[dog barking]
[police walkie beeping]
officer 1: Let me--
let me get down over here.
officer 2: I'm gonna go
through the brush right here.
[monkey screeching
in distance]
[dog barking]
-[indistinct radio chatter]
-[walkie beeps]
-[tense music playing]
-[dog barking]
officer [over radio]:
Alright, copy.
[screeching continues]
[barking continues]
officer 2: Yep.
-officer 1: Got it?
-officer 2: Yep, he just moved.
[echoing screeches]
-[breeze blowing]
-[birds cawing]
[eerie, solemn music playing]
♪♪
[Tonka huffing]
Tonia Haddix [whispering]:
Do you want to play?
Do you want to play?
Okay, Mom says okay.
Mom says okay.
[Tonia mimics huffing]
[Tonka huffing]
[whispers]
Cheater, cheater.
[normal voice]
Now you're cheating. For sure!
[quirky music playing]
Dwayne Cunningham: So, we
followed this story for a while
and Tonka was supposed
to be deceased.
Yes.
Dwayne:
Um... how do you explain that?
[Tonia vocalizing]
Tonia: Gimme.
I already said
Tonka will never go
to the chimp sanctuary.
I opted to go against
the court order.
His health doesn't allow him
to make a 14-hour travel
to Florida sedated.
It'll k*ll him.
All this right here,
that's not fat.
That's fluid.
He's definitely
in congestive heart failure.
There's not even a question
about that.
I want to make sure that
he lives as long as he can,
and live with people
that can interact with him daily
[chuckles]
and do things, um, with him.
We're down here all the time,
and he's got an iPad.
It's not a real iPad.
It's a kid one,
but it has internet.
He has his own email account.
Even though, I mean,
I hope he don't email,
but if he does...
uh, it is what it is.
♪♪
Here, see.
He's gonna clean his window
'cause he messed it up.
Wipe it down-- down here,
where you made that mess,
clean it. [scoffs]
I think we made it worse,
but maybe not.
Here, down here.
[glass squeaking]
Tonia [on video feed]:
Good job. Good job.
-Eric Goode: That's Tonka.
-crew member: Yeah.
Eric: Oh, my God.
[Tonia continues talking
to Tonka on video]
I don't even know what to say.
It's so insane.
Part of me is saying this
is the craziest story ever now.
And part of me is thinking,
what do we do?
-Oh, my God.
-crew: We gotta call Dwayne.
Yeah.
Dwayne [on phone]:
Uh...
I mean...
[sighs]
Well, I'm not sure.
I guess the question is,
you know, is Tonka okay?
I think that we just
take it, you know,
week by week right now, okay?
Okay, alright, Dwayne.
Talk to you later.
Alright, bye-bye.
[solemn music playing]
If we turn her in, that's it.
You know, she won't lead us
to anybody else.
And I always felt
as though there could be
other people that she knows.
I know there's other people
that she knows keeping chimps.
[Jeremy McBride speaking]
I don't know
if it's the right thing to do.
You know?
I don't know.
I-I don't know.
[panting]
Dwayne:
Let's back up to the summer.
PETA took the other chimps.
Where was Tonka?
Tonka was actually
on the run with me. [chuckles]
I mean, literally on the run
with me.
["Linger" by The Cranberries
playing]
Before PETA came
and took the kids,
Tonka had a massive stroke.
I feel like God gave me
that opportunity,
and I just took advantage.
Basically, we just demised
a plan to just say he died.
[crying]
I found him dead.
He was in his cage.
He did not move.
We knew that Tonka's time
was limited.
I had no reason at all
to fake his death.
I've got a box of ashes
that is his, I mean...
And if anybody wants me
to take a lie detector test...
When they found out
Tonka was dead...
I'm glad he's dead.
Literally dead.
[hysterical]
He was dead!
[sobbing]
I gotta stop!
I can't do this.
["Linger" continues playing
on car stereo]
♪ You know I'm such
a fool for you ♪
[tires screeching]
Tonia: The night before
PETA came and took the chimps,
after the film crew left,
Jerry and I started preparation
to get Tonka sedated.
It took us till 3 a.m.
♪ Do you have to
let it linger? ♪
We went ahead and just
went to the Holiday Inn
2.4 miles from the facility.
But we couldn't leave him
in the trailer.
♪ But I was wrong ♪
♪ I was wrong ♪
We put him in the bathroom
in case he peed,
'cause we're not
gonna trash a hotel.
I waited until I heard
that PETA hit the facility.
