"No one deserves what happened," she said. [6] One woman had previously won a $70,000 judgment against Leonard in a civil suit after lending him $53,000, which he never repaid. Shirley said she recalled telling them two innocent people die out of this.THIS HAS TO BE DONE. Deputy Prosecutor DeniseRobinson has said she will argue for 50 when the time comes. Shirley: "No. They got to the room, but Mark wasn't feeling well so he stayed there while Shirley played slot machines for about an hour. She remained in the house as the sole owner until the explosion. Monserrate Shirley leaves court after learning her sentence. After her 12 hour shift, she planned to see her daughter at the Holts' house and change there. To this day, absolutely they had the right to do that. She still wiped under her eyes with a tissue several times while she was on the stand. By the time wed got to trial, hed already been in jail for going on three years. Federal grand jury indicts man on hate crime charges after he allegedly shot 2 Jewishmen in Los Angelesin February, Pot vote has Oklahoma hungry to rake in green from Texas, Indonesia fuel depot fire kills 18, over dozen missing, Fishers firefighters assist car flipped NB over I-69. At the trial I had firefighters crying on the stand. Mark Leonards trial at the St. Joseph County Courthouse was eventful before it even started. The jury found 46-year-old Mark Leonard guilty of all counts against him, including murder and felony murder. Two mental health experts testified that her childhood could have contributed to her decision to stay with Mark Leonard and go along with his plan to blow up her house for insurance money. Bob had been asking for his $10,000 payment before the explosion even happened. A second home was reduced to rubble as well, and other houses were half-collapsed. Many of the women reported that they met him on dating sites and that he soon began asking them for money. "That cannot be real. She said that she hasn't been eating or sleeping well and that she has been taking Xanax to get what little sleep she can. She told her daughter a friend had taken it to put a new frame on it. You're a piece of [expletive]. They started looking around the house at potential ways to start the fire. Ultimately, she could end up serving 21 years if she maintains good behavior in prison. Monserrate Shirley is lead into her sentencing hearing in December 2016. On December 21, 2012, Monserrate Shirley, Mark Leonard, and his brother Bob Leonard were charged with 2 counts of felony murder and . Mark then asked Bob twice to "go get the part that we need." [12] Though the trio was eligible for the death penalty under Indiana law, prosecutors chose to pursue life sentences without parole because they believed a jury would be unlikely to impose the death penalty without any evidence that the suspects intended to cause the deaths. Shirley alleged that Hults initially came up with the idea. Its very difficult sentencing hearing weve been through for two days. INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. arranged for her daughter to stay . Unresolved: Release in which this issue/RFE will be addressed. She talked about being Catholic and said it was in God's hands, but still, they should be punished.". As Mark Leonards defense team would point out repeatedly throughout his trial, there was a chance, however small, that Shirleys cooperation could end with her walking free at the end. Did you see her on TV a few days later? Holts invited Leonard and Shirley to his friend's house for a pool party in the Geist neighborhood. This time, Mark and Bob talked alone while Monserrate left to pick up her daughter. Although prosecutors didnt need their blessing to go ahead with the plea, Robinson said they felt it was important to tell the residents as much as they could. . She asked Mark not to try the house fire plan again. He gave her $3,000 to use, and they lost it all. And your daughter lost some things?" After court adjourned for the day, Shircliff said he attacked her inconsistencies "to show that she can tell the truth as easily as she tells a lie, and it's hard for the jury to know the difference. Shirley claims Leonard coerced her involvement, testifying that he threatened her and her daughter. That was the last time she saw Bob before they were arrested. Prosecutors told Judge Marnocha Tuesday they will likely rest their case next Wednesday or Thursday. The home also had a microwave above the stove which had a programmable timer. Not until the following morning, when I went from this job to another job, did I get a text from a friend who thought it