Convicted murderer Bob Bashara has died after being sentenced to life in prison in 2015

Grosse Pointe Park man convicted of plotting to kill his wife in 2012

LIVINGSTON COUNTY, Mich. – Convicted murderer Bob Bashara has died.

Bashara was sentenced to life in prison in January 2015 after he was convicted of plotting to have his wife killed in 2012.

READ: Sister of Bob Bashara’s wife ‘disappointed he only spent 8 years in prison’ before death

The Livingston County Medical Examiners Office confirms that they have received the body of Robert Bashara from the Woodland Center Correctional Facility in Whitmore Lake in Livingston County.

Timeline: Jane Bashara murder case

Officials confirmed that Bashara died Monday at the Woodland Center Correctional Facility. There has been no confirmation on how he died or if he was sick.

Bashara was 62 years old when he was pronounced dead.

Jane Bashara’s sister, Julie Rowe, released the following statement:

“I am disappointed he only spent 8 years in prison. That is just not long enough for all that he ruined.”

READ: Previous coverage

Jane Bashara killed by handyman

Jane Bashara was found dead Jan. 25, 2012 in the back of her SUV in an alley in Detroit. It was just miles from the couple's home in Grosse Pointe Park. An autopsy revealed she had been strangled.

Joe Gentz, who worked as Bob Bashara's handyman, admitted he strangled Jane in the couple's Grosse Pointe Park garage. Her body was discovered in her Mercedes-Benz in a Detroit alley.

Authorities said her husband arranged to have her killed by Gentz so he could pursue his BDSM lifestyle as "Master Bob" with a mistress and other women.

Handyman finally testifies in 2016

Gentz pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in 2012 and said Bob Bashara coerced him into committing the crime. But as Bashara's trial was set to begin in October, Gentz said he wouldn't testify. It would be another four years until he finally laid out the case against Bob Bashara in April 2016.

Gentz took the stand after advisement that he could face further charges by testifying. That was after he made a shocking claim that Bob Bashara had nothing to do with the murder of his wife. He also said police coached him on what to say in court.

Gentz's plea deal could have been taken back by prosecutors if he didn't testify. He could have opened himself to new charges such as conspiracy. He told Judge Vonda Evans he wished to testify after his attorney spoke with him twice and advised him of the possible consequences of perjury.

"This isn't a game," Evans told Gentz. "I have no control over what the prosecutor's office can do."

'Shut her up'

On the stand, Gentz discussed the day Jane Bashara was killed and said that Bob Bashara pulled a gun on him and told him to "shut her up." Gentz said he was promised $8,000 and a Cadillac for the murder, but later said it was $10,000. He admitted to breaking Jane Bashara's neck and said Bob Bashara was present during the murder.

Gentz was given a 17-to-28-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in Jane’s death.


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Kayla is a Web Producer for ClickOnDetroit. Before she joined the team in 2018 she worked at WILX in Lansing as a digital producer.