And then, we just drove
straight to Cy's.
♪ And I'm in so deep ♪
♪ You know I'm such
a fool for you ♪
[baby monkey screeching]
[Tonia speaking]
Oh, yeah.
I texted him to let him know
we were on our way.
Cy is a chimp guy,
but I had never met him.
I met him the day
I dropped Tonka off.
My best place
was to pick somebody
that had chimpanzees
that I could blend Tonka in.
And Cy was the perfect person
because Cy had
a male chimpanzee, Ricky.
Ricky happened to die
of liver failure.
So, nobody would have known
that that was Tonka.
Three Chicken McNugget
Happy Meals.
We want the extra fries,
and can we get
chocolate milks with those?
♪♪
Cy Vierstra [on voicemail]:
Hi, you've reached Cy
at Union Ridge Wildlife Center.
We're all busy
monkeying around,
so please leave a message
and someone
will return your call.
Cy is not open to the public.
His is a private collection.
He has, like, some tigers
and some other animals,
as well as the, the chimps.
How does he fund it?
Where's the money from?
Dwayne [on phone]:
Um, that, I'm not sure of.
I hear my girls.
They hear me.
Do you hear 'em?
The girls heard me here.
[chimps screeching]
They know me.
They know me. [giggles]
[screeching continues]
Hey, girls!
[hooting and hollering]
[cages clanging]
Happy girl.
You're my favorite girl.
Gimme kiss.
[mimics huffing]
Are you happy, girl?
-[chimps huffing]
-[cages clanging]
They look really good, Cy.
-What?
-Tonia: They look amazing.
-[hooting]
-[chains rattling]
Cy:
This was an opportunity for me
to do something for someone
that I would want done for me
if I was in the same situation.
You're shaking, baby girl!
-[chimps hooting]
-Okay, okay, okay, already.
Cy:
I didn't know Tonia,
but I'd seen some
of my own friends in Ohio
lose their animals
because they weren't willing
to, you know, adjust to the new
rules and regulations.
Tonka was here
for at least six months.
Tonia drove here regularly,
even if just for an evening.
Hi, girlfriend.
[chimp screeching]
Tonia:
PETA didn't know the connection
between Cy and I,
so it was perfect.
[hooting]
[clapping]
When we came to Cy's,
we were very careful.
We would always be doing
a transport someplace else,
so they would have had
to have followed us
for many, many thousands
of miles.
Do you want these nuggets?
There you go.
Here's your sauce.
[screeching]
Hey, baby girl.
Ooh!
You better stop.
You better stop.
Cy: The Union Ridge Wildlife
Center provides sanctuary
to animals
that are being displaced
for one reason or another.
I'm looking into expanding
the sanctuary's efforts
with Great Apes.
This is the next project
for the outdoor yard.
I wanted to make it look
like a hamster cage,
and even painted
the obnoxious colors.
But then,
this is actually what it'll--
what the actual shape
will look like,
and this is the back
of the building here.
And then, you got the two domes.
And then, as we gain
some creative funding sources,
you know, we'll be able
to house up to 24 chimps.
-That's amazing.
-Cy: Mm-hmm.
I had to really try
to sell Tonia on trusting me.
You know, I've made choices
that have really...
screwed that up, uh,
in a lot of people's minds.
I mean, if you just
google "Cy Vierstra,"
I was the township
fiscal officer.
I had gotten hooked on buying
random things off the auction.
When I ran out of money,
I started spending
township money,
always intending
to put it back.
But it got really,
really out of control.
Tonia: If he doesn't
pay that $340,000,
there's a nine-year sentence
on the table.
So, they're throwing
the book at him, per se.
[vocalizing softly]
[Cy shushing]
[chimp screeching]
Can I see one?
-[clippers clicking]
-[chimp hooting]
Oh, Anna, it's okay.
Let me see your nails.
[distant chimp screeching]
Dwayne: You were already
in trouble with the law.
Then, you helped Tonia
defy a court order.
Doesn't that worry you?
No.
I wasn't scared at all.
I was prepared to be confronted
by, by anybody.
[Wild West music playing]
Tonia: Once I announced
that Tonka had passed,
Jared Goodman,
the attorney for PETA,
contacted me wanting proof.
So, I was like,
"Okay, I cremated him.
I cremated him!"
It looks like dirt,
but it's very fine.
Jared Goodman:
We knew there was no real basis
to believe that Tonka
had actually died.