might be my house. Prosecutors alleged that the men conspired to submit an insurance claim for a stolen motorcycle. They had left town the night before, after Ms. Shirley's nursing shift at a local. Having Shirley as a witness came with its own pitfalls, though. Marion County Superior Court Judge Sheila Carlisle sentenced Monserrate Shirley to spend the maximum sentence of 50 years in prison on Tuesday. He asked how much was in the 401k, according to Shirley. Made and inspired by a love triangle, this was written by a girl from Italy. After the second failed attempt to burn the home, Monserrate Shirley said she went to the home of Glenn Hults to pick up her daughter. The couple's steamy relationship lasted for about a month before they moved in together. No one deserved what happened. [16][17] The alleged motive for the arson was to collect insurance money to ease financial strain. [38], Gary Thompson pled guilty to conspiracy to commit arson and was sentenced to 30 years in prison. "Shortly thereafter I moved some furniture into the apartment. The crowd watched in grim silence as a Marion County judge entered not guilty pleas for Monserrate Shirley, her boyfriend Mark Leonard, and his brother, Bob Leonard. She owned the house. He says he and Monserrate never boarded the cat when they were married. Monserrate Shirley, the Indianapolis homeowner whose house is suspected of being the source of a deadly explosion that damaged nearly 80 homes in her subdivision, was inconsolable Tuesday as she wept while speaking publicly for the first time about the horrific incident. The family, he said, will never truly get closure. The meeting was difficult for me because I couldnt ethically tell them everything, Robinson said. Leonard went to pick up Thompson in the white van witnesses in the neighborhood have previously testified seeing in Shirley's driveway. Bad food, non-first class flights drop Colts to middle-of-pack in player survey. She continued handling some of Marion Countys most heinous crimes until January 2017, when her former boss, then-Elkhart County Prosecutor Curtis Hill, called her up and asked her to join him at the Indiana Statehouse, where he had just been elected attorney general. But I cant do that, and everybody knows you cant do that, but sometimes theres this perception that getting through the justice system will make things better. At the time her friends called her, Monserrate was at a casino with Mark Leonard. [15], Prosecutors contended that the trio filled the house with natural gas and then used the spark from a microwave which could be set in advance to detonate it. While Leonard has been in slacks, a dress shirt and tie throughout the trial, Shirley walked into the courtroom in shackles and a prison jumpsuit. But the majority supported us.. It was a good feeling.. The courtroom was crowded Monday as the proceedings began, as those who were hurt or lost their homes, plus the parents of Dion and Jennifer Longworth wait to learn Shirley's . [6] Investigators said personal insurance on the home had recently been increased to $300,000. But a whole days-worth of potential jurors would end up tainted anyway not by media coverage, but by Leonards defense team. 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. Its quite obvious that monserrate is the source of the name in this case. "You can't even do a fire. For their families, the tree is one last connection to the loved ones they lost on Nov. 10, 2012. ", Minch: "You said you talked to Ms. Shirley on the 11th. So there wasnt a great deal of pressure on us, or desire by us, to offer her anything.. If Monserrate Shirley keeps up her part of the agreement, a judge will decide her sentence after all the Richmond Hill explosiontrials have been completed. Mark Leonard first mentioned trying to burn the house down in February 2012, according to Shirley. I should have been there.". He told her one of the reasons she needed to upgrade the policy was he planned to bring in some nicer things and do some work around the house to improve it and they would need the extra coverage to match the upgrades. Monserrate Shirley, the Indianapolis homeowner whose house is suspected of being the source of a deadly explosion that damaged nearly 80 homes in her subdivision, was inconsolable Tuesday as. Shirley is originally from Puerto Rico. Investigators found that the couple had substantial debt, including $63,000 in credit card debt, and were in bankruptcy proceedings. Its a game that only you can play. While Thompson checked the digital thermostat, Shirley heard him and Leonard say they could use it to trigger the