Shirley said she thought the fire plan was crazy, but went along with it anyway. The men were reportedly in the home briefly and hurriedly left. Shirley: "She lost everything. For their families, the tree is one last connection to the loved ones they lost on Nov. 10, 2012. Prosecuting Mark Leonard presented with some challenges. 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. [37] She is serving her sentence at Indiana Women's Prison in Indianapolis. But the majority supported us.. Woman pleads guilty in deadly Indianapolis explosion - CBS News He said there wouldn't be a problem because it would be a small fire so no one would get hurt, and since she had a long history with the insurance company and no criminal record, they would get the money almost immediately. "Except her cat, the clothes on her back and a teddy bear she got when she was 1.". When she arrived at the bar, she found Mark and Bob in the white van at a nearby gas station. That was the last time she saw Bob before they were arrested. That's whatwe'll be asking the jury to consider.". She remained in the house as the sole owner until the explosion. In the game of death, monserrate daughter is the only way to be reunited with the game of life. When she told him, Holts said, "Between Mark and Gary, they're going to blow up the whole neighborhood.". When they arrived, Mark told her the fire would happen Saturday night so she needed to ask to keep their room a second night (Saturday night). She later pointed out she agreed to the plot under Mark Leonard's premise that it would be a small fire at just her home - not an explosion that would affect other people. ProjectEuler/Program.cs at master gknicker/ProjectEuler Thats time served, and hes out. One of the projects he took on was working on the gas line in the fireplace. Get caught up on the first two chapters here:Chapter I: The Night the Sky Caught Fire|Chapter II: The $4 Million Arson Plot. Bob Leonard, Monserrate Shirley, Gary Thompson and Glenn Hults also face charges in connection to the explosion. Home owner, Monserrate Shirley; her boyfriend, Mark Leonard; and his brother, Bob Leonard, were arrested Friday and charged with murder and arson Prosecutors may seek the death penalty Fire. The next morning, they went to Bob Leonard's mobile home. 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. I worked from the smaller charges to the larger ones to say, Of course its clear he did this, this and this, but heres how you get to here, Robinson said. I did my best. monserrate shirley daughter - Investigative Guide Shirley would receive over $300,000 in insurance money for the replacement of the home as well as personal items. JDK-8141210 : Very slow loading of JavaScript file with recent JDK As fate would have it, it would be Carter, just a few weeks later, who would place Monserrate Shirley in handcuffs. They started looking around the house at potential ways to start the fire. Shirley says Monserrate's sister moved out of the neighborhood around the same time they moved in. Homeowner Monserrate Shirley sentenced to 50 years for role in - WTTV Bob Leonard said, "Well, you're in it. 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. "Our investigators believe natural gas is involved," the Indianapolis Department of Homeland Security said in a statement. Shortly thereafter I moved some furniture into the apartment. FOLLOW|Rafael Sanchez on Twitter|Jordan Fischer on Twitter, RELATED LINKS |Richmond Hill Special Section|Mark Ray Leonard convicted on all counts. Her sister had lived in the same housing complex. So there wasnt a great deal of pressure on us, or desire by us, to offer her anything.. I said I think theres ($10,000) or $12,000 in there, and he said, That was not enough, I want $300,000, Shirley said. Mark Leonard was convicted in 2015 of two counts of murder as well as a litany of other charges, including multiple counts of arson and conspiracy to commit arson. Mark Leonard moved in with Monserrate Shirley about a month later. We have done that. On Friday, October 26, Leonard told Shirley to get anything sentimental out of the house. [6] Her attorneys argued that she was trapped in an abusive relationship and was coerced by Mark Leonard into participating in the crime. But while he was living in the home, the only problem he had with its gas appliances the furnace, water heater and fireplace was that their pilot lights would sometimes go out when a draft blew in from an open garage door. Sometimes they would go during the week while her daughterwas at school and leave in enough time to pick her back up. . John Shirley, her ex-husband, who owns the home with her, told The Associated Press that he believed the home's faulty furnace could have led to the explosion. 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. We believed that he did, we had some very thin evidence that he did. [6] She claimed to have been horrified at the Longworths' deaths, as well as the massive destruction wrought by the explosion. But didnt the jury need to hear from the residents? The shirley daughter is an Italian restaurant that takes more than 15 minutes to make you feel at home. ", Minch: "You've had problems over the years with the furnace and the water heater. 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. Its a difficult case. They had left town the night before, after Ms. Shirley's nursing shift at a local. 