Frankly, given her lies
up till this point in the case,
it was remarkable
that she expected anyone
to believe this.
Tonia: So then, they're like,
"Okay, well,
we need some ashes."
So, I'm like, "Okay,
where am I gonna come up
with these ashes?â€
Cy: It was so important
to me to help Tonia
protect her relationship
with Tonka.
So, I said, "You know,
I've got Ricky out--
-[both chuckling]
-"out there.
"What a better purpose for him
to be part of this
greater scheme of things."
-So, we dug him up.
-[Tonia laughing]
But I mean, he was very much,
uh, 80% decomposed.
Now, mind you,
I had already removed his head.
I did want to preserve
his skull.
Tonia: When our house
by the lake was ready,
we went to go
pick up Tonka and Ricky.
So here, we had this chimp body
in the back of our truck
with the fugitive
going all the way
from Ohio to Missouri.
And if we would have been
stopped for any reason,
they would have thought
that was a human remain,
'cause they're so
closely related.
With no head.
[laughs]
Cy:
Like a Jeffrey Dahmer thing.
[Tonia vocalizing and
mimics huffing]
[mimics huffing]
[whispering]
You're so funny.
This house was perfect.
It's up off the road.
It's in a rural area.
Nobody bothers you.
[vocalizing continues]
I got your butt.
I got your butt.
And he's very quiet.
Even though there was
people here constantly,
they had no clue that there
was a chimpanzee here.
People spent the night here,
did not know
there was a chimpanzee here.
Justin Range: She even
kept it from me for a while.
The first little bit
of my time here,
she wouldn't let me
go downstairs.
And I'd never understood why.
One day, I came down here,
and I just saw him,
and I was just like, holy crap.
It's very stressful, you have
to watch your P's and Q's
when you talk to people.
In all intents and purposes,
he's a fugitive.
It's-It's... [laughs]
like walking on eggshells, man.
While it's a worthy cause
for this boy, 100%,
it does scare me.
I'm just afraid
that she might, you know,
get too caught up in this
and not worry about herself.
'Cause that's how she's always
been her entire life.
Tonia: I think God
has plans for everybody.
And I think I was just planned
to be a caregiver.
God gave us marriage for
the well-being of human society
and for the birth
and nurturance of children.
Tonia: I got married
when I was young.
My husband was quite a bit
older than I was.
He didn't believe
in women working,
but I always felt like
I had a need to do something.
So, he allowed me
to become a foster parent.
I was 19 years old
and the youngest foster parent
in the state of Missouri.
I've had approximately
75 foster kids,
and then some medically
necessary placements, too.
You start hanging around
those special needs kids,
and you realize
they were kind of like the kids
that were left behind.
So then, of course,
that's the kids
I wanted to help most.
That's how I got my daughter
when she was six weeks old.
She had fetal alcohol syndrome,
so she required
lots and lots of care.
I got to adopt her officially
when she was a little
over two years old.
The judge said, "Are you sure
you want to take this on?
Because she'll probably never
be a productive citizen."
And I said, "I've had her
ever since she was a baby.
Why would I change that now?"
And then, I found out
I was pregnant with my son,
the only biological son I have.
The two kids were
the most important thing
for many years.
Then, my kids started
doing their activities
and being gone,
and so I was there by myself.
Justin:
I remember the time [laughs]
she picked me up from school,
and I noticed little
premature diapers in the back.
And so, I asked her, I was like,
"Are we having a--
Am I having
another brother or sister?"
And she said,
"Yeah, something like that."
-[gentle music playing]
-[monkey chittering]
Life kind of just revolved
around the monkeys.
-[Tonia baby-talking]
-[monkey chittering]
Justin: If I had a school event
or whatever,
and the monkeys
had to be watched,
she'd stay home
and watch the monkeys.
[chittering]
There was an underlying feeling
of just kind of feeling like,
I don't want to say abandoned,
but definitely just feel like...
"Where, where do I fit
into the picture?"
Tonia: I love these chimps more
than anything in the world,
and I mean more than anything--
more than my kids,
more than anything,
and I want these chimpanzees...
Justin: At the court hearing,
she literally said,
and I quote, "I care about
these monkeys
more than I care
about my own kids."
Yeah, and that kind of felt
like that was the mentality
a lot of times.
What are you doing, Bubba?
[blowing raspberry]
What are you doing?
I don't have the emotional
attachment to this animal
quite like she does.
I have one,
but it's nothing like hers.
I mean, I've never seen her
that passionate
about anything in my life,
you know, ever.
