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DETROIT (AP) — A suburban Detroit man found guilty by a jury of having his wife killed so he could devote himself to a life of bondage and domination with another woman was denied Friday his request for a new trial.
Bob Bashara wanted his conviction and life sentence for first-degree murder thrown out, saying his rights were violated by an ineffective defense by trial attorneys.
But Wayne County Circuit Judge Vonda Evans, in a blistering 33-minute statement, told Bashara that he and his appellate attorney failed to prove he received poor defense at trial.
Instead, the judge dressed down the 57-year-old for his machinations in the 2012 slaying of Jane Bashara in the couple's Grosse Pointe Park home. Her body was found inside her Mercedes-Benz in a Detroit alley.
Handyman Joe Gentz is in prison for second-degree murder. He says he was hired to kill Jane Bashara at her husband's direction.
"You planned, groomed and masterminded this ... plot to murder your wife and dump her body in Detroit like garbage with a staged crime scene in one of the poorest areas of Detroit hoping locals would steal the car and contaminate the crime scene," Evans told Bob Bashara. "You would finally be able to be free to live your new life in this seedy manipulative lifestyle you dreamed of, financed exclusively by Jane's money."
Known by some in the bondage, discipline and domination lifestyle as "Master Bob," Bashara had testified in earlier proceedings that Jane Bashara gave him permission to have extramarital affairs because the couple was unable to have sex due to medical conditions.
Evans also said Friday that she found no miscarriage of justice and no newly discovered evidence that would exonerate Bashara.
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