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. Shirley spent hours on the stand. Once the trial began, rather than trying to claim their client was innocent, Black and Shircliff instead told the jury up front that he was guilty but of trying to start a small fire, not cause an explosion. Her sister had lived in the same housing complex. A source who claimed to be in contact with the Shirley family told WISH-TV in Indianapolis that a family member had complained about smelling gas in the home at one time. Resolved: Release in which this issue/RFE has been resolved. While we knew that Monserrate Shirley on her own would never have caused this crime, it couldnt have happened without her. An Indianapolis woman said she asked her then-boyfriend's half-brother what he had done when she learned the fire they planned to ignite using natural gas had SOUTH BEND, Ind. On the night of the explosion, Shirley said he was working a second job in Fishers. She said Leonard had bought it a few months beforehand at that point. ", She re-iterated that she offered him her retirement savings in place of burning the home. He looked over the insurance policy and said she was under-insured so she called the insurance company and doubled her policy from $150,000 to $300,000. They moved into a home they built in Richmond Hill toward the end of 2003. She told them she didn't want anything to do with them anymore. [5], The most damning piece of evidence was a witness statement from one of Mark Leonard's associates, who told investigators that the weekend before the explosion, Leonard told him that "the house blew up". It was a restaurant that had the name of a famous Italian poet who died young, but the restaurant only lasted for a year. When the relationship first started, she said, "He was a nice guy. Sgt. On November 19, it was announced that the investigation had become a criminal investigation. She was wearing a jail jumpsuit, was shackled and her hair had grown long, dark and curly.IM TELLING THE TRUTH. Monserrate Shirley spent the entire day on the stand Wednesday, and the anticipation of her testimony was evident in courtroom attendance. She gave it to him, and he used it to pay Bob. Neighbors, family testify in sentencing hearing of Monserrate Shirley, owner of the home. They said they didn't know. And I wanted to be able to tell them everything., TRANSCRIPT | The full testimony of Monserrate Shirley. Leonard went to pick up Thompson in the white van witnesses in the neighborhood have previously testified seeing in Shirley's driveway. 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. Shirley says Monserrate got the house in the divorce. She and her boyfriend, Mark Leonard, who also lived at the residence, told authorities they had left Friday night for a weekend at Hollywood Casino in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. 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 defense wrapped up a little more quickly than expected after Judge John Marnocha denied their request to play a video of Shirley's 2012 interview with the media. Most importantly, Shirleys testimony would further tip the scales against the Leonard brothers. [3][4] Damage to homes in the neighborhood was estimated at $4 million. 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. To do that, the team moved 80 boxes of documents connected to the case to an office on the east side of Indianapolis. Dont make that kind of joke, Shirley testified. The co-conspirators include Shirleys boyfriend at the time, Mark Leonard, and his brother, Bob Leonard Jr. 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. GitHub export from English Wikipedia. Indianapolis trio accused of blowing up their home to collect insurance In court Wednesday, she said he turned on the gas, but never lit the fire. Monserrate Shirley entered a guilty plea in the case that started as an insurance scam in Richmond Hill in 2012. Call IndyStar reporter Holly Hays at (317) 444-6156. The host family had a lot of horses, so Shirley's daughter went to play with them under the supervision of Holts' girlfriend, Sharon, whose teen daughters often watched the girl. At a routine pretrial hearing, deputy prosecutor Denise Robinson, not thinking much of it, told Monserrate Shirleys defense counsel that if their client wanted anything other than a trial seeking life without parole, they had better work something out by the end of January 2015. FAIL: New York Senate Says NO to Gay Marriage - Queerty Except her cat, the clothes on her back and a teddy bear she got when she was 1. One small job. I don't want to be involved in any of this.". I didnt want it to affect the trial date, Robinson said. When testimony moved to the night of the explosion that killed Jennifer and Dion Longworth, Monserrate Shirley had a difficult time staying composed. The family, he said, will never truly get closure. Prosecutors alleged that the men conspired to submit an insurance claim for a stolen motorcycle. But their arrests wereonly the beginning of years of work to put them behind bars for good. [27], Mark Leonard's trial began in June 2015. 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. A prosecuting attorney showed her a photo of the house that exploded and asked her who lived on either side of her. Leonard then tried to get Thompson to talk about what he did at Holts' home, but he refused, saying they shouldn't talk about it. She said he also told her not to worry because he took out the step-down valve on the gas line, "and put it away where no one else would ever find it. Mark Leonard was the first to go on trial. Shirley told her daughternot to come back to the house for any reason, though she didn't explain why not. 