[chuckles]
And that includes her own son.
It does scare me because my mom
thinks with emotion
and not sometimes with logic.
You know, she said it
several times,
"If they take him away,
I don't have nothing."
I think she feels
that nobody needs her.
I love her to death
and tell her all the time,
and I think if you asked her,
she would say
that I don't need her,
and she's not important
in my life,
which is very untrue.
I truly think
she feels that way.
That's where the big attraction
to these primates comes in.
They're like children
that never grow up.
So, they're constantly
gonna need her care.
Twenty-four hours a day,
seven days a week,
365 days a year,
that's the monkeys.
I'll be honest with you,
I used to hate the idea
of being around them and stuff,
but the joy that she has
for taking care
of these animals, man,
like, I'm telling you,
you can just tell she's happy.
And I can't get
in the way of that.
[gentle music continues]
[music fades out]
Brittany Peet:
There is this culture
of almost entirely women
who raise chimpanzees
and monkeys
as if they're babies.
-[baby-talking to monkey]
-[monkey chittering]
[curious music playing]
Brittany:
They have to create this myth
that "This animal is my son."
Stop.
You need to stop the biting.
-[squeaking cries]
-Stop.
[lawnmower starting]
Brittany:
"He's part of my family."
[laughing]
monkey mom: They have outfits
for Valentine's,
for St. Patrick's,
for Christmas,
for Fourth of July, everything.
Brittany: But this family
dynamic is a fantasy
that inevitably ends
in tragedy.
And that was the case
with Buck in Pendleton.
♪♪
[crowd cheering]
Jaime Bennett:
Pendleton is a Western town.
We pride ourselves
on being rural Oregon.
We are a conservative town,
but we are also
a very tight-knit community.
Everybody here
kind of knows everybody.
But I never knew about Buck.
Until the day Tamara Brogoitti
walked into my store
with a chimpanzee on her back.
This is my little scrapbook.
Over the years, I kind of
collected a handful of pictures.
Um...
that's me and my buddy,
when he was just a small tyke
riding on my back.
Bucky backpack.
But he was a little fellow.
That was probably very early on
in my time there.
[gentle music playing]
When I first met Buck,
he at the time would have been
about three, four years old.
-One day, I was at work.
-[door bell jingling]
Tamara came in
with this ape on her back,
and he immediately
crawled down off her shoulder
to come greet me
and say hi to me.
[sniffing, hooting softly]
He gave me kind of
a little hug,
and he kind of sniffed me
and checked me out everywhere.
We seemed to have
a moment there.
So, once she asked me
if I would like
to have a playdate with Buck,
I, of course, you know,
was over there in a heartbeat.
We got... monkey.
When I first came into the home
and saw how Tamara
was raising Buck,
it was very easy to be dazzled.
He lived like a little boy.
He took bubble baths.
He went potty on the toilet.
What do you do when you pee?
-[toilet flushing]
-Thank you.
He had a skateboard.
He had puppies.
She's gonna eat you.
And you're just sitting there
sucking your thumb
like a wiener.
Are you cuddling my foot?
I spent at least four
to six days a week down there.
I was there with him
every moment I wasn't working.
Both hands on the wheel.
Safety first.
We had quite the relationship.
You ready for your next bite,
Your Majesty?
[laughing]
You look ridiculous, dude.
Especially with the one shoe.
[laughing]
♪♪
Tamara would take Buck to a lot
of our local establishments.
Hardware stores.
Fast food restaurants.
The local pizza place delivered
lots of pizzas up there.
Tandy Schurigart: I've never
delivered to a chimp
ever before.
When I get up there,
he would take my hands,
and we'd jump up and down.
He loved the pizza.
Jaime: He was kind of
our little local rock star.
And lots of people
knew that maybe today
was the day they got
to see the ape.
Kenny Phillips:
We'd go down to the tavern.
Tamara would bring Buck
down there
to eat dinner with 'em.
And he sat down there just like
a human and ate his food.
Very well-mannered
at the dinner table.
Robert Bryant:
Tamara was friends with my mom,
and she encouraged me
to come over.
It was good for Buck.
He needed to socialize.
When I was coming up
the driveway,
he would jump into my arms,
and he would just be shaking
while he was hugging me.
[gentle music fades out]
Jaime: Buck was the most
extraordinary thing
that this town
has ever had to offer.
He was amazing,
and he was beautiful.
Eric: And what about Tamara?
[smacking lips]
Tamara Brogoitti.
