Crime

'Tiger King' star Jeff Lowe says he received a creepy, anonymous letter from someone indicating they know where Carole Baskin's missing ex-husband is ... though it's similar to a theory she's already shot down.

Jeff tells TMZ ... the letter was sent to his Tiger King Park in Oklahoma in May 2020, but the envelope only had the zoo's address on it, no name or return address. He says all they know is it was postmarked in Providence, Rhode Island.

As you can see in video of Jeff and his wife, Lauren, opening the letter back then ... it contains a single piece of paper with a handwritten note -- "The corpse lies under Her House." It's signed by "The Faithful Witness."

We're told Jeff and Lauren were speaking with a federal agent about the letter, and she claims she also informed law enforcement in Hillsborough County, FL ... where Don Lewis went missing in 1997.

Jeff and the agent on the phone speculate about what exactly the letter is alleging, but the gist seems clear ... the person who sent it believes Don's body is buried somewhere on Carole's Big Cat Rescue property in Tampa.

Here's where things get a bit weird -- even though Lauren says Hillsborough County authorities requested the letter in May 2020 ... Jeff refused, saying 'Tiger King 2' producers advised him to hold onto it.

Jeff says filming's wrapped now, so they are finally sending the letter to the Hillsborough County authorities, where he claims cops are planning to test it for DNA and fingerprints. We reached out to the Hillsborough Co. Sheriff's Office, they say they won't talk about evidence.

As we previously told you ... there's a Facebook group that also believes Lewis is buried on Baskin's property -- specifically under a septic tank system -- but she posted a video in August 2020 attempting to debunk that.

Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit was allegedly juiced up when he won the race, because he apparently tested positive for steroids.

The legendary Bob Baffert, the horse's trainer, broke the news Sunday that the test results showed the presence of corticosteroid Betamethasone. It's kinda technical, but the sample came back positive for 21 picograms of the drug. It's used as an anti-inflammatory.

This means the horse could be disqualified. BTW ... Medina Spirit is the only horse in the race to test positive.

Baffert denies doing anything wrong ... "I don't know what's going on, but there's something that is not right.” It's not official till the split sample comes. Usually, we wait for that, but I wanted to get in front of it."

Facts are facts, and this would be Baffert's 5th medication violation since May, 2020.

The good news for bettors ... they won't have to give their money back. The bad news for Baffert, the trainer and the jockey ... they'll have to return their winnings if their appeal fails.

If Medina Spirit is stripped of the win, it'd be the first DQ since 1968, when Dancer's Image won but was later disqualified for an anti-inflammatory drug.

A woman and a toddler were reportedly shot in broad daylight just now in Times Square -- a random act of violence in which the suspected gunman still hasn't been caught.

Cops have swarmed the area and barricaded the streets, where they say gunfire erupted between West 44th Street and 7th Avenue around 2 PM PT. Law enforcement sources tell us one of the bullets struck the woman.

The child is also said to have been hit, but it's unclear where. In any case, both of them were rushed to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition ... so it seems they're gonna make it. We're also hearing that a third person may have also been shot in the chaos.

The most disconcerting part -- besides somebody trying to gun down a lady and a kid in the middle of the day -- is the fact that the person who did this has NOT been caught yet ... as we're told they're still on the loose as of now. That might explain why there's such a massive police presence right now ... presumably, they're scouring the streets for the shooter.

No word yet on a motive, but this appears to have happened out of nowhere ... which makes it all the more terrifying. People captured video of people running upon initial word that a shooting had taken place ... as well clips of the aftermath as cops stood by controlling the crowd and securing the scene. Another video -- taken from an Earth Cam towering above Times Square -- seems to show the exact moment the shots were fired, two of them.

Someone also appears to have snagged video of the moment the victims were rushed into an ambulance by EMTs. Witnesses reportedly say the toddler was bleeding, and the woman was crying. Based on this video, it also looks like some people were booted from the bus.

It's an awful way to help people get ready for the re-opening of Broadway and other NYC venues that have been shuttered during the pandemic. As if folks hadn't already been on edge, this news certainly won't help them feel any safer ... especially considering Times Square is one of the most visible and frequented areas in the city.

If this can happen there, it's not a good omen for what could happen else in NYC.

Henry Golding says the latest heinous attack in San Francisco makes it painfully obvious America needs more awareness about Asian hate -- but he's hopeful we can put an end to it.

