Police search for clues in Grosse Pointe woman's death

Police in Detroit and Grosse Pointe Park are continuing their investigation into the murder of businesswoman Jane Bashara, whose body was found in the back seat of her Mercedes Benz in Detroit.

A tow truck operator trolling for stolen cars found her vehicle in an alley in the area of Seven Mile and Hoover roads. Bob Bashara, the victim's husband, had reported her missing to Grosse Pointe Park police at about 11:30 p.m. Tuesday.

An autopsy by the office of the Wayne County Medical Examiner determined that the 46-year-old woman had been strangled.

"We're pursuing some things," said Grosse Pointe Park Police Chief David Hiller.

Bob Bashara told members of the media that he has been cooperative with the police. He and his wife had been married for 26 years and were the parents of two children.

Bashara reported that the last time he spoke to his wife was while he was working at a rental property, telling her he would see her at about 8 p.m.

When he returned to their home, he found she was gone, but the TV was on and her company identification card was in the home.

Jane Bashara — who worked as a senior marketing manager at Kema Services, an energy consulting and testing and certification company — was last seen leaving a client meeting at DTE Energy's offices in downtown Detroit about 4 p.m. Tuesday.

Bashara said he had "no clue" as to what happened to his wife.

"I lost my girlfriend and my partner, and it's just absolutely unthinkable," said Bashara, speaking to WDIV-TV.

Police haven't yet determined where Bashara was killed.

This is the first murder of a Grosse Pointe Park resident since the shooting death of Phyllis Ann Lenart on the morning of Jan. 16, 1992.

At that time, Lenart was waiting for a bus at about 8 a.m. on Jefferson Avenue, near Wayburn Road, when she was approached by a man and a woman.

Lenart — a secretary at the National Bank of Detroit — was shot in the back by the robbers who made off with her purse which contained less than $3 and a sandwich she had prepared for lunch.

After two years of sifting through hundreds of leads and logging thousands of investigative hours, GPP police arrested career criminal Raynell Hampton.

Hampton — who was on parole at the time of the murder — was charged with first-degree murder, armed robbery and felony firearm.

Hampton — who lived on Hampton Road, just a few blocks from the murder — was arrested at Marquette Prison where he was serving a 15 to 30 year sentence as a habitual offender.

According to police, Hampton was arrested for two armed robberies a few weeks after he killed Lenart.

Both of those robberies were on Jefferson, including one at the same bus stop where he had shot Lenart.

The majority of the credit in arresting Hampton went to Det. Sgt. James Smith and Hiller, a detective at the time.

Hampton was sentence to life in prison without parole.

tgreenwood@detnews.com

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