Terry Thompson & the Massacre in Zanesville | That Chapter Podcast

Thank the lord the big cat act was passed in 2022. The Big Cat Public Safety Act was enacted December 20, 2022, to end the private ownership of big cats as pets and prohibit exhibitors from allowing public contact with big cats, including cubs.

I live about 45 minutes from Zanesville and this was a very sad night. Jack Hanna cried when he described stacks of Big Cat corpses. Fekk Terry Thompson.

I'm from Cincinnati Ohio and remember this well, that day changed almost every law about owning animals in the U.S forever, we still talk about it and until then Ohio was one of the top 5 exotic pet breeding states.

Way, way, way too much chatter.

I live about 15 mins or so away from Zanesville and I remember this happening very clearly. I was at work in a nursing home when law enforcement was out looking for all the animals he turned loose, and it was pretty scary to walk outside in the dark, knowing that a bunch of exotic animals were running loose and basically being hunted down by the police.
It pisses me off that he would open the cages knowing what would happen to them. 💔

Came from a different app just to ask how the heck Mike has never ridden a horse??? Bro you're Irish, you have some of the best places to ride! 😂 We were there for two weeks for our honeymoon and didn't stay anywhere longer than two nights, we went from Dublin to County Sligo, way down to Killarney to go horseback riding through the national park, then back up to Doolin. We toured pre-christian holy sites. What I wouldn't give to come back, really felt like home more than anywhere I've ever been... We renewed our vows after a year and a day at Biddy Early's homestead. Actually....

You guys might like to cover Biddy Early!!! If you do and you decide to go see what's left of her home you should see if you spot the two Minnesota quarters we left on the makeshift altar. ❤

Also, when this happened in 2011, the 18 tigers killed in Zanesville would've been .72% of the entire global population of tigers. Think about that for a minute.... at a time when there were approximately 2,500 tigers in existence, one man in a rural town in ohio had almost 1% of them in cages, and his selfish decision got them killed.
We need to really do better with this world. 😢

I sincerely hope you guys never find what you're looking for

Maybe he tranquilized them then did it

A lot of children of the veterans exposed to agent orange also have joint problems

I lived through this tragedy. I knew Terry and I am an animal lover. This was the most tragic thing Zanesville has ever been through.

🎵 🔥 Flight of the Valkyries! 🔥🎶

My dad contracted life-ending lung disease from Agent Orange exposure while serving in the US Navy during the Vietnam War.

Thanks again Mike and Keith!! Love you guys and your bantering! LOL❤ 😂❤

I tried to watch a documentary on this and couldn't after just watching the start of it... 😢

I think he used bolt cutters to prevent the animals to be put back in their cages again if he thought law enforcement would attempt to put the animals back in their cages and lock them up. It sounds stupid but then again Terry was not an expert animal handler.

Mike. Watch a documentary on kill dozer.

Though I’m late, this reminds me of a story.. I live in rural Alabama. My ex bf use to live down a dirt road kinda of off in the woods. His neighbor lived about a quarter of a mile from him down the dirt road and he had what he called a “mini petting zoo”. One of those animals was a freaking kangaroo. Lol That Kangaroo got out often and would hop all the way down the dirt road. He would always stay on the dirt road and this was basically out in the woods but it was a very unusual thing to see. One day my friend had to come pick me up from his house because my car had been messed up. Right before we went to leave the kangaroo had gotten out and was hoping down the dirt road. Lol it didn’t phase me bc I had seen it a few times but she got quiet for a minute and said… “Please tell me that I’m not a crazy person.. is that really a kangaroo hoping down the dirt road?!” 😂😂😂

thanks for trigger waring Mike :) I wont lisen to this one in this case(animal abuse its to much for me) but always love and support for both of you, cheers!

The wolves did not need to be put down. Wolves are not especially dangerous, it's just a big dog that's a little more stubborn and difficult to train.

Heres my theory, he sedated all the animals, the opened their cages and committed suicide. When they all woke up, then they left their cages. This is how he was able to open the cages without being attacked. The dog and monkey were kept locked up for their protection. We can assume the monkey was more of a pet by the fact he befriended one while in war. So he knew they probably wouldnt leave his body and he knew the exotic animals would kill them. I wonder if anyone ever checked toxicology for any of the animals? Anyway, in my opinion, thats how he did it!!

I’m from Utica Ohio, and I remember when this all happened in real time. I wasn’t close enough to have been in danger unless they really dropped the ball on rounding the animals up, but that stuff was still crazy! 😂

You have expressed your thoughts very well

I came for Mike and stay for Mike.