[unsettling music playing]
She was a regular
at the liquor store.
Tamara Brogoitti
did not walk in
and buy a fifth of booze.
We got six half-gallons
and we put them in a box.
She was a lonely woman,
her husband had died.
And after he passed,
she would take his clothes
and put them on Buck.
As far as Tamara's children go,
there was a lot of resentment.
Beau Wade: I love my mother
with all my heart.
But she is... one tough,
mean old, old lady.
And that's about
what I gotta say about her.
That's about it.
Okay, roll film.
[projector whirring]
[nostalgic music playing]
Buck was the most
beautiful animal I ever seen.
A lot of those chimpanzees
are ugly as sin.
And he was very handsome.
[chittering]
He's the Tom Brady
of chimpanzees.
My mother loved that thing
more than she loved me.
He slept in her bed with her.
That was her teddy bear.
Buck was Tamara's life
at that point.
She said
that she was a primatologist
doing research or a study.
She was gonna be
the first person
to ever raise a chimpanzee
in a family setting.
I mean, that was it.
There was no questioning that.
[whispering]
Not the case.
I found her to have graduated
from Everett Community College
in 1986.
She did not have anything
that qualified her in any way.
And I don't know
that she really regarded
Buck's safety, his well-being.
It was more about
her getting attention for him.
I... I didn't think it was
gonna happen quite this way,
but I knew that Buck was never
gonna be completely safe
in her care long-term.
[music fades out]
-[Tonka sniffing]
-Tonia: Bring me the star!
[Tonia vocalizing]
[snapping]
Tonka, sit.
[Tonka huffing]
[Tonia mimics huffing]
I know. I know.
You're my best friend.
I know, you're my best friend.
[laughing]
That tickles.
Justin:
My mom cares about this animal.
♪♪
I think there's a bond.
I think she saved him
and he saved her, honestly.
I just wish PETA would see
my mom's side of the story.
They think she's doing it
for some kind of notoriety.
They don't see the compassion
that she really has.
She's trying to rescue
this animal
from what she believes
is not a safe environment.
He can't be with other chimps
like what they
wanna do with him.
They want to put him
in a chimp sanctuary,
and I-- they--
they can't do that.
Tonia: Any time that
there's an altercation
with other chimps and stuff,
he won't fight.
He's such a human chimp.
He doesn't know how to fight.
He doesn't want to fight.
He just submits.
Even at Cy's,
he got his butt kicked.
He's had, one time,
360 sutures.
He's just so docile.
He has no mean bone in his body.
And so, these other monkeys
bully him and g*ng up on him.
It just doesn't make
any sense to me.
Like if you know he's gonna go
into something he can't survive,
then why would you do that?
-You want something to drink?
-[Tonka grunts]
Give me that paper.
My biggest fear is this kid.
It's not me,
and everybody's like,
"Well, I'm worried about you."
I'm not worried about me.
Now, can you wave?
Good boy.
They can throw me in jail
for a year, I don't care.
I'm not obligated to anybody
except this kid right here.
Can you take a bow?
Good boy.
all [singing]: ♪ Happy birthday,
dear Apollo! ♪
[party horn sounding]
Close-up magic.
You always have to keep
your eye on the ball.
-Shoo!
-Oh!
[kids chattering]
[cell phone ringing]
Dwayne: Hello?
So, um, I'm just kind of talking
about this as a hypothetical.
What would generally
be her exposure?
What would be a possible way
out of the situation?
Dwayne:
So, none of it sounds good.
[solemn music playing]
Jared: PETA has been
exhausting a lot of resources
to find Tonka.
And after the
beginning of 2022,
we put up a $10,000 reward.
♪♪
Brittany: If Tonka is still
alive and stashed somewhere,
there are people who know it.
And $10,000
is a significant incentive.
Tonia: They've actually put us
in harm's way.
You have these kooks that
feel like they're vigilantes
that's gonna go out and
they're gonna seek this reward.
Justin: One of these days,
I'm gonna be on the couch
and someone's gonna come
banging on the door
looking for Tonka.
Brittany:
People who own exotic animals
know that we're a threat
to them.
We know their secrets.
[tattoo g*n buzzing]
Jaime: As I get older,
this doesn't get any easier.
Jaime: I would say somewhere
close to seven years.
It started off
kind of just being play buddies
and hanging out,
and over time,
we kind of created
a different relationship.
I became more of like
a nanny of sorts.
Hands down, the best moments
I'll ever remember.