The "Crazy Rich Asians" star was in Beverly Hills when we asked him about the recent attack on 2 elderly Asian women, which he calls horrific and cowardly.

As terrible as that situation was -- thankfully, both women survived and a suspect's been arrested -- Henry tells us people are standing up to Asian hate and violence more and more ... and he believes it's making a difference.

Sadly, the harsh reality is that these attacks keep happening, so the actor says there's still a need to educate loved ones about the dangers and keep spreading awareness. To that point, we also got his take on what Hollywood's doing to help the movement.

Ben Crump and his legal team also praised the federal indictment, saying it "reinforces the strength and wisdom of the United States Constitution."

The civil rights attorneys claim the constitutional violations Floyd suffered are clear, adding ... "We are encouraged by these charges and eager to see continued justice in this historic case that will impact Black citizens and all Americans for generations to come."

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison commends the feds on the indictment of the former officers, calling it "entirely appropriate, particularly now that Derek Chauvin has been convicted of murder."

Ellison adds that the State is working hard to present its case against the other 3 defendants later this summer.

A federal grand jury has charged Derek Chauvin and the 3 other former Minneapolis PD officers involved in George Floyd's arrest with violating his civil rights.

J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao appeared Friday via video conference in the U.S. District Court in Minneapolis following the grand jury indictment. Chauvin was not present.

According to the legal docs, obtained by TMZ, all 4 ex-officers have been hit with one count of deprivation of rights under color of law ... meaning they allegedly deprived Floyd of his constitutional right "not to be deprived of liberty without due process of law."

The indictment says the defendants "saw George Floyd lying on the ground in clear need of medical care, and willfully failed to aid Floyd, thereby acting with deliberate indifference to a substantial risk of harm to Floyd. This offense resulted in bodily injury to, and the death of, George Floyd."

Thao and Kueng face an additional count claiming they "willfully failed to intervene" to stop Chauvin. Chauvin is facing an additional count for "the use of unreasonable force" resulting in Floyd's death. If convicted, all 4 face the stiffest of penalties -- a federal judge could sentence them to life in prison or death.

As you know, Chauvin was convicted of murdering Floyd last month, and is in Minnesota’s only maximum-security prison as he awaits sentencing.

The other 3 ex-cops will go on trial in state court in August, but they're currently free on bond, and will be allowed to remain free after Friday’s federal court appearance.

Mendeecees is free to leave the country for a very special occasion -- renewing his wedding vows to Yandy Smith.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ ... the "Love & Hip Hop New York" star got a federal judge to sign off on his request to travel to Dubai for a few days later in May so he can renew his vows.

As we first told you ... Mendeecees was released from prison and reunited with his family in early 2020 after spending more than 5 years behind bars for drug trafficking.

He's still on supervised release until 2025 though, meaning he has to get approval for travel like this. According to the docs ... his probation officer says he's been compliant with the conditions of his supervised release, so the officer had no problems with his travel request and sent it on to the court for approval.

The judge agreed, so he's good to go for a trip to Dubai with Yandy.

Worth noting ... Mendeecees and Yandy famously had their lavish wedding ceremony in 2015 -- which aired on a live VH1 special -- but she later revealed in an episode that they were never legally married.

She said, "I have a union with Mendeecees, but I did not go into a partnership with Mendeecees and the government."

Kim Kardashian was unaware her name was attached to an ancient Roman artifact -- a piece of art the U.S. government is now desperately seeking to return to Italy -- a purchase we're told was made by her estranged husband, Kanye West.

Think "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" meets "Raiders of the Lost Ark" -- in a new lawsuit, the government claims a statue dating back to 1st or 2nd Century Rome ended up getting shipped to the U.S. in 2016.

The problem for Kim is the paperwork listed "Kim Kardashian dba Noel Roberts Trust" as the consignee and importer of said statue. Noel Roberts is, in fact, a trust Kim has used to make other big-ticket purchases -- but a rep for Kim denies she made this deal.

A source connected to the situation tells us Kim only found out this week that the piece was actually bought by Kanye as part of a larger purchase which included more art. We're told it's unclear if Kanye had bought it as a gift, or when he had planned on telling Kim, but our source says she was in the dark.

Now, the reason the feds want it back is because Italy's determined the piece is a cultural treasure that was essentially looted from an archaeological site.

As for the alleged Kardashian ties -- well, there's one smoking gun. The feds say a Belgium designer named Axel Vervoordt shipped the statue to the U.S., and presumably, his company put Kim's name on the customs document. Vervoordt has worked with Kim and Kanye in the past, and back in 2016 -- when the statue was imported -- they were building their Hidden Hills mansion ... which has been compared to a museum.

