Drug Dealer Testifies Bob Bashara Confessed To Role Wife's Murder While High On Cocaine
DETROIT (WWJ) - A drug dealer says Bob Bashara admitted to having his wife killed.
Paul Monroe, a one-time tenant of the former Grosse Pointe businessman, testified Tuesday that Bashara routinely bought cocaine from him; and, one night, at the corner of 6 Mile Road and Woodward Ave., Bashara asked him an unusual question.
"He asked me was I wearing a wire...and he patted me down," Monroe told Asst. Wayne County Prosecutor Lisa Lindsay during questioning.
Monroe said he answered no, and that Bashara then ingested cocaine and seemed to look out of sorts.
"He started crying...He said he had his wife killed," Monroe testified. "I said, 'Why would you do that?' And he said he was dealing with...he might be going through divorce and money."
On cross-examination, defense attorney Michael McCarthy brought up inconsistencies in Monroe's statements to police and hammered away on the topic of Monroe's lengthy criminal record.
Bashara, 56, is charged with first degree murder, conspiracy and solicitation of murder in the 2012 death of Jane Bashara. Authorities said she was beaten and strangled in the couple's home and then her body left in her car in a Detroit alley. Joseph Gentz, a handyman who confessed he killed Jane Bashara under Bob Bashara's orders, is in prison for second-degree murder.
Also taking the stand Tuesday was Jane Bashara's younger sister who testified about when Bob Bashara called to tell her Jane was missing.
"I think I said, 'What do you mean she's missing?' I didn't really understand what he meant," Julie Rowe said, adding that she then asked if the two had had a fight, and Bob Bashara denied it.
After Judge Vonda Evans ruled she would allow Rowe to speak about the Basharas' marital discord, Rowe testified that her sister had expressed concern to her that if she got a divorce she would be a 55-year-old woman with no home, no pension and no credit. Rowe said the couple had sought marriage counseling,
Bob Bashara, who denies any role in his wife's murder, is currently serving out another sentence after he pleaded guilty to having tried to have Gentz killed in jail.
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