I did everything to make him happy, Monserrate Shirley said in testimony. [21] Mark Leonard was granted a change of venue and was tried in South Bend. ", She said Mark told her, "It cannot be that bad.Don't worry about it. I had to know I could make this case based on the evidence I had.. Mark was a handsome man with sex appeal and a lot of money, judging by his stash of cash and fast luxury cars. 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. Make Prosecuting Mark Leonard presented with some challenges. Later that same day, an attorney asked Shirley if the Longworths deserved what happened to them. Ms. Shirley, 47, and Mark Leonard, 43, her boyfriend, were 100 miles away at a casino when their home blew up. I commend Det. In Indianapolis, Search For Answers Continues After Massive - NPR 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. At one point you replaced the thermostat." They decided to cut a piece of cardboard to block off the chimney path. She will not learn her fate until after all four of her alleged co-conspirators has been tried. 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. Marion County Superior Court Judge Sheila Carlisle sentenced Monserrate Shirley to spend the maximum sentence of 50 years in prison on Tuesday. 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. She would sit with him, eat and drink and occasionally play slot machines. Deputy Prosecutor DeniseRobinson has said she will argue for 50 when the time comes. "They are currently in the process of recovering the appliances from destroyed homes to help determine the cause.". Investigators quickly honed in on the home's owner, Monserrate Shirley, her boyfriend Mark Leonard and his brother, Bob Leonard Jr., as the primary suspects. "The State asked questions about [the interview] andthe judge said on the record that he saw no difference in her demeanor [on the video] than what she did today and that was our whole point: that she can tell a lie as easy as she tells the truth.". Shirley is originally from Puerto Rico. 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. Im thankful for my trial team for sticking with me. GitHub export from English Wikipedia. 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. Everything's under control.". Shirley told her daughternot to come back to the house for any reason, though she didn't explain why not. This story is Chapter III of a three-part series. I was introduced to this once-a-year dish at a party and she was one of the first people to give it a shot. [6] Investigators said personal insurance on the home had recently been increased to $300,000. You were a mom. Its very difficult sentencing hearing weve been through for two days. 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. Its a difficult case. Its about becoming who you were meant to be. Shirley Temple's Children Remember Their Late Mother - Closer Weekly 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. Once they were alone, Leonard, Holts and Shirley started talking about the fire again while they sat around the pool drinking beer. Again, Monserrate agreed to do her same three preparations: a casino hotel reservation, a babysitter for her daughterand boarding for Snowball. One of the projects he took on was working on the gas line in the fireplace. "(Whoever is responsible will) have to pay for what they did to me and everybody else," Shirley said in the interview. It also didnt carry much weight for the families of Dion and Jennifer Longworth, who died in the blast. An autopsy will be conducted by the Marion County coroner's office Wednesday, according to the DOC. There was discussion about: Should we cut all of those? Eventually, hed be asked to repeat her answer at her boyfriends murder trial. 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. Leonard is charged with 53 counts of murder, arson and conspiracy. Inquiry Into Indianapolis Blast Suggests Scheme Gone Wrong - The New Most importantly, Shirleys testimony would further tip the scales against the Leonard brothers. The Richmond Hill neighbors had been waiting long enough without a trial. She was the one who got her daughter and her cat out of the situation and left her neighbors in the situation. By the time wed got to trial, hed already been in jail for going on three years. Thompson left after a few hours and Shirley didn't hear anything else before the first attempt that Saturday. He eventually improved enough to return home, but Shirley had to continue caring for him for several months. Prosecutors then proposed an unusual strategy involving one trial, but three separate juries, one for each defendant. He says he and Monserrate never boarded the cat when they were married. Did you see her on TV a few days later? By December 2014, two years after the explosion in the Richmond Hill subdivision, prosecutors were preparing to go to trial without any cooperating witnesses. Shirley said she has been reeling from the pain of people blaming her for the tragic event. Richmond Hill Explosion - indyencyclopedia.org Monserrate Shirley spent the entire day on the stand Wednesday, and the anticipation of her testimony was evident in courtroom attendance. She found a house with a floorplan she liked." 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. Ms. Shirley ultimately took responsibility for her actions by pleading guilty and provided important information during the investigation. They went to the casino and waited for the call that a fire had broken out, but again, the call never came. [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 the last time she would be in her home before the explosion. It would have shortened the trial a week. American Greed: Property, auto insurance fraud is $30B problem - WSAV-TV Shirley owned the home at the epicenter of the November 2012 explosion that killed two people and damaged dozens of other homes causing more than $4 million in damages. And I understand it, because of their feelings about her. 