Don't assume a career in journalism is about celebrity interviews, swanky events and exciting trips.
The often-unglamorous assignments of big-city reporters involve municipal finance, education reform, business affairs and, currently in Detroit, lurid trial testimony about cow whips, bondage and "master-slave" relationships.
For more than six hours each day since early last week, George Hunter of The Detroit News and Elisha Anderson of the Free Press have live-tweeted from Wayne Circuit Court about topics more suited to adult movies than daily newspapers. They're covering the case of Bob Bashara, accused of first-degree murder in the strangling death of his wife Jane at their Grosse Pointe Park home in January 2012.
Joseph Gentz, a developmentally disabled handyman, is imprisoned for second-degree murder in the case. He said Bashara, 56, paid him to do the killing in the couple's garage and dump the body inside her Mercedes Benz SUV in an east-side Detroit alley.
Jurors and reporters at the downtown trial, in its seventh day Thursday, hear kinky details of unconventional behavior. Vivid testimony is relayed in minute-by-minute tweets from Hunter and Anderson, as well intermittently from Amy Lange of Fox 2 and other broadcasters.
Judge Vonda Evans helps jurors understand unfamiliar terms by asking witnesses to explain references to ED (erectile dysfunction), a strap-on (dildo) and BDSM (bondage, discipline and sado-masochism).
Daily immersion in exotic erotica can be numbing, Hunter indicates in this Wednesday afternoon tweet:
Some of this testimony is so "out there," I have to keep reminding myself that this is a murder trial, and that 2 people lost their mother.
— George Hunter (@GeorgeHunter_DN) October 22, 2014
Here's a sampling of other trial posts this week:
To recap the day's testimony: Cow whips, erotic choking, strap-ons, ED, and the "chairman of the board not working." Oh, and cell towers
— George Hunter (@GeorgeHunter_DN) October 22, 2014
Leehmann said she didn't have sex with Bashara because he had erectile dysfunction. His appendage didn't work, she said.
— Elisha Anderson (@elishaanderson) October 22, 2014
Texts sent between Bashara and Janet Leehmann introduced in court. Bashara text her "Kneel and know you are mine," Brue said.
— Elisha Anderson (@elishaanderson) October 20, 2014
Wilson knew Bashara participated in an alternative lifestyle. He said he "like to spank girls," Wilson recalled.
— Elisha Anderson (@elishaanderson) October 20, 2014
Bob's IM: "I can choke her just enough to make her woozy. Having my large hand on her neck excites her."
— George Hunter (@GeorgeHunter_DN) October 22, 2014
So that's why the erotic asphyxiation hasn't yet been brought up. Bob's attorney says it would be prejudicial, since Jane was killed thatway
— George Hunter (@GeorgeHunter_DN) October 22, 2014
Turns out Bashara had tricked his own mother into hiding a gun in a safe deposit box.
— Amy Lange (@langeamyFOX2) October 14, 2014
Children testify at Bashara murder trial, daughter describes father's porn habit. http://t.co/zxg5nQ7dPq
— WXYZ Detroit (@wxyzdetroit) October 23, 2014
She also found a text on his cell that said “Get on your knees and give me head" and asked her father about it.
— Elisha Anderson (@elishaanderson) October 23, 2014
Amid these pulp fiction-like tweets, an occasional lighter moment shines through -- as in this exchange Wednesday afternoon:
Lindsey: "What did you think would happen to you if you didn't play along?" McCarthy: "Objection." Judge: "Sustained. Nice try, though."
— George Hunter (@GeorgeHunter_DN) October 22, 2014
A week earlier, Fox 2's reporter tweeted this amusing bit of testimony:
"Some of the furniture you have in a dungeon you just can't buy at a Lazy Boy." #BobBashara trial catch my story Fox 2 News at 6 @FOX2News
— Amy Lange (@langeamyFOX2) October 15, 2014