Former Mistress Testifies In Trial For Grosse Pointe Park Man Accused Of Ordering Wife's Murder
DETROIT (WWJ) - Bob Bashara's one-time mistress testified Thursday that she thought she was the reason that his wife Jane Bashara was murdered.
On her second day on the stand, Rachel Gillett underwent a grueling cross-examination by defense attorneys.
Prosecutors are trying to establish that Bob Bashara's relationship with Gillett and his obsession with a BDSM lifestyle drove him to order handyman Joe Gentz to kill his wife.
Reporting from the Wayne County courthouse, WWJ's Marie Osborne said the defense countered that by trying to portray Gillett as a gullible woman who was desperate to hold on to her relationship with the defendant.
Bob Bashara's attorney, Michael McCarthy had Gillett run down a list of lies Bob Bashara had told her, and asked about second woman he'd wanted to bring into the relationship.
"He was so important to you that you would do anything, even consent to having a third person living in your dream house together with Bob, right?" McCarthy asked.
"Yes," she replied.
Gillet said that Bob Bashara had promised they'd move in together, but admitted he'd never asked her to marry him.
Questioned about the day that her beau called her to tell her that his wife was missing, Gillett testified that he seemed "frustrated."
McCarthy also asked Gillett about the day Bob Bashara called to tell her that his wife's was found.
"Upset, he was crying," said Gillett. "I was crying, too; we were both very upset, in shock."
"Have you ever seen Bob Bashara cry before?" McCarthy asked.
"Yes," Gillett said.
Gillet said Bob Bashara asked her to attend a candlelight vigil for his wife and she complied. There, Gillet testified, he suggested that she might have been killed in a carjacking.
Other than during their alternative sexual activities, Gillet testified, Bob Bashara never hurt her.
The pair had met on a BDSM website, Gillett testified the day before. BDSM stands for bondage, discipline and sadomasochism.
While courting her, said Gillett, Bob Bashara — who'd initially claimed to be a widower and then divorced — painted a picture of a home life filled with acrimony after she discovered he was married through an Internet search.
Gillett said Bob Bashara told her that he was unhappy with his wife, constantly feeling emasculated at home.
Bob Bashara, 56, of Grosse Pointe Park, is charged with first degree murder, conspiracy and solicitation of murder in the 2012 death of Jane Bashara. Authorities said she was beaten and strangled in the couple's home and then her body left in her car in a Detroit alley.
Joseph Gentz, a handyman who confessed he killed Jane Bashara under Bob Bashara's orders, is in prison for second-degree murder.
Asst. Wayne County Prosecutor Lisa Lindsey says the evidence will show that, while Gentz "did the physical act" of killing Jane Bashara — and DNA will prove that — he did it under Bob Bashara's direction.
The trial is expected to last several weeks.
Bob Bashara is currently serving out another sentence after he pleaded guilty to having tried to have Gentz killed in jail.
MORE: Sex Parties Topic Of Testimony On Day 2 Of Bob Bashara Murder Trial
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