FL FL - Jack "Don" Lewis, 59, Tampa, 18 Aug 1997 ("Tiger King" missing husband) Joe Exotic guilty

[itsreenw]

Here's a link to a video that shows legal documents allegedly signed by Don were notarized in Costa Rica before AND AFTER Don went missing.
I used an online translator site and one is a Will.
Another is a sworn statement.

 

[PatLaurel]

Here's a link to a video that shows legal documents allegedly signed by Don were notarized in Costa Rica before AND AFTER Don went missing.
I used an online translator site and one is a Will.
Another is a sworn statement.

I have them all translated...
Never mentioned them here before because i'm waiting for the lockdown to be over to get the original documents. They need to be verified first.

ETA: I got Ripper's approval to request the documents in CR.

 

[itsreenw]

I have them all translated...
Never mentioned them here before because i'm waiting for the lockdown to be over to get the original documents. They need to be verified first.

ETA: I got Ripper's approval to request the documents in CR.

Awesome!! Can't wait to hear what they say.

 

[Timekeeper65]

Awesome!! Can't wait to hear what they say.

Ohhhhhh. This is getting good. Y’all are GREAT!!

@PatLaurel thanks

 

[PatLaurel]

Awesome!! Can't wait to hear what they say.

Especially the sworn statement dated 08/23/1997. Five days after Don's disappearance...
The will also sounds suspicious imo. Why would someone register a will in a foreign country? I know Don owned properties there but...

JMO

 

[PatLaurel]

Ohhhhhh. This is getting good. Y’all are GREAT!!

@PatLaurel thanks

Ripper interviewed a criminal attorney yesterday... She lived/worked in Costa Rica. Maybe she can help us get the documents a little "faster".
The answer i got was that i would have to wait for the lockdown to be over. Only then they can access the microfilms and send the requested documents.

Also want to add that Ripper's "ok" to request the documents was with the approval of Don's daughter.

JMO

 

[itsreenw]

Another contradiction...

Carole admitted the small planes wouldn't make it to Costa Rica in this interview.
Link:
Carole Baskin speaks out about Netflix Tiger King documentary and she is livid
"The entire discussion of whether Don’s small planes could fly to Costa Rica was totally irrelevant. The planes could not fly that far and no one ever suggested they could.”

Then there's this from a 1997 article:
Mystery still surrounds the disappearance of Don Lewis from Tampa’s Big Cat Rescue

"Carole Lewis says it wasn’t unusual for her husband to rig a plane to fly farther than it was built to fly. Once he loaded the wings of a small plane with gas tanks so he could travel farther."

 

[itsreenw]

Does anyone have info on his alleged mistress in Costa Rica? There are rumors that he had one but L.E. never said they spoke with her or even identified her.

 

[itsreenw]

I have them all translated...
Never mentioned them here before because i'm waiting for the lockdown to be over to get the original documents. They need to be verified first.

ETA: I got Ripper's approval to request the documents in CR.

Did you check for anything under his alias?

 

[PatLaurel]

Did you check for anything under his alias?

I did. I tried both Bob/Robert Martin and Bob/Robert Martinez. Still working on it to see if there is anything that links these "Bobs" to JDL's alias.
Basically i've been checking every registered documents that have the surname Lewis and the name Carole on it, including all their trusts as well. And also the words wildlife, wildcats etc.
There are two documents that caught my attention, but again, until the lockdown is over, there's not much we can do.

I've been in touch with a friend of Don's and invited him to join the thread. I think it would be interesting to have someone close to Don with us here. He's a busy man tho... But i hope he makes time to join us.

JMO

 

[al66pine]

Flying Range/Distance of Plane? The Only Factor?

Another contradiction...
Carole admitted the small planes wouldn't make it to Costa Rica in this interview. Link:

Carole Baskin speaks out about Netflix Tiger King documentary and she is livid
"The entire discussion of whether Don’s small planes could fly to Costa Rica was totally irrelevant. The planes could not fly that far and no one ever suggested they could.”
Then there's this from a 1997 article:
Mystery still surrounds the disappearance of Don Lewis from Tampa’s Big Cat Rescue
"Carole Lewis says it wasn’t unusual for her husband to rig a plane to fly farther than it was built to fly. Once he loaded the wings of a small plane with gas tanks so he could travel farther."

@itsreenw bbm Thx for link.
Seems CB was ASSuming plane could not make that flight on one tank of fuel, but flying small craft from FL to Costa Rica cd/be done other ways imo.
1. Possible a plane could make multiple fuel stops by flying a much longer over-land route.
2. Additional fuel tank(s) can be installed to extend a plane's flying range.*
3. W over-water/Gulf of Mexico route, are fuel stops available somewhere en route? Maybe dinky islands w airstrips serving small aircraft, not commercial airliners?
Not saying JDL actually did ^ but thinking not all CB's stmts sh/be taken as factual or at face value. imo

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* If flying into a location knowing no aircraft fuel is available, a person could place extra cans of fuel on the plane, fly and land. And before return flight or next leg, could add fuel from cans into plane's tank. Seems unsafe imo.
Load extra "gas" like CB noted. Huh? Park plane in mid-air? Empty from 5-gal cans into plane's tank? IDK.
Where are our W/S pilots who could advise about this?

