GUILTY MI - Jane Bashara, 56, dies in contract killing, Grosse Pointe Park, 25 Jan 2012 #3

Bob Bashara Gets New Digs, Moves To Prison In Manistee

The 55-year-old Grosse Pointe Park man had been at the state prison in Jackson, but is now at the Oaks Correctional Facility in Manistee, about 50 miles southwest of Traverse City.

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2013/01/09/bob-bashara-gets-new-digs-moves-to-prison-in-manistee/

Bob Bashara moves to new prison outside Traverse City

Oaks is a level 4 prison, one level below maximum security. Bashara is now housed with almost 200 other male inmates.

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/...ity/-/1719314/18056152/-/10ud31n/-/index.html

Make sure to read the comments!

Unfortunately, it's not the worst place for him to do time. Kilpatrick was there for some time. Of course, he's so arrogant he will probably have issues with the other inmates, and for that I am glad.

Did you guys miss me?

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Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Griem may still face more consequences

Criminal defense lawyer David Griem’s $8,000 in fines levied by a Detroit judge for his contempt of court convictions was significant, but many believe the well-known veteran attorney hasn’t fully paid the price yet.

Griem, in his representation of Bob Bashara, was fined recently for creating a subpoena for a fake case and passing discovery material to Bashara family members. His actions regarding the subpoena are particularly troubling, attorneys say.
Several attorneys have said privately they expect someone will file a complaint against him with the Attorney Grievance Commission, which could refer it to the Attorney Discipline Board. The board do nothing or issue discipline from a reprimand to license revocation.
Griem is a former assistant Macomb county prosecutor who over the years has handled many high-profile cases, including pre-arrest stage of the Stephen Grant case.

He is known for having a media-friendly style, providing colorful, sometimes brash quotes in defense of his client.

He often goes to the edge but this time may have gone over.

posted by Jameson Cook at 6:37 AM

Source: http://courthousedish.blogspot.com/2012/12/griem-may-still-face-more-consequences.html

Friday, December 21, 2012

Judge uses soft touch

Judge Vonda Evans used compliments and humor to keep Joe Gentz comfortable at his plea hearing Friday in Wayne County Circuit Court in Detroit.
“You look nice today,” she told Gentz when he first approached the bend, after the last time she saw him he was wearing a jail outfit.
She asked him if he was “a little bit scared” due to the throng of media in the formal courtroom setting.
“A little bit,” Gentz replied.
She suggested he put on his eyeglasses, and when he took them off for a moment, she exclaimed, “Oh, you took them off.”
“You look more handsome with them on,” she told him.
Evans answered him several legally required questions, to which Gentz politely replied, “Yes, ma’am.”
Evans’ soft touch seemed to work.

posted by Jameson Cook at 2:55 PM

Source: http://courthousedish.blogspot.com/2012/12/judge-uses-soft-touch.html

New twist in Jane Bashara murder case

Published On: Jan 23 2013 05:38:09 PM EST Updated On: Jan 23 2013 06:23:40 PM EST

---- VIDEO ----

Tonight at 11 p.m. - One year after Jane Bashara's murder, The Defenders show you why this case is far from over!

Source: http://www.clickondetroit.com/New-t...case/-/1719524/18254382/-/7ccug0/-/index.html

Timeline of events in Jane Bashara case
January 24, 2013

• Jan. 24, 2012: Bob Bashara reports his wife, Jane Bashara, missing to the Grosse Pointe Park Department of Public Safety.

• Jan. 25: Her body is found in her SUV in Detroit.

• Jan. 27: Police call Bob Bashara a person of interest.

• Jan. 31: Joseph Gentz walks into the Grosse Pointe Park Department of Public Safety and tells police he killed Jane Bashara at Bob Bashara's behest.

• Feb. 3: Gentz is released from custody without being charged.

• March 2: Gentz is arrested in connection with the killing.

• March 5: Gentz is arraigned on charges of first-degree murder and conspiracy.

• June 25: Bashara is arrested and accused of attempting to have Gentz killed.

• June 27: Bashara is arraigned on a charge of solicitation of murder.

• July 11: Gentz has a competency hearing. A court-approved independent evaluation deems him competent to stand trial.

• July 31: Wayne County Circuit Judge Bruce Morrow allows David Griem and fellow attorney Christina Utley to step down from representing Bashara. They turn the case over to Mark Kriger.

