Monserrate Shirley, 47, her boyfriend, Mark Leonard, 43, and his brother, Bob Leonard Jr., 54, are accused of intentionally leaking natural gas into the house and then using the kitchen's. She said Leonard had bought it a few months beforehand at that point. [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. Monserrate Shirley, who had initally pleaded not guilty after she and two men were charged in late 2012, appeared Tuesday before a Marion County judge in a courtroom filled with current and. After a while, Mark came back in and said Bob had agreed to help for $10,000, but never specified what exactly Bob would be doing. She agreed that's what happened, but insisted she only said what Mark told her to say. Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way, Indianapolis, IN Interactive Weather Radar, Mark Leonards friend says he knew too much, Opening statements in the trial of Mark Leonard. If that timeline holds, final jury instructions would be given Monday, July 13 then deliberation would begin. So in the end there were a couple of people who were opposed to it, and I respected that.
Monserrate Shirley, Indianapolis Homeowner Whose House Exploded, Bereft she said. She got in the van with them, and Mark asked her to give Bob $40. "I have everybody telling me stuff that they said on the TV," she said. monserrate is the name of the dish, as well as its . [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. Prosecutors alleged that the men conspired to submit an insurance claim for a stolen motorcycle. It's been hard for me and my daughter. She, at first, struggled to identify her other neighbors. [34][35], Monserrate Shirley pled guilty to conspiracy to commit arson. 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/. I always get the money.". 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. Robinson told the residents what she could: That they didnt need Monserrate Shirley as a witness, but that she would help fill in blanks they hadnt been able to. She and her daughterwent to the hotel, where Mark later joined them. Robinson has said she will argue for 50 when the time comes. The name comes from a restaurant that is on the run called theserie rossa which translates to the run of the wits. ", "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. "They are currently in the process of recovering the appliances from destroyed homes to help determine the cause.". I didnt give it any credibility. Mark was a handsome man with sex appeal and a lot of money, judging by his stash of cash and fast luxury cars. They decided to cut a piece of cardboard to block off the chimney path. Their challenge was to distill two-and-a-half years of research and investigation into a six week trial without losing the jury in the process. "I moved out in February of 2011," he said. The human toll is harder to estimate. Robinson also couldnt tell the residents that Shirleys cooperation would mean charges against two more suspects: Gary Thompson and Glenn Hults. How to fix the pii__email__cbd448bbd34c985e423c Error code? Bob Leonard, Monserrate Shirley, Gary Thompson and Glenn Hults also face charges in connection to the explosion. The entire day she answered questions from attorneys, repeatedly crying.
rosemary clooney george clooney relationship While we knew that Monserrate Shirley on her own would never have caused this crime, it couldnt have happened without her. The truth is, I was scared.. He gave her $3,000 to use, and they lost it all. She asked Mark and Bob what happened that made it be an explosion instead of a fire. He did come to the house one week before the first attempt. She was crying and hysterical and said the house blew up.". Shirley and her boyfriend Mark Leonard were out of town for the weekend while her 12-year-old daughter stayed with friends. 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 . [6] She claimed to have been horrified at the Longworths' deaths, as well as the massive destruction wrought by the explosion. She moved to the United States when she was 25. Mark then asked Bob twice to "go get the part that we need." Thirty-three homes were damaged so severely they were deemed unrecoverable, and had to be torn down to the foundation. [6] Investigators said personal insurance on the home had recently been increased to $300,000. Should I have accepted that stipulation? After he was done, the fireplace worked properly and they never smelled any gas inside the home because of it. 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. He said that his daughter had mentioned that the furnace wasn't working, and he wondered whether a gas leak ignited the blast. On Thursday, Shirley worked a 12 hour shift. (Item updated.) He occasionally worked on those cars at Shirley's home so she saw he had a wide array of tools. He asked how much was in the 401k, according to Shirley. The program is a spin-off of the Oxygen series Snapped and has a similar format to the Investigation Discovery program Wicked Attraction. In exchange, she offered him the money in her 401K. Its because the life of the game itself is the life of the game itself. On Monday, November 5, they changed out the thermostat for a "cheaper" model. "I feel like, you know, it would have been better off for me to be there [at the house when it exploded]," Shirley said. The man he called was actually an undercover agent. I did everything to make him happy, Monserrate Shirley said in testimony. Defense counsel said the deposition version showed she was actually in favor of burning the house down, she just didn't want to get caught. 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. The sentence accounts for time served and good time credit. Leonard died around 9:15 a.m. Tuesday at an Indianapolis hospital,according to an Indiana Department of Correction spokesman. 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. He told her to tell Holts, though, that they would be trying the fire again that night (Sunday night). Shirley told her daughternot to come back to the house for any reason, though she didn't explain why not. 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. She grabbed a few pictures, including the canvas portrait of her daughterat age 5 that hung above the fireplace. All I can say is, I had one small role in this. . The explosion in the subdivision just south of the city on Saturday, Nov. 10, killed John and Jennifer Longworth.
