Latest / Crime Stories with Nancy Grace / Tiger King: Sheriff convinced Carole Baskin's missing husband is dead.

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Tiger King: Sheriff convinced Carole Baskin's missing husband is dead. · Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

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Speaker 1: Crime stories with Nancy Greece. Joining me now is a
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Speaker 1: very special guest. It is the elected Sheriff of Hillsborough County, Sheriff,
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Speaker 1: Chad Chronister. Sheriff, thank you for being with us. It's
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Speaker 1: a pleasure, Nancy, Sheriff Chronister. I hardly even know where
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Speaker 1: to start regarding Joe Exotic and Carol Baskin and Jack
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Speaker 1: don Lewis, Don Lewis, Baskin's husband now dead. Sheriff, Is
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Speaker 1: there any doubt in your mind that Carol Baskin's husband,
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Speaker 1: Don Lewis is dead. No, absolutely, no doubt in my mind.
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Speaker 1: I'm thoroughly convinced that he was killed, Sheriff. A lot
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Speaker 1: of people have argued that at the time Jack don
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Speaker 1: Lewis went missing, that it was orchestrated for him to
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Speaker 1: be taken out over the Gulf of Mexico and pushed
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Speaker 1: out of the plane. There's that theory. There's a theory
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Speaker 1: he's hidden under a septic tank. There's a theory he
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Speaker 1: went through a meat grinder. Let's just establish the facts
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Speaker 1: as we know them to be true. At the time
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Speaker 1: Don Lewis goes missing, had there been a divorce filed
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Speaker 1: between them, there hadn't been there he sought a domestic
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Speaker 1: violence junction against her, but the judge didn't grant it.
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Speaker 1: But still you have to think he was in some
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Speaker 1: type of fear or felt in fear of harm that
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Speaker 1: he went and took the steps to try to obtain
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Speaker 1: an a junction against his wife. You know what's interesting
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Speaker 1: about that, Sheriff, is that this is not a man
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Speaker 1: that typically call nine one one, may police reports, file lawsuits.
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Speaker 1: I find it very interesting that on his own, at
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Speaker 1: his age, he went and filed a troo against Carol Baskin,
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Speaker 1: claiming that she or someone had taken his guns and
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Speaker 1: that she had threatened to kill him. I find that
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Speaker 1: very curious. Yeah, there's no doubt in my mind he
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Speaker 1: was concerned that his wife was gonna harm him at
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Speaker 1: the time. Let me talk to you about his nineteen
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Speaker 1: eighty nine Dodge van that was found at Pilot Country Airport,
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Speaker 1: which is a private airport. Yes, the public can pull
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Speaker 1: into the parking lot, but there are no public carriers
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Speaker 1: such as Delta or Jet Blue Continental. These are private airplanes.
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Speaker 1: What was found in his van, Sheriff, a lot of
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Speaker 1: his personal belongings, his briefcase and at the time before
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Speaker 1: technological advancements. Everywhere someone went, they took their briefcase with them.
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Speaker 1: And I think that was the biggest piece that that
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Speaker 1: that stood out with me. Why would he leave and
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Speaker 1: leave his personal items along with so many other things,
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Speaker 1: But why would he leave and not take his briefcase
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Speaker 1: with him? This? This was a business person, This was
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Speaker 1: a businessman. What would why would he leave? And like
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Speaker 1: you know, I've told you before, we checked the passenger
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Speaker 1: manifest he had two passports. Neither one of them have
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Speaker 1: been flagged that he had left it or departed the
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Speaker 1: country or took any fly whatsoever. I don't believe he
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Speaker 1: took any flight, commercial or private. I don't believe he
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Speaker 1: ever got on that airplane. I believe that van was
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Speaker 1: placed there just to look like it was stage for
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Speaker 1: investigators to believe that he had left the country. What
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Speaker 1: was in the briefcase? That's a good question. I don't
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Speaker 1: I don't know. Nothing of consequence that stood out that
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Speaker 1: I remember. I mean, I'm curious. Was his driver's license,
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Speaker 1: There was a passport, There was there money, There were
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Speaker 1: their documents indicating his purpose for being at Pilot Country
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Speaker 1: Airport that day. Was he intending to rent or purchase
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Speaker 1: a plane. Was he intending to go driving? I mean,
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Speaker 1: do you know flying? His wife said he was leaving
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Speaker 1: for Costa Rica. Was there a manifest? Was there a
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Speaker 1: pilot already hired to go? You don't just walk up
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Speaker 1: to an airport go hey, I want to get a
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Speaker 1: plane to Costa Rica. It doesn't work that way. You
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Speaker 1: have to get a crew. You have to get a
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Speaker 1: for Costa Rica. You gotta refuel. You can't make it
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Speaker 1: all the way from Florida and Costa Rica in a
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Speaker 1: small plane anyway without fuel. Did you find any evidence
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Speaker 1: that he had planned a flight of any type, whether
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Speaker 1: he was flying the plane or whether he was getting
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Speaker 1: a pilot to fly the plane. No proof whatsoever that
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Speaker 1: he had purchased, chartered a flight, or any way shape
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Speaker 1: or form left the country. One else was in the
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Speaker 1: eighty nine dodge. The briefcase. What about luggage? No, no luggage,
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Speaker 1: Only a briefcase and a couple of personal belongings. Other
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Speaker 1: than that, that, that's it. That's what makes it even
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Speaker 1: more suspicious. If your plan on leaving somewhere, you think
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Speaker 1: that you'd have a lot more items. What about keys?
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Speaker 1: I believe the keys of the van were in it.
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Speaker 1: Were left in it. When you say other personal items
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Speaker 1: such as what oh, I believe there was a while,
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Speaker 1: a couple of documents, but again things that you would
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Speaker 1: normally believe a businessman would have in his suitcase. Nothing
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Speaker 1: that would stand out to say, hey, listen, this person,
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Speaker 1: this person had left or this person was still there. Again,
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Speaker 1: I think the whole thing was nothing but a sophisticated plan.
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Speaker 1: I think there was more than one person because it
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Speaker 1: was so sophisticated and complex. But again, this individual was murdered,
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Speaker 1: and this individual never left the country. Well, the fact
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Speaker 1: that you say his wallet was there and indicates to
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Speaker 1: me even more so that he didn't go anywhere. Do
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Speaker 1: you know if his driver's license was recovered? I don't remember, Nancy.
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Speaker 1: Like I said, I remember the while, that a couple
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Speaker 1: other things. There was a laundry list, but again I
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Speaker 1: don't remember anything of consequence, and that the keys were there.
