The death of Jane Bashara prompted a widely publicized investigation into the circumstances of her death. Bashara was a marketing executive and a resident of Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan. On January 24, 2012, she was found dead in the back seat of her abandoned Mercedes-Benz SUV in an alley in Detroit, Michigan. The cause of death was strangulation.
Law enforcement officials named Bashara's husband, Bob Bashara, as a person of interest. Joe Gentz, a mentally impaired handyman, was arrested in March 2012 and charged with first degree murder after reportedly telling police that Bob Bashara had paid him between $2,000-$8,000 and an old Cadillac to murder his wife. Bob Bashara was arraigned on first degree murder charges in the death of his wife on May 1, 2013.[1] Convicted, Bob Bashara was sentenced to life without parole by Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Vonda Evans. She denied post trial motions for relief from judgment, a decision that was affirmed by the Michigan Supreme Court.