• Oct. 11: Bashara pleads guilty to solicitation to murder Gentz.

• Dec. 10: Bashara sentenced to 80 months to 20 years in prison.

• Dec. 21: Gentz pleads guilty to second-degree murder and tells the court Bashara offered him money to kill his wife.

Source: http://www.freep.com/article/20130124/news02/301240124

Jane Bashara killing: One year later, mystery still surrounds strangled woman's death

January 24, 2013

By Gina Damron
Detroit Free Press Staff Writer

Sex, lies and hit men.

It sounds like the title of a fictional crime novel, but they are the sordid details surrounding a murder mystery that, for a year, has captivated metro Detroit.

One year ago, Jane Bashara went missing.

The Grosse Pointe Park mother of two turned up the next morning in an east-side Detroit alley, strangled in her luxury SUV. Within days, police called Bob Bashara a person of interest in his wife's slaying and handyman Joseph Gentz came forward to tell investigators he killed Jane Bashara at her husband's direction.

Bob Bashara professed his innocence, but admitted he tried to hire a hit man to kill Gentz, who took a plea deal last month under the condition he testify in any future proceedings, prosecutors for Wayne County said.

Legal experts say Gentz's guilty plea to second-degree murder opens the door for prosecutors to charge Bashara in his wife's death.

"They have to have a case that they believe they can prove beyond a reasonable doubt," University of Michigan law professor David Moran said.

The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office is mum on any potential charges.

"The investigation into the homicide of Jane Bashara is ongoing, so we are unable to comment on the information related to the case," spokeswoman Maria Miller said Wednesday.

Bashara's attorney, Mark Kriger, said he only knows that the investigation is ongoing.

Nowadays, Bashara spends his days in a Manistee prison, bunking with a 21-year-old home invader, according to the Michigan Department of Corrections.

--- SNIP ---

Richard Krisciunas, a University of Detroit Mercy law professor and former high-ranking Wayne County prosecutor, said he suspects there will be some movement in the case by Tuesday -- the day Gentz is to be sentenced to 17-28 years in prison under the plea deal.

It's likely the sentencing will be adjourned, Krisciunas said.

Krisciunas said Gentz has built-in credibility because he turned himself in to police. "Gentz," he said, "is going to be the key witness."

Read more at the Source:

http://www.freep.com/article/20130124/NEWS02/301240122

Joe Gentz sentencing delayed in Bashara murder

Macomb Daily staff

Posted: Thursday, 01/24/13 12:44 pm

The sentencing of Joe Gentz, scheduled for Tuesday, has been adjourned to March 1 in Wayne County Circuit Court in Detroit, according to prosecutors.

Gentz, 49, formerly of Macomb County, in December pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in last January’s slaying of Jane Bashara, 56, at her Grosse Pointe Park home, in exchange for a 17- to 28-year prison term and dismissal of first-degree murder and conspiracy charges. Gentz also agreed to testify against the victim’s husband, Bob Bashara, 55, who Gentz says hired and threatened him to kill Jane Bashara, a Mount Clemens native.

...

Tuesday’s hearing was adjourned by Judge Vonda Evans, according to Wayne County prosecutors.

Read more: http://www.macombdaily.com/article/...oe-gentz-sentencing-delayed-in-bashara-murder

Sentencing in Bashara Homicide Re-Scheduled

The handyman who pleaded guilty in the January 2012 strangulation death of Jane E. Bashara will be sentenced March 1 rather than Jan. 29 after the judge re-scheduled the hearing.

By Sara Eaton Martin, the author
2:31 pm

Wayne Circuit Court Judge Vonda Evans continued the sentencing hearing for Joe Gentz originally scheduled to happen next week until early March, according to the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office.

Gentz, who pled guilty to second degree murder in the January 2012 strangulation death of Jane E. Bashara, will be sentenced March 1. He was originally scheduled to go before Evans Jan. 29.

Wayne County Prosecutor's spokeswoman Maria Miller noted the change in the sentencing date in an email case update Thursday afternoon. According to the update, Evans notified Gentz's defense attorney as well as the prosecutors handling the case of the change in the hearing...

