Prosecuting Mark Leonard presented with some challenges. She got in the van with them, and Mark asked her to give Bob $40. But a whole days-worth of potential jurors would end up tainted anyway not by media coverage, but by Leonards defense team. If I could bring Dion and Jennifer back, I would do that in a heartbeat, she said. Ms. Shirley, 47, and Mark Leonard, 43, her boyfriend, were 100 miles away at a casino when their home blew up. When the relationship first started, she said, "He was a nice guy. Today, Snowball, a white Persian cat, is in the care of John Shirley, Monserrate's ex-husband. Shirley and her boyfriend Mark Leonard were out of town for the weekend while her 12-year-old daughter stayed with friends. She transferred from her job in Michigan to the VA hospital in Indianapolis, where she worked for 17 years, focusing in the ICU. 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. We interviewed our tech expert, Jaime Vazquez, to learn more about accessible smart home devices. 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. Prosecutors entered all three into evidence Tuesday. Her sister had lived in the same housing complex. You were a mom. Leonard later tried telling Shirley that the only reason Holts wouldn't talk about his own fire was because he didn't want Leonard to end up with more money than he had. Shirley says he and Monserrate married on July 17, 1993. 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. She was the nurse. For years, the team holed up in that office three days a week to avoid being distracted by other ongoing cases. Shirley may have been the prosecution's highest profile witness, but that doesn't mean they're done. When a defense attorney comes out and says, My client didnt do anything at all, but you clearly can show they did, then usually its going to be an all-or-nothing verdict, Robinson said. The meeting was difficult for me because I couldnt ethically tell them everything, Robinson said. Robert Leonard, who was convicted of murder and multiple felonies, was sentenced to life without parole. Lisa Marie Presley's daughter Riley Keough wears a Graceland sweater as she . Deputy Prosecutor DeniseRobinson has said she will argue for 50 when the time comes. "No one deserves what happened," she said. (WISH) - Monserrate Shirley told jurors Wednesday she would do anything for Mark Leonard, because she was in love with him. Dion and Jennifer Longworth, two occupants in the house at 8355 Fieldfare Way, died in the explosion; seven others were injured. She testified Wednesday she has a condition that prevents her tear ducts from actually producing tears. [22], On January 16, 2015, Shirley agreed to a plea deal with prosecutors. As fate would have it, it would be Carter, just a few weeks later, who would place Monserrate Shirley in handcuffs. 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. At the time of the explosion, Shirley says he was living in Noblesville. (WISH) Monserrate Shirley told jurors Wednesday she would do anything for Mark Leonard, because she was in love with him. Mark Leonards trial at the St. Joseph County Courthouse was eventful before it even started. Hults and his then-fiance babysat Shirley's daughter on the night of the explosion. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. On the night of the explosion, Shirley said he was working a second job in Fishers. They are charged with. Shirley alleged that Hults initially came up with the idea. The explosion in the subdivision just south of the city on Saturday, Nov. 10, killed John and Jennifer Longworth. He told her to tell Holts, though, that they would be trying the fire again that night (Sunday night). 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. The co-conspirators include Shirleys boyfriend at the time, Mark Leonard, and his brother, Bob Leonard Jr. In the game of death, monserrate daughter is the only way to be reunited with the game of life. [16][17] The alleged motive for the arson was to collect insurance money to ease financial strain. Leonard said he talked to Gary Thompson without her, telling him they were ready to do it. Shirley: "In order to pay a very large amount of child support, I was working a full-time job and two part-time jobs. But their arrests wereonly the beginning of years of work to put them behind bars for good. Jurors will later hear that the golf bags and clubs were found at Bob Leonard's home after the explosion. But I dont feel bad for the deceased.. This time, Shirley's daughterwas at home, but she was upstairs. Eventually, hed be asked to repeat her answer at her boyfriends murder trial. I said OK, she said. Notifications can be turned off anytime in the browser settings. I tried to ignore Mark Leonards history as much as I could, Robinson said. 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. And the game of death is the game of life itself. Leonard told him Shirley was ready and she agreed. On December 21, 2012, Monserrate Shirley, Mark Leonard, and his brother Bob Leonard were charged with 2 counts of felony murder and . He said that his daughter had mentioned that the furnace wasn't working, and he wondered whether a gas leak ignited the blast. 