DETROIT, MI – The house on Hazelwood Street should’ve gone quiet after the gunshots stopped. But what investigators found inside told a story louder than any siren that night.
On June 14, 1971, just before dawn, Detroit Police responded to reports of gunfire at a three-story brick home located at 1970 Hazelwood on the city’s west side. One call came from a neighbor, while another came from a woman who had driven her husband to Henry Ford Hospital after he had been shot in the home. That man was Robert Gardner, a name already familiar to many in Detroit.
According to the Detroit Police, Gardner was a well-known heroin dealer and pimp who had made enemies throughout the city and possibly beyond. By the time officers entered the Hazelwood home, they discovered seven bodies awaiting them.…