About the Killdozer guy I keep getting various versions. Some say he was a victim of corporate greed others say he was a dick who did not want to co-operate, so it's hard to get any clear picture of the situation.

Way faster using bolt cutters than fumbling through 56 keys cmon boys he probably popped the locks and moved on without opening the door so the animals might not have visually seen an open door until they eventually bump into it or something

Oh, God, I know all about this one. This is one I can't take. I'm a follower of the Wildcat Sanctuary, and a supporter. They wound up with a couple of rescued big cats from this mess. It was a truly HORRIBLE thing. That man was an AWFUL person, the worst. Ugh. I gotta take a pass. I don't blame you for covering it though.

The ALF has done stupid things like that. Or people under thst name rather. A bunch of horses were freed one time just to be hit by cars on the highway. The ALF have done wonderful missions but many have clained the name and did not do very smart things

Thanks for covering this one. It’s stories like this that hopefully can help us all treat animals with more respect. Humans are responsible for the deaths of trillions of animals each year and we really need to stop. ✌️💚🌱

This is horrific, those poor, innocent animals, wolves don't attack people! Nobody anywhere should be allowed to keep any exotic animals under any circumstances, lions belong in Africa, tigers belong in Asia, it's so wrong and cruel. I don't care what people do to themselves I do care what they do to innocent animals. It's always the innocent animals that suffer and so many are endangered because of blood thirsty humans and their damn trophy hunting and the destruction of their habitat! Stop calling it culling, it's killing!😭😡

I'm American, and even I've ridden a horse in Ireland. Went there specifically for it, actually, since the countryside is so nice for it, and there are plenty of stables that cater to experienced riders on vaycay that will arrange 1-2 week trail rides through the countryside to visit ruins and castles and stuff and camp along the way.

@Mike Since you visit America, you REALLY need to know that Monsanto invented Agent Orange & how our government "works".

The reason there's a spike in people wanting organic food in America is because of Monsanto.

Only in America would the government be ok with the very same company that was responsible for Agent Orange having anything to do with the food their citizens eat.

But once Uncle Sam stopped buying Agent Orange, this company said "Well hell, what do we do with this stockpile? That's a hell of a lot of profit to lose. Let's get government grants & see what we can do with it.

And what they did with it was sell it as Round Up & convinced the entire country it was safe.
When people started developing the same cancers that killed our soldiers, Monsanto denied it had anything to do with Round Up & other lessor known products.

Then they decided "Hey, let's genetically modify seeds that are weed resistant & they to convince the farmers & the country that these Frankenseeds are 100% safe.
No, not just safe, these seeds will cure world hunger.

Fast forward to a country with a MASSIVE spike in food allergies that were never an issue before.

Kids did not suddenly morph in the 70's, 80's & 90's to have a deadly allergy to peanuts. An allergy so deadly that nearly all schools have had to ban PB&J & peanut butter products of any kind being packed in lunches because kids have died in the lunch room.

Are you Lactose intolerant? Are you REALLY, or are you having a Monsanto reaction to what the cow what fed to produce that dairy product?
Every "food allergy" & intolerance that have seen a massive, even chronic spike in the US since the 70's can be traced to Monsanto.

You need to be VERY diligent when you come to the US. It's hidden in New foods all the time. One day you eat it & your fine. Next time you buy it you end up needing medical attention.

That happened with my then 5 year old daughter 3 times.
The 1st time was Land O Lakes Butter. I opened a new box to cook with & 5 minutes into dinner she gets nasty raised rushed that become huge welts & her throat closes. Luckily, I'm a nurse & we live near the fire dept.
It happened 1 more time that week & that's how we discovered it was the Land O Lakes butter.

2nd time, she was at Girl Scout Camp & luckily her troop leader is my cousin who is also a trauma nurse. She gave her Benadryl & Zantac 360.
She knew from working the ER that Zantac HAS to be given keep the airway open. The Girl Scout Camp was 45 minutes from the nearest hospital, my cousin saved my daughter's life that night.

And when they discovered what she had to eat & drink, it was once again Land O Lakes. This time it was the Cocoa another child had brought because they take turns bringing the snacks & dinner.

Third time it happened she put just a splash of Almond Joy Creamer in a brand of hot chocolate we KNOW was safe for her.
We had no idea that Monsanto is involved in the ingredients for Almond Joy non-dairy creamer.