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. Marion County Superior Court Judge Sheila Carlisle sentenced Monserrate Shirley to spend the maximum sentence of 50 years in prison on Tuesday. Bob Leonard, Monserrate Shirley, Gary Thompson and Glenn Hults also face charges in connection to the explosion. A tag already exists with the provided branch name. They moved into a home they built in Richmond Hill toward the end of 2003. This type of trial is unusual but not unheard of, and had been used in the trial of the Menendez brothers. They claim that Leonard wanted the hit man to force the witness to call 9-1-1 and recant his statement before killing him. No one, Shirley replied, crying.I WAS IN LOVE WITH HIM. 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/. Attorneys walked Shirley through a number of conversations she had with Mark Leonard from the time they met until the house exploded. 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. Will they get to the felony murder?. 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 . 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. ", When asked if the attacks on Shirley's credibility would damage the State's case, Deputy Prosecutor Denise Robinson said, "If you think about anybody who gives a number of statements, and you think about inconsistencies when you're asked questions and you have to answer the questions that you're asked [no more, no less]. She owned the house. Authorities blamed a natural gas explosion inside the home of Monserrate Shirley, who was away at the time of the explosion. They moved into a home they built in Richmond Hill toward the end of 2003. At sentencing, St. Joseph Superior Court Judge John Marnocha said Leonard demonstrated a sheer indifference for the safety of others., The motivation here is greed, Marnocha said. The couple says their neighbor Bob Leonard was led away for questioning. "I want $300,000. An autopsy will be conducted by the Marion County coroner's office Wednesday, according to the DOC. [28], Mark Leonard was found guilty on all 53 counts, including murder and felony murder charges, on July 14. He couldn't get a card to play with so she got a card for him and played on his behalf. 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. [10] Included on the probable cause affidavit were complaints from several women claiming that Leonard scammed them out of thousands of dollars. Bob Leonard said, "Well, you're in it. Marion County Superior Court Judge Sheila Carlisle sentenced Monserrate Shirley to spend the maximum sentence of 50 years in prison on Tuesday. [38], Gary Thompson pled guilty to conspiracy to commit arson and was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Denise Robinson, the Marion County Prosecutor on the case, told the court she rarely asks for the maximum sentence. 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. 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. For one thing, the trial team deputy prosecutors Denise Robinson and Mark Hollingsworth, plus two junior deputies would have to wade through an entire subdivision-worth of evidence to build, arguably, the largest criminal prosecution in Indiana history. A copy of her plea agreement was entered into evidence and handed out to each member of the jury. Mark and Bob stayed in the garage while they talked about what Bob's part would be, while Shirley stayed inside. "I moved out in February of 2011," he said. 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. 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. She would then go to a southside bar to meet Mark before they left for the casino. "Shortly thereafter I moved some furniture into the apartment. Instead, on Dec. 20, 2016 after a two-day sentencing hearing that would be the closest her former neighbors would get to seeing her on trial Shirley was sentenced to the maximum term of 50 years in prison. I have morals.I love my patients and I would do anything for them. She grabbed a few pictures, including the canvas portrait of her daughterat age 5 that hung above the fireplace. If that timeline holds, final jury instructions would be given Monday, July 13 then deliberation would begin. 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. The girlwas already out of the house while they cleared it of the sentimental items. He never gave her money like that again, but did play with his own money, spending anywhere from $2,000 - 10,000 each trip. Estimates for the total scope of the damage caused by the explosion exceeded $4.5 million. He was sentenced to 75 years in prison on the arson charges on top of two life sentences for the murder charges. Below, former IMPD Det. [6] Prosecutors also allege that he offered the hit man a $5,000 bonus if he made the murder look like a suicide. Shirley testified in Fort Wayne at the trial of Bob Leonard, Jr. one of five people accused in the deadly 2012 Richmond Hill Explosion. Follow us on Twitter at @AOLRealEstate, or connect with AOL Real Estate on Facebook and Pinterest. 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. They got to the room, but Mark wasn't feeling well so he stayed there while Shirley played slot machines for about an hour. To this day, absolutely they had the right to do that. She found a house with a floorplan she liked." [14] In April 2015, a fifth man, Glenn Hults, was charged with conspiracy to commit arson. Shirley: "No.". 