^ pic from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviation_fuel#/media/File:Refueling_Diamond_HK36-TTC.jpg
"Overwing fueling is used on smaller planes, helicopters, and all piston-engine aircraft. Overwing fueling is similar to car fueling — one or more fuel ports are opened and fuel is pumped in with a conventional pump."
^ Aviation fuel - Wikipedia

 

[Treetop]

I did. I tried both Bob/Robert Martin and Bob/Robert Martinez. Still working on it to see if there is anything that links these "Bobs" to JDL's alias.
Basically i've been checking every registered documents that have the surname Lewis and the name Carole on it, including all their trusts as well. And also the words wildlife, wildcats etc.
There are two documents that caught my attention, but again, until the lockdown is over, there's not much we can do.

I've been in touch with a friend of Don's and invited him to join the thread. I think it would be interesting to have someone close to Don with us here. He's a busy man tho... But i hope he makes time to join us.

JMO

I think you are talking about me. I was Don’s flight instructor 11 years prior to his “disappearance”. I still talk with some of his family. If you have aviation questions I will help all I can. PatLaurel has provided our Facebook group with an amazing amount of research. Because of her I agreed to sign up to answer.

 

[Treetop]

Flying Range/Distance of Plane? The Only Factor?
@itsreenw bbm Thx for link.
Seems CB was ASSuming plane could not make that flight on one tank of fuel, but flying small craft from FL to Costa Rica cd/be done other ways imo.
1. Possible a plane could make multiple fuel stops by flying a much longer over-land route.
2. Additional fuel tank(s) can be installed to extend a plane's flying range.*
3. W over-water/Gulf of Mexico route, are fuel stops available somewhere en route? Maybe dinky islands w airstrips serving small aircraft, not commercial airliners?
Not saying JDL actually did ^ but thinking not all CB's stmts sh/be taken as factual or at face value. imo

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* If flying into a location knowing no aircraft fuel is available, a person could place extra cans of fuel on the plane, fly and land. And before return flight or next leg, could add fuel from cans into plane's tank. Seems unsafe imo.
Load extra "gas" like CB noted. Huh? Park plane in mid-air? Empty from 5-gal cans into plane's tank? IDK.
Where are our W/S pilots who could advise about this?

^ pic from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviation_fuel#/media/File:Refueling_Diamond_HK36-TTC.jpg
"Overwing fueling is used on smaller planes, helicopters, and all piston-engine aircraft. Overwing fueling is similar to car fueling — one or more fuel ports are opened and fuel is pumped in with a conventional pump."
^ Aviation fuel - Wikipedia

No doubt what you are saying is possible. Don did not have the piloting skills to do that. He was not a good pilot and after three crashes from speaking to his family he had reached that conclusion himself. No way Don would have attempted that.

 

[PatLaurel]

I think you are talking about me. I was Don’s flight instructor 11 years prior to his “disappearance”. I still talk with some of his family. If you have aviation questions I will help all I can. PatLaurel has provided our Facebook group with an amazing amount of research. Because of her I agreed to sign up to answer.

Welcome to Websleuths @Treetop! And thank you for joining us!

 

[itsreenw]

Flying Range/Distance of Plane? The Only Factor?
@itsreenw bbm Thx for link.
Seems CB was ASSuming plane could not make that flight on one tank of fuel, but flying small craft from FL to Costa Rica cd/be done other ways imo.
1. Possible a plane could make multiple fuel stops by flying a much longer over-land route.
2. Additional fuel tank(s) can be installed to extend a plane's flying range.*
3. W over-water/Gulf of Mexico route, are fuel stops available somewhere en route? Maybe dinky islands w airstrips serving small aircraft, not commercial airliners?
Not saying JDL actually did ^ but thinking not all CB's stmts sh/be taken as factual or at face value. imo

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* If flying into a location knowing no aircraft fuel is available, a person could place extra cans of fuel on the plane, fly and land. And before return flight or next leg, could add fuel from cans into plane's tank. Seems unsafe imo.
Load extra "gas" like CB noted. Huh? Park plane in mid-air? Empty from 5-gal cans into plane's tank? IDK.
Where are our W/S pilots who could advise about this?

^ pic from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviation_fuel#/media/File:Refueling_Diamond_HK36-TTC.jpg
"Overwing fueling is used on smaller planes, helicopters, and all piston-engine aircraft. Overwing fueling is similar to car fueling — one or more fuel ports are opened and fuel is pumped in with a conventional pump."
^ Aviation fuel - Wikipedia

Thanks for sharing. That's interesting to know. I thought extra weight would cause a small plane to be off balanced.

I'm not giving Carole's suggestion that Don flew to Costa Rica a second thought.

