Carole Baskin rose to prominence in the entertainment and conspiracy theory communities with her performances on Joe Exotic’s Tiger King. The program touched on her life. Many of the conversations were about her personal life, relationships throughout the years, and her link to her second husband’s disappearance. There’s a lot to understand in her four-decade dating history. Here’s a breakdown of her love life throughout the years, as well as her life with her present spouse, whom she has been with for more than half of those four decades.
Life with Michael Murdock
Baskin’s first known relationship was with her employer at a Tampa department store, Michael Murdock. She started working there when she was 17 years old, after running away from home at the age of 15. Murdock, also known as Mike, allowed her to keep her cat at his apartment since she had been keeping her cat (an animal she adored) in her vehicle throughout the day. She was drawn to him because of his charity.
On April 7, 1979, they married and moved live together. She claims she merely married him to appease her parents, who were upset that she was living with a guy without being married to him. She also claims that she never loved him. Jamie Veronica Murdock was born on July 16, 1980, after she got pregnant in October 1979. Mike was possessive and abusive with her. He beat her often after their pretty regular disputes, in addition to keeping an eye on her so she didn’t slip away.
She was certain he was going to hit her again one night in 1981, after a particularly heated disagreement. Baskin, 19, fled the home barefoot when potato was thrown at his head. They had an unofficial divorce since she never returned to him. A few years later, the divorce was finalized. While fleeing her first spouse, she stumbled upon her second.
The Husband Who Disappeared
An unknown man came up behind her on the streets of Tampa that night. Baskin first refused to get into his vehicle, but she did so the second time after being attracted by him and the rifle in the back seat. However, the gun was never used. Instead, he took her to a hotel and they spoke all night. She fell in love with him “right then and there.”
Baskin only knew one thing about him at this point: his name, Bob Martin, which he had made up. When they began their affair, they were both married. She only realized he wasn’t Bob Martin when she phoned him at work one day (full name – Jack Donald Lewis). It was at that point that she discovered she was dating a billionaire. They finished their divorces with their prior marriages and married in 1991. She’d been with him for nearly a decade at that time, and she’d also helped him become much wealthier than he was when they met.
They established an animal farm together named Wildlife on Easy Street, on Easy Street. They primarily had cats and were making so much money that they were always fighting over it. His actual character was being revealed right in front of her eyes. According to her, he was obsessed with sex and had several relationships with other women on the side. He would often travel to Costa Rica, which would eventually prove to be more significant than it seems here. Lewis obtained a restraining order against Baskin in June 1997, as their marriage began to deteriorate. He said she threatened him with death, but his request was refused.
He disappeared a few weeks following his unsuccessful restraining order effort. Lewis had planned to drive automobiles to Costa Rica and conduct a few other errands on Monday, August 18, 1997. He left their house that morning and never came back. He was proclaimed dead in absentia on August 19, 2002, and has never been discovered.
Another restraining order, another man
Baskin went on with another guy after Lewis’s unexpected absence. After Lewis went missing, she began seeing someone called Jay Baykal. Baykal, too, requested a restraining order against her in 2002. The cops again declined his request. In his request, he stated that when he questioned Baskin about Lewis and what would happen if he came someday, she replied, “Dead body cannot speak.”
Baskin and Howard Baskin
Baskin met her current husband, Howard Baskin, during an event for No More Homeless Pets, a nonprofit in Tampa Bay, Florida, in November 2002. They quickly became friends since they both like animals. Howard became the Chairman of Big Cat Rescue’s Advisory Board in 2003. He proposed in November 2003, and they married a year later in November 2004. They currently co-run the refuge and reside in Florida.