Read more at the Source: http://grossepointe.patch.com/articles/sentencing-in-bashara-homicide-re-scheduled

Jane Bashara murder: Sentencing of handyman killer Joseph Gentz delayed

By Gus Burns | fburns@mlive.com
on January 24, 2013 at 6:22 PM, updated January 24, 2013 at 6:29 PM

DETROIT — The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office announced today that Joseph Gentz, who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for the strangling death of Grosse Pointe Park's Jane Bashara, will be sentenced March 26 at 9 a.m. before Wayne County Circuit Judge Vonda Evans.
Gentz said he killed 56-year-old Jane Bashara on Jan. 25, 2012 because he was threatened and paid to do so by her husband, Bob Bashara.

Prosecutors are recommending Gentz, who worked as a handyman for Bob Bashara, spend between 17 and 28 years in prison.

Second-degree murder carries no minimum sentence...

Read more at the Source: http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2013/01/sentencing_for_handyman_killer.html

January 24, 2013 at 2:50 pm

Hearing postponed for former handyman in Grosse Pointe woman's death

By Charles E. Ramirez
The Detroit News

Detroit — A former handyman who says he strangled a Grosse Pointe woman to death last year because her husband paid him to kill her will have to wait a little longer to learn how long he'll be in prison.

Read more from The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130124/METRO01/301240457

One year after Jane Bashara's murder, husband maintains he was not involved as handyman claims

Posted: 01/24/2013
Last Updated: 27 minutes ago

---- TEXT & VIDEO (3:12) ----



GROSSE POINTE PARK, Mich. (WXYZ) - One year after Jane Bashara was found strangled in her Mercedes, her husband Bob continues to maintain his innocence....

More at the Source: http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/one-ye...ntains-he-was-not-involved-as-handyman-claims

Attorney: Gentz sentencing delay could mean Bashara arrest imminent

By Jameson Cook
jamie.cook@macombdaily.com @jamesoncook

Posted: Saturday, 01/26/13 12:04 am

The postponement of the Joe Gentz sentencing that was scheduled for this Tuesday could mean that a Bob Bashara arrest could be imminent, according to a law professor.

Richard Krisciunas of University of Detroit Mercy Law School said that if Wayne County prosecutor Kym Worthy plans to charge Bashara in his wife’s murder, she will do it and have Gentz testify prior to his sentencing.

“Something is percolating,” said Krisciunas, a former assistant Wayne County prosecutor. “They’re probably trying to tie up loose ends.”

Gentz’s sentencing for second-degree murder in Jane Bashara’s death a year ago was pushed back last week to March 1 by Judge Vonda Evans of Wayne County Circuit Court in Detroit.

Gentz’s attorney, Susan Reed, said Friday she did not request the delay.

Gentz was charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy but pleaded guilty to the lesser charge in December and agreed to testify against Bashara in exchange for dismissal of the higher charges and a 17-28 year sentence.

Gentz by law must be sentenced within one year. But the lead assistant prosecutor in the case, Lisa Lindsey, likely wants Gentz to testify against Bashara at a preliminary examination or trial before he is sentenced because once Gentz is sentenced, prosecutors lose much of the legal potency to force him to the witness stand, Krisciunas said.

“Once you sentence him, the court (judge) loses jurisdiction, and he’s in the hands of the Michigan Department of Corrections,” he said.

If Gentz later refuses to testify at a trial or he is otherwise unavailable, prosecutors could have his preliminary examination testimony recited into the record at trial to build the case against Bashara, Krisciunas said.

However, Gentz’s sentencing may get delayed again if prosecutors want Gentz to testify at a trial, and/or if Bashara waives his right to a preliminary exam, he said.

The preliminary exam testimony, if it strongly implicates Bashara, also can be used as leverage for a potential plea in the case. Prosecutors may be receptive to Bashara pleading guilty to second-degree murder with a relatively long sentence — 25 years — to avoid a trial, Krisciunas said. Bashara is already serving 6-1/2 to 20 years after pleading guilty to trying to hire a hit man to kill Gentz housed in a Wayne County Jail facility.

“You never know what could happen if you went to trial,” Krisciunas said. “One juror could hold it up. You could try the case and lose it. And then you have Gentz facing cross-examination in a second trial.”

Lindsey and assistant Wayne County prosecutor Robert Moran may have concerns about Gentz, who has been described as a slow learner, testifying since he may have provided police with multiple accounts of what occurred, and Bashara’s defense attorney Mark Kriger would test him in cross-examination, he said.

Investigators are trying to corroborate Gentz’s testimony with evidence, including video, witness statements and phone records, among others, he said.

