(CNN) -- Terry Thompson, the Ohio man who authorities say set his exotic animals free just before killing himself, once supplied a lion cub for a photo shoot with supermodel Heidi Klum.





"I wrote a letter to Heidi Klum's people," said Larry Hostetler, the executive director of the Animal Shelter Society of Muskingum County. "I strongly voiced my opinion that if they're going to hire animals for entertainment, they might want to check handlers' backgrounds -- that Terry Thompson had been convicted of animal cruelty.





"Of course, I never heard anything back."





Thompson and his wild animal farm had long been on authorities' radar. Thompson had been kicked out of the local pet fair for bringing exotic animals that snarled at children. He had been convicted in November 2005 of animal cruelty, allowing an animal to roam freely and rendering animal waste without a license.





He had even threatened to let all his animals go when investigators visited after repeated calls of animal abuse or neglect.





But while investigators kept a close eye on him, Thompson professed his love for his animals to most anyone. He would often be seen driving down the road with a wild animal.





"My cats are happier than most people," Thompson once told the Zanesville Times-Recorder. "I feed them every day, and they have a great place to live. How many people can say they have all they can eat and don't have to worry about a place to live?"





In a 2008 video in New York, Thompson is seen smiling, holding a cub and handing it over to model Klum. "We heard about Terry Thompson from all of his work in movies and commercials and felt he had a great track record. The day of our shoot, he was very kind, loving and protective towards his animals," said Christoph KÃ¶rfer, the head of the German TV-station ProSieben in charge of the shoot. "This is definitely a tragic situation."





Yet on Tuesday, a strained marriage collided with the stress and the expense of caring for so many animals, people close to the investigation told CNN.





"He was so depressed he said, 'That's it. I'm going to let them go,' " said Columbus Zoo director emeritus Jack Hanna, who helped authorities in the search for the wild animals.





The 62-year-old Thompson had been released from prison in recent weeks after serving a year behind bars on an illegal firearms conviction.





Authorities say Thompson unlocked his animal cages, opened the farm's gates and shot himself to death.





Thompson freed dozens of exotic animals -- from Bengal tigers to grizzly bears to baboons -- setting off a frightening scenario outside Zanesville, a town of 25,000 in central Ohio. Authorities killed at least 49 animals, including 18 rare tigers.





"What happened here was one of the largest animal escapes in our country's history," said Hanna.





Sheriff Matt Lutz defended his officers, saying they had no choice but to kill the roaming animals. "I had deputies that had to shoot animals with sidearms at close range. That's how volatile this situation was."





Thompson was known as a flamboyant, volatile man. The sheriff's department had been to the property on dozens of occasions over the last decade to check into reports of animal cruelty or animals on the loose.





Thompson would stare down those who entered his property with his steely blue eyes. He'd cuss and scream.





"I'll be damned," Thompson would shout, according to county Humane Officer David Durst. "I'll let them animals go!"





"He was definitely a different breed," said Durst, who investigates every case of animal cruelty in the county.





"We were just afraid that this was going to happen. It wasn't a matter of if it was going to happen, it was a matter of when."





Durst said Thompson would often buy his exotic animals from people in other states and offer to host them on his property for vacation. "They'd visit and see
What has Terry Thompson been convicted for? Terry Thompson was convicted of what crime? What happened when investigators visited his property? When was Terry Thompson convicted?
animal cruelty. animal cruelty. He'd cuss and scream. November 2005
question: What has Terry Thompson been convicted for?, answer: animal cruelty. | question: Terry Thompson was convicted of what crime?, answer: animal cruelty. | question: What happened when investigators visited his property?, answer: He'd cuss and scream. | question: When was Terry Thompson convicted?, answer: November 2005