The Bob Bashara murder trial and sentencing

Bashara asked for a mistrial during his sentencing hearing, claiming prosecutors and the media compromised his right to a fair trial. "The jury poisoning and media corruption of this trial ... blackened my eye and made me a monster," he said.

Bashara said he prepared an eight-page document chronicling more than 40 years of community service, and said if his attorneys, Lillian Diallo and Michael McCarthy, had emphasized his charity work, it would have swayed the jury.

Jane's mother, Lorraine Engelbrecht, said, "There will never, ever be closure for what he did to my daughter."

Jane's sister, Julie Rowe, said, "You killed my amazing sister. She had so much left to do. You've devastated your children ... by your stupid, selfish acts."

Bob Bashara and defense attorney Mike McCarthy appear somber as they enter the courtroom for the reading of the jury's verdict. Bashara was found guilty on all five counts related to hiring a handyman to kill his wife, Jane Bashara. The verdict was read in Judge Vonda Evans' courtroom at the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice in Detroit on Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014.

Bob Bashara covers his face with his hand as the five guilty verdicts are read by the jury foreman.

Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor Lisa Lindsey reacts after the verdict.

Bob Bashara enters the courtroom at the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice in Detroit on Thursday.

Judge Vonda Evans addresses the jury before the verdict at Frank Murphy Hall of Justice in Detroit on Thursday.

After 10 weeks, 74 witnesses and 460 exhibits, Robert Bashara's murder-for-hire trial in the death of his wife, Jane Bashara, enters the stretch run. The jury heard closing arguments Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2014, and expected to begin deliberating Thursday.

Jane Bashara's sister, Julie Engelbrecht Rowe, listens to closing arguments Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2014.

Jane Bashara's mother, Lorraine Engelbrecht, left, and Lorraine's sister, Barbara Naeyaert, listen to arguments in the trial of Robert Bashara Wednesday Dec 10, 2014.

Bob Bashara and defense attorney Lillian Diallo talk in the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice in Detroit on Wednesday.

Robert Bashara listens as Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor Lisa Lindsey makes her closing arguments.

Robert Bashara sits during the first day of his murder trial in the death of his wife Jane Bashara in Wayne County Circuit Court in Detroit, Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2014. We take a look here at the story that brought to light the dark side of a man once regarded as an upstanding member of his wealthy community.

He once was known as “Big Bob,” the gregarious Grosse Pointe Rotary Club president and church usher who raised millions for charity and volunteered to help at his kids’ volleyball and soccer games. Here Jane and Robert Bashara are shown bowling in an undated photo.

Big Bob was also Master Bob — a kinky sex persona he hid from his family and upper-crust acquaintances. But his image quickly soured — from philanthropist to philanderer, and worse — after his wife, Jane, was killed, and details of his secret life began to emerge.

The investigation began after Jane Bashara disappeared after a Jan. 24, 2012, meeting in downtown Detroit. A day later, her body was found strangled in the back of her SUV in a Detroit alley. Her husband was quick to blame it on Detroit violence.

Jane Murphy, left, and Lois Valente of Grosse Pointe Park light candles at a vigil for Jane Bashara at Grosse Pointe South High School on Jan. 25, 2012. Police had discovered the body of the 56-year-old Grosse Pointe Park resident inside her vehicle in an east-side alley in Detroit earlier that day.

Robert Bashara walks from the Grosse Pointe Park Police and Fire complex Jan. 27, 2012, two days after the discovery of his wife's body. Investigators searched Bashara's Grosse Pointe Park home using a K-9 earlier in the day.

Jane and Robert Bashara in Hawaii in 2011. Prosecutors say Robert Bashara wanted to collect her 401(k) and life insurance money and set himself up in the bondage, discipline and sadomasochistic lifestyle with his longtime girlfriend, Rachel Gillett.

Rachel Gillett testifies during Bashara's trial in Detroit on Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2014. Gillett, who testified that she stuck by Bashara several times after discovering he had lied about divorcing his wife, eventually abandoned him, and filed a personal protection order to keep him from contacting her.

Robert Bashara is arraigned in 36th District Court in Detroit on several counts, including conspiracy to commit murder, on May 1, 2013. Bashara is charged with paying Joseph Gentz to murder his wife, Jane Bashara.

Handyman Joseph Gentz pleads guilty to second-degree murder for killing Jane Bashara on Dec. 21, 2012. The jury in Bashara's case will decide if Bashara is guilty of hiring Gentz to kill his wife.

Robert Bashara and family members arrive at A.H. Peters Funeral Home in Grosse Pointe for the visitation of Jane Bashara. Robert Bashara was identified by police as the only person of interest in the death of his wife.

The funeral urn is taken from the church after the funeral service for Jane Bashara at Grosse Pointe Memorial Church in Grosse Pointe Farms on Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2012. The Rev. Marianna Gronek of St. Michael's Episcopal Church in Grosse Pointe Woods, the family's church, is in the foreground.

Pallbearers carry Jane Bashara's remains from the church. Later her aunt said any family sympathy for Robert Bashara vanished after he tried to use his dead wife’s ashes as a bargaining chip, saying he would return them to her relatives if they would publicly support him after his arrest.

Robert Bashara returns home after the funeral Jan. 31, 2012. He met with his attorney later that day.

Bashara's first attorney, David Griem, speaks to the press after meeting Bashara on the day of his wife's funeral.

