Handyman Joe Gentz
Handyman Joe Gentz
Call central casting and you couldn't find two bigger, made-for-TV characters to play out this bizarre drama called "The Jane Bashara Murder."
There's Bob Bashara, the husband and central evil character, and there's the scary handyman, Joe Gentz, who seems to have a hard time sticking to one story. And yes, he is scary.
Now the drama has a new twist.
Gentz, 52, confessed to killing Bashara's wife Jane on Jan. 24, 2014 at the behest of Bashara. But in December, he signed an affidavit in prison saying he acted alone.
He was expected to testify Thursday in Wayne County Circuit Court that Bashara is innocent. His testimony was supposed to help get a new trial for Bashara, who is serving a life sentence for his wife's murder.
But almost like an episode out of AMC's "Better Call Saul," the script changed.
Gentz testified Thursday that Bashara and his wife were arguing in their garage, according to a report in the Detroit News by George Hunter.
“He pulls a gun on me and says, ‘Shut her up.’ So, I broke her neck," he testified, according to the Detroit News.
“After she was dead, he pulls her top up and says, ‘I’m sorry, baby, I didn’t mean it,'" Gentz testifies.
Gentz said the affidavit he signed in December was a lie. He suggested he signed it because someone offered him safety in prison if he did, the News reports.
According to the News, Bashara’s appellate attorney Ronald Ambrose asked Gentz: “Why did you sign this affidavit? What made you sign this?”
Gentz replied: “I’m mad. Why am I mad? Number one, I was promised my safety. I got assaulted four times. What is my life worth? I've been called a rat. What do they do to rats in prison? They kill them.”
The judge made no ruling Thursday on Bashara's request for a new trial.
Bashara was in court and must have had a sinking feeling as he listened to Gentz, thinking there's only one thing left to do: Better Call Saul.
