Prosecutor: Bashara had wife killed because bondage lifestyle clashed with suburban marriage

DETROIT — A former Rotary Club president arranged to have his wife killed because his marriage was colliding with his desire to indulge in bondage and masochism with other women, a prosecutor told jurors Wednesday at the conclusion of a long trial that revealed a secret life in suburban Detroit.

Bob Bashara, 56, the son of a late Michigan judge, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Jane Bashara, whose body was found in her Mercedes-Benz in a shabby Detroit neighborhood in 2012. He's accused of coercing a handyman to strangle her in their garage in Grosse Pointe Park.

"He created one world; he was living in another," prosecutor Lisa Lindsey said during closing remarks. "And when those two worlds collided, Jane Bashara ended up dead."

During the trial, jurors heard testimony from police, the Bashara children, friends and even girlfriends who talked about Bashara's sex dungeon below a bar, the Hard Luck Lounge. He was known as "Master Bob."

Bashara's mistress, Rachel Gillett, told the jury that they had talked about bringing another woman into their relationship.

There is no dispute that handyman Joe Gentz killed Jane Bashara, but Lindsey said he was threatened and coerced to do it by Bob Bashara.

Jurors didn't hear from Gentz. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in exchange for a minimum sentence of 17 years in prison, but then said he wouldn't testify against Bashara.

In closing remarks, defense attorney Michael McCarthy said there's plenty of reasonable doubt about the case.

"Bob had no desire for Jane to die. He and Rachel Gillett would continue to live this double life he had," McCarthy said.

Lindsey will make a rebuttal argument Thursday before jury deliberations.

Bashara is in prison for trying to have Gentz killed in jail in 2012.