FILE 703 / 28 May 2026 / 188 MIN / full

Puppet Master Killer

Grosse Pointe Park, MichiganListen

The town

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This is Gross Point Park, Michigan ... this is in Wayne County, just like Detroit about 0:05:29

History, in brief

1850

Before it was a city it was incorporated as the Village of Fairview, a chunk of Grosse Pointe township, from 1850 to 1900.

about 0:06:21

Town note

The woods were cleared and Detroit businessmen bought up all the waterfront.

about 0:06:37

Town note

Grosse Pointe was Detroit's summer resort, like the Hamptons for Detroit people, with giant summer houses.

about 0:06:46
All 3 history facts

1850

Before it was a city it was incorporated as the Village of Fairview, a chunk of Grosse Pointe township, from 1850 to 1900.

about 0:06:21

Town note

The woods were cleared and Detroit businessmen bought up all the waterfront.

about 0:06:37

Town note

Grosse Pointe was Detroit's summer resort, like the Hamptons for Detroit people, with giant summer houses.

about 0:06:46

The figures, as told

Religious

42%

about 0:12:54

Who lives here

White 84.7% · Black 9.3% · Asian 1.9% · Hispanic 1.2%

Ethnicity can overlap race.

Crime / national average

Property crime
▼ just under the national average

about 0:21:22

Violent crime
▼ about half the national average

about 0:21:22

Money

Median home value$438,500
Two-bedroom rent$1,450
Median household income$123,859
Cost of living92

For sale

$217,900

Two-bedroom, two-bath condo, 1,256 square feet

about 0:14:45

For sale

$948,000

Five-bedroom, five-bath house, 4,203 square feet

about 0:15:26

For sale

$1,300,000

Five-bedroom, five-bath brick house, 4,630 square feet on half an acre, built in 1978

about 0:15:56
All figures and comparisons, as told in 2026

Population

"11,529"

No direction stated.

As told in 2026 about 0:12:03

Women

"53.1%"

Comparison: "more women than men by a long shot". No direction stated.

As told in 2026 about 0:12:09

Median age

"42.2"

Comparison: "a couple of years older than the national average". Direction: above.

As told in 2026 about 0:12:09

Married

"62%"

Comparison: "well above the national average". Direction: above.

As told in 2026 about 0:12:32

Religious

"42%"

Comparison: "50-50 is the national average". Direction: below.

As told in 2026 about 0:12:54

Unemployment

"about average"

Comparison: "national average". Direction: about the same.

As told in 2026 about 0:13:12

Median household income

"$123,859"

Comparison: "$69,000 is the rest of the country". No direction stated.

As told in 2026 about 0:13:24

Cost of living

"92"

Comparison: "100 is average". Direction: below.

As told in 2026 about 0:13:33

Median home cost

"$438,500"

No direction stated.

As told in 2026 about 0:13:38

Average two-bedroom rental

"$1,450"

Comparison: "above the national average, but not outrageous". Direction: above.

As told in 2026 about 0:14:12

Two-bedroom, two-bath condo, 1,256 square feet

"$217,900"

Comparison: "about the cheapest thing you will find here". No direction stated.

As told in 2026 about 0:14:45

Five-bedroom, five-bath house, 4,203 square feet

"$948,000"

No direction stated.

As told in 2026 about 0:15:26

Five-bedroom, five-bath brick house, 4,630 square feet on half an acre, built in 1978

"$1,300,000"

No direction stated.

As told in 2026 about 0:15:56

Property crime

"just under the national average"

Comparison: "national average". Direction: below.

As told in 2026 about 0:21:22

Violent crime

"about half the national average"

Comparison: "national average". Direction: below.

As told in 2026 about 0:21:22

The reviews

3.3 / 5 · average of 4

5 stars

“Best city to raise a family: excellent public schools, two waterfront parks, pools, a splash pad and private movie theatres, with beautiful homes and public services second to none.”
about 0:06:59

3 stars

“A nice place to raise a family but lacking in things to do; better than the other Grosse Pointe communities for diversity but still with the same bourgeois feel and pressure.”
about 0:07:39

3 stars

“The weather is okay, pretty average.”
about 0:07:55

2 stars

“Not a very safe or friendly community.”
about 0:08:20

“Aesthetic place with nice neighbourhoods, great schools, large trees and good places to walk, but it borders Detroit, which the reviewer calls the ghetto nucleus; the suburbs are segregated, fences block streets that were once open, and fear of Detroit keeps good retail and restaurants out, forcing residents to drive 20 or 30 miles to Troy or Rochester; it is also expensive.”
about 0:08:28

In Michigan

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The story

Joan Ingelbrecht, known as Jane, was born in 1955 in Mount Clemens, Michigan, one of four sisters. She was the responsible one, the family said. She spent most of her career at Mercury Marine, the boat engine division of Brunswick Corporation, before moving to Kema Services, an energy consulting and testing firm with offices in Detroit, as a senior marketing manager. She earned six figures and held stock options, and she was the breadwinner of her household.

He went to Grosse Pointe South High School and Albion College, was outgoing rather than academic, and was six feet tall. Jane ran the house, drove the children to school and practice, organised the Grosse Pointe South High School Mothers Club, became its president, ran bake sales, volunteered at fundraisers and went to St Michael's Episcopal Church every Sunday.

On the ground floor he opened the Hard Luck Lounge, a neighbourhood bar with old slot machines as decor; upstairs was Dylan's Raw Bar and Grill, and above that a few rooms for rent. By the early 2000s he was 250 pounds, wore polo shirts, drank a lot, and served on the boards of local organisations, including the Grosse Pointe Rotary Club, which he presided over, and the Grosse Pointe Yacht Club social committee. He played Santa at the Rotary Christmas party. Staff and regulars in the bar knew nothing about it.

