Tiger King star Carole Baskin’s missing husband ‘had signature FORGED on will’ that gifted fortune to her, expert claims
SIGNATURES on the will and power attorney of Don Lewis, the long-missing husband of Tiger King star Carole Baskin, were traced from his marriage record, a handwriting expert has concluded.
Thomas Vastrick, from Apopka, Florida, told the , "It’s not a difficult call."
Vastrick said the witness and notary signatures are also identical on the will and power of attorney – leading him to conclude that at least one, or possibly both, signatures were traced.
This conclusion was supported by another handwriting expert, Willa Smith, who said she believed Lewis' signature was "the product of tracing."
Multimillionaire Lewis was reported missing on August 19, 1997, and has not been seen since.
The last person to see Lewis alive was his wife, , one of the stars of the Netflix documentary series Tiger King, which covered the animal sanctuary owner's disappearance.
Baskin, who has since remarried, denied any role in her former husband's disappearance.
After Lewis' death, Big Cat Rescue owner Baskin produced Lewis' will and power of attorney, which gave her control of his estate.
Lewis was pronounced legally dead in Tampa, Florida, in 2002.
Matt Steffey, a professor of law at Mississippi College of Law, said the handwriting revelation could be useful to prosecutors, should they decided to charge Baskin with the disappearance of Lewis.
Steffey said the information is "powerful evidence of motive, and it’s powerful evidence of misdeeds.
"She has motive anyway, but this ups the stakes.”
As a result of such actions, Steffey said, Baskin was given "total control of his [Lewis'] affairs.
"It ties a bow on what could be her scheme to get him out of the picture."
Since his disappearance, Lewis' family members have voiced their concerns about whether the documents in question could have been doctored.
CONSPIRACY THEORIES
Local authorities previously looked into the matter, but a Florida attorney general's office reportedly ruled the five-year statue of limitations on forgery had expired.
After the release of Tiger King, theories began to circulate online about how Baskin may have been involved Lewis' disappearance.
Such claims were also made by another star of the documentary series, Joe Exotic, who for years accused Baskin, who opposed Exotic's tiger sanctuary, of killing Lewis.
One signature that appears on the will and power of attorney is Susan Aronoff.
Aronoff told deputies that she was there for the signing, but, she actually wasn't.
In a series of email from February 25, Aronoff told an unnamed recipient that when Don “disappeared and the kids were contesting the will, I got a phone call from Carole to go to court because it seems that I was one of the supposed witnesses on the will!"
She added: “The problem with the will is that Carole had me backed against a wall at the time and from fear of her then I signed a statement, swearing it to be my signature, even though it wasn’t. I could go to jail for that I’m told.”
Aronoff wrapped up the series of emails, which authorities have, by saying "most of us who dealt with Carole are truly too afraid of her to do much against her.”
According to reports, Lewis made Anne McQueen, his longtime executive assistant, the executor for his will, power of attorney and life insurance.
McQueen – who members of Lewis' family have said he trusted full – believed the only copies of his will and power of attorney were under her desk.
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The documents that appeared after Lewis' disappearance were "absolutely" different to the ones she had received for safekeeping, McQueen said.
Both McQueen and Lewis's family have said that it was no secret to friends and family that Lewis wanted to divorce Baskin.
According to McQueen, days before Lewis went missing, he told here: "Anne, I am serious this time. It [the marriage] is definitely done and over with.”