When I see inconsistent statements I'm posting them in case we need to refer to them later.

Another one I read is that Carole got worried when Don didn't make it home Monday evening in time to feed the cats. In the same interview she said Don was known to disappear for weeks so for the first couple weeks she wasn't too worried...but you reported him missing this time, the next day??
But Carole gave conflicting stories. First, she said she became nervous that first day when Don didn’t come home at the cats’ feeding time. Later, she said she he was prone to disappearing for extended periods. “That’s why in the initial first couple weeks or so I didn’t get too excited over it. I felt like it was just him acting out. He’d be over it. He’d be home. It took a while for it to settle in.”

Which is it Carole??

 

[itsreenw]

Welcome to Websleuths @Treetop! And thank you for joining us!

Welcome aboard, Treetop!

 

[itsreenw]

Mystery still surrounds the disappearance of Don Lewis from Tampa’s Big Cat Rescue
"On Monday morning, Carole says, she was still in bed when Don set out on his day’s journey, preparing for a move to his 200 acres in Costa Rica."
“Be sure and have the Costa Rica truck looked at,” Carole remembers Don saying. He wanted her to take the truck to the mechanic because he was planning to ship it the following day to Costa Rica. However, employee Ken Farr says the truck had been taken apart by a mechanic who quit before finishing the job, so it was in no shape to be shipped out the following day.

Lewis then set out in his rusted 8-year-old blue Dodge van with a broken window and a battered grill on what was believed to be a typical day of wheeling and dealing."

Trish Payne said Kenny Farr was picked up from home Sunday afternoon by "Mexican Mike" and drove home in Don's blue van, full of Don's guns on Sunday night between 11pm-12am. Monday morning he left home earlier than his usual 5am departure time.
By the time she arose at 6am, he was gone and the coffee pot was already cold, indicating he'd been gone for quite some time.

Coincidentally, Carole was out early that morning, too. The 3am run to Albertsons.

It is no coincidence that Kenny was in Don's van that night and that Carole and Kenny both left their homes in the wee hours of the morning.

And...why weren't Kenny's prints in the van?

 

[itsreenw]

Just brainstorming reasons for Carole and Kenny to both leave home at such odd hours...she needed to meet Kenny with the real estate signs so they could drop them off at Wendall Williams office before office hours and drop that van at the airport before the sun came up.

Trisha Payne gave the impression that Kenny seemed rushed or panicked when he returned home late Sunday night, hurriedly removing guns from the van. He told her Don was gone and told her not to talk about him to anyone.
Although it hasn't been proven, I believe Don was dead sometime before 11pm on Sunday 8/17/97.

Carole knew Don was supposed to drop off some real estate signs at Wendall Williams office on Monday morning.

It is possible that in the chaos of covering up a murder, they realized they needed to drop those signs off before the office opened to make it seem like Don started out on his errands early Monday morning as she kept stressing ("early, early, early ")

If the signs weren't delivered it would be likely that Wendall would call looking for Don. The signs being delivered are Caroline's "proof" that Don actually left home on Monday morning.

Carole made sure to be seen at the store, by the police as an alibi for being out that time of the morning.
JMO

 

[al66pine]

Gratitude for Opinion from @Treetop, JDL's Flight Instructor

No doubt what you are saying is possible. Don did not have the piloting skills to do that. He was not a good pilot and after three crashes from speaking to his family he had reached that conclusion himself. No way Don would have attempted that.

@Treetop Thanks for chiming in w the benefit of your piloting experience, and even better that you were flight instructor to JDL.

 

[al66pine]

Registering a Will?

Especially the sworn statement dated 08/23/1997. Five days after Don's disappearance...
The will also sounds suspicious imo. Why would someone register a will in a foreign country? I know Don owned properties there but...JMO

@PatLaurel bbm
Not claiming any expertise in Costa Rica law. I have not followed the thread closely enough to know the context of how this question arose: did someone (Carole?) try to claim CR land? And if JDL owned real property in CR, how was it titled --- his name alone, jt name w CB, in name of a trust, jt. name w a CR resident, or other? Who said will was registered in CR? Source?

W ^ caveats in mind, when the sole owner of record of real property in a foreign country (say, JDL & C.Rica) dies, generally, there is a judicial procedure in that country to detemine the who inherits the property.

A FL probate court w jurisdiction over JDL's estate would not have jurisdiction to transfer property in CR. Seems possible that his will (or an authenticated copy, which had been accepted as valid for probate by FL ct) could be probated in an approp. CR court and the CR property would then be transferred per terms of will. <--- Assuming he was sole owner and assuming the prior deed transferring was recorded per CR law.
OTOH, it's poss he did not have full title (equivalent to fee simple in US) to the CR property. Maybe he only leased the CR property or had only an option to purchase. Or maybe deed was not recorded in CR. Or maybe at that time, CR laws restricted sale of lands to non-CR citizens.

IOW a lot of unknowns & difficult to draw sound conclusions.