There is "so much more" to Joe Exotic's murder-for-hire trial than is portrayed in the Netflix hit docuseries, "Tiger King," says one of the jurors who wants to set the record straight.
"Don't believe everything you see, because there was so much more to it than what they're showing you," the juror identified as Kristin told Nancy Grace of Fox Nation. "They made him out to be almost a victim."
Exotic, whose real name is Maldonado-Passage, was sentenced to 22 years behind bars on charges of a murder-for-hire plot against animal rights activist Carole Baskin plus various violations of acts regarding wild animals. Viewers are not getting the full story though, says the juror.
Exotic is portrayed as a "lovable" and a "good guy," while those evaluating his guilt come across as unreasonable, Kristin said.
"It just wasn't even the same story," Kristin stated of the evidence revealed in "Tiger King." "It did a huge injustice to the jury, because now people think that we convicted him based on absolutely nothing."
The show focuses on Exotic's attempt to pay a worker from his zoo to carry out the murder plot. What is not revealed is how Exotic then tried to hire a second person to do the job.
"There was a long recording of [the apparent hitman] meeting Joe," Kristin said. "And we could have convicted on both murder for hire counts based on one sentence that Joe said, which was the first guy that I hired to kill her ran away with my $3,000. Now, we're going to try this again."
The hitman was reportedly an undercover agent, Huff Post noted.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.