fireplace as the source of the fire, but they never directly gave her any specifics on how they were going to do it. Its because the game of death is the game of life itself. We knew somebody else was involved, and he was the only one whose name consistently came up, but it was only after she cooperated that we were able to charge Gary Thompson and Glenn Hults.. Shirley recalled a later conversation that she had with Bob and Mark Leonard, after the explosion. Much of Tuesdays testimony included accounts of Shirleys difficult childhood. The group researched methods of how to destroy the home and made more than one attempt at doing so before succeeding, authorities said. I tried to ignore Mark Leonards history as much as I could, Robinson said. Monserrate Shirley spent the entire day on the stand Wednesday, and the anticipation of her testimony was evident in courtroom attendance. [11], Monserrate Shirley, Mark Leonard, and Bob Leonard were initially charged with two counts of murder and arson in the deaths of Dion and Jennifer Longworth. Arguing for the maximum in this case, when you live with this case and you see the impact, and you know what devastating effect its had on these lives, it just compels you to argue for that, said Robinson. Monserrate Shirley, who had pleaded not guilty after she and two men were charged in late 2012, appeared before a Marion County judge in a courtroom filled with current and former residents of the . Mark Leonard is on trial in South Bend in connection to the explosion in the Richmond Hill neighborhood that killed Jennifer and Dion Longworth in November 2012. Prosecutors alleged that the natural gas explosion was intentionally set to collect insurance money. When the relationship first started, she said, "He was a nice guy. Fixed: Release in which this issue/RFE has been fixed.The release containing this fix may be available for download as an Early Access Release or a General Availability Release. You were a neighbor and you were a friend, Carlisle said. ", "Richmond Hill explosion suspects to get separate trials", "Attorneys: Change of venue likely in Monserrate Shirley case", "Richmond Hill suspect trial moved to South Bend", "Defendant in deadly Indiana explosion agrees to plea deal", "Richmond Hill trial: Informant says Mark Leonard wanted witness killed", "Home> U.S. Indianapolis House Explosion: Suspect Charged in Murder-for-Hire Plot", "Marion county prosecutor's office asks for life without parole sentences in richmond hill explosion", "Richmond Hill trial to focus on greed and desperation", "Mark Leonard convicted of murder in explosion scheme", "Mark Leonard gets life without parole for Richmond Hill explosion", "Richmond Hill explosion mastermind Mark Leonard dies", "Cause of death of Richmond Hill conspirator Mark Leonard determined", "Richmond Hill explosion culprit Mark Leonard dies at Indy hospital", "Leonard found guilty of all counts in Richmond Hill trial", "Indianapolis man get 2 life sentences in deadly house blast", "Psychologist Says Monserrate Shirley Was Abused as Child, Has 'Dependent Personality Disorder', "Monserrate Shirley sentenced to maximum 50 years in prison", "Gary Thompson sentenced in Richmond Hill explosion after pleading guilty to arson charge", "Glenn Hults sentenced to 3 years in deadly Richmond Hill blast", Affidavit of Probable Cause, Dec. 20, 2012, Affidavit of Probable Cause, April 14, 2015, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Richmond_Hill_explosion&oldid=1133693717, November 2012 crimes in the United States, Articles with incomplete citations from March 2015, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 15 January 2023, at 02:18. INTERACTIVE MAP|Residents relive Richmond Hill explosion, ViewExplosion Damaged Homesin a larger map, Download the new and improved RTV6 app to get the latest news on the go and receive alerts to your phone, Sign up to have the latest news headlines delivered straight to your email inbox, Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way, Indianapolis, IN Interactive Weather Radar, Full testimony: Monserrate Shirley takes the stand. Mark had called her asking which credit card he could buy the thermostat with, but she didn't see him actually switch out the thermostat for the new one, nor did he ever say who did it. . The human toll is harder to estimate. There was discussion about: Should we cut all of those? Im thankful for my trial team for sticking with me. . The men were reportedly in the home briefly and hurriedly left. Mark Leonard, the man considered the mastermind behind the 2012 Richmond Hill neighborhood explosion that killed two peopleand wounded at least adozen others, is dead. He was sentenced to 75 years in prison on the arson charges on top of two life sentences for the murder charges. Everything's under control.". And that, Im sure, will never change.. Taking them at face value, taking them at what they told the court, they believed that since it was going to come up in the trial they should talk about it during jury selection, Robinson said. He asked whose name the house was under, and she said it was entirely in her name after the divorce. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. "He'll do anything I ask," Mark said of his brother. When testimony moved to the night of the explosion that killed Jennifer and Dion Longworth, Monserrate Shirley had a difficult time staying composed. "In order to pay a very large amount of child support, I was working a full-time job and two part-time jobs," he said. She said she did not tell officers at the time what happened because she was scared. A second mortgage had been taken out on the home for $65,000 in addition to the original mortgage of $116,000. [25] Leonard allegedly asked another inmate at the Marion County jail if he could put him in contact with a hitman, according to the probable cause affidavit. All I can say is, I had one small role in this. In 2017, Leonard wasconvicted and received an additional 50-year sentencein a murder-for-hire scheme authorities say he concocted from jail after his arrest. Prosecutors said Leonard planned to pay a person he thought was a hit man $15,000, giving him a $5,000 bonus if a witness in the case called police to say he had lied about information he had given investigators. But she put an end to that in August 2011.". Of the dozens and dozens of homes damaged by the blast, 33 were affected so severely they had to be demolished. Monserrate Shirley was a divorced Puerto Rican mother whose exotic looks quickly attracted Mark Leonard. His sentencing is set for December 28, 2016 at 1 p.m. Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry issued the following statement: We respect the Courts decision ordering Monserrate Shirley to serve a fifty-year prison sentence for her participation in this senseless conspiracy. "It's like waking up to this bad dream," Shirley said, her voice cracking as tears flowed down her cheeks. "That's not what you told me," she remembered saying to Mark. The next morning, they went to Bob Leonard's mobile home. Hults faces no prison time to three years . While still at the hotel, Mark asked her to call a heating & cooling company on Sunday, November 4, to see what they would charge to check on the heat because the house was too cold. The co-conspirators include Shirleys boyfriend at the time, Mark Leonard, and his brother, Bob Leonard Jr. Seven months later, on March 18, 2016, his brother Bob Leonard Jr. received his own sentence of life without parole in a courtroom in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Denise Robinson, the Marion County Prosecutor on the case, told the court she rarely asks for the maximum sentence. He was, however, eventually able to return to his hobby of umpiring softball. It ended in the deaths of Dion and Jennifer Longworth. Thompson left after a few hours and Shirley didn't hear anything else before the first attempt that Saturday. The shirley daughter is an Italian restaurant that takes more than 15 minutes to make you feel at home. [2] Over sixty firefighters responded to the blaze. The explosion leveled 8349 Fieldfare Way, the home at the center of the explosion, and severely damaged a number of other residences, including several (on either side) which were damaged by the ensuing fire. In court Wednesday, she said he turned on the gas, but never lit the fire. No one, Shirley replied, crying.I WAS IN LOVE WITH HIM. He eventually improved enough to return home, but Shirley had to continue caring for him for several months. Shirley wasnt a suspect at the time, and the interview was a routine one. monserrate is the name of the dish, as well as its chef and owner. Shirley's next-door neighbors, John and Jennifer Longworth, died in the blast. Minch: "You testified about some things you lost in the explosion. The only improvement he ever made was to buy two flat screen TV's, a 65-70 inch model for the master bedroom and a 42 inch screen for her daughter'sroom. He did come to the house one week before the first attempt. The girlwas already out of the house while they cleared it of the sentimental items. [20] The trials started in 2015. This time, Leonard worked with Thompson instead of Thompson doing the work while