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. "I mean, sometimes I wish I was there and I'd be dead, and now I wouldn't have to be asked so many questions.". Make 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. Shirley wasnt a suspect at the time, and the interview was a routine one. She took care of all three. The defense attorney told the judge without the jury in the room that he planned to use the video to show that Shirley had the same demeanor in the courtroom as she did while lying to reporters. Gary Thompson, who had helped with the first two unsuccessful attempts to blow up Monserrate Shirleys house, pleaded guilty on Dec. 2, 2016, to conspiracy to commit arson and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Although the jury would eventually hear testimony and an audio recording of Leonard talking to an undercover ATF agent posing as a hitman (and Leonard would eventually get an extra 50 years in prison for it), having that information before the trial even began would have been extremely prejudicial against him. (WISH) - Monserrate Shirley told jurors Wednesday she would do anything for Mark Leonard, because she was in love with him. [30] He died on January 30, 2018, at an Indianapolis hospital, aged 48, of natural causes. Prosecutors ask if Shirley was asked by police to identify personal property following the explosion. News, information &. On the other two days, Robinson still the head of the prosecutors homicide division would review pending cases and prepare for other trials on her plate. They should go to jail. BREAKING: By a vote of 24-38, New York's State Senate has voted against same-sex marriage legislation. She will be 72 years old. At the time her friends called her, Monserrate was at a casino with Mark Leonard. It would have shortened the trial a week. Robinson could not tell them, for example, that Shirley would be facing a sentencing range of 20-50 years in prison. I thought it was crazy, that cannot be done, and I asked Mark, Thats not what you told me, theres an explosion in there, (theres) people, my neighbors, that cannot be real, Shirley said. And I look at all the opportunity she had where she could have gone for help and she never did.. Shirley claims Leonard coerced her involvement, testifying that he threatened her and her daughter. Richmond Hill explosion: 'It's the toughest thing I've ever done in my career', Richmond Hill explosion: 7 keys that solved the case, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. She would then go to a southside bar to meet Mark before they left for the casino. The explosion in the subdivision just south of the city on Saturday, Nov. 10, killed John and Jennifer Longworth. Shirley may have been the prosecution's highest profile witness, but that doesn't mean they're done. Until shed agreed and signed on the dotted line, there were things I could not tell them. Leonard said he talked to Gary Thompson without her, telling him they were ready to do it. On Monday, November 5, they changed out the thermostat for a "cheaper" model. They went home together that night and he moved in the first week of December. And you said she was crying? Example video title will go here for this video. IndyStar reporter Robert King contributed to this story. She was inspired by the way Chef Alberto Marinovich put on this dish and it was a joy to serve. Denise Robinson, the Marion County Prosecutor on the case, told the court she rarely asks for the maximum sentence. Minch: "Before that, you did have some problems with the pilot light on the furnace?" "She lost everything," he said. The topic came up again around July 4. She then spoke with another neighbor, who told her there had been an explosion. [10] Included on the probable cause affidavit were complaints from several women claiming that Leonard scammed them out of thousands of dollars. SOUTH BEND, Ind. Heappears to have died of natural causes. 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 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. [1] Thirty-three homes were damaged severely enough to require demolition. Critics have accused Shirley of faking her reaction after the explosion because she seemed upset but never shed a tear. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. I commend Det. We interviewed our tech expert, Jaime Vazquez, to learn more about accessible smart home devices. The Richmond Hill explosion took place on November 10, 2012, in the Richmond Hill subdivision in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Indiana Man Convicted of Murder in Home Explosion Case - Insurance Journal I went into the breakroom and texted my ex about what happened. FORT WAYNE, Ind. By this time, Shirley's daughterhad noticed her portrait was no longer above the fireplace and asked Monserrate about it. 