The catastrophic incident that took place in Ohio should have served as a cautionary tale for others in America. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. By now they had also decided that they would need to neutralize all of the animals that were loose, even those still on Thompson's property, so they formed a shooting party. Still, Lutz said he wasn't busy and would drive over. The house itself was disgusting. At death Terry William Thompson was five feet five inches tall and weighed 174 pounds. "When he would go into the house another buddy would hold an M16 out, protecting him, and then when he came out he would hold the M16, protecting his buddy. Spires mentions that one morning he found a note from Marian in his mailbox, with a stamped addressed envelope, asking if he would write to Terry in prison. He then looked back for a moment at his wife and . Lutz instructed that if there were animals outside Thompson's property they needed to be shot. The animal lovers are the ones that hurt them.' But the final blow was finding out that his wife, Marian, had left him. When I interviewed Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson over the summer after the release of his documentary "Summer Of Soul," at the end of the. He had been wearing a black T-shirt, blue jeans, and white briefs. But it doesnt seem to be the case as 5,000 to 10,000 tigers live in captivity in the country, while less than 4,000 remain in the wild. Now he only had his Glock. Even if many of the animals were confused or scared, and not bloodthirsty for human flesh, some of the friendliest might have been expected to want to "play" with Thompsonand when a cat this big decides to play with you, you are in little less peril than when it decides to attack you. You know, I'm crazy, but I live in the big house on the hill with the biggest horse and the fastest boat, fastest bike. The charge didn't stick. Menu. "Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson" is a lively and insightful documentary about the late great journalist who exploded the myth of objectivity. Near 5:30 p.m. on October 18, 2011 -- the day the world's remaining wildness seemingly died in Zanesville, Ohio, of all places -- Sergeant Steven Blake, of the Muskingum County sheriff's. They needed to find out for sure, and to see whether the person might still be alive. The first big public warning sign that, when it came to Thompson's animals, all might not be as it should came in 2005. After Deputy Merry headed down the road in pursuit of a wolf, Sergeant Steve Blake, who'd been first on the scene, decided he should drive up to Thompson's house. Terry Thompson. ", Thompson went to the Federal Correctional Institution in Morgantown, West Virginia, on November 17, 2010. And he was like, 'You know, I'm a lover, not a fighter.' "I was at an auction and he had a tiger that had ringworm and he had a baby monkey," says Nancy Wider, another owner. He made mistakes, big mistakes, that the rest of us haven't made.". On the other side of the flimsy fence separating them from his neighbor Terry Thompson's property, Kopchak noticed that Thompson's horses seemed even more agitated. Whether he was a daredevil hero or an idiot or an animal lover or an animal hater or a victim or a recluse or a good man betrayed, he was assumed to be a cartoon of a man whose whole life could be extrapolated from its final minutes. Sheriff Matt Lutz was settling into an evening in front of the TV. An insightful documentary film has just been released that reveals the true Donald Trump contrary to the constant misleading portrayals by his opposition. I think he had a little touch of Agent Orange. Cages only lead to more cages, unless a far worse reality awaits them. My guest, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, has made his directorial debut with the new documentary "Summer Of Soul." Questlove co-founded The Roots, which is,. "He wrestled with the biblical thing: 'I guess I'll never go to heaven because I killed people,' " says Chuck Spires, his friend and guitar teacher. It was very sad to seehow someone clearly had lost their mind. The truth is that while, on a practical level, we may feel as though we can distinguish between better and worse owners, it is logically impossible to know for certain what the animals are thinking or experiencing. When a state patrolman stopped him for having a taillight out, this is how Thompson described to Spires what happened next: Patrolman: Oh, by the way, you don't have your seat belt fastenedI've got to ticket you for that. His probation officer also visited, and Thompson told him how distraught he was at the prospect of being hooked up for a year's electronic home confinement. He shot the lion while some other deputies shot the cougar. Zanesville Animal Escape: How Many Animals Died? Terry Thompson Zoo Release Calendar Top 250 Movies Most Popular Movies Browse Movies by Genre Top Box Office Showtimes & Tickets Movie News India Movie Spotlight. By now the order had come over the radio: Put the animal down. Okay, this is a .308, so I could have killed you when you came in the front gate. Soon, their collection grew into a private mini zoo as the couple took care of rescued animals, and also bought some themselves. This riddle hardly bolsters any of the conspiracy theoriesif someone did this to Thompson, they too would have had to find a way of releasing the animals without coming to immediate harm (never mind to have escaped from the scene without being spotted). "That's when Terry actually goes to [Moore] and asks him about Marian having cheated on him while he was in prison," says Deputy LeCocq. ", Toward the end, according to Cindy Huntsman, he seemed to treat his collection of animals in the same way. He took care of that monkey most of the time he was over there. The animals were scooped by the bucketload, placed in the