It also didnt carry much weight for the families of Dion and Jennifer Longworth, who died in the blast. Shirley and her boyfriend Mark Leonard were out of town for the weekend while her 12-year-old daughter stayed with friends. 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. They enter into evidence two golf bags with clubs and a driver. She never got a call, though. The inmate and Leonard drew up a contract agreeing that Leonard would pay the inmate $15,000 when he was released, the affidavit said. Defense attorneys tried to play that video for jurors Wednesday, but the judge wouldnt allow it. The blast the product of an insurance fraud scheme killed two people and injured dozens of others. On December 21, 2012, Monserrate Shirley, Mark Leonard, and his brother Bob Leonard were charged with 2 counts of felony murder and . wishtv.com your home page, Business, Equity and Opportunities Podcast with Scott Sander. Leonard, his ex-girlfriend Monserrate Shirley, his half-brother Robert Leonard and Mark Leonards former employee blew up Shirleys home in the Richmond Hill subdivision to collect about $300,000 in insurance money to pay off the houses mortgage and Mark Leonards gambling and credit card debts. 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). "You face one, you get over one and you've got another one all the way until the end. (WISH) - Monserrate Shirley told jurors Wednesday she would do anything for Mark Leonard, because she was in love with him. You're a piece of [expletive]. [36] Shirley was sentenced to 50 years in prison, the maximum possible under her plea agreement, on December 20, 2016. Glenn told me, Between Mark and Gary, theyre going to explode the whole neighborhood. I said, Dont play like that. "We had a lot of parties," the late. Her earliest possible release date is December 19, 2037when she will be 72 years old. "Everything they were telling me, it could not be possible," Shirley said on the stand as she started to get emotional. Shirley says Monserrate got the house in the divorce. So you do get concerned about, will they see the arsons? American Greed: Property, auto insurance fraud is $30B problem - WSAV-TV We knew somebody else was involved, and he was the only one whose name consistently came up, but it was only after she cooperated that we were able to charge Gary Thompson and Glenn Hults.. There have been days with only two people in the audience other than media, but there were more than 30 Wednesday. [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. Shirley met Mark Leonard. The topic came up again around July 4. [6] Prosecutors also allege that he offered the hit man a $5,000 bonus if he made the murder look like a suicide. 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. 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. We interviewed our tech expert, Jaime Vazquez, to learn more about accessible smart home devices. 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. Robinson knew that. After that, the fire wasn't mentioned again until the week before Halloween. The home also had a microwave above the stove which had a programmable timer. She still wiped under her eyes with a tissue several times while she was on the stand. Jordan Fischer is the senior digital reporter for RTV6. 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 . 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. His sentencing is set for December 28, 2016 at 1 p.m. Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry issued the following statement: We respect the Courts decision ordering Monserrate Shirley to serve a fifty-year prison sentence for her participation in this senseless conspiracy. After he was done, the fireplace worked properly and they never smelled any gas inside the home because of it. (WISH) Monserrate Shirley told jurors Wednesday she would do anything for Mark Leonard, because she was in love with him. Her sister had lived in the same housing complex. Their funeral was held earlier today. I had a homicide detective crying on the stand. Many of the women reported that they met him on dating sites and that he soon began asking them for money. PREVIOUS|Timeline of events|Gallery: The Richmond Hill Explosion|Where were you at 11:11 PM? 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. More than 4 years later, Monserrate Shirley to be sentenced in Richmond She told him the attempt didnt work but that there would be another attempt. At the end of the interview, Carter asked Shirley what should happen to the person responsible for the explosion. Indiana sheriffs deputy dies after falling ill during training, Myles Colvin captivates Heritage Christian crowds, preps for Purdue. She then spoke with another neighbor, who told her there had been an explosion. While still at the hotel, Mark asked her to call a heating & cooling company on Sunday, November 4, to see what they would charge to check on the heat because the house was too cold. He told her one of the reasons she needed to upgrade the policy was he planned to bring in some nicer things and do some work around the house to improve it and they would need the extra coverage to match the upgrades. Monserrate Shirley, 49, would have to testify against former boyfriend Mark Leonard and his brother in the plea deal . Ms. Shirley, 47, and Mark Leonard, 43, her boyfriend, were 100 miles away at a casino when their home blew up. FORT WAYNE, Ind. She could face 20-50 years in prison. She would then go to a southside bar to meet Mark before they left for the casino. When she left that