Commonwealth v. Gardner

**764 On the morning of Saturday, November 5, 2011, the defendant, Thomas Gardner, and the victim, Michael Duarte, met to conduct a drug transaction at a house in New Bedford that was **765 owned by the defendant's ex-wife. Four days later, after the victim's girl friend had reported him missing, the police found the victim's body wrapped in a painter's tarpaulin hidden beneath the basement stairs of that house. The police also found evidence of the victim's blood in the kitchen, and a trash bag outside the house that contained clothing and a hammer bearing both the victim's and the…