Convicted Killer Bob Bashara Wants New Trial, Says Wife 'Gave Permission' For BDSM Lifestyle
DETROIT (WWJ) - Convicted killer Bob Bashara says he deserves a new trial because his court-appointed lawyers failed to inform the jury that his wife gave him permission to live an alternative sexual lifestyle.
The Grosse Pointe Park man is expected to testify during a hearing next week. Bashara says his bondage-laden sex life was unfairly put on display during trial in 2014, when a jury found him guilty of murder and conspiracy in connection with the death of his wife, Jane Bashara.
Furthermore, Bashara said his attorneys failed to tell the jury that he and his wife had an understanding, and that she gave him permission for his lifestyle.
"Bashara says in his appeal, amongst other things, that health issues prevented him from having sex with his wife and that medical records should have been disclosed, providing the jury with an understanding of his extramarital conduct," said WWJ's Legal Analyst Charlie Langton.
A hearing next week will determine if he gets a new trial.
The two attorneys say they did nothing wrong and gave Bashara the best defense, which cost taxpayers more than $275,000.
Bashara, a former businessman and Rotary Club president, was accused of forcing handyman Joe Gentz to strangle Jane Bashara at the couple's Grosse Pointe Park home in 2012. He continues to maintain his innocence.
Nearly 500 pieces of evidence were presented, more than 70 witnesses took the stand, and sometimes salacious testimony about dungeons, whippings and sex parties peppered the 10-week trial.
Prosecutors argued that Bashara wanted his wife out of the way so he could pursue a new life with other women, who referred to him as "Master Bob" as part of an alternative sexual lifestyle known as BDSM. The defense countered that Bashara's affair was just a fling — and that he wouldn't want to kill Jane because she was the breadwinner in the household.
Gentz chose not to testify during the trial, but purportedly told police that Bashara forced him to strangle Jane in the couple's garage and then ordered him to leave her body in her Mercedes-Benz in a Detroit alley.
During the trial, Bashara was already in prison for trying to have Gentz killed in jail in 2012. Gentz is presently serving 17-to-28 years in prison after pleading guilty to second degree murder in the case.
