Jane Bashara murdered by Joe Gentz, alleges her husband was involved/Bashara arrested & arraigned on chges of solicitation to murder/Gentz pleads GUILTY to 2nd degree murder/Bashara sentenced to life: 'May Jane now truly rest in peace'

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It's a murder mystery that's rocked America's auto capitol. A Detroit marketing executive was found strangled to death in her car, and a family acquaintance reportedly confessed to committing the crime — alleging he was paid by the victim’s husband.

In late January, Jane Bashara, 56, who lived with her husband in the tony Detroit suburb of Grosse Pointe Park, was found dead in her Mercedes SUV in a downtown Detroit alley. While police named her husband Bob Bashara as a person of interest, handyman Joe Gentz was charged with murder after reportedly telling police that Bashara paid him $2,000 and an old Cadillac to kill his wife. Police did not confirm the confession, and reports suggest that Gentz, 48, is mentally disabled.

Authorities continue to probe the case with an eye toward possibly charging Bashara for involvement in the slaying. A report from NBC's Craig Melvin that aired on TODAY Tuesday examined claims that Bashara had lived a dark double-life that may ultimately end up in charges for his wife's death.

Contacted by NBC, prosecutors would neither confirm nor deny potential charges against the 54-year-old, saying, "The investigation into the murder is continuing." But the Detroit-area newspaper The Macomb Daily reported Sunday that Bashara may be charged within the next 10 days.

Meanwhile, Bashara's attorney told NBC’s Detroit affiliate WDIV-TV that the cloud of suspicion hanging over his client's head has been hard to bear for the family, which includes two children.

"Robert Bashara, his children and I are treading water in a lake full of sharks," attorney David Griem said.

Reports from Detroit surfaced that Bashara may have been having an affair with a woman employed at neighboring Wayne State University and that she, along with another woman, may have been involved in the underground world of sadomasochism, laying bare possible motivations for his wife's murder.

But Bashara told WDIV while his 26-year marriage to Jane wasn't perfect, it's beyond the imagination to believe he was responsible for her murder.

"The fact that they've named me the person of interest is unthinkable to me," he said. "That they think I could have harmed my sweetheart.

'We...we...loved each other."

Bashara has denied allegations he engaged in an S&M lifestyle, and told WDIV, "I don't want to get into that, I have my children to worry about."

But authorities in Detroit have been examining evidence and building their case for more than two months. Gentz was charged with Bashara's murder on March 2, but reports that he is mentally disabled are throwing a cloud over the case. Legal analyst Beth Karas told NBC News Lentz's mental capacity could complicate the murder case.

"It's definitely a hurdle for the prosecution to deal with a handyman who has psychological issues," she said.

And the case could well come down to whether Gentz's story that Bashara hired him to murder his wife is believable, criminologist Casey Jordan told NBC. "There's a number of ways prosecutors can look at this, but the point is they don't have direct evidence."
Still, being a focus of his wife's murder investigation has taken its toll on Bashara and his family, his attorney, Griem, said. "He's not doing well...he's got two children that are devastated."

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I have to thank "niecey456" from what was "The Hinky Meter" bringing this case to my attention. I honestly don't know how we could have missed such a high profile case!!

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Bob Bashara denied in a court filing Wednesday that he is stalking or menacing his former girlfriend, who sought a personal protection order against him two weeks ago.

However, the five-page document filed by defense attorney David Griem on behalf of Bashara, a suspect in the slaying of his wife, Jane Bashara, does not ask for a hearing or a modification of the protection order obtained by Rachel Gillett.

Griem wrote the "order is in the best interests of both parties," but Bashara "feels an obligation to set the record straight" about allegations in the request.

"There is no factual basis for this PPO," Griem wrote, adding that Bashara "chooses to take the high road and say no more."

The filingcame a little more than 48 hours before Bashara is to appear on "Dateline NBC."

Gillett's lawyer, Doraid Elder, dismissed the filing as "a five-page rant."

"I've never seen anything like it," Elder said. "It's a five-page waste of paper."

