General Information:
- Date of Birth - 05/15/1954
- Date of Offense - 08/25/1998
- Age at Time of Offense - 40
- Prior Occupation - office clerk, seamstress, laborer
- Education - 12
- Prior Prison Record - None
- Location of Crime - Harris
County - Texas
- Co-defendants - James O'Malley, Greg Ahrens, Bernice Ahrens, Hope Ahrens, Terrance Singleton
- Race and Gender of Victim - White male
Crime Committed: On 08/26/1998, Basso and co-defendants kidnapped a 59-year old retarded white male and intentionally caused his death by beating him with belts, baseball bats, steel-toed boots, hands, and feet. Basso was the leader of the group and encouraged all the co-defendants to abuse the victim.
The murder was committed for proceeds from an insurance policy on the victim (in which Basso was named the beneficiary) as well as other assets in which Basso was named heir.
Basso had wooed the victim into leaving his family and friends in New Jersey and moving to Texas, under the guise that she would marry him. The victim was found in a ditch with injuries so horrendous that the body was unrecognizable.
Source: Texas Department of Criminal Justice