Gentz, 49, formerly of Macomb County, said he strangled Jane Bashara, 56, at her Grosse Pointe Park home on the promise of payment and under a threat by Bob Bashara. Her body was found in her SUV parked in an east-side Detroit alley.

Bob Bashara, 55, was called a person of interest but never charged.

Krisciunas said attorneys and the judge also have to consider their schedules in orchestrating the two cases’ timing.

“Lisa Lindsey may have other trials or investigations,” he said. “He (Moran) may have other cases as well.”

Source: http://www.macombdaily.com/article/...cing-delay-could-mean-bashara-arrest-imminent

Darkman00 said:

Jane Bashara murder: Sentencing of handyman killer Joseph Gentz delayed

By Gus Burns | fburns@mlive.com
on January 24, 2013 at 6:22 PM, updated January 24, 2013 at 6:29 PM

DETROIT — The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office announced today that Joseph Gentz, who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for the strangling death of Grosse Pointe Park's Jane Bashara, will be sentenced March 26 at 9 a.m. before Wayne County Circuit Judge Vonda Evans.
Gentz said he killed 56-year-old Jane Bashara on Jan. 25, 2012 because he was threatened and paid to do so by her husband, Bob Bashara.

Prosecutors are recommending Gentz, who worked as a handyman for Bob Bashara, spend between 17 and 28 years in prison.

Second-degree murder carries no minimum sentence...

Read more at the Source: http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2013/01/sentencing_for_handyman_killer.html

Click to expand...

The above article was updated one more time (on January 24, 2013 at 6:53 PM this time).

instead of:

(Gentz) will be sentenced March 26 at 9 a.m.

it now says:

(Gentz) will be sentenced March 1 at 9 a.m.

Thanks for the updates Darkman. You were missed :seeya: Not looking good for Bob. Nope lease:

Grosse Pointe Woods

January 31, 2013

Prayer vigil marks one-year anniversary of Jane Bashara’s murder

By K. Michelle Moran
C & G Staff Writer

GROSSE POINTE WOODS — Dozens of friends, relatives and fellow parishioners at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church paid tribute to slain Grosse Pointe Park mother and marketing executive Jane Bashara on the one-year anniversary of her murder during a prayer vigil Jan. 24 at the church.

The solemn service, which lasted about 30 minutes, was led by the Rev. Marianna Gronek. Family members used the Paschal candle, which Gronek said “symbolizes Jesus’ power to overcome … our sorrow and our loss,” to light seven smaller candles, which were placed in a row in front of the Paschal candle.

Through prayers, hymns and readings, participants acknowledged Jane Bashara’s life and mourned her loss. She was said to have been an active volunteer with the church.

“Keep Jane ever present in our hearts, and may we honor her memory, embracing each new day with courage and faith,” Gronek prayed.

The church wardens, chancellor and rector issued a statement for the media on the tragic anniversary that read, “Through our belief in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Resurrection and the Life, we continue to offer prayers for healing on behalf of our sister, Jane, for this whole community, and for all who continue to mourn her loss on the yearly anniversary of her death. Even as we grieve with wounded hearts, we also give thanks for the fullness of joy in which Jane served in our parish ministries and now lives with her Lord, and toward which we faithfully travel in healing and hope.”

Born June 22, 1955, in Mount Clemens, Jane Bashara, 56, was a senior marketing manager for Detroit-based KEMA Services. She had a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Detroit Mercy and a bachelor of business administration degree from Central Michigan University. Well-known and well-regarded for her service to the community — especially through the Grosse Pointe South High School Mothers’ Club, of which she was a past president — she was survived by her two young-adult children, Robert Bashara Jr. and Jessica Bashara, as well as her husband of 26 years, Robert Bashara, her parents, John and Lorraine Engelbrecht, and her siblings, Janet Gottsleben, Julie Rowe and John Engelbrecht.

< Snip >

Justice for Jane — a group of Jane Bashara’s friends, colleagues and others who formed last year to campaign for prosecution of those responsible for her murder — didn’t have a comment at press time about the one-year anniversary of her death. However, an anonymous spokesperson for the group said, by email, “We are holding Jane’s children, her family and her cherished friends especially close in thought and prayer during this difficult time and (in) the upcoming weeks, that they may find solace, comfort and strength in each other, and, as one of our members posted so eloquently, ‘… that they find a way to celebrate and remember her without pain but only love.’”

Read more: http://www.candgnews.com/news/prayer-vigil-marks-one-year-anniversary-jane-bashara’s-murder