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Speaker 1: Do you happen to recall if the vehicle was locked
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Speaker 1: or unlocked? I believe I believe it was unlocked. I
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Speaker 1: believe it was lock with the keys in it. With
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Speaker 1: his briefcase, I think it was stage and meant to
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Speaker 1: appear like someone had just pulled up parked, and I
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Speaker 1: think they wanted us to believe that he would never
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Speaker 1: intended on returning and that he had left. And again
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Speaker 1: that's just simply not the case. There's no proof whatsoever
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Speaker 1: to indicate that he ever left the country. And all
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Speaker 1: the interviews that the detectives conducted in Costa Rica, even then,
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Speaker 1: all the individuals they interviewed down there, everyone had had
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Speaker 1: come up with one common theme, and the common theme
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Speaker 1: was they hadn't seen him in at least six months
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Speaker 1: surrounding his disappearance. Now in Costa Rica, he had an estate,
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Speaker 1: a home, a lot of land, a butler and a mistress.
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Speaker 1: Is it your belief after investigating that he never went
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Speaker 1: to Costa Rica? I firmly believe that he never made
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Speaker 1: it to Costa Rica. The security guards that we interviewed,
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Speaker 1: they hadn't seen him in six months. His mistress hadn't
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Speaker 1: seen him in six months. The property manager hadn't seen
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Speaker 1: him in six months. Some other people that he dealt
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Speaker 1: with in business down in Costa Rica hadn't seen him
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Speaker 1: in six months. There's no doubt in my mind, whatever happened,
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Speaker 1: he never made it to Costa Rica. Somebody just wanted
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Speaker 1: to lead investigators to believe that that's exactly what he did,
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Speaker 1: when essentially he never left. Was there a dictionary in
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Speaker 1: the car? I don't remember, Nancy, I don't remember. So
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Speaker 1: let me get back to where his car was parked
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Speaker 1: in the parking lot. So you drive into Pilot Country.
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Speaker 1: Based on what I've been told from people that worked
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Speaker 1: at Pilot Country, if you're sitting on the inside, you
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Speaker 1: can see a car pull up and see it, see
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Speaker 1: it sitting there parked, and it's like a car in
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Speaker 1: your driveway. It's so small. You would notice a car
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Speaker 1: of someone that did not work or was not supposed
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Speaker 1: to be there. But nobody saw that car get parked there,
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Speaker 1: and nobody saw Don Lewis, Do you agree with that?
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Speaker 1: I do agree with that. It's a very small airport.
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Speaker 1: Those residents that live around there still live there today.
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Speaker 1: And I believe again it went back into this complex,
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Speaker 1: sophisticated plan where whoever was involved in this stage that
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Speaker 1: car sometime in the the overnight hours were that when
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Speaker 1: they believed, and rightfully so, someone wouldn't see them dropping
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Speaker 1: that car off. Let's talk about the night before the
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Speaker 1: day he goes missing. One more thing, was the vehicle
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Speaker 1: printed dusted for prints? Oh? Absolutely no. They went over
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Speaker 1: that that with a fine tooth comb, the process the
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Speaker 1: entire van for for evidence. At the time twenty three
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Speaker 1: years ago. When when this occurred? How much later was
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Speaker 1: it that it was printed? Oh? I think it was
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Speaker 1: a day or two later. She waited a day to
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Speaker 1: even called to say that he had disappeared. And then
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Speaker 1: I think it was a day or two after that,
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Speaker 1: no more than two days that investigators had located the
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Speaker 1: van at that airport. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. You
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Speaker 1: were mentioning that you believe his dodge was part the
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Speaker 1: night before he went missing. What was Carol Baskin doing
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Speaker 1: that night? Well, she says that she couldn't sleep, that
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Speaker 1: one of the tigers needed some milk. I believe, so
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Speaker 1: she had drove to a twenty four hour grocery store
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Speaker 1: that was only a few miles within her home and
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Speaker 1: went to get some milk for the cats. So you
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Speaker 1: can fade a tiger Borden's milk out of a cart.
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Speaker 1: And I didn't know that. I thought they had something special,
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Speaker 1: maybe a cub. Maybe it was for for for a cub.
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Speaker 1: But her her testimony, uh was that she was gone.
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Speaker 1: The night before, went to an Albertson's grocery store, went there,
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Speaker 1: her car broke down, she had to get a ride
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Speaker 1: back home and she went to bed. I think it
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Speaker 1: was around three three thirty in the morning. She had
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Speaker 1: woke up at seven seven thirty in the morning. Don
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Speaker 1: was instructing her to get the big cargo truck ready,
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Speaker 1: that they were going to take supplies, drive to Miami
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Speaker 1: and head to Costa Rica. He was gonna run an
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Speaker 1: Aaron and he would be right back. And that was
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Speaker 1: the last time she says that she has seen him.
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Speaker 1: Anyone else that we talked to said that it had
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Speaker 1: been a day or two prior to that that day
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Speaker 1: had seen Don Lewis. So she's supposed to go with
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Speaker 1: him to Costa Rica. That's my understanding. My understand the
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Speaker 1: two of them were gone together. She was helping them
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Speaker 1: pack to truck. They were going to drive to Miami
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Speaker 1: and head to Costa Rica. That's what That's what I
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Speaker 1: was led to believe. But when did she reported missing.
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Speaker 1: I believe almost two days later. So if she was
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Speaker 1: supposed to go to Costa Rica with him, and he
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Speaker 1: left to go run an errand and they were getting
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Speaker 1: everything packed to go. When did she notice he didn't
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Speaker 1: come home? Again? That was that was her story. And again,
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Speaker 1: when you talk about things that that are suspicious, if
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Speaker 1: if your husband or wife tells you, I'll be right
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Speaker 1: back on going to run an errand you get this
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Speaker 1: other truck start putting supplies in it, I'll be right back.
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Speaker 1: Wouldn't it be suspicious that you would wait a day
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Speaker 1: later and talk to some of your friends and someone say, oh,
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Speaker 1: you need you should probably report him as missing. Okay?
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Speaker 1: I know he had two passports. One was under his
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Speaker 1: first name, which is Jack Lewis. The other one was
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Speaker 1: under Don Lewis. Both of those were found where I
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Speaker 1: don't know the answer. Did that good? Good question? Found? Oh? No,
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Speaker 1: they were. They were both found and m again, they
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Speaker 1: were both Neither one of them had been flagged that
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Speaker 1: during that time period that she's claiming he disappeared, none
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Speaker 1: of them had been flagged. Neither of them have been
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Speaker 1: flagged that that he had left the country or arrived
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Speaker 1: in some type of other other country or um I
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Speaker 1: should say, not origin, but some other country. Okay, I understand.
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Speaker 1: So she waits at full twenty four hours at least
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Speaker 1: before she reports him missing. But I'm still I'm still
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Speaker 1: hung up on the three am emergency tiger cub feeding.
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Speaker 1: I mean, this is an animal sanctuary, and I would
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Speaker 1: believe that when you've got a baby tiger, that you
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Speaker 1: prepare to take care of it and you're not out
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Speaker 1: in a car at three o'clock in the morning trying
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Speaker 1: to buy human food or cow's milk. That said, I'm
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Speaker 1: not a veterinarian, I'm just a lawyer. But three am,
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Speaker 1: she's driving around. Did she ever go to a grocery
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Speaker 1: store and buy milk? She did go, She did go.