Leonard stood next to him, watching and planning. I went into the breakroom and texted my ex about what happened. Out of fear that a Marion County jury would be too tainted by extensive media coverage of the case, the trial had been moved to South Bend, Indiana. (They were) my neighbors for a very long time since we built the house, Shirley said. Shirley and Leonard had gone on television on multiple occasions following the blast to state their innocence, and to ask for privacy. Source: http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/11/14/monserrate-shirley-speaks-about-indianapolis-house-explosion/, emmy rossum jay z and beyonce the big chill tony blankley charles barkley beyonce troy polamalu, http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/11/14/monserrate-shirley-speaks-about-indianapolis-house-explosion/. Too little, too late, said Jennifer Longworths father, Don Buxton. Prosecutors alleged Leonard was the mastermind behind the explosion that damaged or destroyed more than 80 homes in Indianapolis, plotting with his then-live-in girlfriend Monserrate Shirley. Says Sen. Tom. See also:Shantonia Heard of Atlanta Left Her 2 Children Alone With No Power and Gas Oven On, Police Say Apartment Fire Safety Tips Man Killed as Gas Explosion Destroys Connecticut Home. Monserrate Shirley testified that Mark Leonard is the one who told her to increase the insurance on the contents of her house, and she also testified Mark Leonard brought up the idea of setting fire to her house for easy money. He was going to bring Thompson to their house so she could say she was okay to move forward, too. Shirley says he and Monserrate married on July 17, 1993. The first attempt was supposed to be carried out by Gary Thompson, but it failed. Shirley said she thought the fire plan was crazy, but went along with it anyway. Lisa Marie Presley's daughter Riley Keough wears a Graceland sweater as she . Psychologist Dr. Stephanie Callaway diagnosed her with dependent personality disorder, but stated under cross-examination that, while the diagnosis explains Shirley's actions, it does not absolve her of responsibility. [10] Included on the probable cause affidavit were complaints from several women claiming that Leonard scammed them out of thousands of dollars. On top of his prior criminal convictions, at the time of his arrest, Mark Leonard was being sued civilly by multiple women who accused him of scamming them out of money through online dating sites. At that point, Shirley and her co-defendants her boyfriend Mark Leonard and his brother, Bob Leonard Jr. had been sitting in jail for two years following their arrest on charges of murder, arson and attempted insurance fraud in connection with the explosion. I always get the money.". You were a mom. She transferred from her job in Michigan to the VA hospital in Indianapolis, where she worked for 17 years, focusing in the ICU. Mr. Monserrate Morales was born on January 7, 1955 in Puerto Rico. The brothers were sentenced to terms of life without parole for spearheading the conspiracy. On August 14, 2015, Mark Ray Leonard was sentenced to two consecutive terms of life without parole, plus an additional 75 years, on 53 counts, including murder, arson and insurance fraud. And you said she was crying? She was the neighbor that all the other neighbors were looking at. "I moved out in February of 2011," he said. At the final tally, the explosion meant to allow Shirley and Leonard to collect $300,000 in insurance money caused more than $4 million-worth of property damage. ", When they went to pick up Shirley's daughteron Sunday, Holts told Mark to "Get the [expletive] out of here. FULL STORY | Mark Leonards friend says he knew too much. So while I had that, I pretty quickly set it aside and put it in a file marked Mark Leonard and never looked at it, because I couldnt allow that to influence me in the decision. But she put an end to that in August 2011.". [28] Prosecutors expected to submit nearly 3,000 pieces of evidence, and potentially call up to 175 witnesses. He said that his daughter had mentioned that the furnace wasn't . The defendants requested that the trials be moved over concerns they would not receive a fair trial in Central Indiana due to the high-profile media coverage received by the case. I see a con artist when I look at her., If she really is apologetic, then I accept the apology, said Dion Longworths father, John Longworth. When you come out and say, My client attempted to commit insurance fraud through a small fire and this just happened, he had no idea, what the jury doesnt realize, because Im not allowed to tell