hole, and earth backhoed over them. Netflixs Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness offers an expansive portrayal of private ownership of exotic animals in America. He only looked back once, when they were about a third of the way to the barn. It broke my heart. Even that statistic slightly obscures the situation. He was upset with the army because he saw some horrible, ugly things." But while it seems foolish to expect someone's actions on the verge of suicide to be consistent with their behavior before then, this actionthe cutting of the cagesdoes puzzle some for a different reason. The only notable substance in his blood was Benadryl. So, she hasn't told you that during her deposition, she told me that you weren't going to be living with her, you two were not going to be living together when you got out?No. "Beautiful blues eyesthat's what you noticed first," says Christine Perone, who dated him for some time in high school. He didn't trust anybody after that. Thompson's body was taken from the scene for an autopsy at the Licking County Coroner's, where it revealed a few of its secrets. GQ may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. "It stood up," says Kanavel, "and was standing there." It had a special meaning." The incident made global news. Forty miles away, at the Columbus Zoo, an event was being held for the International Rhino Foundation. "They could only get so many on the helicopter," says Cress, "and they actually had to pry their fingers off the helicopter so they could get off the ground." Terry Thompson died under the most dramatic of circumstances. She had to be convinced that the survivors should be taken to the zoo for safekeeping. Where were you then? Michael J. Fox: Parkinson's Disease Battle Tougher, Won't Live to 80 "He was a broken individual," says Phil Cress. I just know that I learned the lesson the hard way, that's all.". "It was the most horrific smells," says Stalf. She said, 'We have to goTerry Thompson's animals are out.' Where do you plan to live when you are released?At my house.Okay. He was inspecting the body when word came over the radio that some colleagues had a lion cornered near the Thompson residence. "One of our vets came into the cocktail area," says Tom Stalf, the zoo's chief operating officer, "and you could see the panic on her face. Blake drove Kanavel's Silverado crew cab, and four others sat on the bed of the truck behind him so that they wouldn't have to fire out of windows. "I've had three bad things happen in my life," he says, and proceeds to describe them. And it just broke his heartthis is what I think. It wasn't quite that straightforward. Shoot to Kill: The Ohio Animal Massacre - Terry Thompson's final day "Jack needs to step back, take a breath, and look at Jack's history. All evening it went on, the slaughter. Since 1957, GQ has inspired men to look sharper and live smarter with its unparalleled coverage of style, culture, and beyond. Directed by: Vlad Yudin. He'd already hung up his uniform and finished his dinner when, at around 5:20 p.m., he got the call reporting that Terry Thompson had an animal out. And there were always planes. TV Shows. Their cages had either been cut through or left open. 'Because I can. Somehow, no one was hurt. "They told me," says one owner, Cindy Huntsman, "there were no laws on the books that would allow him to confiscate.". The bigger the bang that takes someone out, the more likely it is that the person at its center will be obscured. View all posts . The exotic-animal world is a close-knit one, and in the year before Thompson's death, after he was sent to prison, word spread that there were problems with his animals. Friends talk of driving to Columbus, a baby bear with them in the front cab, or having naps at his house with baby lions asleep on them. Terry Thompson - IMDb Fox Movie,' a documentary about his life. After all, this is not the life they are meant to lead, and certainly not the one they deserve. People insist that the Terry Thompson they knew was too lazy to go to that kind of trouble. Unfortunately, one of the animals, a leopard-jaguar mix, was euthanized after he was severely injured from a cage door that fell on its neck. ", Her son remained trapped in the barn. "When he was in Vietnam," says Mike Marshall, "he told me that he was befriended by a little monkey. Thompson did speak to other friends in those days. Partly, I think, they talk because they're proud of what they do and the way they do it, but it's also because their way of life is under attack. There may still be a market for baby lions and tigers (the consensus seems to be that realistic prices are a little higher than Stalf's figure), but there is virtually no market at all for adult tigers and lions. Workin' Moms. And there was the lion he had seen before, now pacing back and forth. In August, Thompson was moved to a halfway house in Columbus. I was in a helicopter so I was a machine gunner with an M60that was on a bipod. I hear many tales of devotion and care that try to emphasize the ordinariness of what is being done ("We live a very normal life," one mother tells me, "besides the fact that I have alternative animals"); I hear from a man who had a bear escape and only averted disaster by luring it back into its cage with a trail of vanilla-cream cookies; I hear from a man who shared his house and bed with a leopard for nineteen years ("I know certainly if I would have done the wrong thing when she was getting possessive about things, she would have certainly killed me"); I hear from a couple who have not been on holiday for seven years because they won't abandon their six bobcats and who are planning to leave the state rather than be separated from their animals; I hear from a woman who says she will do absolutely anything"shoveling shit in hell, sucking cock for fifty bucks"to feed and protect her cats.