The Insurance Scam That Blew Up A Neighborhood - Medium Shirley may have been the prosecution's highest profile witness, but that doesn't mean they're done. 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. Prosecutors alleged Leonard was the mastermind behind the explosion, plotting with his. They started looking around the house at potential ways to start the fire. She was the one who got her daughter and her cat out of the situation and left her neighbors in the situation. It's also possible she will walk free if the judge sentences. I should have been there.". Mark Leonard was the first to go on trial. Ultimately, she could end up serving 21 years if she maintains good behavior in prison. I was at one of my part-time jobs when I got a text from my daughter, which was very unusual. She said they should be punished, Carter testified.
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. They'd soon get a new roommate. [24], On March 28, 2015, Mark Leonard was charged with conspiring to murder the key witness against him, Mark Duckworth. The home was owned by his girlfriend at the time, Monserrate Shirley, who testified earlier this month that Bob. When the relationship first started, she said, "He was a nice guy. Deputy Prosecutor DeniseRobinson has said she will argue for 50 when the time comes. The Oscars will air on ABC and can be streamed on ABC.com and the ABC app as well as Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV, AT&T TV or FuboTV. She lived in the four-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath home with her daughter. There was discussion about: Should we cut all of those? Except her cat, the clothes on her back and a teddy bear she got when she was 1. INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. I know it caught us by surprise and we had to react to it.. Most importantly, Shirleys testimony would further tip the scales against the Leonard brothers. The stove was electric. Im telling the truth and nothing but the truth was a phrase repeated by Monserrate Shirley throughout the day. Leonard told him Shirley was ready and she agreed. You were a mom. Shirley testified Leonard asked to see the insurance policy on the home within a few weeks of moving in. Investigators have ruled out a natural gas leak from the home's underground pipelines, the Star reported, and they are now focusing on whether there may have been a leak from one of the gas appliances inside three homes that were obliterated in the explosion. Roughly a week afterward, Mark asked Shirley for $500. Its an interesting concept. In her sentencing order, Judge Sheila Carlisle repeatedly stressed that Shirley could have stopped the plan at any time but didnt.
Richmond Hill explosion: Where are they now? - indystar.com Woman pleads guilty in deadly Indianapolis explosion - CBS News Its about your game being the only game that matters. [6] Prosecutors also allege that he offered the hit man a $5,000 bonus if he made the murder look like a suicide. ", She said Mark told her, "It cannot be that bad.Don't worry about it. But no other problems.
Monserrate Shirley and Mark leonard, profiled on the next "American Greed," staged a natural gas explosion to collect the insurance on their Indianapolis home. Critics have accused Shirley of faking her reaction after the explosion because she seemed upset but never shed a tear. Shirley said she has been reeling from the pain of people blaming her for the tragic event. Officials did not release further information regarding his death. Glenn Hults, the final defendant to stand trial for the explosion, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge last month that may result in no additional jail time. and one-eighth, Zionsvilles Brian Mason will be Colts coordinator, Indy east side fire kills dog, injures multiple people, Record breaking weather week in central Indiana, Indiana state trooper hit, killed in the line of, New billboard in Fountain Square tackles antisemitism, Trooper killed on I-69, speeding driver arrested, Everything you need to know about the 2023 Academy, Congressman Baird calls for pause on toxic shipments, Congress works to tackle military spouse unemployment, Indy man gets 16 years after shooting wife in arm, Spencer man killed in rollover crash on I-70, 3 Ind.
