An autopsy will be conducted by the Marion County coroner's office Wednesday, according to the DOC. They agreed to say they'd been having trouble with the thermostat and smelling gas for a while. At the trial I had firefighters crying on the stand. When she got home, Mark told her he and Bob had gone to the library to research other similar homes that had been set on fire without anyone getting hurt. Amazingly, despite the force of the explosion, a hybrid pear tree planted by Dion Longworth still grows in the yard where he and his wife Jennifers house once stood. And you have to weigh that out? I had a homicide detective crying on the stand. She took care of all three. 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. Its about your game being the only game that matters. FOLLOW|Rafael Sanchez on Twitter|Jordan Fischer on Twitter, RELATED LINKS |Richmond Hill Special Section|Mark Ray Leonard convicted on all counts. ", 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?" For years, the team holed up in that office three days a week to avoid being distracted by other ongoing cases. But ultimately I think we were able to accomplish what we needed to do for her.. The now 49-year-old originally faced life in prison without parole. Monserrate Shirley said Mark Leonard was very, very mad., Mark Leonard said, Were going to do it again. 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. Shirley stated that her daughter had smelled gas during the week before the explosion. "I moved out in February of 2011," he said. Shirley says he and Monserrate married on July 17, 1993. Richmond Hill Explosion - indyencyclopedia.org [7] Shirley told the police she never smelled any natural gas, but that her daughter had thought she did recently. Shirley said after he and his wife's divorce was finalized in July 2011, the last time he was at the home at 8349 Fieldfare Way was August of that year. She told them she didn't want anything to do with them anymore. "You face one, you get over one and you've got another one all the way until the end. Write For Us: Investigative Articles are Intriguing. monserrate is the name of the dish, as well as its . 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. 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 . The here, in this case, was the knowing murder of Dion and Jennifer Longworth. Her sister had lived in the same housing complex. Their funeral was held earlier today. This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. But a whole days-worth of potential jurors would end up tainted anyway not by media coverage, but by Leonards defense team. "They are currently in the process of recovering the appliances from destroyed homes to help determine the cause.". 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. Iwas scared. Critics have accused Shirley of faking her reaction after the explosion because she seemed upset but never shed a tear. From confusion to conviction, Richmond Hill blast recapped. Richmond Hill explosion - Wikipedia [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. He says the log lighter worked fine when he lived there. [14] Shirley admitted raising the limit on her insurance coverage at Mark Leonard's urging, and only went along with the plot out of love for him. [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. On multiple occasions Wednesday, Shirley said she didnt say no to Mark Leonard because she loved him. But the plan went horribly awry when a vast amount of natural gas had built up in the home before something set inside a microwave oven ignited the blaze. He told her to tell Holts, though, that they would be trying the fire again that night (Sunday night). She was too involved. I was at one of my part-time jobs when I got a text from my daughter, which was very unusual. She never got a call, though. We again offer our condolences to the families of Dion and Jennifer Longworth and to those who suffered injury and loss. Below, find a transcript of John Shirley's testimony from Tuesday's hearing: 2:22 p.m. John Shirley, Monserrate Shirley's ex-husband, called as witness. Monserrate Shirley was a divorced Puerto Rican mother whose exotic looks quickly attracted Mark Leonard. Somebody knew that I was out of town. Both the prosecution and defense attorneys asked Shirley if she thought Hults was joking. ", Minch: "You said you talked to Ms. Shirley on the 11th. Much of Tuesdays testimony included accounts of Shirleys difficult childhood. Just to prepare the evidence list which eventually numbered more than 2,000 items Robinson said the entire four-person team worked 24 hours straight. Too little, too late, said Jennifer Longworths father, Don Buxton. He was sentenced to 3 years in prison. 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. West's Mortuary, Inc. Mark and Bob stayed in the garage while they talked about what Bob's part would be, while Shirley stayed inside. He says he and Monserrate never boarded the cat when they were married. The first time Shirley cried on the stand Wednesday was when she was asked about her neighbors. The brothers were sentenced to terms of life without parole for spearheading the conspiracy. She and her daughterwent to the hotel, where Mark later joined them. Indianapolis explosion may have been caused by furnace, says owner of 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. Shirley had heard of Bob before, but had not met him before he came over Thursday, November 1. While Shirley and the Leonards had been sitting in jail, Robinson and Hollingsworth had been traveling to the ATF lab in Washington D.C. to learn about explosions and taking a crash course on natural gas. It was a good feeling.. I don't want anyone to get hurt," then started cooking dinner. Dont make that kind of joke, Shirley testified. 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. Shirley and her boyfriend Mark Leonard were out of town for the weekend while her 12-year-old daughter stayed with friends. She said that she hasn't been eating or sleeping well and that she has been taking Xanax to get what little sleep she can. The first attempt was supposed to be carried out by Gary Thompson, but it failed. Psychologist Dr. Stephanie Callaway diagnosed her with dependent personality disorder, but stated under cross-examination that, while the diagnosis explains Shirley's actions, it does not absolve her of responsibility. Make She was able to take that to the prosecutor and get a protective order against me. By December 2014, two years after the explosion in the Richmond Hill subdivision, prosecutors were preparing to go to trial without any cooperating witnesses. Leonards death doesnt change the fact that Jennifer and Dion died, Buxton said. I dont feel bad for Mr. Leonard, said Don Buxton, father of Jennifer Longworth, who was killed in the blast with her husband, Dion. 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. They then worked to establish a pattern of poor decisions in her personal life and changing stories throughout the investigation. I was scared for my life and the life of my daughter., Forgive me for my poor choices in life, she continued. She later found out her neighbors didnt make it. Woman tells of failed tries before deadly Indianapolis house explosion The entire day she answered questions from attorneys, repeatedly crying. The program is a spin-off of the Oxygen series Snapped and has a similar format to the Investigation Discovery program Wicked Attraction. Shirley says he was paying Monserrate $1,000 a month in child support and mortgage payments. So there wasnt a great deal of pressure on us, or desire by us, to offer her anything.. They started looking around the house at potential ways to start the fire. Carter would testify that her emotions and demeanor seemed normal at the time, for someone whose house had just blown up. She found a house with a floorplan she liked." ", 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]. (They were) my neighbors for a very long time since we built the house, Shirley said. 