Chimp Crazy's Tonia Haddix could face charges for faking Tonka's death

The woman at at the center of the HBO documentary series Chimpanzee crazy still has to pay nearly $240,000 after she faked the death of her chimp Tonka. PETA is urging a judge to consider perjury charges against her.

Tonia Haddix could face up to five years in prison – possibly more if she is charged and convicted of obstruction of justice – after Tonka was discovered alive in her basement in June 2022 and a documentary film crew caught the entire banana saga on camera.

“To be honest, I didn’t know this was happening,” Haddix said Rolling Stone on Monday morning after learning of PETA's letter. “Am I shocked? No. Am I sad and wishing people would just leave me alone? Yes. But PETA won't stop. They are relentless. I'm just exhausted.”

Still, Haddix insists she was only concerned about the welfare of her beloved chimpanzee when she sobbed loudly before a Missouri district judge about Tonka's alleged death from heart failure in May 2021.

The monkey reportedly died just days after a judge ordered seven chimpanzees to be removed from Haddix's care and transferred to a sanctuary in Florida. Haddix wept during a virtual court hearing in January 2022 as she described finding the lifeless body of the former Hollywood movie star, who had been in Buddy alongside Alan Cumming.

Despite Haddix's tears and the finely ground brown powder she allegedly offered as Tonka's ashes, PETA did not believe her version of events. The animal rights organization continued to demand more evidence from Haddix proving that Tonka was dead. However, a judge ruled in Haddix's favor. Until PETA had definitive proof that Tonka was alive, nothing further could be done.

But Tonka was actually alive, sitting in a cage in Haddix's basement – just feet below where she had just sworn to tell the truth. And the blatant lie was caught on video by a documentary film crew that camped out in her home and filmed Haddix's fight against PETA.

“We fucking won!” Haddix cheered as soon as the hearing was over. “We just have to keep him hidden.”

In light of the taped confession, PETA sent a letter to an assistant U.S. attorney urging the court to bring perjury charges against Haddix. The court reportedly initially declined to bring charges against Haddix because it believed there was a lack of “sufficient evidence to prove that the chimpanzee removed from Haddix's home on June 5, 2022, was in fact Tonka,” according to the letter, which the organization obtained. The Los Angeles Times.

But the court hearings and several others in Chimpanzee crazyprovides “irrefutable evidence” that the monkey in question is Tonka. PETA also argues that the series shows the extreme measures Haddix went to to fake Tonka's death, lie to the court, and hide him across state lines and in her own home.

“Now that Tonia Haddix's blatant and brazen perjury is making waves around the world, the United States must prosecute her, both to punish her and to deter future defendants from lying in federal court and expecting to get away with it,” PETA said in a statement to Rolling Stone“PETA has never stopped fighting for Tonka and will not stop pressuring authorities until Haddix and her co-conspirators are held accountable for their crimes.”

When reached by phone Monday morning, Haddix's husband, Jerry Aswegan, said he could also face criminal charges after submitting an affidavit to the court that he cremated Tonka: Rolling Stone that the couple is not too worried about possible charges.”[PETA has] already tried, and [the court] rejected,” he said. “They said the case wasn't big enough to worry about.”

Even if Haddix avoids charges, she will still have to pay at least $240,000 to PETA to cover the organization's costs and legal fees for suing her. In March of last year, a judge ordered Haddix to pay $224,000 within seven days, but that amount was increased by $13,020 in interest after Haddix failed to pay, court documents show. To pay her legal fees, Haddix may consider a GoFundMe campaign, according to Aswegan.

Haddix isn't sure, though. “I don't know if you would call it numbness,” she says through tears. “I don't even know what to make of it… They took my child away from me, and when they took my child away from me, you kind of [to get] get on with things.”