Florida sheriff denies claims that Carole Baskin's husband Don Lewis' disappearance was hidden by his deputies
The sheriff of Hillsborough County, Florida, rubbished rumors that his department was involved in the coverup of the disappearance of multi-millionaire Don Lewis, the first husband of 'Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness' star and Big Cat Rescue animal sanctuary founder, Carole Baskin.
Lewis went missing in 1997 and has since been declared dead. His body was never found. In the series, one of the conspiracy theories put forward was the involvement of Baskin's brother, who was a deputy sheriff on the Hillsborough county police force and on duty the night of Lewis' disappearance. On Friday, April 24, 'Fox Nation' host Nancy Grace asked Hillsborough County sheriff Chad Chronister to weigh in on the particular theory.
"If you dare to Google yourself, you're going to find out that there's a conspiracy theory going on and a suggestion of a cover-up," said Grace on the latest episode of the Fox Nation series, 'A Tiger King Investigation.' "So let's just grab the bull by the horns, Sheriff. She had a brother on your force, on the sheriff department force... What do you say to claims that he helped her cover up a murder and that he helped her that night?"
The sheriff made it clear that there was no truth to the rumors. "I would say those claims are false," replied Chronister. "He was actually assigned to a call. He had actually had someone under arrest. Someone was in his car. He went to booking during that time. Any type of theory of cover-up is dispelled when you can trackback and see that his actions that night were accounted for."
He added that Baskin's brother and another officer at the time corroborated Baskin's claim that on the night of Lewis's disappearance she was on her way to the grocery store at 3 a.m. to buy milk for tiger cubs when her vehicle broke down. "[Baskin's brother] had asked for one of his other friends, another deputy, to please take her to the home," said Chronister. "Another deputy sheriff did pick her up from the Albertson's and give her a ride back to the animal sanctuary."
Although he denied claims that anyone from his department was involved in any possible cover-up, he does believe that Lewis was murdered, in a "sophisticated and complex" plot, involving multiple people. "This individual was murdered and this individual never left the country," said Chronister. "I think it was staged and meant to appear like someone had just pulled up, parked, and I think they wanted us to believe that he would never [have] intended on returning and that he had left. No doubt in my mind. I'm thoroughly convinced that he was killed."
Baskin said that her first husband was planning on traveling to Costa Rica, where he had a home. Lewis' car was found abandoned in the parking lot of a private country airport.
"There are other people who benefited by [Lewis'] death... That's why it would be irresponsible to call Carol Baskin's even a person of interest," he concluded, adding that he was naming Baskin as a potential person of interest in the case.