Still, Kim says she has no knowledge of the statue or its purchase. For his part, Vervoordt tells TMZ ... he acquired the statue "in good faith" from a French gallery, which in turn says it bought it from a German auction house. He adds, "At this point there is no evidence that this piece was illegally imported from Italy. If investigation proves that the piece was actually exported from Italy without a proper export license from the Italian Ministry of Culture, then we will of course take our responsibility."

A source close to Kim says that while she doesn't know the origins of the work, she hopes it gets resolved ASAP.

Chauvin's defense attorney is going to have a harder time of convincing a judge a new trial is warranted than he may think ... so says a noted law professor, Tamara Rice Lave.

Lave -- who teaches at the University of Miami School of Law -- came on "TMZ Live" Wednesday and explained why Brandon Mitchell going to the MLK rally in August actually wouldn't be grounds for a restart ... saying the devil is in the details on this one.

Watch ... she tells us the MLK event was NOT advertised as an anti-police demonstration, but simply a commemoration on Dr. King's historic March on Washington. The fact he was wearing a shirt that sympathizes with BLM is a footnote in her view, and one that wouldn't necessarily persuade an appellate judge to buck the trial court's ruling.

She also makes a good point about Mitchell's POV being communicated early and often -- he relayed that he supported BLM during questioning, and still wasn't ruled out at the time. And, as Lave notes, you can't just boot someone from a jury because of the color of their skin ... so, Chauvin's team might have their work cut out for them here.

The Derek Chauvin trial juror who was photographed at an MLK rally last year -- wearing a shirt with the words "Get your knee off our necks" -- will absolutely be a key factor in Chauvin's attempt to get a new trial ... TMZ has learned.

As you know, Chauvin's defense attorney Eric Nelson filed a motion Tuesday requesting a new trial. The docs made no specific mention of the juror, Brandon Mitchell, but did use the words "jury misconduct."

Sources familiar tell us the Mitchell issue is on the table and WILL be addressed during arguments in court to support the motion for a new trial.

If you missed it, Mitchell -- one of the only jurors from the trial who has since spoken out about the guilty verdict -- went to a BLM-organized rally last August in D.C. to commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1963 March on Washington. Mitchell was photographed there wearing a shirt with MLK's photo and the words ... a pretty clear reference to George Floyd's killing.

Also highly relevant is the fact George's family members spoke at the rally. Now, here's why this could be problematic.

Mitchell told the Star Tribune he answered "no" on the early jury questionnaire when asked 2 questions about attending demonstrations against police brutality -- one specific to Minneapolis, and one asking generally.

Now, Mitchell defended his answers, saying the rally was NOT a protest against police brutality, per se, or even in support of George Floyd, but more so geared toward MLK.

He told the Star Tribune, "I'd never been to D.C. The opportunity to go to D.C., the opportunity to be around thousands and thousands of Black people; I just thought it was a good opportunity to be a part of something."

That's his side of the story, but Chauvin's defense will certainly see it differently -- that Mitchell was an activist who had very clear bias when he became a juror.

Remember ... Mitchell has been very outspoken since the all-guilty verdict came in -- a verdict he says that he and his fellow jurors reached fairly easily ... once they sorted through some legal jargon in the instructions. He also said there was no pressure to vote guilty.

Derek Chauvin's attorney says he deserves a new trial after the former Minneapolis police officer got convicted for murdering George Floyd.

Chauvin's attorney, Eric Nelson, filed legal docs Tuesday asking for the jury verdict in his murder trial to be thrown out, claiming there were numerous errors pertaining to the jury and prosecution.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, Chauvin's defense claims he didn't get a fair shake ... alleging the court abused its discretion by disagreeing with defense requests to sequester the jury and change venue.

As we reported ... the judge presiding over Chauvin's murder trial said Rep. Maxine Waters may have given Chauvin additional arguments to make on appeal. Remember, the congresswoman from California had said protesters were banking on a guilty verdict. She encouraged people to take to the streets and get more confrontational if that didn't happen.

Of course, some took that as an incitement of violence. Chauvin's attorney brought up Waters' remarks after closing arguments and said her comments could have possibly influenced the jury.

Nelson had asked for a mistrial but Judge Cahill didn't bite ... but the judge did say Waters opened the door for Chauvin to appeal the verdict. The judge told Nelson he had faith jurors followed his directive to avoid the news and talk of the case.