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Speaker 1: She did buy it again, her car broke down. She
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Speaker 1: had to get a ride back home. How do you
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Speaker 1: know that, Well, I tell you what. It's an interesting story.
15:22
Speaker 1: How we know that she had contacted her brother, who
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Speaker 1: was a deputy sheriff with this agency during that time.
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Speaker 1: He was not too far away. He had a burglary
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Speaker 1: suspect under arrest, so he had asked for one of
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Speaker 1: his other friends, another deputy, to please take her to
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Speaker 1: the home. So another deputy sheriff did pick her up
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Speaker 1: from the Albertsons and give her a ride back to
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Speaker 1: the animal sanctuary. Okay, you know what you just stepped
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Speaker 1: in a can. You just opened up a can of worms.
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Speaker 1: Let's talk about it, because if you dare to google yourself,
15:59
Speaker 1: you're gonna find out that there's a conspiracy theory going
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Speaker 1: on and a suggestion of a cover up. So let's
16:06
Speaker 1: just grab the bull by the horns. Sheriff, So she
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Speaker 1: had a brother on your force, all the sheriff department force,
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Speaker 1: and he was working that night. What do you say
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Speaker 1: to claims that he helped her cover up a murder
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Speaker 1: and that he helped her that night? I would say
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Speaker 1: those claims are false. We can track it back. Now.
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Speaker 1: If he was in service, then you have a little
16:34
Speaker 1: harder time charming to justify what may have happened that night.
16:37
Speaker 1: But he was actually assigned to a call, he had
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Speaker 1: actually had someone under arrest, someone was in his car,
16:44
Speaker 1: he went the booking door in that time. So I
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Speaker 1: think investigators back twenty three years ago had those very
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Speaker 1: same questions. But any type of theory of cover up
16:54
Speaker 1: is dispelled when you can track back and see that
16:57
Speaker 1: his actions that night were accounted for. So are you
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Speaker 1: telling me he sent somebody else to help her? I
17:05
Speaker 1: believe that's what I was told is that she had
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Speaker 1: contacted him, knowing that he was awake. He had another
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Speaker 1: deputy go and give her a ride back to the
17:16
Speaker 1: back to the house or or help her get the
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Speaker 1: car running again. It was one of one of the two. Well,
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Speaker 1: I gotta tell you something, I've done a lot of
17:25
Speaker 1: crazy things that when I look back, I think, what
17:28
Speaker 1: was I thinking? But I gotta rethink this whole going
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Speaker 1: out for milk at three o'clock in the morning for
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Speaker 1: a baby tiger, because that's that's kind of it doesn't
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Speaker 1: hang together for me. But I can't. I can't. I can't,
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Speaker 1: I can't. I can't argue that point. I agree. If
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Speaker 1: you have a big cat sanctuary and you have cubs,
17:51
Speaker 1: you would think you're gonna be prepared for any type
17:54
Speaker 1: of scenario, especially knowing that these cubs have to be fed.
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Speaker 1: And I'm no cub expert or veterinarian either, but you
18:00
Speaker 1: would think you're going to be better prepared because those
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Speaker 1: cats have to be fed, even if it's milk, they
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Speaker 1: have to be fed. You would think you would be
18:08
Speaker 1: better prepared and wouldn't have to go out in the
18:11
Speaker 1: middle of the night to get those items. So long
18:16
Speaker 1: story short, you're telling me best your recollection that the brother,
18:21
Speaker 1: Carol Baskin's brother did not go pick her up. He
18:26
Speaker 1: sent somebody to do it, to take her home. One
18:30
Speaker 1: of the things that we do know and that we
18:32
Speaker 1: can confirm is we know for a fact he didn't
18:35
Speaker 1: go because again he had a prisoner, He had someone
18:38
Speaker 1: who was under arrest. We could interview that prisoner. We
18:42
Speaker 1: could count for that time period that night before and
18:46
Speaker 1: what he was doing from the time he was dispatched
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Speaker 1: to the call, that the time he came into contact
18:51
Speaker 1: with the burglary suspect, did the paperwork, met a supervisor,
18:56
Speaker 1: went the booking. We can account for those hours, so
18:58
Speaker 1: we can dispel any type of theories that there was
19:01
Speaker 1: a cover up or that he was involved during that
19:03
Speaker 1: time period. Let's tackle another another allegation, and that is
19:10
Speaker 1: that your sheriff's department did not properly process the same
19:17
Speaker 1: and I'm talking about his vehicle, that you let too
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Speaker 1: much time pass and it went back to Baskins before
19:25
Speaker 1: it was processed. Please explain how that happened. Yeah, I
19:30
Speaker 1: don't believe that to be the case. They recovered the
19:33
Speaker 1: car and took it down to them to our evidence
19:36
Speaker 1: processing unit and process the car. I think that within
19:41
Speaker 1: twenty four hours after recovering it. So again, I don't
19:44
Speaker 1: think there was an opportunity for frame Wind to tamper
19:47
Speaker 1: with any type of evidence once we gained custody of
19:51
Speaker 1: that to where anyone could taint the evidence for any
19:54
Speaker 1: type of purpose. Once we took custod of it, it
19:57
Speaker 1: was in our custody and no one else had any
20:00
Speaker 1: type of access to that van. Did the vehicle go
20:03
Speaker 1: straight from Pilot Country to the Sheriff's department or did
20:07
Speaker 1: it go home to Big Cat first? No, that wouldn't
20:12
Speaker 1: be how we would do any type of evidence in
20:14
Speaker 1: a case. Once we recover something, there would be no
20:17
Speaker 1: reason for it to go anywhere else except there are
20:19
Speaker 1: our office for processing. Okay, so you believe you took
20:24
Speaker 1: it straight from Pilot Country Airport, not from the Big Cat. No,
20:29
Speaker 1: I couldn't think of any other reason that. Like I said,
20:32
Speaker 1: once we take custody of anything, it comes, it comes
20:35
Speaker 1: with us to maintain that chain of custody that comes
20:39
Speaker 1: with us. Sheriff Chronister, what about the theory that Don
20:43
Speaker 1: Lewis's remains are buried under Carol Basket's septic tank or
20:47
Speaker 1: that he was put through her meat grinder, which I
20:50
Speaker 1: understand to be about the big around as the peanut
20:52
Speaker 1: butter jar. Yeah, that'd be extremely difficult. And like I said,
20:58
Speaker 1: I think the Netflix series got some things right some
21:01
Speaker 1: things that they didn't get right, and they lead some
21:03
Speaker 1: of us to believe that, yes, it was in a
21:05
Speaker 1: meat grinder, where the meat grinder wasn't even recovered on
21:08
Speaker 1: the premises, it wasn't at the sanctuary at the time
21:11
Speaker 1: that this alleged disappearance occurred. And then they talk about
21:15
Speaker 1: the septic tank. The septic tank wasn't even installed until
21:19
Speaker 1: several years after his disappearance. So those theories, again are
21:23
Speaker 1: refuted crime stories with Nancy Grace. With me as Sheriff
21:39
Speaker 1: Chad Chronister or the elected sheriff of Hillsborough County Sheriff.