morning, her daughterand Snowball were still there (Mark was going to take them to school and the kennel). We believed that he did, we had some very thin evidence that he did. "That cannot be real. I know it caught us by surprise and we had to react to it.. Leonard started talking the next week about trying for a second time to burn down the home. Shirley told jurors he lost a number of things in the explosion, including a collection of tennis rackets and a drafting table. "That's not what you told me," she remembered saying to Mark. I see a con artist when I look at her., If she really is apologetic, then I accept the apology, said Dion Longworths father, John Longworth. To do that, the team moved 80 boxes of documents connected to the case to an office on the east side of Indianapolis. He couldn't get a card to play with so she got a card for him and played on his behalf. [22], On January 16, 2015, Shirley agreed to a plea deal with prosecutors. He says sometimes strong winds would blow out the pilot light when someone opened the garage door. I want everyone to know how sorry I am for this horrible tragedy, she said in court in front of Richmond Hill residents. The sentence accounts for time served and good time credit. | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. "Shortly thereafter I moved some furniture into the apartment. [6] They had arranged for Shirley's 12-year-old daughter to stay with friends and had boarded their cat, Snowball, for the weekend. 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. Woman pleads guilty in deadly Indianapolis explosion - CBS News . 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. 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. IndyStar reporter Robert King contributed to this story. No one else was within earshot, so far as she knew. Her role in the plan and execution of this act protected her own child and the family pet, but failed to consider the obvious danger it presented to anyone else. "I have everybody telling me stuff that they said on the TV," she said. Including journalists, it was closer to four dozen. He was sentenced in August to two life sentences, along with 75 years in prison. Start the day smarter Notable deaths in 2023 The world's largest war 2023 meteor showers "He'll do anything I ask," Mark said of his brother. Police arrest Monserrate Shirley, Mark Leonard and Robert Leonard for Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Write For Us: Investigative Articles are Intriguing. When we got in this case, we were asked to save her life, said defense attorney James Voyles. A copy of her plea agreement was entered into evidence and handed out to each member of the jury. Richmond Hill explosion: Where are they now? - indystar.com But the majority supported us.. She wanted to put it on her plate. 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. 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. The couple's steamy relationship lasted for about a month before they moved in together. I said OK, she said. Monserrate Shirley detailed the multiple attempts made to set the house on fire prior to the explosion that leveled the home. [7] Shirley told the police she never smelled any natural gas, but that her daughter had thought she did recently. He did come to the house one week before the first attempt. towns among 150 Best Small Town in America, Citizens support Ind. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Shirley Temple's Children Remember Their Late Mother - Closer Weekly 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. 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. One small job. ", Minch: "At no time did she ever say she was involved in the explosion?" Monserrate Shirley said Mark Leonard was very, very mad., Mark Leonard said, Were going to do it again. I didnt want it to affect the trial date, Robinson said. 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. Carter would testify that her emotions and demeanor seemed normal at the time, for someone whose house had just blown up. Of the dozens and dozens of homes damaged by the blast, 33 were affected so severely they had to be demolished. Prosecutors ask if Shirley was asked by police to identify personal property following the explosion. Says Sen. Tom. . Leonard went to pick up Thompson in the white van witnesses in the neighborhood have previously testified seeing in Shirley's driveway. RICHMOND HILL: Shirley's ex takes the stand - WRTV 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. Contribute to chinapedia/wikipedia.en development by creating an account on GitHub. If I could bring Dion and Jennifer back, I would do that in a heartbeat, she said. Gary Thompsonwas handed a 30-year prison sentence, 20 years executed, for his role in the murderous insurance fraud scheme. Its about remembering who you are. "No one deserves what happened," she said. The problem was that none of that criminal history would be admissible at trial. She owned the house. But no other problems. In Indianapolis, Search For Answers Continues After Massive - NPR Shirley: "Yes. She, at first, struggled to identify her other neighbors. [10] Included on the probable cause affidavit were complaints from several women claiming that Leonard scammed them out of thousands of dollars. Its quite obvious that monserrate is the source of the name in this case. Neighbors, family testify in sentencing hearing of Monserrate Shirley, owner of the home. Shirley: "No.". Even years later, Robinson says she doesnt know why Black brought the hitman allegations up.