Mike is clearly VERY salty over Keith gettting attention......if somebody spoke to me that way I would bounce from his little podcast in a second.

When he opened the cages the animals themselves probably didn't know they were freed. They probably walked around there cages for awhile before realizing they could leave.

I remember when this happened. I was, what, 21? And I was pissed that they killed all of those animals. Sensesless killing.

Also, you cannot and never have been able to keep a great whie shark. (But only because they cannot survive in captivity.)

Just popped in to say that Mr. Killdozer was not a reasonable guy, and was known to hold grudges when things didn’t go his way, and the people he held grudges against, for things like opposing the legalization of gambling, or not doing things his way, were the people he wrote down on his list of targets. I know you were quoting him saying “Sometimes reasonable men must do unreasonable things." but of course he thought he was a reasonable person 😂

As for how they opened all the cages and why use bolt cutters? If you look at the pictures of the cages, you can see that they have nothing on top of them, so you’d just have to get on top and cut the locks from above. That would also keep you relatively safe from attack, as even though one of the animals might be able to get up there, they’d be more interested in their freedom.

If I was a wild animal I would probably rather be put down than live in some asshole's tiger King jail.

At the vet, we had administered anesthesia while the animals were still in the cage, before surgery. Then would open the cage to move to surgery after the agent took effect. I’m assuming that’s how all this went down. But only a toxicology report would show what drugs had been administered to put animals asleep to have time to cut all the locks off. But the cage doors would have been opened bc an animal wouldn’t know the lock was off.

Do yourself a favor and look up the ACTUAL "Killdozer" story. The guys an American legend and a hero not the badguy who was just "angry".

You guys obviously dont know much about guns and hunting...

I live very close to here and we actually in my town have a guy who also had a HUGE white Siberian tiger who I lived close enough to him to hear it growling chuffing and just speaking but the guy was amazing so was his cat!! After Zanesville he was force to take him and donate him to a big cat rescue even though he had all the permits and lisencing and proper safety protocols and was an AMAZING caretaker of this big guy. It was a sad day when he had to be tranquilized and loaded up our entire community was in shreds over it. What blew my mind is nothing was said in news or how unfair this was simply because of this asshole...... the man who had tiger here still lives here and we fought for him for a long time to keep his baby here. But this nut job ruined their lives!! He still lives here and we still regret all these de visions made under a blanket statement and he lost his baby...poor guy is still not the same happy amazing guy... Thanks to thompson he made this guy loose his a tual hood healthy caretaking and that is so very sad....

No aquarium has managed to keep a great white shark alive in captivity. They go downhill really quickly and refuse to eat and quickly die. They’re not meant to be kept in a tank no matter how large and well maintained it is. We don’t know enough about them, they live at greater depths than originally thought and they require thousands of miles of ocean to roam in. They’re better left alone

Bolt cutters are far more efficient than using keys… He needed to ‘unlock’ the cages quickly in order to give himself a chance to get away and put his endgame into action. If he cut the locks with the bolt cutters after feeding the animals to distract them, they would’ve concentrated on their meal rather than the cut locks. I don’t think he opened the cages as much as he cut the locks, it would’ve taken the animals some time to realise that they were able to get free of the cage, giving him time to get away, get the raw chicken and his gun and then simply wait for the animals to leave the cages and be drawn to the smell of the meat and therefore drawn to him… Some of the animals he kept definitely aren’t sociable with each other and sadly possibly fought amongst themselves before getting out of the barn and moving towards him and the open ground. He didn’t release the dogs and monkeys as it would’ve been certain death for them - being trapped with tigers, lions and bears.. It was a very sad day for the Animals and the Police who had to put them down through no fault of their own. Individuals shouldn’t be able to own wild and potentially dangerous animals AT ALL no matter how much money and land they have. It’s bloody ridiculous and disgusting that certain states refuse to enact laws that protect these animals from being sold to ‘private collectors’. If you want to see these animals then go visit THEM in their natural habitat where they belong and we don’t…

I wrote this for a newsletter in 2012. I had downloaded the official police reports that were lost in one of those typical HD crashes/computer upgrades, but Gmail still had my article:

Well, well, “Thompson Murdered” makes the headlines


The Wednesday Jeffersonian had the main headline, “Thompson Murdered”. They are of course referring to Terry, who was a colorful and interesting person who allegedly open his Bengal tiger cadges with bolt cutters then shot himself with a gun that formerly was owned by a Zanesville deputy. The deputy can’t remember selling it and can’t find any paperwork on it.


