GROSSE POINTE PARK, Mich. – The Local 4 Defenders have learned that a neighbor of Bob Bashara has come forward and told police investigators he saw a man who looked like Joe Gentz driving Jane Bashara's Mercedes-Benz sports utility vehicle out of the Bashara garage on Jan. 24, the night of Jane's murder.
The same witness also said about the same time Bob Bashara moved his Lincoln Navigator so the Mercedes-Benz could be pulled out of the garage.
This new witness could be key for prosecutors.
"If they have a witness that says, 'I saw on this date at this time Joe Gentz leaving the house,' then that's a pretty significant statement and that's going to be used pretty powerfully, I think, by the prosecution," said legal expert Todd Flood.
Another witness also recently told police that Gentz approached him and asked for help carrying out Jane Bashara's murder. That local man has now been questioned by investigators.
Both witnesses could be critical to the case.
"It is something that solidifies their case. If someone else can say that, 'I listened to Joe. Joe said this to me,' and that affirms a consistent statement that Joe is telling the truth, because that's what you want to find out, is Joe telling the truth. if that adds up, it solidifies the case for them, " said Flood.
The Local 4 Defenders are told the evidence taken from the Bashara's Grosse Pointe Park home, including blood samples, have been thoroughly tested. The results still rest in the hands of investigators.
The witness statements and evidence collected at the home could help solve the mystery of who strangled 56-year-old Jane Bashara.
She was found Jan. 25 in her SUV parked in a Detroit alley.
No charges have been brought forward in the case.