Griem, citing a family emergency, declined to comment on the filing.

Elder said the PPO challenge did not ask for a hearing because Bashara could be questioned under oath.

Jane Bashara disappeared from their Grosse Pointe Park home the evening of Jan. 24. Her body was found the next morning in her Mercedes-Benz SUV, abandoned in an alley on Detroit's east side.

Handyman Joseph Gentz, who said he strangled Jane Bashara at her husband's behest, is charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy. Gentz is being held without bond.

Bob Bashara has not been charged but was characterized by police as a suspect and a person of interest.

In her protection order request, Gillett said she was intimidated and frightened by Bashara's efforts to contact her.

"More importantly, the fact that his wife was found strangled terrifies me because I think that it could happen to me," she said in the request.

Elder said Bashara portrayed himself as divorced, and he and Gillett shopped for a home in the Grosse Pointes.

Gillett said Bashara left notes for her, pounded on her apartment door and left a Palm Sunday cross at her home.

Griem's filing dismissed those events. It says Gillett waited days before reporting them.

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March 24, 2012 at 6:27 pm
Grosse Pointe murder: New twist in Bashara case

Police have more info on missing clothing; alibi proof missing

By George Hunter and Christine Ferretti
The Detroit News
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Bob Bashara, left, Jane Bashara, and Joe Gentz )

Grosse Pointe Park— The mystery surrounding what happened to Jane Bashara's clothing after she was killed took a new twist Friday.

Michigan State Police officials said two weeks ago they hadn't received the garments the 56-year-old marketing executive wore when her strangled body was found Jan. 25 in the backseat of her sport-utility vehicle in a Detroit alley, although a Detroit Police spokeswoman insisted the clothing had been sent to the state laboratory.

On Friday, Michigan State Police Lt. Michael Shaw said one part of the mystery had been cleared up: "We finally were able to determine that the clothing was with the Detroit Police Department, but they hadn't sent it to the lab yet," Shaw said.

However, Detroit Police Sgt. Eren Stephens said she's sticking with the statement she gave to The News on March 9: "There were items of clothing recovered from the body of Jane Bashara and sent to the MSP for testing."

Stephens said Friday. "At this time, we have no additional comment on this matter."

David Griem, attorney for the victim's husband Robert Bashara, who was named by Grosse Pointe Park Police Chief David Hiller as the only person of interest in the case, said investigators also failed to secure another key piece of evidence: Videotape which Griem claims would have supported his client's alibi that he was working at one of his rental properties when Jane Bashara was killed.

"The State Police crime lab never received (Jane Bashara's) clothing," he said Friday, adding that police waited two months to retrieve surveillance video from cameras at buildings his client owns on Mack Avenue.

Griem said Bashara gave investigators his alibi a few days after the murder, and informed police that the buildings are equipped with two video cameras.

Griem said he assumed detectives had taken the video into custody, but he said two retired FBI agents hired by the family uncovered this week that the video was never released. The tapes have subsequently been recorded over, Griem said.

"None of the … agencies thought it was important to take into custody the videotape that could have cleared Robert Bashara," Griem said. Handyman Joe Gentz on Jan. 31 told Grosse Pointe Park police that Bashara had hired him to commit the murder.

Gentz, who has an IQ of 67, was charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder, and is in the Wayne County Jail awaiting a May 4 hearing to determine whether he's competent to stand trial.

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Detroit Police Find Jane Bashara's Missing Clothing
Key evidence now in hands of State Police

Updated: Saturday, 10 Mar 2012, 7:22 PM EST
Published : Friday, 09 Mar 2012, 11:23 PM EST

By RON SAVAGE
WJBK | myFOXDetroit.com
(WJBK) - Questions swirled Friday night, surrounding a key piece of evidence in the Jane Bashara murder investigation.

The clothing she wore the day she was killed wasn't turned over to the state police crime lab until Friday - after the mix-up was made public.

Is this a case of shoddy police work?

Defense attorney David Griem says he'll have a field day with this, if the case goes to trial.

"We received a link in this case, and I know that will shock you because there have been no leaks in this case," Griem said.

