GROSSE POINTE PARK, Mich. – Multiple sources tell the Local 4 Defenders that Joe Gentz caused harm when he told police investigators he killed 56-year-old Jane Bashara in her Grosse Pointe Park garage while another man forced him to do it at gunpoint.
What happened next?
Sources say according to Gentz, he put Jane Bashara's body into her Mercedes-Benz sports utility vehicle with the help of the other man. Gentz then drove the SUV to Detroit. The other man did not make the trip to the area of 7 Mile Road and Hoover Street, where Jane Bashara was found dead on Jan. 25.
The Defenders have learned that Gentz admitted to throwing the SUV keys down on the driver's side floorboard then leaving the vehicle in an alley near Annott and Pinewood. Gentz was chosen as the driver because he grew up in the neighborhood.
He then walked from the SUV south to a McDonald's on 7 Mile Road near Gratiot Avenue where he grabbed some food while waiting for the bus.
The Defenders have confirmed that police pulled video from that McDonald's surveillance and Gentz was seen on the video from that day, further solidifying his story.
Gentz took the bus to the Rosa Parks terminal in downtown Detroit where transferred to the Jefferson bus back to Grosse Pointe Park.
A short time later, the Defenders have learned Gentz stepped off the bus near the police station and walked to Art's Party Store on Kerchavel. Sources tell the Defenders that detectives have gone to the party store for surveillance video. After buying a pack of cigarettes, Gentz walked home.
One week later, he turned himself into Grosse Pointe Park police.
"I want them to know the truth," he said in an interview with the Defenders.
Police have been disputing Gentz's story. But sources say it's starting to become more concrete as investigators run it down.
Gentz was held in police custody for three days before being let go and appointed an attorney.
No other arrests have been made in connection with Jane Bashara's murder.