FBI Back in Control of Hitman

 

This is my recollection of the call today.  Matt Bryant, the USFWS Special Agent, called Howie to tell him that they are back “in control”.  He went on to explain that sometime back he’d been able to turn one of Joe’s workers into a Confidential Informant and that the informant alerted him to the fact that Joe asked to pay him $10,000 to kill me.  The FBI / USFWS  told the CI to tell Joe that he knew a professional hitman, so Joe said he’d pay that person 10,000 to kill me.  Meanwhile, one of Joe’s drunken, doped up derelicts said he’d do it, so Joe said he would pay him.  That’s what caused the panic in the agency to alert me that I was in danger, because now they did not control the situation and they couldn’t be sure that the derelict wouldn’t hitch a ride to Tampa without being detected.

 

Matt said that his CI had managed to “get back in” which would seem to indicate that Joe had tossed him out briefly.  The CI said he was able to convince Joe that hiring the derelict was just going to get him caught and that he really needed to hire the professional (undercover agent).  Joe was persuaded to wait and meet the FBI “hitman” next week.  Matt said they have to have a couple of things fall into place for an arrest and indictments:

 

Joe has to actually give some money to the hitman in advance.

 

Joe has to pay for a ticket across state lines, or provide travel, for it to warrant a federal crime.

 

The good news is that I don’t have to worry about a real hitman looking for me, unless Joe decides to shop for a better deal.

 

Meanwhile, this afternoon, before hearing from Matt,  the Gift Shop crew called me over the radio saying a volunteer from the past, named Doug, wanted to see me.  Doug’s name came up in Don’s disappearance documentation because he, Sandy Wittkopp and Susan Aronoff were usually the people who were around whenever we needed a Notary and two witnesses.  If Joe wanted to lure me out into the path of a bullet or a knife, he might well use such a ploy as to send someone in saying that they were this long, lost volunteer who had been so beloved.  Thankfully, we had two surveillance cameras in the Gift Shop and Doug is a VERY tall man.

 

Seeing such a person, standing against the wall, not shopping, gave me some assurance that going in to see him might not be the last thing I do.  Doug had taken the 3PM tour and then asked afterwards if they could call me to the store.  It was great to see the wonder in Doug’s face at the way the place has progressed since he left 20 years ago.  I told Doug that I think of him often in the context of tours because he was the first person to say, “You could charge people to come here.”  When I protested that people would just get themselves hurt, he offered to walk around with them and that was the beginning of our guided tours back in 1995 when we had our first 43 visitors.

 

Hi, I’m Carole Baskin and I’ve been writing my story since I was able to write, but when the media goes to share it, they only choose the parts that fit their idea of what will generate views.  These are my views and opinions. If I'm going to share my story, it should be the whole story.  The titles are the dates things happened. If you have any interest in who I really am please start at the beginning of this playlist: http://savethecats.org/

 

I know there will be people who take things out of context and try to use them to validate their own misconception, but you have access to the whole story.  My hope is that others will recognize themselves in my words and have the strength to do what is right for themselves and our shared planet.  

 

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Music (if any) from Epidemic Sound (http://www.epidemicsound.com) This video is for entertainment p