21:44
Speaker 1: You know, my expertise is criminal law, murder to be specific.
21:50
Speaker 1: But I have written a wheel or two in my time,
21:53
Speaker 1: and I've certainly studied a lot more. I've never seen
21:56
Speaker 1: a wheel that says if I die or disappear, you
22:02
Speaker 1: get all my money. I mean, you're right, A will
22:06
Speaker 1: for when you're dead, not when you go missing. And
22:09
Speaker 1: isn't it quite the coincidence that he, in fact, Don
22:13
Speaker 1: Lewis went missing. Did someone actually believe they could benefit
22:18
Speaker 1: under a document that says, if I go missing, you
22:21
Speaker 1: get my money. It's certainly one of the biggest suspicious
22:26
Speaker 1: items I think in this entire investigation that anyone would
22:30
Speaker 1: create a will. And I've talked to several probate attorneys
22:33
Speaker 1: and again yourself that has all these years of experience,
22:37
Speaker 1: and no one ever has ever heard of a will
22:41
Speaker 1: with a disappearance clause in it. If I disappear for
22:44
Speaker 1: any type of reason, leave my wealth to this certain individual.
22:48
Speaker 1: And the individual of the individuals that weren't included any
22:54
Speaker 1: of his four children that he absolutely adored. I would
22:57
Speaker 1: say that's extremely suspicious. It gets more suspicious because one
23:02
Speaker 1: of the individuals who came forward and said that she
23:05
Speaker 1: witnessed all the signatures fast forward from nineteen ninety seven
23:09
Speaker 1: to two thousand and six. She came forward said she
23:12
Speaker 1: felt pressured at the time to say that it was
23:16
Speaker 1: signed by everyone, and then she wanted to recant her
23:19
Speaker 1: story and said she did not witness the signatures. Well,
23:23
Speaker 1: who pressured her to write to sign that she saw
23:27
Speaker 1: Don Lewis sign as will who pressured her. According to her, well,
23:33
Speaker 1: there's one person that's not here any longer, So I
23:36
Speaker 1: think we could all deduct the fact that it had
23:39
Speaker 1: to be Carol. And I think she says that in
23:41
Speaker 1: her statement, I'm pretty confident. She says that she to
23:45
Speaker 1: prove her allegiance to Carol, that she felt pressured into
23:49
Speaker 1: saying that she witnessed those signatures. And again as time
23:53
Speaker 1: goes forward, she feels more comfortable. Once to get off
23:56
Speaker 1: her chest, calls investigators with our office and says, hey, listen,
24:00
Speaker 1: I have to tell you I didn't witness that will
24:03
Speaker 1: being signed. All four of his children were cut out
24:07
Speaker 1: of the will. What do they say to that, sheriff, Well,
24:13
Speaker 1: they don't think that that will was in existence. They
24:16
Speaker 1: don't think that their dad had that will. Think about it.
24:20
Speaker 1: Another thing that becomes extremely suspicious. A wealthy person leaves
24:25
Speaker 1: and leaves their wealth behind, leaves their four kids that
24:28
Speaker 1: they have a relationship in loving a door behind, and
24:31
Speaker 1: then leaves this will in question behind. Like I said,
24:35
Speaker 1: you don't have to be an investigator or a homicide
24:39
Speaker 1: prosecutor to know that this is extremely suspicious. Is it
24:45
Speaker 1: true that Don Lewis had a one point to million
24:49
Speaker 1: dollar life insurance policy. I knew he had a life
24:53
Speaker 1: insurance policy. I don't know what the amount was. I
24:55
Speaker 1: do know he was worth that we can confirm around
24:58
Speaker 1: six to seven million. Some even believe this net worth
25:02
Speaker 1: was closer to twenty million dollars. Do you know who
25:07
Speaker 1: the beneficiary of the life insurance was. I'm gonna go
25:11
Speaker 1: out in the limb here and say, Carol Baskets, you
25:15
Speaker 1: better get on at sheriff. Sheriff. Since the Netflix, let
25:24
Speaker 1: me just say, show, have you gotten any new leads?
25:29
Speaker 1: I understand you're getting six to ten calls today, a
25:31
Speaker 1: lot of them conspiracy nuts, But still, have you gotten
25:35
Speaker 1: any leads? You know, at the beginning, it was a
25:39
Speaker 1: lot of theories. People that watched the documentary, watch the
25:43
Speaker 1: Netflix series and say, hey, listen, I know who did
25:45
Speaker 1: it and this is how it was done. But I
25:47
Speaker 1: have to tell you what. Now that time has passed
25:50
Speaker 1: and this Netflix series has become even more popular, we
25:53
Speaker 1: have some leads coming in now. Our detectives are following
25:56
Speaker 1: up some leads, conducting some additional interviews, looking into some
26:00
Speaker 1: different Now will this become viable? Will these leads help
26:05
Speaker 1: us lead to who's responsible for this death? That still
26:09
Speaker 1: remains a question, but at this time there's some good,
26:12
Speaker 1: viable leads. They're doing some interviews with the children again
26:16
Speaker 1: with Anne McQueen, them, his personal assistant, his attorney, So
26:24
Speaker 1: doing a lot more interviews and it seems like there's
26:27
Speaker 1: a lot lot more for us to follow up on.
26:30
Speaker 1: So I have to tell you what, with the popularity
26:33
Speaker 1: of this Netflix series, I feel extremely optimistics, extremely optimistic
26:38
Speaker 1: that this is what's going to help us solve this case.
26:42
Speaker 1: You know, a lot of people have attacked the Netflix
26:44
Speaker 1: series as being not real or not true. I think
26:48
Speaker 1: that what we saw was true, but I don't think
26:52
Speaker 1: they used to trick camera. But I think that there's
26:55
Speaker 1: the other side of every one of those characters, like
27:00
Speaker 1: having a trial where you only have direct examination and
27:03
Speaker 1: no cross examination, but not only was entertaining. I also
27:07
Speaker 1: think that it is stirring up leads. Do you believe,
27:11
Speaker 1: Sheriff Chronister that Don Lewis's will was forged? I believe
27:19
Speaker 1: this will was forged. I don't a couple of different reasons.
27:23
Speaker 1: One someone who said they witnessed at the time at
27:26
Speaker 1: the time, the signatures recancers story, and again I think
27:30
Speaker 1: the biggest part is the first time ever hearing that
27:34
Speaker 1: someone put a disappearance clause to make sure that they
27:36
Speaker 1: received the full, beneicit full benefits of an executed will Sheriff.