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. 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. After speaking with detectives, they went to Mark's sister's home, where they spent the night. But she put an end to that in August 2011.". Among the "no" votes, inexplicably: political dancer Hiram Monserrate. Shirley: "Back in August (2011) she just stopped taking my phone calls and letting me talk to Brook. While she was charged in December 2012 for her role in the explosion, she pleaded guilty to two felony conspiracy charges earlier this year in exchange for her testimony. In November 2014, Glenn Olvey who was trapped with his family in his collapsing house finally gave up on rebuilding his home in the neighborhood. No one else was within earshot, so far as she knew. Somebody knew that I was out of town. Critics have accused Shirley of faking her reaction after the explosion because she seemed upset but never shed a tear. . 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 . So in the end there were a couple of people who were opposed to it, and I respected that. The now 49-year-old originally faced life in prison without parole. Shirley and her boyfriend were hoping to collect $300,000 in insurance . [1] Thirty-three homes were damaged severely enough to require demolition. Shirley says he was working at Eli Lilly at the time, and Monserrate was working as an RN at the VA hospital. I know it caught us by surprise and we had to react to it.. 2023 CIRCLE CITY BROADCASTING I, LLC. This has to be done, Shirley testified. "You can't even do a fire. Download the RTV6 app to get the latest live blog posts as the proceedings unfold. [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." 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. I had to know I could make this case based on the evidence I had.. After that, the fire wasn't mentioned again until the week before Halloween. The family, he said, will never truly get closure. I didn't do nothing wrong.". Saturday morning, they headed to the casino and Mark played a blackjack table, then they went to the bar and sat, waiting to get the phone call their home had caught fire. They'd soon get a new roommate. Shirley stated that her daughter had smelled gas during the week before the explosion. She moved to the United States when she was 25. Shirley and Leonard had gone on television on multiple occasions following the blast to state their innocence, and to ask for privacy. Its because the life of the game itself is the life of the game itself. It had three gas appliances - the water heater, the furnace and the fireplace. A second home was reduced to rubble as well, and other houses were half-collapsed. As his court date neared, the workload ramped up. 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. 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. Holts invited Leonard and Shirley to his friend's house for a pool party in the Geist neighborhood. Glenn told me, Between Mark and Gary, theyre going to explode the whole neighborhood. I said, Dont play like that. HS counselor at board meeting, Serial Indianapolis rapist pleads guilty to 9 counts, Mom speaks out after 2 kids killed by falling tree, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. 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. "(Whoever is responsible will) have to pay for what they did to me and everybody else," Shirley said in the interview. 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). [The residents] clearly knew the Leonards were the bad actors, and that we needed to do everything we could to get to them, Robinson said. 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. [7] Shirley told the police she never smelled any natural gas, but that her daughter had thought she did recently. [7], An investigation involving the Indianapolis Division of Homeland Security, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Indianapolis Fire Department was begun. Hed also been previously accused of insurance fraud in connection with a car accident. (They were) my neighbors for a very long time since we built the house, Shirley said. No one involved in this investigation or prosecution will forget the stories of this tragedy and the continuing fear and trauma that it caused to the survivors. She was the one who got her daughter and her cat out of the situation and left her neighbors in the situation. The truth is, I was scared.. "It's like waking up to this bad dream," Shirley said, her voice cracking as tears flowed down her cheeks. Mark Leonard first mentioned trying to burn the house down in February 2012, according to Shirley. [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. In exchange, she offered him the money in her 401K. She was an RN for more than 20 years, starting her career in Michigan where she attended college, before moving to Indianapolis after her then-husband John Shirley got a job offer there. Monserrate Shirley, 49, would have to testify against former boyfriend Mark Leonard and his brother in the plea deal . -- John Shirley told jurors Tuesday that, while his relationship with his ex-wife Monserrate was severely damaged by the time he moved out, the gas appliances in their home were not. ", Minch: "You said you talked to Ms. Shirley on the 11th. Its an interesting concept. Defense attorneys later pointed out she allowed him to move in and eventually drive her daughter to school despite knowing he was serving house detention for a DUI charge. Yes, I didnt think it would be possible, Monserrate Shirley said.HUGE EXPLOSION. Her sister had lived in the same housing complex. Monserrate Shirley and her boyfriend, Mark Leonard, who lived in the home, along with Leonard's brother, Robert Leonard, were arrested Friday on 48 charges, including murder and arson. 