Commonwealth v. Saunders

Peter G. Saunders was convicted by a jury of arson, that is, burning a dwelling house. G. L. c. 266, § 1. His appeal raises evidentiary issues.

Facts. Taking the evidence in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth, the jury were entitled to find that the defendant *341Saunders owned a property at 1900 Ocean Street, Marshfield, that he had come to regard as an albatross. He arranged with a tenant of his, Jeffrey Carley, to bum the place. For his trouble and considerable risk, Carley, a house painter who sometimes worked for Saunders, was to receive $500 as a down payment on a $10,000 to…