27:42
Speaker 1: Have you spoken to Don Lewis, his lawyer who has
27:46
Speaker 1: the theory on what happened? We have, not me personally,
27:51
Speaker 1: but our investigators did reach out to him and talk
27:53
Speaker 1: to him this this this past week and what's his theory.
28:00
Speaker 1: Unfortunately I can't share that because that would you know,
28:02
Speaker 1: a part of this investigation, and being an investigatory investigatory lead,
28:07
Speaker 1: I can't share that. I don't know how accurate. Is
28:10
Speaker 1: the only time will tell? Well, Pip, I want to
28:16
Speaker 1: go back to the night where I like to take
28:18
Speaker 1: all investigations, to the night that Don Lewis went missing. Now,
28:27
Speaker 1: he was last seen by people at the animal sanctuary
28:31
Speaker 1: Big Cat when other than Carol Baskin, I believe at
28:36
Speaker 1: least forty eight hours prior to that, so we have
28:40
Speaker 1: a little window there when his disappearance occurred, from the
28:44
Speaker 1: day almost two days that it took for her to
28:47
Speaker 1: report him, and a couple of days that people had
28:50
Speaker 1: besides her that hadn't seen him. You have a few
28:53
Speaker 1: days in there that that I believe that's when. That's
28:57
Speaker 1: when he was killed. So we've got about a four hour,
29:02
Speaker 1: excuse me, a four day window where he could have
29:06
Speaker 1: been killed. Nobody saw him at Big Cat. No one,
29:09
Speaker 1: no banker, no friend, no lawyer, Nobody saw him for
29:14
Speaker 1: about two days before he went to Costa Rica. That's it.
29:20
Speaker 1: No telephone calls, no business transactions. So again I think
29:25
Speaker 1: that these are more details that only make this death
29:29
Speaker 1: more suspicious and only lead us to believe that again
29:33
Speaker 1: it was a homicide. And you and your staff investigated
29:39
Speaker 1: that regarding banking transactions, meetings, you know, daytimers where he
29:44
Speaker 1: was supposed to be. Nobody at Big Cat saw him.
29:47
Speaker 1: Nobody but Carol Baskin saw him, according to her, in
29:50
Speaker 1: the two days leading up to his disappearance, and then
29:53
Speaker 1: you got another two days before he was reported missing.
29:55
Speaker 1: Is that correct, that's correct? Okay, four day window. We
30:02
Speaker 1: know most likely he did not go out of the
30:05
Speaker 1: country because he didn't take his passports and we don't
30:07
Speaker 1: know of a third passport, is that correct. And he
30:11
Speaker 1: never chartered or plane. There's no record that he chartered plane,
30:13
Speaker 1: and he even went with someone else even if you decided, hey,
30:16
Speaker 1: I'm flying without anything again. Just I feel confident in
30:21
Speaker 1: saying that he never left this country. Now, what theory
30:27
Speaker 1: is your working theory about how he was killed? I'm
30:32
Speaker 1: not sure. I feel confident that he was killed. Who
30:36
Speaker 1: did it, how it was done, that's the missing piece
30:39
Speaker 1: that we need to try to solve this case. Well,
30:43
Speaker 1: didn't you tell me at one point you thought he
30:45
Speaker 1: went up in a plane and was pushed out into
30:47
Speaker 1: the gulf. No, I didn't say that. No, someone else.
30:51
Speaker 1: Most is that I had heard that theory. I heard
30:55
Speaker 1: that theory that whoever he was with or halfway through
30:57
Speaker 1: the golf pushed him out of the plane. I heard
31:00
Speaker 1: that same theory, but that didn't come from me. So
31:04
Speaker 1: there is the theory circulating that he went up an
31:06
Speaker 1: a plane and was pushed out into the Gulf of Mexico.
31:11
Speaker 1: But that would require at least one other person, because
31:16
Speaker 1: a pilot can't stop flying the plane and push somebody
31:20
Speaker 1: out of the plane. I don't think they can't anyway,
31:23
Speaker 1: which would suggest to me that more than one person
31:26
Speaker 1: is involved. Do you believe more than one person is
31:29
Speaker 1: involved in Lewis's murder? I wholeheartedly believe this is so complicated,
31:36
Speaker 1: so sophisticated, so complex, that there was at least more
31:41
Speaker 1: than one person that committed this homicide and stage this
31:45
Speaker 1: entire theatrical if you would, if you a lack of
31:49
Speaker 1: a better term, theatrics here at the airport and everything
31:53
Speaker 1: else to lead anyone to believe that he had fled
31:57
Speaker 1: the country and just left everyone behind. One. Indeed, there's
32:00
Speaker 1: no doubt in my mind that he was killed right
32:02
Speaker 1: here in our country. How it was done, how many
32:05
Speaker 1: people were involved, and who's responsible for this. We're gonna
32:09
Speaker 1: find out sheriff crossed or what was at the home
32:14
Speaker 1: when your people got there? Were bags packed? Did it
32:19
Speaker 1: look like they were planning a trip to leave? I'm
32:23
Speaker 1: I'm not sure, Nancy, I don't. I don't remember those
32:26
Speaker 1: detail a lot of the questions that I asked during
32:27
Speaker 1: the briefing with the investigators, and that was one thing.
32:31
Speaker 1: I do remember a comment that that they were packing
32:35
Speaker 1: the leave, but whether there were suitcases and what was there,
32:38
Speaker 1: and how how staged this whole sanctuary was with the
32:42
Speaker 1: cargo truck, I don't. I don't remember that. What was
32:47
Speaker 1: her demeanor at the time. I don't believe I mean
32:50
Speaker 1: she was cooperative, but I don't believe at any time,
32:53
Speaker 1: including now, I don't believe she ever appeared overwhelmingly, aren't
33:00
Speaker 1: broken that her husband was missing. I don't know if
33:03
Speaker 1: it's because he had another life with the mistress down
33:06
Speaker 1: in Costa Rica, if she knew this marriage was coming
33:09
Speaker 1: to an end. But again, my wife is my world.
33:15
Speaker 1: If it was yesterday, today, or twenty years from now,
33:19
Speaker 1: I would dedicate my life. I would post rewards everywhere,
33:23
Speaker 1: There would be signs everywhere, my new life's work would
33:26
Speaker 1: be trying to find my wife. This never happened. Was
33:33
Speaker 1: there ever a reward posted? There was never any reward
33:38
Speaker 1: posted for his disappearance? Was there ever an online plea
33:44
Speaker 1: or a televised plea to help find him? By Carol Baton? Again,
33:51
Speaker 1: it's my understanding there was never any type of overt
33:54
Speaker 1: action taken to try to find out where her husband was.