Bashara, flanked by his son Robert Jr. and mother Nancy, addresses the media again outside his home on Feb. 1, 2012.

Robert Bashara wipes his eyes as he talks to the media Feb. 1, 2014.

Joseph Gentz, the handyman embroiled in the investigation into the death of Jane Bashara, leaves the Grosse Pointe Park Police complex Feb. 8, 2012. Gentz has a low IQ and reportedly told police conflicting stories about Bashara's involvement.

Handyman Joseph Gentz sits in front of Referee Karen Transit (not pictured) on the third floor of the Macomb County Court Building, Wednesday morning, Feb. 8, 2012, during a parental visitation hearing.

Robert Bashara leaving his home in Grosse Pointe Park on Wednesday Feb. 8, 2012. Two Michigan State Police Crime Lab technicians were inside his home that day.

Michigan State Police technicians remove evidence from the Bashara home on Feb. 8, 2012.

Investigators at Bashara's home in Grosse Pointe Park on Feb. 8, 2012.

Joseph Gentz, 48, of St. Clair Shores, was formally charged March 5, 2012, with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the death of Jane Bashara. His alleged conspirator remained unnamed at the time of the charging, but was suspected to be Robert Bashara. Gentz was ruled competent to stand trial.

Law enforcement officials search the home of Rachel Gillett in Grosse Pointe on March 6, 2012. Gillett, Robert Bashara's former girlfriend, moved to an undisclosed city after filing a personal protection order against him in April. In the order, she claimed Bashara had been repeatedly harassing her, despite being warned several times to stop.

Investigators remove evidence from Gillett's home.

Bob Bashara's vehicle in police custody in the Grosse Pointe public safety building, June 25, 2012.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy speaks at a press conference June 27, 2012. Worthy charged Robert Bashara with solicitation of murder of Joseph Gentz in jail. Police described Bashara as a person of interest in the killing of his wife.

Robert Bashara is shown on screen during his video arraignment in the courtroom of Charles W. Anderson III at the 36th District Court in Detroit, on June 27, 2012.

Robert Bashara sits in court during his preliminary examination. Prosecutors said Bashara was growing increasingly anxious as Gentz's court hearing neared. Gentz was found competent to stand trial, and prosecutors said Bashara met with Steve Tibaudo on June 18, 19, 23 and 25 in an attempt to have Gentz killed in jail.

Robert Bashara, left, defense attorney David Griem, and Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Lisa Lindsey appear before Chief Judge Kenneth King in a preliminary exam at 36th District Court in Detroit. Robert Bashara will stand trial on allegations he solicited a hit man to kill the handyman who has claimed Bashara paid him to carry out the January murder of his wife.

Robert Bashara during his preliminary exam at 36th District Court in Detroit on Tuesday, July 24, 2012. In a tape-recorded setup in June, Robert Bashara allegedly hatched a plan with a Detroit appliance store owner to carry out the killing of Joseph Gentz for $20,000.

Steve Tibaudo, owner of Steve's Furniture and Appliances on Detroit's east side, was the prosecution's star witness in the preliminary examination July 25, 2012, against Robert Bashara, who is charged with solicitation of murder. Prosecutors say Bashara agreed to pay Tibaudo $20,000 to kill Joseph Gentz, a handyman who is in jail after being charged with Jane Bashara's Jan. 24 murder.

Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Robert Moran holds an audio recording of Robert Bashara and a witness during the preliminary exam in July. Steve Tibaudo, owner of Steve's Furniture & Appliance, said the recordings were made after he met with investigators and agreed to record his conversation with Bashara, who he claimed had talked about "taking care" of people.

Grosse Pointe Park's Robert Bashara sits in court Oct. 11, 2012, after pleading guilty to solicitation of murder for trying to arrange the jailhouse killing of Joseph Gentz. "In June of 2012, I foolishly and regrettably offered to pay Steve Tibaudo to find someone to kill Joseph Gentz," he said when he pleaded guilty.

Joseph Gentz, flanked by defense attorneys Susan Reed and William Winters III, stands before Chief Judge Kenneth King in 36th District Court in Detroit on Oct. 4, 2012. Gentz waived his preliminary examination on murder and conspiracy charges in the killing of Jane Bashara.

Robert Bashara spent his 55th birthday at Jackson prison after previously being sentenced Dec. 10, 2012, to 6 to 20 years in prison for trying to hire a hit man to kill the former handyman who admitted to strangling Bashara's wife.

Julie Engelbrecht Rowe, sister of Jane Bashara, at the sentencing of Joseph Gentz. Gentz, 49, of St. Clair Shores, was sentenced to 17 to 28 years in a state prison by Judge Vonda R. Evans for second-degree murder in Jane Bashara's January 2012 death. Gentz entered a plea deal last year and had said her husband, Robert Bashara, paid him to kill her.

Before Judge Evans made her ruling, Jane Bashara's sister, Julie Engelbrecht Rowe, read from a statement on the impact her sister's murder had on the family. "My sister Jane was one of the most decent people I have ever known," Rowe said. "At times, it's still unbelievable that she was brutally murdered."

Robert Bashara listens to the coroner's report on Jane Bashara during his preliminary examination Sept. 10, 2013, in the courtroom of Judge Kenneth King at the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice.

Robert Bashara smiles during his preliminary examination Sept. 12, 2014.