you've not seen it, Tiger King tells the story of zoo owner Joe Exotic and his heated and bitter rivalry with Carole Baskin, who's trying to get his zoo shut down.

Things escalate pretty wildly - and Joe is currently in prison for trying to have Carole killed.

But the show also explores the disappearance of Carole's second husband, who was last seen over 20 years ago.

Joe Exotic has repeatedly and very publically accused Carole of murdering Don Lewis to get his money - something she denies.

He even made a country music video called Here Kitty Kitty where a character, made to look like Carole, is seen seemingly feeding her husband to tigers.

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Don Lewis' ex-wife and children also allege that they were cut out of his will in favour of Carole Baskin.

Now, speaking about the case to Florida news service 10 Tampa Bay, the Sheriff in charge of the case has revealed he's certain Don's will was faked.

"They had two experts deem it 100% a forgery," Chad Chronister explains.

He adds that, since so much time has passed, they're not able to take any legal action over the will - but says the investigation into Don Lewis' disappearance is very much still open.

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"Investigators have some great leads, they're working through them. I hope something pans out.

"They're going through a lot of information right now and, fingers crossed, I hope they can finally solve this case."

It's the second twist to come out of the Tiger King story this week.

On Tuesday a judge ruled Joe Exotic's zoo should be handed over to Carole Baskin as part of a ruling in a $1m (£800,000) trademark dispute.

In blog posts, external since Tiger King aired, Carole has called the idea that Don was a millionaire when she met him "a lie" - and claimed that the money she inherited was from joint business ventures.

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