34:00
Speaker 1: Do you know, Sheriff Chronister, if she came to the
34:03
Speaker 1: Sheriff's office day in, day out, week by week trying
34:07
Speaker 1: to find out what's the latest in my husband's disappearance.
34:12
Speaker 1: I do know that the answers no, that that never happened,
34:16
Speaker 1: even as recent as twenty eleven was the last communication
34:19
Speaker 1: that we had for her, and that's when we asked
34:21
Speaker 1: her to come in to take a polygraph, and she
34:24
Speaker 1: declines that it wouldn't vindicate her of any type of
34:28
Speaker 1: in any way, shape or form, and at the same time,
34:30
Speaker 1: it wouldn't prohibit the Sheriff's office from taking future criminal
34:34
Speaker 1: actions against her. So she declined to take a polygraph.
34:37
Speaker 1: And from from what I what knowledge I have in
34:41
Speaker 1: this case, that's the last time we had spoken with her.
34:46
Speaker 1: To the best of your knowledge, did she ever call
34:51
Speaker 1: back to find out about your investigation on her missing husband? Ever? Not,
34:59
Speaker 1: to my knowledge, there was never any type of phone
35:02
Speaker 1: calls made again, nothing overt again that would lead anyone
35:07
Speaker 1: to believe that it's suspicious that somebody wouldn't be more,
35:11
Speaker 1: wouldn't have a bigger reaction to the fact that their
35:15
Speaker 1: husbands has disappeared. Even if the marriage had failed or
35:19
Speaker 1: was failing or coming to an end, you would still
35:22
Speaker 1: think that emotion would be there where you would be
35:24
Speaker 1: doing everything you could to try to find your husband.
35:37
Speaker 1: Crime stories with Nancy Grace. Have you got any plan
35:44
Speaker 1: to re interview her? I think we will. I don't
35:51
Speaker 1: think it's in immediate plans. I think there's a lot
35:54
Speaker 1: more pressing priorities to talk to her children, to figure
35:57
Speaker 1: out exactly for the investigator's twenty three years later now,
36:01
Speaker 1: to figure out exactly who was Don Lewis twenty three
36:04
Speaker 1: years ago, what was his life like then, and then
36:07
Speaker 1: try to build from there. Talk to the office manager,
36:10
Speaker 1: probably end up going to Costa Rica and reinterviewing individuals
36:13
Speaker 1: down there. She would probably be the last individual that
36:17
Speaker 1: we would ask and I don't I don't know for
36:20
Speaker 1: what reason we would have to talk to her again.
36:23
Speaker 1: And unless we develop any type of probable calls and
36:27
Speaker 1: wanted to go talk to her at that time, Why
36:31
Speaker 1: do you say she'd be the last person you talked
36:33
Speaker 1: to Because I think with her and again I understand
36:39
Speaker 1: why she wouldn't, but I think because of her lack
36:41
Speaker 1: of cooperation, not being willing to take a polygraph. I
36:45
Speaker 1: don't think she's gonna offer us anything that we don't
36:48
Speaker 1: already gleam from from previous interviews or evidence collected. What
36:54
Speaker 1: was their reason, what was her stated reason they were
36:58
Speaker 1: going to Costa Rica. I don't remember that detail, Nancy,
37:04
Speaker 1: I don't, I don't know. I recall that she said
37:07
Speaker 1: they were going to take some vehicles to Costa Rica,
37:13
Speaker 1: and I'm curious if that was ever corroborated. Were their
37:17
Speaker 1: vehicles to be taken to Costa Rica? Was the stated
37:21
Speaker 1: purpose real? Was it corroborated? I don't know, Again with
37:26
Speaker 1: with my minimal knowledge of getting some some weekly briefings
37:32
Speaker 1: on this case since we've reopened the investigation. And that's
37:35
Speaker 1: one of the details that I that I'm just not
37:37
Speaker 1: aware of, certainly one that when you bring up, I'm curious.
37:40
Speaker 1: I want to check out what was his business down there?
37:46
Speaker 1: He had real estate. He had a bunch of real
37:49
Speaker 1: estate dealings down here. I think at one point, if
37:52
Speaker 1: memory serves me correct, he even had a card dealership.
37:54
Speaker 1: But again, he was he was involved in a lot
37:56
Speaker 1: of different businesses. Like what I heard that he had
38:03
Speaker 1: loaned money to individuals, so I think he he uh,
38:07
Speaker 1: not only loaned money. I think he was in some development.
38:09
Speaker 1: I think he had some real estate dealings. I think
38:12
Speaker 1: he was involved in an auto dealership. So I think
38:15
Speaker 1: it was a It was a lot of different businesses.
38:18
Speaker 1: Anything dirty. Now, I had heard that some of his
38:24
Speaker 1: dealings in Costa Rica, we were shade he was dealing
38:28
Speaker 1: with some shady business characters down there, loaning money and
38:32
Speaker 1: and and business dealings down in Costa Rica. We were suspicious,
38:36
Speaker 1: but but again nothing that that I personally confirmed. Well,
38:42
Speaker 1: you know what that opens up, uh a Pandora's box
38:47
Speaker 1: of who could have killed Don Lewis? Now you and
38:50
Speaker 1: I know, statistically it's a spouse, the lover the X.
38:54
Speaker 1: Statistically that's who did it or who saw him last.
38:59
Speaker 1: But when you're talking about someone with such wide business dealings,
39:04
Speaker 1: as you put it, that opens up the pool of possibilities.
39:10
Speaker 1: Did Don Lewis have other enemies from loaning money, from
39:16
Speaker 1: developing from his other businesses? We're focusing on Big Cat,
39:21
Speaker 1: but he did a lot more than that, right, And
39:26
Speaker 1: I think that's why it would be irresponsible to call
39:29
Speaker 1: Carol Baskins, even after watching a Netflix series, even a
39:33
Speaker 1: person of interest. It's not. There are other people who
39:37
Speaker 1: benefited by his death. So I think again that's why
39:40
Speaker 1: it would be irresponsible. And as much as some people
39:43
Speaker 1: watch the documentary and say it has to be it
39:45
Speaker 1: has to be her, just like you said, throughout our
39:48
Speaker 1: investigative history, it's usually a spouse. You know that that
39:52
Speaker 1: probability comes in. But again, it would be irresponsible of
39:56
Speaker 1: me to say that she's not even not a suspect,
40:01
Speaker 1: but not even a person of interest a person of
40:03
Speaker 1: interest at this point, because there were there were too
40:06
Speaker 1: many other people involved in this. His life was no
40:09
Speaker 1: less complicated than any of the other and I hate
40:12
Speaker 1: to say characters, but characters in this Netflix series, and
40:15
Speaker 1: I think the fact that they were so eccentric and
40:18
Speaker 1: so so complex themselves, I think that's what made it
40:21
Speaker 1: so entertaining for the thirty five million Americans that I
40:24
Speaker 1: watched it. The only sad part is is this was true.