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. But I dont feel bad for the deceased.. "No one.". Jordan Fischer is the senior digital reporter for RTV6. More: Richmond Hill: 'The scars still remain', More: Richmond Hill explosion: 'It's the toughest thing I've ever done in my career', More: Richmond Hill explosion: 7 keys that solved the case. He asked how much was in the 401k, according to Shirley. A prosecuting attorney showed her a photo of the house that exploded and asked her who lived on either side of her. 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. She remained in the house as the sole owner until the explosion. The stove was electric. 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. A tag already exists with the provided branch name. News, information &. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. You're a piece of [expletive]. I dont believe in vengeance and I know that my son is not a person that would accept vengeance and such things, he didnt live that way., I look at Monserrate Shirley and I see a wasted life, said Tony Burnett, who lived across the street from Shirley. Shirley didn't hear anything more about a plot to start a fire that night, and nothing happened. "Everybody's pointing a finger at me like I did something wrong," Shirley said in a video posted on the Indianapolis Star newspaper's website. "You can't even do a fire. Shirley spent hours on the stand. 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. . And I think when the motivation is that, what we have is a person who is the worst of the worst.. BREAKING: By a vote of 24-38, New York's State Senate has voted against same-sex marriage legislation. Aaron Carter. They decided to cut a piece of cardboard to block off the chimney path. Robinson also couldnt tell the residents that Shirleys cooperation would mean charges against two more suspects: Gary Thompson and Glenn Hults. 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. And the water heater." Indianapolis blast: house owner, 2 others accused of deadly plot . They said they didn't know. Powerball winner sold in central Indiana! 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. She has already been behind bars for four years. As stated previously, the investigation and prosecution of this matter has literally taken tens of thousands of hours of effort by numerous individuals. Will they get to the felony murder?. They got to the room, but Mark wasn't feeling well so he stayed there while Shirley played slot machines for about an hour. I care about people. 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. 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. She met Mark Leonard at a bar on November 12, 2011. Shirley: "Yes. 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. 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 could face 20-50 years in prison. She will be 72 years old. No one deserved what happened. But she put an end to that in August 2011.". He says he "was very surprised" to learn Snowball had been boarded on the night of the explosion. Marion County Superior Court Judge Sheila Carlisle sentenced Monserrate Shirley to spend the maximum sentence of 50 years in prison on Tuesday. After the first failure, Leonard decided he also wanted to bring in his half-brother, Bob. Marion County Superior Court Judge Sheila Carlisle sentenced Monserrate Shirley to spend the maximum sentence of 50 years in prison on Tuesday. 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. That hit man was later revealed to be an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Are they going to get bored with it?. Leonard was being held at the Wabash Valley Correctional Facilitybut was transferred to the hospital several days ago. Shirley had earlier cooperated in providing testimony against alleged co-conspirators but. She asked Mark not to try the house fire plan again. Would you describe her demeanor the same way?" Says Sen. Tom. 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. 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 They are charged with. 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 . [27], Mark Leonard's trial began in June 2015. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated. Shirley: "I moved out in February of 2011. [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. In a deposition before the trial, though, she reported saying, "I'm not doing this. Shirley: "Yes. Having Shirley as a witness came with its own pitfalls, though. [36] Shirley was sentenced to 50 years in prison, the maximum possible under her plea agreement, on December 20, 2016. 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. Glenn Hults, a friend of Leonard's who said he knew about the plot beforehand but didn't call police, was sentenced to three years. In an interview with former RTV6 reporter Stacia Matthews, Shirley suggested the explosion may have been an attempt on her life. To do that, the team moved 80 boxes of documents connected to the case to an office on the east side of Indianapolis. Leonard is charged with 53 counts of murder, arson and conspiracy. PREVIOUS | Full testimony: Monserrate Shirley takes the stand. The explosion in the subdivision just south of the city on Saturday, Nov. 10, killed John and Jennifer Longworth. And I wanted to be able to tell them everything., TRANSCRIPT | The full testimony of Monserrate Shirley. 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. 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. Shirley: "Back in August (2011) she just stopped taking my phone calls and letting me talk to Brook. . She grabbed a few pictures, including the canvas portrait of her daughterat age 5 that hung above the fireplace. A second mortgage had been taken out on the home for $65,000 in addition to the original mortgage of $116,000. 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. The couple's steamy relationship lasted for about a month before they moved in together. She was crying and hysterical and said the house blew up.". Authorities blamed a natural gas explosion inside the home of Monserrate Shirley, who was away at the time of the explosion. I tried to ignore Mark Leonards history as much as I could, Robinson said. Shirley told her daughternot to come back to the house for any reason, though she didn't explain why not. 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. Richmond Hill Explosion - indyencyclopedia.org "[6] The witness also told investigators that Leonard talked about buying a Ferrari with the insurance money from the house. Bob had been asking for his $10,000 payment before the explosion even happened. I certainly might feel bad for his family. Leonard started talking the next week about trying for a second time to burn down the home. When asked why she didn't take Leonard's hospitalization in March 2012 as an opportunity not to let him back into her home since she knew what he wanted to do by that point, she said she couldn't turn away a sick person.