Chauvin's defense claims the jury should have been sequestered or at least warned to avoid all media related to the case. Nelson claims jurors could have felt intimidated.

Chauvin, who pressed his knee on George Floyd's neck for more than 9 minutes back on May 25, 2020, was found guilty on all 3 counts, including 2nd-degree murder.

The maximum penalty for 2nd-degree unintentional murder is 40 years in prison. Chauvin, who will be sentenced in June, remains in custody.

A woman called a Latino cop a "murderer" over and over during a traffic stop -- seemingly afraid for her life ... until she spewed the racist venom she really wanted to get off her chest.

Check out this wild video showing a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy pulling a lady over in San Dimas last month, only to be insulted to his face repeatedly with one final sprinkle of racism for good measure. It's insane.

The guy has his body cam rolling, and right out the gate ... the woman is recording him as well with her phone, demanding to know why she was pulled over and insisting she'd done nothing wrong.

She's pretty hostile while the deputy, who is Hispanic, keeps his cool ... telling her he pulled her over for using her phone while driving. She says she did that because she wanted to capture any bad behavior -- but he points out you can't do that while driving.

Eventually, the woman asks him to get his supervisor on the scene over, which he did, but the deputy still calmly handed her a ticket. Once it was clear she wasn't getting off the hook, she really went off, calling the deputy a "Mexican racist" and then proceeding to tell him that he'll never be white and that he'll always be Mexican.

Basically, she tried taking cover under the police brutality blanket ... but really just seemed to hate the fact she was getting pulled over by a Latino cop, showing her true colors in the end.

The 6-year-old student from Florida who took a paddling -- with her mom watching -- is still shaken up from the incident ... and is getting professional help.

Brent Probinsky, the family's lawyer, tells TMZ that the girl's mother calls him twice a day with distress about the school beating that happened on April 13 ... telling him the kid can't sleep, cries constantly and feels generally terrorized by what happened.

As you can imagine, we're told her parents are also overcome with emotion ... especially the mom, whom Probinsky tells us is riddled with guilt from watching it all unfold. We're told the family now has a therapist ... and their first appointment should be this week.

BTW, the attorney shed some light on why the mom just stood by instead of stepping in -- he says she and her husband are undocumented immigrants from Mexico, and she was afraid she'd get deported if she reported it. You can see her hesitation first-hand in new video that we've obtained, showing the principal take an authoritative tone right from the jump.

Luckily, the mom reported it anyway ... and now it's being handled by authorities. Probinsky says the case is being reviewed by the state attorney's office, as well as the school district and the Florida Dept. of Education. Probinsky insists this was aggravated battery -- he's pushing for officials to strip the principal and her clerk of their education licenses ... so they can't teach in Florida ever again.

Olivia Wilde can breathe a sigh of relief ... a judge just granted a permanent restraining order against the man she claims keeps showing up at her home, believing he was her lover.

According to new legal docs obtained by TMZ ... 30-year-old Eric Nathanial Fuhs must stay away from Olivia for the next 3 years. We're told the restraining order also protects her ex, Jason Sudeikis, and their kids.

TMZ broke the story ... Olivia sought protection against Fuhs last month after claiming she had security footage showing him showing up to her crib on multiple occasions to leave notes for her and Sudeikis, with the guy falsely claiming he was dating Olivia.

The documents had initially stated Olivia and Jason still lived together, but sources later said that wasn't the case.

The actress, who is now with Harry Styles, also said Fuhs left an ominous note saying he's "struggling to stay sane."

Quando Rondo and his entourage were caught in a hail of gunfire at a convenience store in Georgia, and one man in his entourage was wounded.

According to law enforcement sources, the shots rang out around 3:20 AM Sunday in Blackshear, while Quando and his crew were in a parking lot off the highway. Cops believe the shooter opened fire from across the road or from the highway.

Our sources say police aren't aware of any bullets striking Quando, because he was not at the scene when cops responded, but we're told he was in the parking lot before the shooting.

The rapper was traveling with a large entourage, and we're told one man in the group was shot in the hand and got treatment at a local hospital.

It's interesting ... law enforcement says it appears Quando and his crew weren't at the convenience store long before shots rang out, and cops believe they were making a quick stop when the shooting started.

As we reported ... cops say Quando Rondo's crew was involved in a November shootout with King Von's entourage outside an Atlanta nightclub, which left Von dead. One of Quando's crew members was arrested for felony murder.