Monserrate Shirley sentenced to 50 years in prison - YouTube At the time of the explosion, Shirley says he was living in Noblesville. John Duncan was the one to call, saying something horrible had happened on her street and he wanted to make sure she and her daughterwere okay. To this day, absolutely they had the right to do that. Shirley said that she was at a casino bar at the time of the explosion, and her boyfriend and daughter -- who also live with her -- weren't home either. 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. . They went to the casino and waited for the call that a fire had broken out, but again, the call never came. Required fields are marked *. After demands for a vote on the bill, we finally received one. He never gave her money like that again, but did play with his own money, spending anywhere from $2,000 - 10,000 each trip. She then spoke with another neighbor, who told her there had been an explosion. Mark Leonard moved in with Monserrate Shirley about a month later. Shirley would receive over $300,000 in insurance money for the replacement of the home as well as personal items. At least three of his possessions did survive, however: two golf bags, with clubs, and a driver he'd been gifted. They said they didn't know. They had left town the night before, after Ms. Shirley's nursing shift at a local. 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. Prosecutors started by addressing her plea agreement. Mark Leonards trial at the St. Joseph County Courthouse was eventful before it even started. The couple's steamy relationship lasted for about a month before they moved in together. The group researched methods of how to destroy the home and made more than one attempt at doing so before succeeding, authorities said. [6] A friend of the couple reported that Mark Leonard had lost $10,000 at the casino approximately three weeks before the explosion. His defense team admitted that the blaze had been intentionally set, but told jurors it was only intended to be a small fire and that murder was never his intention. We used to cook together, have dinner together.Very charming, very lovely man.". But a whole days-worth of potential jurors would end up tainted anyway not by media coverage, but by Leonards defense team. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated. She testified Wednesday she has a condition that prevents her tear ducts from actually producing tears. More on AOL Real Estate:Find homes for rent in your area.Find out how to calculate mortgage payments.Find homes for sale in your area.Find foreclosures in your area. Ms. Shirley, 47, and Mark Leonard, 43, her boyfriend, were 100 miles away at a casino when their home blew up. I cant give the Olveys back a peace of mind. This time, Leonard worked with Thompson instead of Thompson doing the work while Leonard stood next to him, watching and planning. Shirley is originally from Puerto Rico. The original posters source was a little bit of a weird little coincidence, but the name was still alive and well. She gave it to him, and he used it to pay Bob. John Shirley, 50, of Noblesville, told The Associated Press that his daughter sent him a text message last week complaining that the furnace in the home where she lives with her mother and her. We again offer our condolences to the families of Dion and Jennifer Longworth and to those who suffered injury and loss. But she put an end to that in August 2011.". Ms. Shirley ultimately took responsibility for her actions by pleading guilty and provided important information during the investigation. Yes, I didnt think it would be possible, Monserrate Shirley said.HUGE EXPLOSION. He eventually improved enough to return home, but Shirley had to continue caring for him for several months. I have morals.I love my patients and I would do anything for them. 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. At least half a dozen marriages in the Richmond Hill neighborhood ended in divorce in the years immediately following the blast. Shirley testified in Fort Wayne at the trial of Bob Leonard, Jr. one of five people accused in the deadly 2012 Richmond Hill Explosion. Its about remembering who you are. Leonard asked Holts to tell the story of his own fire, how easily he'd gotten the money and to re-assure Shirley everything would be alright if they did it at her house. 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.. Their first trip together was to the Hollywood Casino roughly 3-4 months after they first met. Monserrate worked Friday, November 9. Shirley recalled a later conversation that she had with Bob and Mark Leonard, after the explosion. Gary Thompson pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit arson and received a 30-year sentence, with 10 years suspended. Shirley: "She wanted us to live in a bigger house.
Man Gets Murder Conviction in Deadly Indiana House Blast Fraud Case She remained in the house as the sole owner until the explosion. At one point you replaced the thermostat." We've got a few more.". The two divorced on July 25, 2011. She was crying and hysterical and said the house blew up.". 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.
Woman tells of failed tries before deadly Indianapolis house explosion 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 .
