At the time of her death, Jane E. Bashara was a 56-year-old senior marketing manager for KEMA Services, an energy consulting and testing company in Detroit.
"[5] In light of the relative affluence, upscale reputation and overall lack of crime in the Grosse Pointe communities, local media coverage was intense and updates were published as front page headlines.
On the evening of January 25, 2012, a candlelight vigil was held on the lawn at Grosse Pointe South High School, where Bashara had served as president of the Mother's Club.
[6] Her funeral was held at Grosse Pointe Memorial Church and attracted hundreds of community members, including U.S. representative Hansen Clarke.
[3] On January 27, 2012, Grosse Pointe Park Police Chief David Hiller announced that Bob Bashara was "a person of interest" in the investigation.
[12][13][14] On February 2, 2012, several publications reported that Bob Bashara "allegedly led a double life centering on the underground world of sadomasochism and sexual deviancy with women other than his wife.
"[15] It was also reported that he maintained a "sex dungeon" in the basement of the Hard Luck Lounge, located in a building owned by Bob Bashara on Mack Avenue in Grosse Pointe Park.
"[18] In February 2012, multiple news media sources also reported on Bob Bashara's relationship with an alleged mistress, Rachel Rene Gillett, who had been employed in the office of alumni affairs at Wayne State University.
It was discovered that the clothes, which were supposed to have been shipped to the Michigan State Police crime laboratory, had been picked up from the Wayne County medical examiner by a funeral home.
[14][23] "A source familiar with the investigation told the [Detroit] Free Press on June 24, 2012, that Bashara is accused of attempting to have someone murder Joe Gentz.
In January, 2016, Gentz claimed he had committed perjury under pressure from Grosse Pointe Park police and that Bob Bashara was not involved in the murder of his wife.