In August 2008 he met Rachel Gillett on alt.com. He told her he was a widower, then separated, then about to be divorced, and in May 2011 he told her the divorce was final. No divorce was ever filed. In 2009 he blindfolded her and another woman, drove them to the family house, had sex with them in the marital bed and made Rachel sleep on the floor. He also met Janet Leeman on alt.com and pursued her between November 2011 and January 2012, promising that he, Rachel and Janet would all live together in a house he was buying. He told Patrick Webb, known as Sir Patrick, who ran the A2 Reformatory party space on 11.5 acres in Milan, that he felt trapped in his marriage and that it would be cheaper to kill the bitch. He told Rachel the same thing. He also asked acquaintances whether anyone could rough up, run over or sexually assault a female tenant who was making his life miserable, though no such tenant existed.

At 5.30 a.m. on Tuesday January 24 Jane left the house on Middlesex Road for her office. At about 5 p.m. she left work in her white Mercedes ML350, telling her daughter on the phone that she would call back once she was inside. She never did.

Her phone went still after 8.42 p.m. near Pinewood and Annette. At 11 p.m. he called police to say his wife was missing.

At 7 a.m. on January 25 a tow truck driver, Frank Leone, found the Mercedes in an alley behind an abandoned house at Annott Street in Detroit and called it in. A police officer looked through the window and saw a woman's body. Jane was fully clothed, in slippers, with her purse, chequebook and cards untouched, in an $80,000 car. Investigators concluded she was killed in her garage and driven to Detroit. That evening a candlelight vigil was held on the front lawn of Grosse Pointe South High School. Rachel was fired from Wayne State the same day or the next.

Jane's funeral was held at Grosse Pointe Memorial Church at 10.30 a.m. that day.

In early March police raided Rachel's home.

Rachel testified over two days about the dungeon, the collar, the emails and the night she slept on the floor. Janet Leeman described a beating that left marks for three months and the phone call she overheard. He died at Woodland Center Correctional Facility in Whitmore Lake on August 17, 2020, after liver problems, having served about eight years. Jane's family started a domestic violence organisation called Turning Point in Mount Clemens.

The case

Murder of Jane Bashara

Victims

Jane Bashara (50s). Born Joan Ingelbrecht in 1955 in Mount Clemens; senior marketing manager at Kema Services, former Mercury Marine employee, mother of two and president of the Grosse Pointe South High School Mothers Club

Accused and outcomes

As told in the episode, on 28 May 2026.

Accused

Accused

Outcome

Other people

Rachel Gillett. mistress and collared submissive, who worked in alumni affairs at Wayne State University until she was fired; given immunity for her testimony
Janet Leeman. a second submissive met on alt.com, from out of state, who testified against him
Patrick 'Sir Patrick' Webb. owner of the A2 Reformatory party space in Milan, a scene acquaintance of
Steve Tabato. Detroit-area furniture and appliance store owner and acquaintance, who wore a wire for the FBI
Larry Ellington. cellmate at the Oakes Correctional Facility, who testified about the planned hits
Paul Monroe. acquaintance who testified admitted paying Joe to kill Jane
Jessica Bashara. Jane and daughter, a nurse
David Griem. first attorney
Frank Leone. HB Land Towing driver who found Jane's SUV
Rebecca Forton. landlord in the BDSM network who described control over
Timothy Ramsey. a witness allegedly wanted killed

The timeline

  1. 1955 Joan Ingelbrecht, later Jane Bashara, is born (Mount Clemens)about 0:23:49
  2. 1957 is bornabout 0:26:05
  3. early 1980s Jane meets Basharaabout 0:25:45
  4. about 1986 Jane and marryabout 0:31:54
  5. 2004 gets into BDSM, discovers online kink sites and posts an advertisement as Master ('s dungeon)about 0:51:52
  6. August 2008 meets Rachel Gillett on alt.comabout 1:14:39
  7. 2009 blindfolds Rachel and another woman, drives them to the family house and has sex with them in the marital bed; Rachel sleeps on the floor (Bashara house)about 1:23:05
  8. 2009 tells Patrick Webb he feels trapped in his marriage and wants to do more in the BDSM community ('s dungeon)about 1:33:14
  9. about 2010 Patrick Webb builds the A2 Reformatory party space on his Milan property (A2 Reformatory)about 1:25:07
  10. November 2011 begins pursuing Janet Leeman as a second submissiveabout 1:42:40
  11. Christmas 2011 tells two people this will be his last Christmas with his wife in the family home (Bashara house)about 1:47:32
  12. January 23, 2012 obtains a conditional certificate of occupancy for the cottage (cottage on Kensington Avenue)about 1:50:13
  13. January 23, 2012 last call of the night is to Joe about 1:51:20
  14. January 24, 2012, 5.30 a.m. Jane leaves home on Middlesex Road to commute to her office in downtown Detroit (Bashara house)about 1:51:27
  15. January 24, 2012, 3 p.m. collects the cottage closing packet from the realtorabout 1:51:59
  16. January 24, 2012, between 4.52 and 5.20 p.m. phone uses cell sites in the area of the Hard Luck Lounge on Mack Avenue (Hard Luck Lounge)about 1:52:13
  17. January 24, 2012, about 5 p.m. Jane leaves work and drives home in her white Mercedes ML350 (Kema Services)about 1:52:53
  18. January 24, 2012, 6.26 p.m. Jane's phone and phone are both using the same cell tower near the house (Bashara house)about 2:12:21
  19. January 24, 2012, shortly after 6.26 p.m. Jane is strangled in the garage and her body is put into her SUV and driven to Detroit (Bashara garage)about 2:12:59

Places and phrases

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Places in the story

Public places are marked on the map.

Heard in this episode