The Muskingum County Sheriff has closed this case. The official story is something like; Three weeks out of prison, after filing a lawsuit for his against those who brought up the charges against him that landed him in prison, Terry became so depressed that he cut his fence and animal cages with bolt cutters then went 30 yards away in his field, shot himself and somehow was dragged 30 yards back behind his cut fence and left the gun and bolt cutters 20 feet apart in opposite direction the field away from where he left his bloody hat…


This reminds me of the joke about the person wrapped in barbed wire shot in the back 20 times set on fire, dragged behind a truck, stabbed then thrown into a lake, who was identified as the worst suicide ever seen by the local sheriff.


The first red flag with the official story found in the reports on the Muskingum County site is the use of bolt cutters. Isn’t it a little troubling as to why Terry did not use his keys to open the cages? He owned the cages and surely would be able to open them without the use of a bolt cutter.


The second flag is the person. Terry once flew a plane under the 6th Street Bridge. He lost his pilot’s license as a result, but he didn’t kill himself over that. The personality type that takes risks and seeks thrills would not just shoot themselves. Thrill seeking would make more of a game out of killing yourself. If there was something that always frightened you and it no longer mattered if you survived, that would be the direction. Thrill seekers would make it count.



The third flag was that Terry had become a felon. All his guns were confiscated. Terry could not legally own a gun, and yet, he was somehow endowed with a handgun that was the property of a Muskingum County Deputy. This is in the report. I am not making any of this up. Oh yes, he was restricted to his property which makes gun shopping even more difficult.



The forth flag is general human nature, Being released from incarceration does not make one ready to die. There are plenty of ways to die in prison. Depending upon the stretch and lack of consensual sex with people you prefer makes one seek other outlets, other focus, and use your freedom. Three weeks is probably not enough time to make up for the time spent in prison. The freedom from regiment and the promise of winning the lawsuit would tend to keep someone interested in living for at least a couple of months.



I spoke with Terry when he owned the Harley Davidson shop several years ago. My first impression was that he was not a slave to any inner fears. Terry had a presence. I would guess that he did not really care what anyone thought of him, particularly a possible new customer.



The report had a autopsy section where it is written that Terry was fit and not on drugs, which is yet another flag in that healthy fit people that are not on drugs, generally don’t kill themselves, especially if they have an abrasive attitude and are strong independent sorts.



The Jeffersonian did the standard disclaimer, using the an implied loony description of one who believes a conspiracy was afoot to allow for strict new laws against having exotic pets:



“But Schreibvogel said he believes the Zanesville man was murdered as part of a conspiracy to push a ban on the private ownership of exotic animals in the state. “I believe that it was a setup to further this agenda,” he said. “There’s no way that man could have ever let all of those animals out of there by cutting their cages apart with bolt cutters and got out of their alive, let alone had the time to do what all the autopsy and police reports said he did.”



Muskingum County Sheriff Matt Lutz, however, said he has no doubts that Thompson killed himself. “Everything we had from that scene was an indication that he shot himself,” he said.

Lutz is supportive of the legislation moving through the Ohio Senate, which he said could have prevented the Zanesville incident.”



All you have to do is say conspiracy and it is lights out. No one believes that it is possible for there to be a conspiracy involving government of any kind. It completely goes against our nature and training. If it were, though, a conspiracy and legislation is a motive, it does kind of fall in the shock and awe template, abet in a much smaller scale than 911. The cats were endangered and worth lots. There was a total 440 Bengal tigers worldwide in 2010. I wonder if they counted the 18 that were taken out in the turkey shoot. Even if they were part of this statistic, the government managed to kill about 4% of the world tiger population. 4%, that is like killing all the Non-Hispanic Asians, or Lutherans, or people of Swedish decent living in the USA.


There are enough serious flags as to the “facts” presented in death of Terry and his animals to make the official story to make even the most gullible, see/hear/speak no evil citizen wonder if this story is really the whole truth.


I find it alarming, the Lutz quote, that legislation could have prevented the “Zanesville Incident”. My guess that private property and general murder laws are not a deterrent, then there is nothing in this bill would be capable of preventing murder and mayhem from the government.

EOF

PS
I realize that you believe that conspiracy is not a point of law that one can be found guilty... But conspiracy abounds but no one is going to prison that is "important" or has a membership in the club you aren't a member of.

The tank dozer man did not demolish the town..he targeted ( I think it was 8 )specific people's properties that had made his life a living hell for like a few decades.
Town officials that made up and enforced rules to apply to his land to get him to sell.