Early on June 14, 1971, eight people were found shot to death inside a red-brick house on Hazelwood Street in Detroit. Among the victims was 22-year-old Katherine Betty Basser. Neighbors reported hearing gunfire shortly before 4:30 a.m., and police were called after a victim’s wife discovered the scene and took her husband, Robert Gardner, to the hospital.

Investigators described the apartment as a narcotics den and said many victims had been shot in the head at close range. Cartridges recovered at the scene came from three different firearms, and detectives soon focused on Gardner, believed to be a heroin dealer and pimp. Police said robbery was not the motive because money and drugs were left behind, and they suspected the killings were retaliatory after Gardner allegedly robbed two Toronto drug dealers. A known associate, Gerald Williams, was shot dead four days later and was considered potentially connected.

No arrests were ever announced and the case remains officially unsolved. If anyone knew Katherine Betty Basser or has information about the Hazelwood Street killings, please come forward.