Griem says he was tipped by a police agency working the Jane Bashara murder investigation. The attorney says he was told Jane Bashara's clothing - what she was wearing when her body was discovered in Detroit - was missing.

State Police confirmed for Fox 2 on Friday that their crime lab did not receive Jane Bashara's clothing. Former Wayne County Medical Examiner Dr. Werner Spitz says the clothing in this case will be crucial at trial.

"Strangulation, like a gunshot, strangulation there is body contact between the parties," Dr. Spitz said Friday.

Friday afternoon, Detroit Police said they had the clothing in question.

Veteran Detroit Homicide Investigator Bill Petersen who retired last month says it's his hunch proper procedure was followed.

"My guess is it was collected at the morgue, packaged up, and is being held for transit to the crime lab," Petersen said.

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Competency hearing for Jane Bashara murder suspect postponed
10:35 AM, May 4, 2012
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Joseph Gentz, shown at his arraignment by video at 36th District Court in Detroit on March 5, 2012, is charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder for the January slaying of Grosse Pointe Park marketing executive Jane Bashara. / BRIAN KAUFMAN/Detroit Free Press

By Gina Damron
Detroit Free Press Staff Writer

Joseph Gentz, who has undergone a psychiatric evaluation, was scheduled to be in Detroit’s 36th District Court today, but the hearing was adjourned until June 11 to give the Forensic Center time to complete reports.

Gentz did not appear in court today.

Gentz, who has a history of emotional and psychiatric conditions, is charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy in Bashara’s murder. In January, her body was found in her SUV, which had been dumped in an east side Detroit alley.

His attorney, Susan Reed, said her client, who is being held at the William Dickerson Detention Facility in Hamtramck, is doing “as well as could be expected for being incarcerated.”

No one else has been charged in the case, but Bashara’s husband, Bob Bashara, was called a person of interest by Grosse Pointe Park police after failing a polygraph examination.

A formal complaint filed by the prosecutor’s office alleges that Gentz plotted “with another known individual,” who was not named.

Gentz, a handyman who did work for Bob Bashara, told investigators he killed Jane Bashara at the behest of her husband, sources previously told the Free Press.

Bob Bashara has denied involvement in his wife’s death.

“I had absolutely nothing to do with what happened to her,” he said during an interview with the Free Press in February.

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Wrap, I thought I had started a thread on this case, but maybe not...I know that I had read about it over at Hinky Meter...

I had heard of her and thought we did have a thread here. But, when I did a "search", I found nothing. Thanks to "nicey" and her blog, she refreshed my memory.

5:07 PM, May 15, 2012

The mother of a slain Grosse Pointe Park woman has filed a police report against her daughter’s husband, accusing him of harassing her by phone.

In the report, filed Sunday, Lorraine Engelbrecht claims she called Bob Bashara after she saw an interview he gave for a Dateline NBC program about her daughter Jane Bashara’s murder.

“She felt that she needed to call him regarding things he said about her daughter,” according to the report, which says Engelbrecht called Bob Bashara on Saturday. “She told him to stop dragging her daughter’s name through the mud, and to not bring her down to his level.”

Engelbrecht told police Bob Bashara called her back twice “trying to plead to her about his innocence,” the report says.

In January, Jane Bashara was found strangled in the back of her SUV, which had been dumped in an eastside Detroit alley. Joseph Gentz, a handyman, has been charged in her murder, which he told investigators he committed at Bob Bashara’s behest.

Bob Bashara, who Grosse Pointe Park police called a person of interest after he failed a polygraph examination, has not been charged.

Bashara’s attorney David Griem said Jane’s mother called Bashara twice after the Dateline broadcast.

“He called back once and tried to sympathize, and said his heart went out to her, especially with Sunday being Mother’s Day,” Griem said.

He said the broadcast “is just the latest example of the theater of the absurd that this case has become.”

Engelbrecht told police that she fears Bob Bashara.