I mean, like,
one of my favorite moments
was the first time
I ever gave him chewing gum.
He sat in the mirror
and watched himself chew gum.
Just fascinated by it.
Very chewy.
My not working there anymore
didn't have anything
to do with Buck.
The ape was great,
but I couldn't deal
with the human.
Robert: Tamara, do you not
want to be involved
in getting Buck's story out?
Because it's gonna get done
with or without you, and I,
I don't--
[solemn piano music playing]
Jaime: Tamara wanted
the entire community to believe
that she was constantly
building and constructing
a project that was gonna
benefit Buck's long-term life.
She was gonna build
an outdoor enclosure area.
It was going to be,
you know, two stories tall.
It was going to have fire hoses
and tire swings.
But nothing was ever built
for him.
Beau:
He wasn't happy.
He didn't get to go
hang out in the jungle,
climb trees, eat fruit,
meet ladies, you know,
get in fistfights, get laid.
He didn't have friends and
playmates and sh*t, you know?
Uh, just my...
my wonderful mother.
Jaime:
Around that time is when Tamara
had Buck castrated.
He was no longer being
treated like the baby boy.
He was now being treated
like an animal,
wearing padlocks
around his neck.
And that graduated
to the shock collars.
When he would get upset,
his bowel would empty.
So, she bought
a portable commode.
However, she was so bad
at emptying it,
that there would be days
when it was completely full.
Tamara absolutely deprived
Buck of everything
that he needed to be an ape.
She had created
this whole fantasy,
and anybody knowing the truth
about that property,
that was gonna uproot
and just ruin that fantasy.
Brittany: When PETA initially
found out about Buck,
we were able to find
some photos on Facebook.
She was just letting Buck
live freely in the home.
That was alarming to us.
So, PETA submitted a complaint
to Oregon Wildlife Authorities
about violations
at Brogoitti's.
Brittany: Out of the blue
one day, I got a call,
and the person said,
"This is Tamara."
[Tamara Brogoitti
speaking on phone]
She behaved erratically.
She would sob.
She would accuse me
of trying to steal Buck.
And then she invited me
to Oregon to visit Buck.
She thought that she was going
to be able to convince me
that she was giving
Buck a great life.
They tried to make
that appointment,
make that day to visit
Tamara and Buck,
and Tamara ghosted them.
It's Tamara's inner turmoil.
"On the one hand, I want
to show everybody this ape,
"and I want to make sure that
everybody's looking at me.
"But on the other hand,
please don't look at my ape,
"because if you're
the right people,
you're gonna know it's wrong."
She's going to stall until
she can buy herself enough time
to figure out how she's going
to get through it.
Brittany: We were so desperately
trying to get him
into an appropriate
environment,
but Tamara wasn't going
to let that happen.
Jaime: With this new pressure
on her, she was panicking.
Tamara had been isolating
herself and Buck more and more.
And he could no longer
go into town,
and he could no longer go out
into these businesses.
Couldn't bring friends
over to the house.
They would have seen
how neglected he was.
She just wanted him to
sit still and hang out with her
while she was drinking
her scotch.
Come here, Tonk.
I know you want to see.
He likes to watch Instagram.
[plays Instagram video
with music]
♪ Hold me close
and hold me fast ♪
♪ This magic spell you cast,
this is-- ♪
-[replays video]
-♪ Hold me close ♪
♪ And hold me fast ♪
♪ This magic spell you cast ♪
-[replays video]
-♪ Hold me close ♪
♪ And hold me fast ♪
♪ This magic spell you cast ♪
Like this one.
[electronic music
playing on video]
♪ I can play, dance with me ♪
[dance music playing]
announcer: Welcome to another
episode of Not In the--
♪ Yeah, yeah,
shawty got down low ♪
♪ Said come and get me,
yeah, yeah ♪
♪ ...love can make it ♪
[clicking tongue]
♪♪
[continues scrolling
through videos]
Tonia: We do this every day,
we go through new videos.
...grow the exact same rate...
Tonia: If PETA
wasn't hardcore after him...
we'd let you go out.
[phone playing video quietly]
Alan Cumming:
If Tonia still has Tonka,
Tonka's alive
and she's hiding him,
she's kind of trapped.
What can she do?
You know, she's got this chimp.
She can't really take him out
and go for a walk
'cause everyone will see her.
Tonia: Voila!
Alan: If this is happening,
she must know
what a dangerous thing
it is for her.
Tonia:
Put it on your neck.