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. On Friday, October 26, Leonard told Shirley to get anything sentimental out of the house. 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. Defense attorney Ted Minch on cross-examination: "You're not happy to be here today." One of the projects he took on was working on the gas line in the fireplace. Monserrate Shirley spent the entire day on the stand Wednesday, and the anticipation of her testimony was evident in courtroom attendance. The next morning, they drove back and saw the house was still standing so they went on to Thompson's house where Leonard confronted him. But the majority supported us.. This time, Leonard worked with Thompson instead of Thompson doing the work while Leonard stood next to him, watching and planning. Contribute to chinapedia/wikipedia.en development by creating an account on GitHub. [31][32][33] Bob Leonard was convicted on all 51 counts, including murder and conspiracy to commit arson, on February 24, 2016. Shirley wasnt a suspect at the time, and the interview was a routine one. She told them she didn't want anything to do with them anymore. Shirleys apology rang hollow to many Richmond Hill residents in the courtroom. It was a good feeling.. Ultimately, she could end up serving 21 years if she maintains good behavior in prison. Four years after thedeadly Richmond Hill explosion, another chapter has closed. That becomes eight years when good time credit is applied. She told her daughter a friend had taken it to put a new frame on it. But ultimately I think we were able to accomplish what we needed to do for her.. Shortly thereafter I moved some furniture into the apartment. 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. They said they didn't know. Glenn Hults, who pleaded guilty to a felony for knowing about the plot but failing to report it to police, is scheduled for sentencing on December 28. "He'll do anything I ask," Mark said of his brother. 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. Shirley says he and Monserrate married on July 17, 1993. At about 11:10p.m., on November 10, 2012, a large explosion occurred in Richmond Hill, a subdivision on the southeast side of Indianapolis. This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. She met Mark Leonard at a bar on November 12, 2011. It was a restaurant that had the name of a famous Italian poet who died young, but the restaurant only lasted for a year. [6] 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 later worked at St. Francis and Community South. Mark Leonard moved in with Monserrate Shirley about a month later. Monserrate Shirley cried at various points Wednesdaybut didnt shed any actual tears. The two divorced on July 25, 2011. She was crying and hysterical and said the house blew up.". With good behavior, her earliest possible release date is Dec. 19, 2032. I was at one of my part-time jobs when I got a text from my daughter, which was very unusual. As stated previously, the investigation and prosecution of this matter has literally taken tens of thousands of hours of effort by numerous individuals. She was wearing a jail jumpsuit, was shackled and her hair had grown long, dark and curly.IM TELLING THE TRUTH. Its about your game being the only game that matters. But after a second round of boarding Snowball the cat, getting a babysitter for Shirleys daughter and setting hotel reservations, the house again was standing. Leonard was being held at the Wabash Valley Correctional Facilitybut was transferred to the hospital several days ago. Would you describe her demeanor the same way?" That was the last time she saw Bob before they were arrested. Ms. Shirley ultimately took responsibility for her actions by pleading guilty and provided important information during the investigation. Shirley met Mark Leonard. "I mean, I'm totally devastated like my neighbors are.". 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. 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. But she had no hesitation when asked to identify the Longworths as her neighbors. They agreed to say they'd been having trouble with the thermostat and smelling gas for a while. Shirley had heard of Bob before, but had not met him before he came over Thursday, November 1. Resolved: Release in which this issue/RFE has been resolved. "Mark can insult [Thompson], and he never does anything," Shirley said. The here, in this case, was the knowing murder of Dion and Jennifer Longworth. "[6] The witness also told investigators that Leonard talked about buying a Ferrari with the insurance money from the house. ", Minch: "You testified that you only used a babysitter maybe once a month, because your lifestyle with Ms. Shirley wasn't such that you went out every weekend?" 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.