“She felt that even though he did not make any threatening statements to her, he still scared her,” she said. “She thinks that he has changed mentally and he may be unstable enough to harm her. She is only drawing this conclusion from knowing how he acted before the incident till after the incident.”

According to the report, Engelbrecht was advised to make the report by Tim Matouk, an investigator with the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office.

The prosecutor’s office declined to comment.

Griem said the report was the “instigated and created” through the work of Matouk, whom he called “a renegade investigator.” Griem said people have complained about Matouk “because of his tactics, his grilling” when questioned in the Bashara investigation.

Jane Bashara’s sister, Julie Engelbrecht Rowe, said she did not want to discuss the situation.

“We don’t want to make a big deal out of this,” she said.

This is the second complaint against Bob Bashara in recent weeks.

Last month, his former girlfriend, Rachel Gillett, sought a personal protection order against Bob Bashara, claiming he contacted her through instant messages and phone calls and has come to her home, despite pleas for him to stop.

Bob Bashara denied stalking Gillett in a court filing earlier this month.

Gillett, 51, wrote in her PPO request that Bob Bashara’s “actions and the fact that he refuses to listen to my pleas for him to leave me alone make me intimidated by him and feel threatened and frightened that he will escalate his behavior if he becomes angry. More importantly, the fact that his wife was found strangled terrifies me because I think that it could happen to me.”

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I don't trust the husband as far as I can throw him.

On the night of Jan 24, Bob Bashara called police and told them that his wife was missing from there Grosse Pointe Park home.

The next morning her body was found by a tow truck driver in her Mercedes SUV, the vehicle was parked about 8 miles from her home in an east side Detroit alley. Jane Bashara, a 56 year old mother of 2, had been beaten about the upper body and strangled to death. She was wearing bedroom slippers and yoga pants. Investigators say her fingernails were broken and that it appeared she fiercely fought for her life.

Bob Bashara is quickly listed as the only person of interest in the case, after he fails a police polygraph.

Police say they believe Jane Bashara was murdered in her home and they search the Middlesex drive estate.

Bob Bashara says he arrived home at approximately 8 p.m. on the night of the 24th to find his wife missing, he called police at about 11 p.m. He says he spent part of the evening at the Hard Luck Lounge, which is one of the properties he owns.

It is widely reported that Bob Bashara was having an affair with a Wayne State University employee. Local ABC News reporters uncover documents that show he and the woman were looking to buy a house 5 minutes away from where he and Jane lived.

On Jan. 31, a memorial service is held for Jane Bashara, at Grosse Pointe Memorial Church. She was eulogized by hundreds; Bob Bashara sat in the front row.

On the same day of the service, Joseph Gentz, a 48 year old handyman who had done work in the past for Bob Bashara, walked into the Grosse Pointe Park police department and confessed to the murder. He tells investigators he killed Jane Bashara in the garage of her home after Bob Bashara offered him money and a vehicle to do it. He later changes his story and says Bashara forced him to do it at gunpoint.

Rumors start swirling, coming from patrons of the Hard Luck Lounge, and neighbors of the bar, that in the bars basement was a sex dungeon, equipped with whips, chains and mattresses. It is reported that Bob Bashara frequented the basement with different women.

David Griem, a defense attorney recently hired by Bob bashara, questions the origins of the rumors. He also says, “I’m not sure that if someone has an alternative lifestyle that they should be painted as guilty of a crime.”

Griem is a former federal and Macomb County prosecutor who once represented Stephen Grant, who was convicted of strangling and dismembering his wife, Tara, in 2007. After Grant fled just as investigators were uncovering body parts in his garage, Griem quit representing him.

Griem says Bob Bashara passed a privately administered polygraph test. He says he wouldn’t be surprised if his client is charged with murder.

Joseph Gentz is released from police custody after 72 hours; he is appointed a top defense attorney, Susan Reed.

In an interview with the media, at his attorney’s office, Bob Bashara denies any involvement in his wife’s death. “I had absolutely nothing to do with what happened to her,” he said.

On Feb. 9, Bashara goes on “Good Morning America” with his daughter, Jessica Bashara, and denies killing his wife. On television he says he and Jane had a “very good, open relationship.”