Alan:
PETA are still observing,
and people are eventually
going to find out.
Tonia: Where's Tonka?
Where's that old Tonka?
There he is!
[laughs]
-[Tonka huffing]
-He's off and running.
[both huffing]
Let's put these on
and show everybody.
[laughing]
Alan:
I've never met Tonia.
To me, she's a woman wronged,
and spurned, and furious
at her love
being wrenched from her.
I, I have great empathy
for that, for that feeling.
I loved that chimp so much.
I had a special, special bond.
So, I understand
if she has that.
And I truly understand
how you behave crazily
for what you consider
to be your family.
I mean, I really do
feel sorry for her.
I truly do, I really have
great empathy for her.
But I have more empathy
for Tonka.
So, then I put up another
$10,000 to match PETA's,
just in the hope that someone
will come forward
and help us get
some information.
Tonia: Are you scrubbing?
Are you scrubbing?
Are you working?
You better work
for yourself, boy.
Wahoo! You almost did one!
Come on, you can do it!
You can do it!
Oh, not that one!
Tonka, use your fork.
[tapping glass]
Eric: It's important for me not
to overreach into the story,
but just document it,
and, and let the viewers
at the end of this story
come to their conclusion.
That's always
the best device, sure.
Eric: But, you know,
we had obviously never thought
in our wildest imagination
we would be in
a situation like this.
Do we turn her in,
or do we continue
following the story?
What would you do
in a situation like that?
Peter Laufer: As journalists,
we don't want to do something
that's morally, ethically wrong,
but we are looking at how
we can act to get the story.
And you have to hope
that the end result
is more positive than negative.
Is there a greater good?
Do you feel comfortable
that there won't be
something negative
that will occur if you wait?
[curious music playing]
Tonia: Keelie says,
"Up yours, PETA."
[chuckles]
Oh, the cover right here
of "Variety" magazine.
This little b*stard,
look at this article.
This is all bullshit.
He didn't care about Tonka,
'cause that movie
was done in 1997,
and he didn't even know
anything about Tonka.
Never offered to come visit,
never offered
to bring him a gift,
never offered to send him
anything,
never cared about where he was
until PETA pledged
the campaign against Connie,
and they paid him
to get involved.
Just absolutely
pisses me f*cking off.
This is very bad
on their behalf.
Very bad.
Dwayne: I know the pressure
that, that you're under
from, from all of this.
Alan Cummings' reward
or PETA's reward.
[sighs]
Man, mm.
[Tonia speaking on phone]
Dwayne: Um, yeah.
How do you feel about that?
[Tonia speaking]
I know. I know.
I'll get, I'll get the, uh--
you know,
I'll get the crew together
and we'll figure out
when we're coming.
-Yeah, she's gonna euthanize--
-Tell us. Tell us. Tell us.
No, the chimp is in bad--
Okay, I'm not a vet,
but you can see that the chimp
is in failing health.
Eric:
Would she really k*ll the chimp
and make her problems worse?
Well, there is no problem,
is there?
Because the chimp doesn't exist.
[somber music playing]
If the chimp goes away,
the liability goes away
from everybody involved in it.
Eric: Do you think this sounds
awfully similar
to the chimp in Pendleton?
Yes.
[music fades out]
Beau: I don't know
a lot about PETA,
but they like to take animals
away from people.
And, uh, my mother just said,
you know, pretty much,
"f*ck you,
I want to do this to the end."
♪♪
She tried to get me
to go move back up there.
I said no.
And then she got
my sister, April,
to go stay up there to help.
Jaime: Buck had now been
completely confined
to just the upstairs.
The downstairs room that he had
lived in his entire childhood,
now, some stranger's
living in there
with all of their stuff
in there.
Beau: Every day,
Buck and my mother
would go out and have
their coffee and tea.
The protocol was,
before she let Buck out,
Mom would call my sister
to make sure
the door is locked downstairs.
Well, everyone forgot protocol.
As soon as Mom let Buck out,
he ran down there
wanting to go see my sister.
And then, it began.
[unsettling music playing]
[voice breaking]
It lasted between five
and eight minutes.
A bloody fight.
Jaime: She was lying in bed,
kicking at him,
trying to defend herself.
If Buck wanted to k*ll April,
he could have.
But he stopped.
And after it was done...
he looked at my mom
like he was confused.
He was like,
"I don't know what happened.â€
[dog barking]
operator:
911, what is your emergency?
[Tamara speaking]
operator: What's going on?
