JOE Exotic "didn’t have the b**ls" to kill Carole Baskin himself, the big cat farm manager who his lost arm in a tiger attack claims.
Saff Saffery, who worked at the now infamous zoo once run by the eccentric self-proclaimed 'Tiger King' weighed in on the murder-for-hire plot which landed the former zoo keeper behind bars.
57-year-old Joe – born Joseph Allen Schreibvogel – became the center of a Netflix series when he was sentenced earlier this year to 22 years in Federal Prison for a plot to kill Florida wildlife rival Carole Baskin.
But former G.W. Zoo employee Saff Saffery has cast doubt on Joe's involvement in paying a hitman $3,000 to kill self-described animal activist and Big Cat Rescue founder Carole Baskin.
The pair's long-standing feud played out over the series as Carole criticized Joe's treatment of animals and Joe hit back with accusations she murdered her former husband and threw him to the tigers.
Saffery was also a casualty of the show when he lost his arm in a horrifying tiger attack which was caught on film and shown in the series, but remained loyal to Joe and returned to work just days later.
Appearing on Fox Nation, Nancy Grace asks Joe's former colleague: “Was that just for show or do you believe he really wanted Baskin dead?"
"There’s no doubt in my mind that, you know, he thought life would be better off without her. No doubt in my mind," Saffery responds.
Grace continues: “Do you believe he would have killed her with his own hands?"
But Saffery is clear in his response, saying: “No. He definitely didn’t have the balls to do it himself.”
He definitely didn’t have the balls to do it himself.
Grace continues to press for information, asking if Joe shot the tigers that had been in cages.
"Yes. Every time," Saffery emphatically says.
"It never phased him," he adds.
"It was just something he did and then went on with his day.
"… A monster is a relative term and Joe fits the bill."
The former zookeeper, who maintains his innocence and calls himself a “gay, gun-toting cowboy with a mullet”, was also sentenced for killing five tigers, selling tiger cubs and falsifying wildlife records.
The controversial showman filed a federal lawsuit last month against the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the Department of the Interior plus the assistant attorney who prosecuted him and several witnesses.
He’s seeking nearly $94 million in damages, claiming that he was convicted based on false and perjured testimony.
Rival, Carole, has also faced numerous accusations since the documentary became a worldwide phenomenon and vehemently denies she fed her ex-husband, Don Lewis, to the tigers at the sanctuary.
Numerous interviewees in the series speculated she is sitting on at least $5 million in inheritance after the real estate tycoon mysteriously vanished back in 1997, baffling law enforcement.
He was declared legally dead in 2002 and Carole now runs his business.
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