Richmond Hill Explosion - indyencyclopedia.org . They laughed at her for asking, but it was switched back out. 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. Exasperated, Judge John Marnocha, who was assigned to oversee the trial, dismissed dozens of potential jurors and ended the day early with an admonition for Black and her co-counsel, David Shircliff. She died at age 85 in 2014, but Shirley Temple's childrenand fans gathered in LA on Monday, April 23 to celebrate what would have been her 90th birthday. A class C felony carries 2-8 years. 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. Mark Leonard drove her home that night and stayed with her for what the defense characterized as a romantic, sexual night. [37] She is serving her sentence at Indiana Women's Prison in Indianapolis. They agreed to say they'd been having trouble with the thermostat and smelling gas for a while. In fact, they said that at the time she raised her insurance policy to $300,000, she was roughly $300,000 in debt (more than $200K between her two mortgages on top of the bankruptcy settlement left over from her divorce). ", Holts then asked who would get the money if they went through with it and Mark said, "Of course, me. Aaron Carter. This is too risky." It had three gas appliances - the water heater, the furnace and the fireplace. 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." Its because the game of death is the game of life itself. She later worked at St. Francis and Community South. Sometimes they would go during the week while her daughterwas at school and leave in enough time to pick her back up.
Richmond Hill Explosion - indyencyclopedia.org From confusion to conviction, Richmond Hill blast recapped. Its been around since the late 80s, but Im sure well find more of it on our own site.
Indiana Neighborhood Explosion: Two Questioned in Connection to Blast 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. ", When they went to pick up Shirley's daughteron Sunday, Holts told Mark to "Get the [expletive] out of here. 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. It was the last time she would be in her home before the explosion. Will they get to the felony murder?. You're a piece of [expletive]. And then there was the arrangement that when I picked up my daughter I would get to take some of my belongings. "I am a nurse. She was wearing a jail jumpsuit, was shackled and her hair had grown long, dark and curly.IM TELLING THE TRUTH. (WISH) Monserrate Shirley told jurors Wednesday she would do anything for Mark Leonard, because she was in love with him. We knew we were taking a week of testimony from the residents to talk about what had happened to their houses, Robinson said. Shirley's daughter went with them in Leonard's Cadillac. By the time wed got to trial, hed already been in jail for going on three years. On the day of the explosion, another neighbor saw a white van pull into the driveway of Shirley's residence between 2:00 and 3:00p.m. Minch: "Before that, you did have some problems with the pilot light on the furnace?" I did my best. Hults and his then-fiance babysat Shirley's daughter on the night of the explosion. Her sister had lived in the same housing complex. In addition to his roofing business, Mastercraft, Leonard also flipped cars on the side. At 11:11 p.m. on Nov. 10, 2012, a two-story home on the south side of Indianapolis exploded with the force of as much as 5 tons of TNT.
RICHMOND HILL: Shirley's ex takes the stand - WRTV The evidence Robinson and Hollingsworth had was substantial. Authorities blamed a natural gas explosion inside the home of Monserrate Shirley, who was away at the time of the explosion. Shirley's next-door neighbors, John and Jennifer Longworth, died in the blast. Defense attorney Ted Minch on cross-examination: "You're not happy to be here today." She was able to take that to the prosecutor and get a protective order against me. Shirley said she thought the fire plan was crazy, but went along with it anyway. Snapped: Killer Couples (known as Killer Couples from seasons 7 to 15) is an American true crime television series currently airing on the Oxygen Network.The program details couples who commit crimes together. This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. She was upset when she got home that night and saw her nicer digital thermostat sitting on the kitchen island and the new cheaper model on the wall. She told her daughter a friend had taken it to put a new frame on it. She said Mark didn't actually want anyone to come to the house, he just wanted a trail they could point to after the fire so they could explain why they were in the hotel. Get caught up on the first two chapters here:Chapter I: The Night the Sky Caught Fire|Chapter II: The $4 Million Arson Plot. The co-conspirators include Shirleys boyfriend at the time, Mark Leonard, and his brother, Bob Leonard Jr. Police became suspicious when they uncovered evidence that the couple had taken similar steps the previous weekend; the cat had been boarded and Shirley's daughter had been placed with a babysitter overnight before the couple went to the casino. It was a good feeling.. [20] The trials started in 2015. Her sister had lived in the same housing complex. Monserrate Shirley entered a guilty plea in the case that started as an insurance scam in Richmond Hill in 2012. As fate would have it, it would be Carter, just a few weeks later, who would place Monserrate Shirley in handcuffs. For Lt. Mario Garza, the Indianapolis Fire Department veteran tasked with leading the arson investigation, the Richmond Hill explosion will likely be the most significant challenge of his career. [16] On March 13, Leonard allegedly placed a call to a man who he believed to be a hit man. Bob had been asking for his $10,000 payment before the explosion even happened. Dont make that kind of joke, Shirley testified. They are charged with. 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.