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. 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. When the relationship first started, she said, "He was a nice guy. BREAKING: By a vote of 24-38, New York's State Senate has voted against same-sex marriage legislation. 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. . Four years after Richmond Hill explosion, Monserrate Shirley to be At the center of the case, Mark Leonard, a womanizer with gambling debts who preyed on divorcees, hatched an arson plot for money with his girlfriend, Monserrate Shirley. So in the end there were a couple of people who were opposed to it, and I respected that. Shirley had heard of Bob before, but had not met him before he came over Thursday, November 1. The game of death is a pretty popular one, but its not just because of the game of death; its also the game of life itself. 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. As fate would have it, it would be Carter, just a few weeks later, who would place Monserrate Shirley in handcuffs. I know it caught us by surprise and we had to react to it.. monserrate is the name of the dish, as well as its chef and owner. 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. Richmond Hill explosion - Wikipedia 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. Notifications can be turned off anytime in the browser settings. He gave her $3,000 to use, and they lost it all. Many people may remember Shirley giving an interview to the media, including WISH-TV, after the 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 . Another woman reported that she had loaned him about $5,000 for a construction job, which he had yet to pay back. JDK-8141210 : Very slow loading of JavaScript file with recent JDK 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. Her house exploded on their third attempt of trying to claim insurance money. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated. He leaves to cherish his memory his daughters: Britney Morales (Malcolm Richardson) and Maria Morales: two step-daughters Latasha (Nathan) Roberts and Kizzy Carter; three grandchildren and a host of other relatives and friends. 'But for Monserrate Shirley:' Betrayal next door - WRTV The defense team started their cross-examination by establishing Shirley's ability to make life-and-death decisions in high-pressure situations while a charge nurse in the ICU. Deputy prosecutor Denise Robinson returned from prosecuting the Richmond Hill cases to a pile of homicides waiting on her desk. As stated previously, the investigation and prosecution of this matter has literally taken tens of thousands of hours of effort by numerous individuals. He told her his friend Glenn Holts had done the same at his own house with help from Gary Thompson, who worked for Leonard at the time. FORT WAYNE, Ind. 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. Mark Leonard was the first to go on trial. Shirley and her boyfriend were hoping to collect $300,000 in insurance . 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. They had left town the night before, after Ms. Shirley's nursing shift at a local. 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. Its been around since the late 80s, but Im sure well find more of it on our own site. Shirley: "Yes. We firmly believed that Gary Thompson played a role, but until she cooperated, we couldnt prove that, Robinson said. 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. "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.". Every day I ask myself why I didnt stop this. [26], In a case unrelated to the explosion charges, Mark Leonard and two other men were charged with conspiracy to commit insurance fraud. Wednesday in court, Shirley said that at the July 4th pool party, she called lighting the house on fire crazy. And I look at all the opportunity she had where she could have gone for help and she never did.. Prosecutors ask if Shirley was asked by police to identify personal property following the explosion. Shirley: "She lost everything. [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. So in the game of death, monserrate daughter is the Shirley of the game of death. Before meeting Mark, Shirley had never been to a casino. I said, You guys are crazy, that my house is too big.. The defense said if prosecutors wrapped up early enough on Thursday, they could call all of their witnesses that day alone and closing arguments could be held Friday, July 10. "She lost everything," he said. She still wiped under her eyes with a tissue several times while she was on the stand. In court Wednesday, she said he turned on the gas, but never lit the fire. 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. "I thought it was crazy," she told a jury, "but I went along with him." This time, Leonard worked with Thompson instead of Thompson doing the work while Leonard stood next to him, watching and planning. Again, she said, "Because I was not able to tell him 'no'." At least three of his possessions did survive, however: two golf bags, with clubs, and a driver he'd been gifted. I should have been there.". She said she did not tell officers at the time what happened because she was scared. 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. He says the log lighter worked fine when he lived there. 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. Thats time served, and hes out. Neighbors, family testify in sentencing hearing of Monserrate Shirley, owner of the home. The sentence accounts for time served and good. But I dont feel bad for the deceased.. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The force of the blast shattered windows and ripped down garage doors at dozens of other homes in the neighborhood. In the game of death, monserrate daughter is the only way to be reunited with the game of life. I want everyone to know how sorry I am for this horrible tragedy, she said in court in front of Richmond Hill residents.