Jaime: When Tamara
makes the 911 call...
officer: I'm gonna go
through the brush right here.
...the very weird thing
is that she is calm as can be.
[Tamara speaking]
[officer speaking]
[dog barking]
[Tamara speaking]
officer 2: Yeah.
[Buck screeching]
Well, he just moved.
Jaime:
Tamara was done paying for him.
She was done being isolated.
officer: There's a secondary
fence under the patio.
Jaime:
She was looking for a way out,
but she was never going
to let it be through PETA.
officer: Buddy?
[dog barking]
[Buck screeching]
Alright, I'm gonna try
to get in for a shot.
[whistling]
Hey.
Is there somebody there?
[barking continues]
[Tamara speaking]
officer: Okay.
[Tamara speaking]
-[g*nsh*t]
-officer: He's down.
[police radio chatter]
officer 1: Okay.
[indistinct chatter]
Beau: He took some big chunks
out of her legs, her torso.
[overlapping chatter]
[crying]
It was horrible.
It was horr-- I mean, it was,
it was like a shark bite.
Tamara: Sweetheart,
I'll be up at the hospital.
I'll be there.
[April Brogoitti speaking]
I love you, April.
Everything's gonna be okay.
[April speaking]
Tamara:
It's gonna be okay, baby.
[somber music playing]
I'm sorry.
My sister's okay. [sniffles]
Only because she's like
the toughest human being alive.
But it had to be done.
The sh**ting was 100% justified,
without question.
Robert: Something else
should have happened.
He should not have been
shot in the head.
Should not have been k*lled.
Brittany: As soon
as I found out that Buck died,
I called Tamara.
She didn't talk to me
for very long,
and she told me that
Buck's death was my fault.
What hurt me was not
that Tamara accused me
of being responsible
for Buck's death.
It was just the,
the complete senselessness
of his death in the first place,
uh, especially when we were--
we were making progress, and...
um...
it's just awful that
that happened to him.
♪♪
Jaime: Ready?
Here's your last one.
Yes, you're a snot-face.
[laughing]
I believe that Buck
is a victim of circumstance,
and he is a victim of humans.
And I understand
it is a beautiful baby
that you feel
so incredibly bonded to.
And it is so strong,
and it is so loving.
But it is so for you.
And it is at the expense
of the ape.
[whispering]
They don't understand.
They don't understand.
Jaime: Because there
is going to come a day
when no matter
how much you love him...
he needs more
than you can provide.
[phone line ringing]
Eric: We have some
urgent information
that we have to talk
to you about immediately.
It echoes
a very similar storyline
as Buck and Tamara
in Pendleton.
And we don't want
that outcome.
This is a phone
conversation that we recorded.
[Tonia speaking on recording]
Thank you so much
for sharing this information.
It is critical, it's effectively
what we've been looking for.
Um, and we will do everything
we possibly can with it.
And at least
from my perspective,
I think we're ready to discuss
what that something is
and how we're going to do it.
Eric:
Should we go off the record?
-I think so.
-Eric: Okay.
["Do You Really Want to Hurt Me"
by Violent Femmes playing]
♪ Do you really
want to hurt me? ♪
♪ Do you really want
to make me cry? ♪
♪ No, I don't really
want to hurt you ♪
♪ Then lovers always ask me
why, why, why, why? ♪
♪ In my mind
my memory's burning ♪
♪ What's your favorite color
of your favorite car? ♪
♪ I took a step,
the step was learning ♪
♪ That that's a step
beyond a step too far ♪
♪ Do you really
want to hurt me? ♪
♪ Do you really want
to make me cry? ♪
♪ No, I don't really
want to hurt you ♪
♪ I told the truth
but it was still a lie ♪
♪♪
[song fades out]
Welcome to our World! Where we serve you cookies to ensure you get the best viewing experience on our site.
Did you know that you can remove censorship board-wide, use our advanced search functions, be notified when new content is posted, join our memberships, set episodes to show in any order you want & more if you are logged into your account?
Register or sign in here: ucp.php?mode=register
Did you know that you can remove censorship board-wide, use our advanced search functions, be notified when new content is posted, join our memberships, set episodes to show in any order you want & more if you are logged into your account?
Register or sign in here: ucp.php?mode=register
01x03 - Head Shot
Watch/Buy Amazon
Follows Tonia Haddix, whose love for a chimpanzee spins into a wild game with authorities and an animal rights group.
Follows Tonia Haddix, whose love for a chimpanzee spins into a wild game with authorities and an animal rights group.