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It wasnt the only curveball Black and Shircliff would throw at the prosecution. 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. I didnt want it to affect the trial date, Robinson said. Defense attorney Ted Minch on cross-examination: "You're not happy to be here today." [13] A fourth person, Gary Thompson, was charged in January 2015 on the same charges. [5], Monserrate "Moncy" Shirley, a nurse, owned the home at the center of the explosion. [18], Prosecutors initially sought to try the suspects together, but the defendants were granted the right to separate trials. Will they get to the felony murder?. He occasionally worked on those cars at Shirley's home so she saw he had a wide array of tools. She was able to take that to the prosecutor and get a protective order against me. 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. Attorneys walked Shirley through a number of conversations she had with Mark Leonard from the time they met until the house exploded. I certainly might feel bad for his family. I care about people. Leonard got sick in March 2012. Then there was the question of Leonards history. 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. 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. | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 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. ", "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. Monserrate Shirley and Mark leonard, profiled on the next "American Greed," staged a natural gas explosion to collect the insurance on their Indianapolis home. 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. The problem was that none of that criminal history would be admissible at trial. She met Mark Leonard at a bar on November 12, 2011. Powerball winner sold in central Indiana! [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. This time, Leonard worked with Thompson instead of Thompson doing the work while Leonard stood next to him, watching and planning. I dont wish them any hardship. 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. Prosecutors alleged Leonard was the mastermind behind the explosion, plotting with his. Robinson could not tell them, for example, that Shirley would be facing a sentencing range of 20-50 years in prison. 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. The third weekends attempt was the one that killed the Longworths. After her 12 hour shift, she planned to see her daughter at the Holts' house and change there. Its a game that only you can play. Hed also been previously accused of insurance fraud in connection with a car accident. And that, Im sure, will never change.. Bob Leonard's son told investigators that several items were in the van that had been taken from the home, including photos and financial documents. 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. The stove was electric. 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. 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. An autopsy will be conducted by the Marion County coroner's office Wednesday, according to the DOC. They got to the room, but Mark wasn't feeling well so he stayed there while Shirley played slot machines for about an hour. Her sister had lived in the same housing complex. [29] He was sentenced to life in prison plus 75 years without parole on August 14, 2015. [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. Indiana sheriffs deputy dies after falling ill during training, Myles Colvin captivates Heritage Christian crowds, preps for Purdue. I had seen it used in a couple of games, but I never knew it was the name of a real person. 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. The home also had a microwave above the stove which had a programmable timer. [16] On March 13, Leonard allegedly placed a call to a man who he believed to be a hit man. I was at one of my part-time jobs when I got a text from my daughter, which was very unusual. From confusion to conviction, Richmond Hill blast recapped. Ultimately, she could end up serving 21 years if she maintains good behavior in prison. She never got a call, though. [19] Judge Shelia Carlisle rejected the proposal, noting that no Indiana law authorizes the use of concurrent jury trials. . Shirley, her boyfriend Mark Leonard, and three others were convicted and sentenced to prison on various charges, including felony murder for Leonard. 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. At the end of the interview, Carter asked Shirley what should happen to the person responsible for the explosion. 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. "Everything they were telling me, it could not be possible," Shirley said on the stand as she started to get emotional. You're done.". They went home together that night and he moved in the first week of December. "[6] The witness also told investigators that Leonard talked about buying a Ferrari with the insurance money from the house. Mark. In an interview with former RTV6 reporter Stacia Matthews, Shirley suggested the explosion may have been an attempt on her life. He never gave her money like that again, but did play with his own money, spending anywhere from $2,000 - 10,000 each trip. ", Holts then asked who would get the money if they went through with it and Mark said, "Of course, me. At least three of his possessions did survive, however: two golf bags, with clubs, and a driver he'd been gifted. [16][17] The alleged motive for the arson was to collect insurance money to ease financial strain. He faces up to life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted. 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. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Would you describe her demeanor the same way?" We firmly believed that Gary Thompson played a role, but until she cooperated, we couldnt prove that, Robinson said. In court, Shirley testified Leonard had promised to show her how to make a lot of money. He said that his daughter had mentioned that the furnace wasn't . She asked Mark and Bob what happened that made it be an explosion instead of a fire. Both the prosecution and defense attorneys asked Shirley if she thought Hults was joking. IndyStar reporter Robert King contributed to this story. I had a homicide detective crying on the stand. I cant give back what was taken from them on November 10. Shirley met Mark Leonard. More than one-third of the families who lived in the neighborhood on the night of the blast have since moved away for good. Jurors will later hear that the golf bags and clubs were found at Bob Leonard's home after the explosion. [8], Prosecutors alleged that on the Friday before the explosion, Leonard and his brother Bob spoke with a neighbor who was a Citizens Energy employee, asking that person about the differences between natural gas and propane. 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. 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. 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. 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. Robinson has said she will argue for 50 when the time comes. 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. The name comes from a restaurant that is on the run called theserie rossa which translates to the run of the wits. Monserrate Shirley spent the entire day on the stand Wednesday, and the anticipation of her testimony was evident in courtroom attendance. "He'll do anything I ask," Mark said of his brother. 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. Shirley told jurors he lost a number of things in the explosion, including a collection of tennis rackets and a drafting table. "In order to pay a very large amount of child support, I was working a full-time job and two part-time jobs," he 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. 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.