Detroit-area man sentenced to life in prison in murder-for-hire

By Serena Maria Daniels DETROIT (Reuters) - A Detroit judge on Thursday sentenced a suburban businessman to life in prison without parole for hiring his handyman to kill his wife. Robert Bashara, 57, was convicted last month of first-degree murder and four additional charges in the death of his wife, Jane Bashara, a marketing executive. She was found dead in the backseat of her black Mercedes SUV on a Detroit street nearly three years ago. Bashara is already serving up to 20 years in prison on a different charge related to the case. Prosecutors have said Bashara, who is from the wealthy Detroit suburb of Grosse Pointe Park, blamed his wife's death on urban street violence at the time. The case captured a national audience, in part because of the bizarre nature of the accusations against Bashara, a former church usher and Rotary Club president. Prosecutors said Bashara wanted his wife dead so he could engage in a lifestyle of bondage, discipline and sadomasochism with his girlfriend. He had what he called a "dungeon" for the activities in one of his properties. Prosecutors said Bashara spent months trying to find someone to kill his wife before he picked handyman Joseph Gentz, who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the killing and is serving up to 28 years in prison. Bashara's attorneys argued that he had sought to have Gentz killed because the handyman was the confessed killer of his wife. Bashara pleaded guilty to trying to have Gentz killed and is already serving a sentence of six to 20 years. Bashara told the court before sentencing that he was innocent and is appealing his conviction. "I loved my Jane dearly and have done absolutely nothing to harm her," said Bashara. In a blistering statement, Wayne County Circuit Judge Vonda Evans called Bashara a manipulative liar who used people and destroyed them. "The only person you ever loved was yourself," Evans said. Jane Bashara's mother, Lorraine Engelbrecht, told the court that she would "never, ever" attain closure on the murder. "Every day of my life, I ask, 'Why didn't he just go and live his scummy dungeon life and leave my daughter and grandchildren alone?'" said Engelbrecht. (Reporting by Serena Maria Daniels in Detroit; editing by Mary Wisniewski and Matthew Lewis)