FILE – This file photo provided by the Santa Rose County Jail in Milton, Fla., shows Joseph Maldonado-Passage. Prosecutors say Maldonado-Passage, also known as “Joe Exotic, tried to arrange the killing of Carole Baskin, the founder of Big Cat Rescue. Lurors were shown a Facebook video Tuesday, March 26, 2019, that depicts Maldonado-Passage shooting a blow-up “Carole” doll in the head. Other videos show him pretending to dig a grave for Baskin and threatening to mail her rattlesnakes. (Santa Rosa County Jail via AP, File)
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A jury is deliberating a verdict in the federal trial of an ex-Oklahoma zookeeper and former candidate for governor accused in an attempted murder-for-hire plot.
Jurors began deliberating Tuesday in the trial of 56-year-old Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage, who’s accused of trying to arrange the killing of Carole Baskin , founder of a Florida animal sanctuary who criticized his treatment of animals. Baskin wasn’t harmed.
He’s also accused of killing five tigers in October 2017 and selling and offering to sell tiger cubs.
Maldonado-Passage, known as “Joe Exotic,” has pleaded not guilty and testified Monday that although disagreements with Baskin spilled over into his social media posts, he never wanted her dead.
Maldonado-Passage used to operate a zoo in Wynnewood, Oklahoma. He ran unsuccessfully for Oklahoma governor last year as a Libertarian.
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