Jane Bashara’s family, her siblings and parents, release a statement stating that they are certain that Jane would not have participated in an open marriage. They further state that they were aware that there was a change for the worse in Bob and Jane’s relationship over the past few years.

Prosecutors issue investigative subpoenas in the case.

It is uncovered by the Detroit News that Bob Bashara was investigated 17 years ago, for inappropriate contact with a 5-year old female relative. The girl told her parents that Bashara, on two occasions, caused her to touch his genitals. Once while wrestling in his bed and once while being spanked in his home. The girl reported that while being spanked, Bashara kept telling her she liked it.

Police reports show Bob Bashara admitted the girl once jumped into his bed while he was naked and that he once spanked her when she misbehaved. Jane Bashara’s mother, Lorraine Engelbrecht, told the News she thought the case was dropped to avoid embarrassment. Police reports indicate the case was dropped after Bashara passed a polygraph.

David Griem says private investigators, hired by Bob Bashara, have uncovered a new suspect in the case, but release no further information.

It is reported in the News that an Oregon woman was flown to Detroit to meet with investigators. They state that police sources have told them that the house that Bashara was going to purchase with his longtime girlfriend, the Wayne State employee, was going to be set up as a sex dungeon with two women living there, the girlfriend and possibly the Oregon Woman.

It is announced that forensic testing on evidence in the case is done.

On Friday March 2nd, Joseph Gentz is arrested at the Macomb County Circuit courthouse. He was there for a hearing on the custody of his daughter. Gentz is heard being told by an officer, “you are under arrest for the murder of Jane Bashara.”

Steve Virgona, a friend of Gentz, drove him to the courthouse. He said that Gentz had told him previously that “they were offering a plea deal.”

Gentz is arraigned on March 6th on two charges, first degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. His attorney, Susan Reed, asks Magistrate Laura Echarlea for a hearing to determine if Gentz is competent to stand trial.

Reed says that conspiracy charges indicate “more than one person is involved.”

Police search the home of Bob Bashara’s alleged mistress and remove several boxes of evidence.

It is revealed that the clothing worn by Jane Bashara, when she was murdered, was never sent for forensic testing and is now missing.

Joseph Gentz is sent for psychiatric testing.

Griem files a motion in Wayne County Circuit Court to be present when Bashara gives a court ordered handwriting sample. Judge Timothy Kenny rules against Griem saying that since Bashara has not been charged that his lawyer “has no legal right to peer over shoulders of investigators.”

According to court records the writing samples are to compared with an envelope, a check, a greeting card, a card attached to flowers and a letter.

Bashara gives the handwriting sample at the Michigan State Police post in Taylor. As he is leaving he criticizes the media. “I have been tried and convicted in the media,” he said.” This is the land of America, where you’re innocent until proven guilty.

Bashara’s former girlfriend, Rachel Gillett, 51, gets a personal protection order from Wayne County Circuit Court on Bob Bashara. In her request for the order she wrote that Bashara was trying to contact her through text messages and phone calls. She said he even showed up at her home despite her pleas for him to stop.

Gillett says that they had a three year relationship but now she is terrified of him. “The fact that his wife was found strangled terrifies me because I think that it could happen to me,” she says.

Steve Virgona, a friend of Gentz who was with him when he confessed to police, tells the Detroit News that Gentz tried to subcontract the murder to him and another man but they turned him down.

Virgona also tells the News that according to Gentz, Bob Bashara was in the garage at the time of the murder. Reportedly Bashara held a gun on Gentz saying, “Do it…you better do it now.” Then Jane said, “Please don’t do it,” those were what Gentz has said were Jane Bashara’s last words.

In an Interview on NBC’s “Dateline” Bashara again denies involvement with his wife’s death.

On the show he admits to the affair with Rachel Gillett but says he had no interest in leaving his wife, saying “Jane and I were in love.”

Bashara also admits to having involvement in the S&M community. He says it was a private part of his life but says he will not discuss it because of any impending case.

