Bashara Calls His Wife a 'Wonderful Gal' During Pretrial Hearing

Bob Bashara thanked Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Vonda Evans Thursday for acknowledging the upcoming anniversary of his wife's death and called her a "wonderful gal," according to a video of proceedings posted on Freep.com. 

The statement came at the end of court proceedings where Evans set a new hearing date for Feb. 18 to consider whether Bashara will receive new counsel, and if property taken during the execution of a search warrant last year from the office of Bashara's attorney will be returned.

Evans is considering removing the Bashara's current defense team from the case due to the limited number of times his lawyers have met with him, and the length of time it has taken to received court transcripts.

According to media reports, the case has more than 10,000 pages of evidence with 178 potential witnesses. In a story by the Free Press, Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Lisa Lindsey said it could take between six to nine months for a new attorney to prepare for trial. 

Bashara is currently serving a a prison sentence on a second, related case involving his former handyman, Joe Gentz, whom he tried to have killed while in jail to prevent him from testifying. 

In the current case, which he is charged with killing his wife Jane Bashara, he faces charges of: 

• first degree murder
• conspiracy to commit first degree murder
• solicitation to commit murder
• suborning of perjury during a capital trial
• witness intimidation
• obstruction of justice