Handyman Joe Gentz Recinds His Request to Withdraw His Plea in the Jane Bashara Case

Joe Gentz, the handyman who pleaded guilty in December to second-degree murder in the strangulation death of Jane Bashara, backed down from a request Wednesday to withdraw his plea.

Gentz initially sent a letter to Judge Vonda Evans requesting to withdraw his plea, according to a report on WJBK-TV. But when Gentz appeared before the judge, he decided to withdraw his request. 

According to his defense attorney Susan Reed, as she spoke on a live feed on WXYZ.com, Gentz got "erroneous information" from a "jailhouse lawyer."

The actions by Gentz did not play well with Evans, who warned him that "this is not a game."

"This county is suffering financially and every time we have to bring you down here, that is money the county is expending," Evans said. "I am not going to continue to do this Mr. Gentz."

Gentz is serving a sentence of 17 to 28 years in the Macomb Correctional Facility following his plea. He will return to prison to serve the remainder of his sentence. 

Gentz originally went to the Grosse Pointe Park police in the days after Jane Bashara's body was found in January 2012 to report that Bob Bashara had hired him to kill his wife, offering cash and threatening him. Gentz, who had lived in St. Clair Shores, performed handyman work for Bob Bashara's rental properties in the metro area. 

Bashara was later charged, and pleaded guilty, to hiring a hitman to kill Gentz in the Wayne County Jail. He is currently serving an 80 to 240 months prison term for the crime.

Bob Bashara is also facing murder and five other charges related to death of his wife, Jane Bashara. These charges were brought in April after an extensive investigation and returns to court Aug. 19 for a pre-exam conference.