them, is attempted insurance fraud even if coupled with reckless homicide is a class C felony. Shirley says the house had three gas appliances when he lived there: furnace, water heater and fireplace. PREVIOUS|Timeline of events|Gallery: The Richmond Hill Explosion|Where were you at 11:11 PM? The cat, nicknamed Snowy, was a birthday gift for their daughter, he said, and "she misses him.". But in this case, Monserrate Shirley had already received leniency from the state when she entered into a plea agreement that dismissed a total of 50 charges, including murder. They said they didn't know. Two of those alleged co-conspirators were arrested as a direct result of her cooperation: Gary Thompson and Glenn Holts. Jeff Wager, the lead homicide investigator in the case, talks about the surveillance and arrests of Mark Leonard and Monserrate Shirley: It was at a meeting with prosecutors in early 2015 that Richmond Hill residents learned of the plea deal being worked out with their former neighbor, Monserrate Shirley. The name comes from a restaurant that is on the run called theserie rossa which translates to the run of the wits. I was scared for my life and the life of my daughter., Forgive me for my poor choices in life, she continued. While she was driving, Mark called to tell her to book a hotel room and to tell her daughter it was because the house was too cold to stay at. "They are currently in the process of recovering the appliances from destroyed homes to help determine the cause.". They laughed at her for asking, but it was switched back out. If I could bring Dion and Jennifer back, I would do that in a heartbeat, she said. [23] The plea deal involved Shirley pleading guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit arson in exchange for testifying against the other suspects. It's also possible she will walk free if the judge sentences. "Everything they were telling me, it could not be possible," Shirley said on the stand as she started to get emotional. [24], On March 28, 2015, Mark Leonard was charged with conspiring to murder the key witness against him, Mark Duckworth. So you do get concerned about, will they see the arsons? Leonard is charged with 53 counts of murder, arson and conspiracy. To begin the day, Monserrate Shirley explained how she and Mark Leonard met. [13] A fourth person, Gary Thompson, was charged in January 2015 on the same charges. While there had been some communications early on, we were not willing to offer Monserrate Shirley a significant deal for her cooperation, Robinson said. UPDATE: Search for accused Johnson County scammer ends in arrest, Men's challenges in fatherhood and marriage explored in new documentary, Live Doppler 13 Weather Blog: Record-breaking rain raises ongoing flood concerns, Saturday Sunrise Live Doppler 13 forecast March 4, 2023. And the game of death is the game of life itself. I thought it was crazy, but I went along with him. Robert Leonard, who was convicted of murder and multiple felonies, was sentenced to life without parole. Shirley didn't hear anything more about a plot to start a fire that night, and nothing happened. He reportedly said, "[T]he tsunami winds came down the chimney, blew out the fire in the fireplace and the gas kept running and the house blew up. Get the Android Weather app from Google Play, Glenn Hults, the final defendant to stand trial for the explosion, Best athletic wear for kids joining baseball and, How to watch all the Oscar-nominated movies in style, Best smart home devices for older users, according, Bryce Young falls short: 5-10 . She went to a bar on the south side of Indianapolis in November 2011 and they immediately noticed each other. "I thought it was crazy," she told a jury, "but I went along with him." The entire day she answered questions from attorneys, repeatedly crying. This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Shirley stated that her daughter had smelled gas during the week before the explosion. Estimates for the total scope of the damage caused by the explosion exceeded $4.5 million. This type of trial is unusual but not unheard of, and had been used in the trial of the Menendez brothers. She grew up in Puerto Rico with a violently abusive father who would often beat Shirley as well as her siblings and mother. Monserrate Shirley was given the house after her divorce. At the end of the day, we still miss her and him, Dion, as much as ever, Buxton said. We believed that he did, we had some very thin evidence that he did. They decided to cut a piece of cardboard to block off the chimney path.
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