Joe Gentz Describes Jane Bashara Death Scene, Admits 'I Broke Her Neck ... I Did Do It'

By Christy Strawser

DETROIT (CBS Detroit) The trial of convicted wife murderer Bob Bashara took another soap opera-esque turn Thursday when handyman Joe Gentz took the stand in what was supposed to be Bashara's defense.

And in the course of testimony where he was expected to say he had been coerced by police into implicating Bashara, Gentz delivered a shocker.

He described Jane Bashara's alleged death scene, saying he broke her neck after Bob handed him a gun following an argument with his wife and told him to "shut her up." "He says 'do it now,'" Gentz said.

And he did it, he said.

Before the latest plot twist, Gentz had pleaded guilty to second-degree murder under a plea deal after testifying that Bashara offered him $8,000, plus a Cadillac and a ring, in exchange for killing his wife Jane Bashara in their Grosse Pointe home.

Then in an affidavit filed in January in Wayne County Circuit Court –Gentz tried to retract his testimony, saying it had been coerced by police.

During the hearing where Bashara is seeking a new trial, Gentz ended up telling a different story altogether.

Today, he described a scene where he said Bob Bashara asked him to come over and help him move boxes. The Basharas were arguing in the garage when he arrived as Jane Bashara told her husband to "get his sh** out of the garage" Gentz said.

Bashara handed him the gun, and then, Gentz said: "I broke her neck, I'll be honest, I did do it."

Gentz said Bashara then stood over his wife's lifeless body and said, "I'm sorry baby, I didn't mean it."

After she was dead, her breasts were exposed in her green sweater and there was blood on the garage floor, Gentz said. He said after Bashara tenderly apologized to his wife's body, they trundled her into the vehicle for Gentz to dump in Detroit.

"Who is we?" the judge asked. "Me and Bob," Gentz said.

Speaking at times haltingly and at times angrily, Gentz had earlier told the court he was mad. "Why?" he was asked.

He said he was promised an attorney he didn't get and protection that he didn't receive. He complained a shank was once left under his pillow and said he had been attacked numerous times in prison.

"I've been called a rat. You know what they do to rats in prison? They kill them," Gentz said.

He later said he was afraid for his life after telling police about Bashara. And, he said, after the killing Bashara threatened his life and said he would be followed, presumably to make sure he didn't tell anyone.

After his bombshell testimony, Gentz appeared momentarily distraught and Judge Vonda Evans stopped the hearing and ordered it to be resumed at 9:30 a.m. May 10.

"I've given this hearing excessive latitude," Evans said, adding she will wrap up the hearing on its next date.