Bashara lawyer says he has found suspect

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DETROIT, Feb. 23 (UPI) -- A lawyer for a Detroit-area businessman named as a person of interest in his wife's killing says he has hired his own investigators.

Attorney David Griem said the two investigators, both retired FBI agents, have found information leading to another potential suspect in the death of Jane Bashara, The Detroit News reported. Robert Bashara of Grosse Pointe Park, Mich., reported his wife missing in January, the day before her body was discovered in the back seat of her Mercedes-Benz sport utility vehicle that had been left in a Detroit alley.

Police have already questioned one man, Joe Gentz, who did handyman work for Bashara. Gentz, who allegedly told police Bashara paid him less than $2,000 to kill his wife, was later released.

Griem said his first assumption was that Gentz had killed Jane Bashara, possibly because he was angry her husband owed him money. But he said his investigation is now heading in another direction, although he would not give details.

"We sat down the other day, me and two retired FBI agents with years of law enforcement experience between us, and tried to figure out why a police agency could release a dangerous criminal who had supposedly just committed murder," Griem said. "The only conclusion we could come to is that the police didn't believe his story. Otherwise, how irresponsible would that be, to let a dangerous criminal loose like that?"

Gentz's court-appointed lawyer, Susan Reed, and Maria Miller, a spokeswoman for the Wayne County District Attorney, would not comment on Griem's findings, the Detroit Free Press said.