'I was never charged or accused of animal abuse by anyone except Carole Baskin, because she thinks petting baby tigers is abusive,' he said. Tough times: Exotic is serving a 22 year prison sentence in Fort Worth, Texas as a federal jury found him guilty on two counts of hiring someone to murder Baskin in Florida, on eight counts of violating the Lacey Act by falsifying wildlife records, and on nine counts of violating the Endangered Species Act by killing five tigers and for selling tigers across state linesĮxotic claims that is why he took the unorthodox step of shooting his tigers point blank.īut he insists that he was never cruel to those wild cats, despite accusations by fellow tiger sanctuary owner and nemesis Carole Baskin. 'They admitted that knowing the gunshots through the heads would make the jury hate me.' With respect I didn't half burn them and leave them under a tarp like the USDA and Fed found some at the new zoo. Their teeth were in their head and their hides were on their bodies. 'It may sound bad to the world that I shot five tigers to euthanize them and put them to sleep because they were old and in pain. 'What do I want the people to know? I am innocent,' the disgraced former zookeeper said in a recorded interview.
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The two men have since backtracked and said they lied in sworn legal statements, and Exotic's lawyer John Phillips is now pushing for a full retrial.
His one-time business partner Jeff Lowe and pal Allen Glover gave evidence to authorities which proved pivotal in Exotic's conviction for conspiracy to commit for murder for hire. He alleges that Bryant and Green both knew that witness statements surrounding claims he wanted Carole Baskin assassinated were falsified. In a recent phone call, Exotic also makes some eyebrow-raising accusations against chief FBI agent Matt Bryant, who built the case against him, and prosecutor Amanda Green.
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EXCLUSIVE: Tiger King star Joe Exotic claims new evidence in murder-for-hire case is going to 'shock the world' and clear his name, in his first jailhouse interview since release of hit Netflix series second season