'Tiger King' zookeeper found dead in Brooklyn apartment

EAST FLATBUSH, Brooklyn (WABC) -- A zookeeper from the Netflix series "Tiger King" was found dead inside an apartment in Brooklyn.

Police say they found Erik Cowie, 52, unconscious in the bedroom of a home on East 55th Street in East Flatbush last Friday.

He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Cowie appeared on the Netflix show last year as one of the tiger caretakers at the zoo run by the man who calls himself Joe Exotic. His real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage.

Maldonado-Passage was convicted of attempted murder and violating the Endangered Species Act.

Cowie testified against him at that trial.

An autopsy will determine Cowie's cause of death.

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