Hard to find a good sex slave, convicted murderer says
DETROIT — It's tough to find a good sex slave — that was one reason a former Grosse Pointe Park businessman told jurors he misled a former mistress in an effort to keep her from leaving.
In his quest for a new trial to wipe out his first-degree murder conviction in his wife's death, Bob Bashara testified that he led Rachel Gillett to believe they were going to have a life together but said Monday that never was going to happen.
“I cared for her,” he said of Gillett while on the stand for the third day.
“Did you love her?” Lisa Lindsey, Wayne County assistant prosecutor, asked during the hearing in Wayne County Circuit Court.
“Yes,” Bashara replied.
He participated in bondage, discipline and sadomasochism with Gillett; shopped for homes with her; and repeatedly lied to her, including telling her that he was divorced, according to testimony during his trial last year.
Still, Bashara has said he did not consider his relationship with Gillett an affair. Bashara is serving life in prison without the possibility of parole after being found guilty in the death of his wife, Jane Bashara.
Jane Bashara's beaten and strangled body was found slumped over in her Mercedes SUV on Jan. 25, 2012, in a Detroit alley. Grosse Pointe Park, a well-heeled town of about 11,500 people that borders Detroit's east side, hadn't had a homicide for years before the killing, which is believed to have occurred at the Basharas' home.
Bob Bashara now is seeking a new trial, claiming he was denied a fair one last year. He maintains he had nothing to do with his wife’s murder, and during cross-examination the prosecution has grilled him.
Prosecutors have said Bob Bashara's lifestyle and relationship with Gillett were motives in Jane Bashara’s murder. In questioning Bob Bashara, Lindsey has pointed out contradictions between what he testified to and what he said previously.
At times Monday, testimony got tense. During one exchange, Lindsey told Bob Bashara, 57, to "wait and listen to the question."
“You didn't have a question,” Bob Bashara fired back.
Wayne County Circuit Judge Vonda Evans told him, “Don’t argue with her!”
His evidentiary hearing has spanned six days so far. During his testimony, Bob Bashara has dished out blame for his plight, taking issue with his former lawyers, police, prosecutors, witnesses and reporters.
Many topics have been covered, including disagreements that he said he had with his defense team, his dealings with Joseph Gentz — Bob Bashara’s former handyman, who told authorities that he killed Jane Bashara, 56, at her husband's direction — and his extramarital relationships.
On Monday, he testified that while carrying on with Gillett, he was “actively looking and talking to other women at the same time” even though they got along well.
Prosecutors showed an e-mail that Bob Bashara sent Oct. 11, 2010, to Gillett, calling her “my lovely slave” and saying he would rather be “poor and happy than rich and not so.” Bringing another woman into the relationship was Gillett's fantasy "that I went along with," he said.
Lindsey questioned Bob Bashara about whether Gillett was calling the shots, asking, "You're the master, correct?"
Bob Bashara responded: "I am the master."
His motion seeking a new trial –— filed by his appellate attorney, Ronald Ambrose — is wide ranging. In it, Bob Bashara took issue with several aspects of his trial, including that he was unable to confront Gentz, who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in Jane Bashara’s death.
Gentz is serving 17 to 28 years in prison. As part of his plea deal, he agreed to testify but later refused.
Jane Bashara’s mother, Lorraine Engelbrecht, was in the courtroom Monday, and when the hearing was over, she said Bob Bashara was lying.
“I feel almost shameful that I’m so betrayed by him — who I thought he was and who he is,” Engelbrecht said.
The hearing resumes Nov. 13 in the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice here.