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. For her cooperation with the prosecutions of the Leonard brothers, and the information she provided that led to the convictions of Hults and Thompson, Monserrate Shirley was spared the possibility of life without parole. But she had no hesitation when asked to identify the Longworths as her neighbors. From confusion to conviction, Richmond Hill blast recapped. We've got a few more.". Write For Us: Investigative Articles are Intriguing. They moved into a home they built in Richmond Hill toward the end of 2003. "John Shirley, whose ex-wife Monserrate Shirley lives at the home with their 12 year-old-daughter, said he got a text from his daughter about a week-and-a-half ago telling him the heat. By the time wed got to trial, hed already been in jail for going on three years. Shirley says he was working at Eli Lilly at the time, and Monserrate was working as an RN at the VA hospital. Woman agrees to testify against others in Indianapolis house explosion 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. "I don't know what happened. I don't want anyone to get hurt," then started cooking dinner. [28] The defense said that what became the Richmond Hill explosion was only supposed to be a "stupid and selfish insurance fraud that went horribly wrong", adding, "Precautions were taken to ensure people weren't harmed." HOW TO SOLVE ERROR CODE PII_EMAIL_DE03C2D55A4B639F558D. The here, in this case, was the knowing murder of Dion and Jennifer Longworth. We did what prosecutors are supposed to do. Marion County Superior Court Judge Sheila Carlisle sentenced Monserrate Shirley to spend the maximum sentence of 50 years in prison on Tuesday. Shirley said she has a condition with her tear ducts that makes her unable to produce tears, so people dont think Im crying for real.. We firmly believed that Gary Thompson played a role, but until she cooperated, we couldnt prove that, Robinson said. Shirley gave 12 interviews and statements between the explosion and Wednesday's testimony - some for law enforcement, others for attorneys and one for the media - and defense attorneys pointed out inconsistencies between some of those. Much of the attention since the explosion has centered on Monserrate Shirley and her boyfriend Mark Leonard, who lived at the house in the center of the blast area. Monserrate "Moncy" Shirley, a nurse, owned the home at the center of the explosion. Shirley stated that her daughter had smelled gas during the week before the explosion. Shirley alleged that Hults initially came up with the idea. When she told him there was around $10,000-12,000 in it, he said that wasn't enough. Shirley didn't hear anything more about a plot to start a fire that night, and nothing happened. arranged for her daughter to stay . How to fix the pii__email__cbd448bbd34c985e423c Error code? 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. On Thursday, Shirley worked a 12 hour shift. Every day I ask myself why I didnt stop this. rosemary clooney george clooney relationship Their first trip together was to the Hollywood Casino roughly 3-4 months after they first met. 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. Defense attorney Ted Minch on cross-examination: "You're not happy to be here today." Police arrest Monserrate Shirley, Mark Leonard and Robert Leonard for Dion and Jennifer Longworth, two occupants in the house at 8355 Fieldfare Way, died in the explosion; seven others were injured. The sentence accounts for time served and good. Indianapolis explosion may have been caused by furnace, says owner of On December 21, 2012, Monserrate Shirley, Mark Leonard, and his brother Bob Leonard were charged with 2 counts of felony murder and . She got in the van with them, and Mark asked her to give Bob $40. Call 6 Investigator Rafael Sanchez and Senior Digital Correspondent Jordan Fischer will be in Fort Wayne covering the trial every day. But no other problems. As his court date neared, the workload ramped up. 2023 CIRCLE CITY BROADCASTING I, LLC. I didn't do nothing wrong.". She was too involved. ", Minch: "At no time did she ever say she was involved in the explosion?" Her earliest possible release date is December 19, 2037when she will be 72 years old. Shirley said she has been reeling from the pain of people blaming her for the tragic event. They then worked to establish a pattern of poor decisions in her personal life and changing stories throughout the investigation. Mark started telling Shirley they needed to get their stories straight before police started asking questions. Of the dozens and dozens of homes damaged by the blast, 33 were affected so severely they had to be demolished. Three charged with murder after 'setting off deadly Indiana house Four years after thedeadly Richmond Hill explosion, another chapter has closed. The blast the product of an insurance fraud scheme killed two people and injured dozens of others. The inmate and Leonard drew up a contract agreeing that Leonard would pay the inmate $15,000 when he was released, the affidavit said. No one else was within earshot, so far as she knew. I went into the breakroom and texted my ex about what happened. According to Shirleys account, she was struggling to stay financially afloat when she met Leonard, and within a month of dating, he came up with the idea. Hults faces no prison time to three years . Monserrate and John had the home in Richmond Hill built in 2003. [21] Mark Leonard was granted a change of venue and was tried in South Bend. FULL STORY | Mark Leonards friend says he knew too much. 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. 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. While there had been some communications early on, we were not willing to offer Monserrate Shirley a significant deal for her cooperation, Robinson said. she said. It ended in the deaths of Dion and Jennifer Longworth. [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.