Timeline: Jane Bashara murder case

Bob Bashara, convicted of arranging wife’s murder, dies in prison

Jane Bashara

DETROIT – Bob Bashara, the Grosse Pointe Park man convicted of arranging his wife’s 2012 murder, died Aug. 17, 2020 while in prison.

He was sentenced to life in prison in January 2015 after he was convicted of plotting to have his wife killed in 2012. The trial against him in 2014 lasted more than two months and included more than 70 witnesses.

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Here is what Bob Bashara was charged with:

  • First-degree murder
  • Conspiracy to commit first degree murder
  • Solicitation to commit murder
  • Witness intimidation
  • Obstruction of justice
  • Judge Vonda Evans dropped a charge of suborning of perjury during a capital trial

The beginning

The case began Jan. 24, 2012 when Bob Bashara reported his wife, Jane Bashara, missing about 11 p.m. that Tuesday. He told police he had expected her home about 8 p.m. He said he thought she was running an errand.

-- Bob and Jane Bashara

Family of Jane said she left for work about 5:30 a.m. that day and arrived home in Grosse Pointe Park at about 6 p.m. Bob returned home about 8 p.m. and said his wife wasn’t at the house on Middlesex Road.

Jane was found dead the next day -- Jan. 25, 2012 -- in the back of her Mercedes-Benz sport utility vehicle parked in an alley near Pinewood Avenue and Annott Street on Detroit’s east side. A tow truck driver found her inside the SUV which he had come to tow.

-- The alley where Jane was found

Timeline of events after Jane was found dead

January 26, 2012

-- Autopsy reveals Jane Bashara was strangled to death.

January 27, 2012

-- 9 p.m. -- Bob Bashara leaves Grosse Pointe Park Police station after agreeing to take polygraph test. During the test, police armed with a warrant search the Bashara home, remove computers and take pictures. Police name Bob Bashara a person of interest in his wife’s death.

-- Police searching the Bashara home on Jan. 27, 2012

January 29, 2012

-- Police report Bob Bashara polygraph results and statements to be inconsistent.

January 30, 2012

-- Local 4 Defenders confirm new evidence that Bob and Jane Bashara had been together the night Jane went missing in downtown Detroit -- Sources tell Local 4 Defenders the killer of Jane Bashara did not act alone.

Watch: Interview with Jane's mother and sister

January 31, 2012

-- 10:30 a.m. -- Jane Bashara’s funeral is held at Grosse Pointe Memorial Church. Hundreds of people attend the funeral. 11:15 a.m. -- Local 4 Defenders break new development in Jane Bashara murder, sources say individual with knowledge of the murder walked into Grosse Pointe Park police station early Tuesday morning and asked to speak with investigators 1 p.m. -- Local 4 cameras capture Bob Bashara leaving Grosse Pointe Memorial Church for luncheon 1:54 p.m. -- Man with knowledge of murder is placed under police custody -- Police continue to work to verify information provided 2:24 p.m. -- Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office had not been presented a warrant request in the homicide investigation.

February 1, 2012

-- 9 a.m. -- Local 4 cameras catch Bob Bashara outside of his home, Bashara refuses to comment on the latest allegations against him by “Joe.” 1:15 p.m. -- Local 4 Defenders learn “Joe” is telling investigators he was directly involved in the murder of Jane Bashara, but was forced to be involved by another person who was in the room at the time of Jane Bashara’s murder, sources said.

Read back: Bob Bashara speaks outside Grosse Pointe Park home on Feb. 1, 2012

Bob Bashara speaking outside his home on Feb. 1, 2012

February 10, 2012

-- Bob Bashara does an interview with Local 4 Defender Marc Santia. Bashara said reports he was with his wife the night she went missing aren't true.

Bob Bashara: "I think my children, for my family, and yes, for me, I would like to know who is responsible and make them pay, to be punished within our legal system. It would mean a lot to me. It would bring closure to this whole thing, because, like my sister said, I have been named a person of interest and people have pointed the finger at me and all these different issues have come up."

March 5, 2012

-- Joe Gentz is charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. He is held at the Wayne County Jail.

-- Joe Gentz

June 26, 2012

-- Bob Bashara is arrested and accused of trying to solicit the murder of Joe Gentz while Gentz was behind bars.

-- Bob Bashara at the Wayne County Jail on June 25, 2012.

October 11, 2012

-- Bob Bashara pleads guilty to trying to have Gentz killed -- Story: Bob Bashara says he's sorry, ashamed

December 10, 2012

-- Judge sentences Bob Bashara to a minimum of 80 months in prison and a maximum of 20 years. He's eligible for parole in 2019.

February 19, 2013

-- Joe Gentz is sentenced to 17- 28 years in prison for the murder of Jane Bashara. Gentz maintains that Jane's husband promised to pay him for killing his wife.

May 1, 2013

-- Bob Bashara is arraigned on charges including conspiracy to commit murder, solicitation to commit murder, perjury, witness intimidation and obstruction of justice in his wife's death. He pleads not guilty. During his arraignment, Bashara told the judge he was trying to raise funds to get an attorney.

-- Bob Bashara during a pretrial hearing on Sept. 24, 2014

September 24, 2014

-- Judge decides Bob Bashara will stand trial in his wife's death. He receives no plea deal.

-- Bob Bashara during his arraignment on May 1, 2013

Trial against Bashara

On April 15, 2014 Judge Evans appointed attorney Michael McCarthy to represent Bob Bashara. Evans also appointed attorney Lillian Diallo.

October 7, 2014

-- The murder trial against Bob Bashara begins.

December 11, 2014

-- The jury begins deliberations after two months of testimony.

December 18, 2014

-- Bob Bashara is convicted of first-degree murder.

Bob Bashara

January 2015

Bashara was sentenced to life in prison in January 2015 after he was convicted of plotting to have his wife killed in 2012.

Bashara appealed his convictions and life sentence, claiming his rights were violated by an ineffective defense. He also claimed he was denied a fair trial.

READ: Bob Bashara’s appeal denied by Michigan Supreme Court