40:28
Speaker 1: This wasn't made up. This this this was these individuals,
40:32
Speaker 1: This was how they lived. Well, his life was no
40:34
Speaker 1: less complicated. I mean, Sheriff, isn't it true that she
40:40
Speaker 1: may have known about the mistress and she when he disappeared,
40:45
Speaker 1: she was just fed up and said, fine, you can
40:48
Speaker 1: have him take him. And that's a plot. That's a
40:54
Speaker 1: that's certainly a logical explanation. Again, I think she was
40:58
Speaker 1: aware of his miss down there. A matter of fact,
41:01
Speaker 1: I think at some point she allus to the fact
41:04
Speaker 1: that he loved sex so much and that when she
41:08
Speaker 1: was on her menstrual cycle. That's when he would always
41:10
Speaker 1: fly down the Costa Rica to have sex down there. Um,
41:13
Speaker 1: I believe that that came from her. That was a
41:16
Speaker 1: statement that that she made. I don't recall asking you that,
41:21
Speaker 1: but okay, um, Sheriff, I mean, think about it. If
41:27
Speaker 1: I found out my husband, God help him, was cheating,
41:32
Speaker 1: I'd say, you know what, you can have him. I'd
41:35
Speaker 1: be mad if you didn't, and don't send him back
41:37
Speaker 1: cod to my front porch because I'm changing the locks
41:41
Speaker 1: and that would be it. So I agree, that's a
41:44
Speaker 1: that's a plausible just fed up, that's a plausible explanation
41:49
Speaker 1: that again, the marriage was over, didn't have doesn't make
41:52
Speaker 1: her more of a suspect. The marriage might have been
41:55
Speaker 1: over and that love loss was gone, and she's like, listen,
41:58
Speaker 1: you're cheating on me. You're with someone else. You have
42:01
Speaker 1: a little bit of another life. You're not with me
42:04
Speaker 1: as much as I want you to be with the
42:06
Speaker 1: with the cattle, bear, bakers, a house, a bottler, and
42:12
Speaker 1: a mistress, he's all in. Sheriff. No, no, I no,
42:18
Speaker 1: I agree with you. I'm talking about with the cat sanctuary.
42:20
Speaker 1: He was at the point that he felt that she
42:23
Speaker 1: was spending too much time and money on the sanctuary.
42:26
Speaker 1: And people have to remember he's the one that opened
42:29
Speaker 1: that up. That wasn't Carol's. He founded that he had
42:32
Speaker 1: that when he met Carol. And again, I think that
42:35
Speaker 1: they were living separate lives and uh, and again that
42:40
Speaker 1: I think that love loss wasn't there, And it doesn't
42:42
Speaker 1: have to be because she wanted him dead. It could
42:45
Speaker 1: be again extremely logical, plausible that the love loss was
42:50
Speaker 1: just there. But i gotta tell you something, Sheriff. I've
42:53
Speaker 1: got to go back to three a m. Milt run
42:59
Speaker 1: for tiger milk. I mean, what pet store has opened
43:03
Speaker 1: at three am and you run a sanctuary. I mean,
43:09
Speaker 1: having twins, there is no way I would put my
43:13
Speaker 1: head on the pillow without knowing that I would have
43:17
Speaker 1: their bottles ready for during the night. It's just common sense.
43:22
Speaker 1: It's really hard for me to believe that that three
43:26
Speaker 1: a m. Milk run is bothering me. That is, and
43:30
Speaker 1: the will, the will, the extreme wealth. You can't turn
43:36
Speaker 1: away from that. Yeah, and the kids that you love,
43:40
Speaker 1: you leave them behind, you leave your wealth behind. Again,
43:42
Speaker 1: the will extremely suspicious. And again, you have a cat sanctuary,
43:46
Speaker 1: that's your business. That's your life. You know, how are
43:51
Speaker 1: you not better prepared? And again, like you not a veterinarian,
43:54
Speaker 1: but one would believe that you'd be much better prepared
43:57
Speaker 1: knowing that you have new cubs. What's your next name? Sheriff?
44:03
Speaker 1: We have a lot of what are you gonna do
44:05
Speaker 1: now that hasn't been done before, a lot more interviews.
44:10
Speaker 1: I think we have a lot more interviews. We have
44:12
Speaker 1: some great leads that have come in now. Now I
44:14
Speaker 1: say great, I can't say viable because we haven't explored
44:18
Speaker 1: them yet. I think once we get past this COVID
44:20
Speaker 1: nineteen and we can do some person in person interviews,
44:24
Speaker 1: I think we have a lot of work to do.
44:25
Speaker 1: I think the investigators over the past two three weeks
44:28
Speaker 1: I've done a good job of vetting these leads and
44:32
Speaker 1: starting to make contact with with Don's children, with the
44:35
Speaker 1: office manager and McQueen, with Don's attorney, and had some
44:40
Speaker 1: basic conversation. I think some new information has been shared.
44:44
Speaker 1: I think there's a lot of work to be done
44:46
Speaker 1: in this case. But I still say there's a conflict
44:51
Speaker 1: and inconsistently and inconsistency in the statement that we were
44:55
Speaker 1: getting ready to go together to Costa Rica. He went
44:59
Speaker 1: to run an errand. I don't know what errand. I
45:02
Speaker 1: mean when my husband goes somewhere, I like to think
45:06
Speaker 1: that I know where he's going, you know, just lie
45:08
Speaker 1: to him, he seell me, where are you going? You're
45:10
Speaker 1: go into the drug store, the grocery store, of the gas.
45:12
Speaker 1: Just tell me something. What errand? What errand? Sheriff, I'm
45:17
Speaker 1: let me ask you what errand? Was he supposed to
45:19
Speaker 1: be running and he never came back. I don't remember.
45:23
Speaker 1: But listen, I agree with you wholeheartedly. We do know
45:27
Speaker 1: where each other are at all times. You know where
45:30
Speaker 1: your husband and your wife are. You're exactly right. One
45:33
Speaker 1: tails me, well, but let me ask you this. You know,
45:38
Speaker 1: going back to his disappearance, would you wait a day
45:42
Speaker 1: if he went to run an errand? Would you wait
45:44
Speaker 1: a day or longer before you would report him as
45:47
Speaker 1: missing or try to contact the police or someone to say, hey,
45:51
Speaker 1: my husband's missing. And you're exactly right. And I was
45:55
Speaker 1: supposed to go with him, if I was supposed to leave,
45:59
Speaker 1: to go out of the tree to Costa Rica to
46:02
Speaker 1: help him carry truck, sort of get some exotic animals
46:05
Speaker 1: or whatever. If I was supposed to go with him
46:08
Speaker 1: and he never came back. Yes, I would report it immediately.