Authorities say the case is still under investigation and will not comment further.

Joseph Gentz is still awaiting psychiatric testing.

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New lawyer: Bob Bashara apologizes to his ex-lover
May 22, 2012

By Joe Swickard
Detroit Free Press Staff Writer

A new lawyer joined the defense team for Bob Bashara, a suspect in the January killing of his wife, Jane Bashara, by stepping into the news media spotlight Monday with a public apology from her client to his former lover Rachel Gillett.

"If Ms. Gillett felt she was misled, he wants to apologize," said Bob Bashara's new lawyer, Christina Utley, a former state prosecutor in Cook County, Ill. Utley also said it appears that Bashara and Gillett "are not on the same page" about their past relationship.

Gillett, who carried on a long-term affair with Bashara, said in a televised interview Sunday that she believed him when he said he was separated and then divorced from his wife.

Gillett said she learned he was still married when he appeared on TV crying over his wife's death.

Gillett obtained a personal protection order last month against Bashara, saying she is frightened by his past efforts to reach her and the strangulation death of Jane Bashara "terrifies me because I think it could happen to me."

Utley said the interview made it clear that Gillett "had no knowledge or any information that indicated Mr. Bashara had anything to do with his wife's death."

She thanked Gillett for cooperating with investigators and said her client, too, "has cooperated in every way" with the investigation.

The statements got a frosty reception from Gillett's lawyer, Doraid Elder.

Bashara's team "can put the spin on what he thought, but (she) can never change the facts or manipulate the truth in the investigation, and that includes the intimate relationship" that Bashara wanted to continue, Elder said.

Asked whether Gillett still is concerned about Bashara, Elder said: "My client is no longer in the state of Michigan."

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.........."If Ms. Gillett felt she was misled, he wants to apologize," said Bob Bashara's new lawyer, Christina Utley, a former state prosecutor in Cook County, Ill. Utley also said it appears that Bashara and Gillett "are not on the same page" about their past relationship......

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I guess it's Rachel's fault if she was misled about being Bob's defense teams' first choice for #1 person of interest in his wife's brutal murder as well.

kh

Bashara adds new lawyer to his team

Dave Schultz
Detroit Crime Prevention Examiner

Christina Utley, a former state prosecutor from Cook County, Ill, has joined the Bob Bashara defense team. Utley stepped into the spotlight by making a public apology from her client to Rachel Gillett, Bashara’s former lover.

“If Ms. Gillett felt she was misled in any way, he wants to apologize,” Utley said. She also said it appears that Bashara and Gillett “are not on the same page” about their past relationship.

Gillett, in a recent televised interview, said she believed Bashara when he first said he was separated, and then divorced.

Gillett said she learned he was still married after Jane Bashara was found murdered, and she saw Bob Bashara on TV crying over his wife’s death.

Utley said the interview made it clear that Gillett “had no knowledge or any information that indicated Mr. Bashara had anything to do with his wife’s death.”

Utley thanked Gillett for cooperating with investigators and said her client has also “cooperated in every way” with the investigation.

Gillett’s lawyer Doraid Elder was not amused by Utley’s statements.

“Bashara’s team can put the spin on what he thought, but they can never change the facts or manipulate the truth in the investigation, and that includes the intimate relationship that Bashara wanted to continue,” Elder said.

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Bob Bashara has different version of why he was asked to leave church fair

By Mitch Hotts
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]; @mhotts Posted: 05/26/12 11:05 pm

Bob Bashara on Saturday said a St. Clair Shores church leader’s version of Bashara being ordered off church property during a festival fundraiser last week was not accurate. Bashara worked as a volunteer dealing cards at the Vegas tent for more than 10 hours over two days before being asked to leave the premises.

