Oklahoma governor candidate's murder-for-hire trial delayed

OKLAHOMA CITY — The attempted murder-for-hire trial of an ex-Oklahoma zookeeper and one-time Libertarian candidate for governor has been postponed.

Court documents filed Dec. 21 show a federal judge agreed to a defense request for more time to prepare and rescheduled the trial of Joseph Maldonado-Passage, who goes by “Joe Exotic,” until March 12. Maldonado-Passage is charged with trying to hire someone to kill the operator of a Florida-based animal sanctuary.

He pleaded not guilty and has a pending motion to dismiss the charge.

Maldonado-Passage also faces charges of killing tigers and selling cubs in violation of the Endangered Species Act.

Read more: http://www.swtimes.com/news/20190108/oklahoma-governor-candidates-murder-for-hire-trial-delayed


Joseph Maldonado-Passage