NFL free agent Mark Walton argued with Pizza Hut employees, yelled at cops, got violent with his cousin, and then peed on himself before being arrested last January ... and the entire, wild scene was all caught on police video obtained by TMZ Sports.

It all went down back on Jan. 31 ... when around 11:24 PM, the 24-year-old running back got into a tiff with workers at a Miami Pizza Hut shop.

In the police footage, you can see officers rolled up to Walton while he was in a heated dispute at the pizza joint's ordering counter.

In the clip, Walton says he was pissed at employees because after they canceled one of his orders ... he claims one of them called him a "f*** n***a."

Walton says he personally came to the store to confront them over it ... and that's when all the drama began.

Cops say Pizza Hut employees claimed Walton was "banging on the windows" prior to their arrival ... and you can see in video, Walton was yelling at the employees when the officers showed up.

Mark continued to bicker with the Pizza Hut staffers while cops were present ... and eventually, he became combative toward the officers themselves.

At one point, as the cops tried to get him to calm down and leave the area, Walton screamed at an officer, "You don't know who I am! I don't care! I'm about money!"

Walton eventually walked away from the scene with his cousin -- though the two didn't get very far, because they ended up in a physical altercation at the back of the Pizza Hut.

You can see in footage, when cops turned the corner to check in on the two ... Walton was standing over his cousin, who appeared to be knocked out while bleeding profusely from his forehead area.

Cops ordered Walton to the ground at taser-point ... and while they put him in handcuffs, the NFL player told them his cousin had fallen after grabbing him during their dispute.

While detained, Walton argued with officers more ... and then asked them if he could "pee on myself." When cops said yes, Walton let it go.

Eventually, Walton admitted to an officer on video that he had been drinking earlier in the day.

Walton was ultimately hit with 2 charges over the incident, misdemeanor trespassing and misdemeanor disorderly conduct.

But, court records show he reached a deal with prosecutors last month to have the case closed ... though we're working on the specifics of that agreement.

Walton was a Cincinnati Bengals fourth-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft ... but he was eventually cut by the team in 2019 following multiple arrests.

Walton eventually signed on with the Dolphins in '19 ... but they too cut him after he ran into more trouble with the law.

An elementary school principal went full 19th-century headmaster on a 6-year-old student -- paddling her a few times ... all while the mom recorded it.

This is coming out of Clewiston, FL ... where Central Elementary School Principal Melissa Carter and her clerk, Cecilia Self, were captured on video bending a little girl over and giving her a few whacks with an old-school paddle ... all in front of the kid's mom, who filmed it.

The student's mother says she was called to the school recently, with a claim that her daughter had damaged a school computer ... with a repair cost of nothing more than $50.

The mom says she was told by the school that her kid would be getting paddled as punishment, with her and a "deputy" present ... but says she didn't understand the process as it was being explained to her, as she doesn't speak much English.

Anyway, when the mom showed up to pay the fee and get her daughter ... she says she was led to a room where Carter and Self were present, along with her child. No law enforcement deputy was in sight. Before she knew it, Carter was meting out a beating.

The mom, who hasn't been ID'd for privacy, insists she didn't step in because she felt she would get in trouble ... and figured the only thing she could do was to document it to expose the abuse. So, that's what she did ... secretly filming the encounter and standing by.

The mom justifies her action -- or a lack thereof -- by saying she felt she needed to "sacrifice" her daughter to blow the lid on what was going on there.

Several protesters near the Kentucky Derby were arrested Saturday as they protested the killing of Breonna Taylor ... but as for why they got arrested -- well the cops won't say.

Around 50 protesters marched by the entrance of Churchill Downs with signs that read, "We haven't forgotten Breonna."

The protesters ended up at La Chasse restaurant, and suddenly a man dining on the patio pulled out a gun and trained it on the group. There's no evidence from the video that the man was threatened.

Kentucky is an open carry state, so when cops came he was in the clear. But then, there was a foot chase and cops corralled 3 protesters and arrested them.

We contacted the Louisville PD and asked why the protesters were arrested. They wouldn't say but told us to file a public records request and even then they might not tell us. Sheesh.

As you know, none of the cops have been charged for Breonna's death and her family is especially upset that the grand jury proceeding was a sham. Attorney General Daniel Cameron told the media his office had instructed grand jurors on possible homicide charges when grand jurors said they had not been so instructed.