Bashara, the Grosse Pointe Park property manager who has been named as a person of interest in the strangulation of his wife, said he was bounced from the event only after an intoxicated man caused a scene at the St. Joan of Arc Spring Festival and security was called. Bashara said he was blocked from even entering the food tent to buy a pierogi on his way out of the festival, where he had gone to meet some friends and relax a bit. Bashara had met his friends at the Vegas tent on May 18 where he learned two dealers had failed to show up. He offered to work for free and was given a name tag and a table to handle. “Life hasn’t been fun with the death of my wife and the terrible things being said about me in the press, so I just wanted to get out for a little while,” he said. “When I found out they were short on dealers, I said I’d be happy to deal; I know a little about gambling from having gone on some Vegas jaunts. I worked six hours and at the end of the night, they thanked me profusely and asked me to come back the following night.” He returned the following day and worked until just after midnight when a church official asked him to leave following an incident by a parishioner who was intoxicated and “caused a commotion.” “This intoxicated guy approached me and started cussing me out, saying I shouldn’t be there and all of this. He actually pushed a few patrons after we called security. A little while later, the head supervisor, who had been very nice, told me I couldn’t work there, because my presence made people feel uncomfortable. I understood and I left.” Monsignor G. Michael Bugarin last week told the Macomb Daily he personally asked Bashara to leave and was under the impression that Bashara had only worked a short time in the Vegas tent before being escorted out. “The monsignor’s comments were unfair and untrue,” Bashara said. “I guess I would have assumed a man of the cloth would tell the truth.” Bashara, who has a history of charitable acts and fundraising efforts, said on his way out, another church official blocked him from entering the food tent, and again asked him to leave the church property. Bashara said he walked to his car, turned and waved before leaving. “I was thinking to myself, ‘You’re a man of God, and yet you are accusing me, ridiculing me,’ just like how Jesus Christ was mocked and attacked, not that I’m comparing myself to the Lord,” Bashara said. Bugarin on Saturday declined further comment. “Quite honestly, I said what was needed to be said last week and have nothing further,” Bugarin said. Some festival volunteers told the Macomb Daily last week that they were surprised to see Bashara working the event, but felt uncomfortable there since he has been widely reported to be under investigation for the death of his wife, Jane, a Mount Clemens native. But others now say Bugarin knew Bashara was working the Vegas tent and some were upset that not only was Bashara banned from working but also not allowed to even eat at the event. Others were upset that Bugarin put festival organizers “in the awkward position” of asking Bashara to leave instead of doing it himself. Dave Griem, Bashara’s attorney, said he has written a letter to Bugarin, the church pastor, calling his actions and words “cowardice.” “There is a saying that applies here: No good deed goes unpunished,” said Griem, who has done pro bono work for the Catholic church. “We would think the church would keep an open mind and not act as the Romans did way back in the beginning of our calendar. I think it’s sad that Monsignor Bugarin has tried Mr. Bashara, found him guilty, and sentenced him on inaccurate facts. But Bob Bashara has no axe to grind with him and forgives him for that type of mindset.” Bashara said fundraising and volunteer work was something he enjoyed doing with Jane Bashara. He said the couple were part of a volunteer force that raised $850,000 for Grosse Pointe Public Schools, from which their two children graduated. Other causes dear to the Basharas included the Grosse Pointe Rotary Club, Oakland International Academy and the Grosse Pointe Woods annual Fourth of July fireworks display. “God blessed our family and we wanted to give back to the community,” he said. “And that’s something I hope to get back to someday. When Jane and I worked on those projects, I’d come home at night with a huge sense of satisfaction. That’s what made me happy.” Bashara, who had a 24-year record of perfect attendance as a Rotarian, resigned from the Rotary after 15 of the club’s 95 members called for his removal. He said the club’s motto of “service above self” was a principle instilled in him from his father and grandfather, both attorneys who gave back to the community. The body of Jane Bashara was found Jan. 25 in the back of her SUV in an alley on Detroit’s east side. An autopsy determined she had been strangled. Joe Gentz, who formerly did yard work for Bashara, has been charged with the woman’s death and also conspiracy to commit murder. Bashara has not been charged, but has been asked by investigators to take a polygraph exam and submit handwriting samples, which he has done. Gentz remains in jail as he awaits a June 11 hearing in 36th District Court in Detroit to determine whether he is mentally stable to understand the charges against him.

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