46:12
Speaker 1: If I wasn't supposed to go with him and I
46:14
Speaker 1: thought he's running off to be with his mistress, I
46:16
Speaker 1: wouldn't report him. I think that's where he had gone, right,
46:21
Speaker 1: I agree? I agree. There are so many boxes you
46:23
Speaker 1: can check as suspicious, and we just keep talking about
46:27
Speaker 1: more boxes that we have to check. And again that's
46:30
Speaker 1: why you with your experience, me with my twenty eight
46:33
Speaker 1: years of experience, we know this was a homicide, no doubt.
46:38
Speaker 1: You know, I just want to go back to that
46:39
Speaker 1: one thing, and I hate to pick on it again,
46:43
Speaker 1: but you know, the devil is in the details. If
46:47
Speaker 1: she really thought, sheriff, that he went off to be
46:50
Speaker 1: with his mistress, then why I report him missing? Why
46:55
Speaker 1: would somebody say, hey, you better call the cops. If
47:00
Speaker 1: he thought he took off to be with her, get
47:03
Speaker 1: after it go, But why would you ever call the police.
47:08
Speaker 1: So she called police because she thought he was missing.
47:13
Speaker 1: And if she thought he was missing, then she didn't
47:16
Speaker 1: believe he had run off to be with another woman.
47:18
Speaker 1: Does that make sense? You can't have it both ways.
47:21
Speaker 1: Either you know where he went or he's missing, so
47:25
Speaker 1: she reported her missing. She had to believe he didn't
47:27
Speaker 1: go be with the woman. You have to get your
47:31
Speaker 1: story straight. You're exactly right. You can't have it both
47:33
Speaker 1: ways either. Either he's disappeared, he's with someone, you're supposed
47:37
Speaker 1: to go with him. You have to get your story straight.
47:39
Speaker 1: But again, I think that this whole disappearance plot, I
47:43
Speaker 1: think this murder plot was that sophisticated that there's some
47:48
Speaker 1: there was some details lost in translation. A sheriff right there.
47:53
Speaker 1: When you say it was a sophisticated murder plot, that's
47:56
Speaker 1: not a random killing. That is not having a poker
48:00
Speaker 1: game and shooting him down over two hundred dollars. That
48:04
Speaker 1: is not an armed robbery or a carjacking. That's not
48:08
Speaker 1: hitting him in the back of the head at Pilot
48:10
Speaker 1: Country Airport and robbing him. Sophisticated means not random. Somebody
48:20
Speaker 1: in his life killed him, So you can pretty much
48:24
Speaker 1: rule out all other types of crime, such as, you know,
48:28
Speaker 1: a carjacking, a robbery, of shooting at a bar and
48:33
Speaker 1: then getting rid of the body. This was too planned
48:36
Speaker 1: out for that. Yeah, this is too sophisticated for one person.
48:42
Speaker 1: And this isn't a crime of passion. This isn't domestic related,
48:45
Speaker 1: This isn't a crime of emotion where you get mad
48:48
Speaker 1: and upset and you kill somebody. You're exactly right, is
48:52
Speaker 1: this was a plot. This was a complex plot stage
48:56
Speaker 1: in a car, coming up with different stories, erecting a will.
49:01
Speaker 1: There were a lot of things and items that go
49:04
Speaker 1: in and that have to be carried out with precision.
49:07
Speaker 1: When you talk about a complex, uh murder plot, that
49:11
Speaker 1: that that had occurred, and I think some some of
49:14
Speaker 1: the details are are are not there, and that's what
49:18
Speaker 1: is That's what leads all of us to believe that
49:22
Speaker 1: his murder or his disappearance was a murder and that
49:25
Speaker 1: it is suspicious. You know, I had a judge, he
49:30
Speaker 1: was the oldest judge in the courthouse, sheriff that would
49:32
Speaker 1: tell every jury is your duty to make all witnesses
49:36
Speaker 1: speak the truth, imputing perjury on no one. In other words,
49:40
Speaker 1: is their way for her stories to be true, even
49:45
Speaker 1: though to me they seem inconsistent. They can. I think
49:49
Speaker 1: that I think they can be true. I think they
49:54
Speaker 1: can be valid. I don't think that means that they're consistent.
49:58
Speaker 1: I think I can't say that there could be a
50:02
Speaker 1: plausible explanation to what she's saying, but again that that
50:06
Speaker 1: doesn't deem it unsuspicious in any way, shape or form.
50:12
Speaker 1: A plausible explanation for a forged will, allegedly which is
50:21
Speaker 1: yet to be proven, a three am milt run at
50:24
Speaker 1: an animal sanctuary, a car breaking down, an abandoned vehicle,
50:33
Speaker 1: an abandoned briefcase, wallet, keys, and no trace of a
50:37
Speaker 1: body or manifest and her getting all his money together,
50:43
Speaker 1: and her getting all his money. Forgetting all his money, Oh,
50:47
Speaker 1: I did not forget that part. What do you think
50:50
Speaker 1: about hate mail directed at you regarding Carol Baskin? Listen,
51:01
Speaker 1: whenever you're involved in any type of controversial investigation, you're
51:05
Speaker 1: going to have fifty percent of the people that think
51:07
Speaker 1: you're a hero. You're gonna have fifty percent of the
51:09
Speaker 1: people that hate you. And that comes with the job,
51:12
Speaker 1: that comes when you put your big boy pants on
51:14
Speaker 1: and come to work. And I certainly, I certainly expect
51:18
Speaker 1: that I don't pay much attention to it because my
51:21
Speaker 1: job is not to win any fanfare. It's to do
51:24
Speaker 1: the right thing, and the right thing is opening up
51:26
Speaker 1: this investigation and finally figuring out who committed this homicide sheriff.
51:34
Speaker 1: Last question, what about Carol? What about Carol Baskins and
51:38
Speaker 1: all the hate meal and the death threat she's getting.
51:44
Speaker 1: I mean, after this Netflix series it's exploded. What if
51:48
Speaker 1: she's nescent and she ends up being the target of
51:51
Speaker 1: a death threat. Well, I don't think whether you're guilty
51:55
Speaker 1: or innocent, you should ever have to be a victim
51:58
Speaker 1: of a death threat. You know one does and justify
52:00
Speaker 1: the other in terms of means, I can tell you
52:03
Speaker 1: that she hasn't been that concern for her life where
52:06
Speaker 1: she's notified the Hillsborough County Sheriff's office, we haven't heard
52:09
Speaker 1: from her. We obviously would do anything in the world
52:12
Speaker 1: to protect anyone who may be a victim of any
52:16
Speaker 1: type of violence at any time. If that means putting
52:19
Speaker 1: a deputy with her at all times, if that means
52:21
Speaker 1: putting a police car on the property, then make sure
52:24
Speaker 1: she's protected. We haven't heard from Carol Baskins or anyone
52:28
Speaker 1: in her family that she has felt an immediate threat
52:31
Speaker 1: of harm. Sheriff coronist her. The investigation goes on, Thank
52:38
Speaker 1: you for being with us,