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 Today, Snowball, a white Persian cat, is in the care of John Shirley, Monserrate's ex-husband. She was wearing a jail jumpsuit, was shackled and her hair had grown long, dark and curly.IM TELLING THE TRUTH. . She wanted to put it on her plate. Monserrate Shirley, 49, would have to testify against former boyfriend Mark Leonard and his brother in the plea deal . Their challenge was to distill two-and-a-half years of research and investigation into a six week trial without losing the jury in the process. The truth is, I was scared.. Once they were alone, Leonard, Holts and Shirley started talking about the fire again while they sat around the pool drinking beer. From confusion to conviction, Richmond Hill blast recapped. Again, Monserrate agreed to do her same three preparations: a casino hotel reservation, a babysitter for her daughterand boarding for Snowball. Bob had been asking for his $10,000 payment before the explosion even happened. She transferred from her job in Michigan to the VA hospital in Indianapolis, where she worked for 17 years, focusing in the ICU. And you have to weigh that out? She asked Mark not to try the house fire plan again. Then there was the question of Leonards history. Before meeting Mark, Shirley had never been to a casino. She moved to the United States when she was 25. Shirley said she has been reeling from the pain of people blaming her for the tragic event. Shirley says the house had three gas appliances when he lived there: furnace, water heater and fireplace. 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. A prosecuting attorney showed her a photo of the house that exploded and asked her who lived on either side of her. The problem was that none of that criminal history would be admissible at trial. "[6] The witness also told investigators that Leonard talked about buying a Ferrari with the insurance money from the house. The home was owned by his girlfriend at the time, Monserrate Shirley, who testified earlier this month that Bob. At the end of the interview, Carter asked Shirley what should happen to the person responsible for the explosion. HOW TO SOLVE ERROR CODE PII_EMAIL_DE03C2D55A4B639F558D. Monserrate Shirley spent the entire day on the stand Wednesday, and the anticipation of her testimony was evident in courtroom attendance. Mark and Bob stayed in the garage while they talked about what Bob's part would be, while Shirley stayed inside. Shirley says Monserrate's sister moved out of the neighborhood around the same time they moved in. He was working in Fishers on the night of the explosion. Shirley: "She wanted us to live in a bigger house. [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." 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. But she put an end to that in August 2011.". She still wiped under her eyes with a tissue several times while she was on the stand. 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. (They were) my neighbors for a very long time since we built the house, Shirley said. . 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. Shirley said she recalled telling them two innocent people die out of this.THIS HAS TO BE DONE. "I have everybody telling me stuff that they said on the TV," she said. Prosecutors ask if Shirley was asked by police to identify personal property following the explosion. Shirley testified Leonard asked to see the insurance policy on the home within a few weeks of moving in. We did the right thing, for the right reason, and got the right result in the right way.. PHOTOS: First Richmond Hill trial Mark Leonard is on. Shirley stated that her daughter had smelled gas during the week before the explosion. Gary Thompson pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit arson and received a 30-year sentence, with 10 years suspended. Says Sen. Tom. That hit man was later revealed to be an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. He was sentenced to two life sentences without parole, as well as 70 years from other charges, on March 18, 2016. 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. "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.". John moved out in February 2010 and their divorce was finalized that summer. Monserrate Shirley and Mark leonard, profiled on the next "American Greed," staged a natural gas explosion to collect the insurance on their Indianapolis home. To this day, absolutely they had the right to do that. 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. She later found out her neighbors didnt make it. Of the dozens and dozens of homes damaged by the blast, 33 were affected so severely they had to be demolished. "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.". Shirley met Mark Leonard. The case was expected to be the largest and most expensive trial in Marion County history. He occasionally worked on those cars at Shirley's home so she saw he had a wide array of tools. Hed also been previously accused of insurance fraud in connection with a car accident. 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. Leonard was at the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility inSullivan County serving two life sentences for his role in the explosion that rocked the southeast-side neighborhood that destroyed five homes and damaged more than 80 others. The program is a spin-off of the Oxygen series Snapped and has a similar format to the Investigation Discovery program Wicked Attraction. And in each of those categories, you betrayed your trust.. 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. She was 11 years old at that point. Home owner, Monserrate Shirley; her boyfriend, Mark Leonard; and his brother, Bob Leonard, were arrested Friday and charged with murder and arson Prosecutors may seek the death penalty Fire. Shirley stated that her daughter had smelled gas during the week before the explosion. [22], On January 16, 2015, Shirley agreed to a plea deal with prosecutors. On multiple occasions Wednesday, Shirley said she didnt say no to Mark Leonard because she loved him. 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. She and her husband Gabriel Ferrer (son of Rosemary Clooney and Jos Ferrer, and a first cousin to George Clooney) had four children: Jordan Alexander Ferrer (born July 8, 1980), twin girls (Gabrielle Monserrate Ferrer & Dustin Boone Ferrer, born September 17, 1983), and Tessa Ferrer (born March 30, 1986). They agreed to say they'd been having trouble with the thermostat and smelling gas for a while. She said they should be punished, Carter testified. 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. Shirley says he was worried Brook's cat Snowball was in the house and might have been killed. Shed said similar things in an interview with IMPD Det. Robinson has said she will argue for 50 when the time comes. He was sentenced to 75 years in prison on the arson charges on top of two life sentences for the murder charges. The most money she ever remembered seeing him lose on a single trip was $7,000. 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. 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. Shirley says they were his. 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. Im telling the truth and nothing but the truth was a phrase repeated by Monserrate Shirley throughout the day. This has to be done, Shirley testified. Thirty-three homes were damaged so severely they were deemed unrecoverable, and had to be torn down to the foundation. Shirley says he and Monserrate married on July 17, 1993. Glenn Hults, who had known of the scheme and kept Shirleys daughter Brooke out of the house, pleaded guilty on Dec. 28, 2016, to one count of assisting a criminal. The couple's steamy relationship lasted for about a month before they moved in together. While questioning potential jurors, one of Leonards attorneys, Diane Black, brought up out of the blue that her client had tried to hire a hitman from jail to kill his friend, and potential witness against him, Mark Duckworth. The entire day she answered questions from attorneys, repeatedly crying. The blast the product of an insurance fraud scheme killed two people and injured dozens of others. Monserrate Shirley entered a guilty plea in the case that started as an insurance scam in Richmond Hill in 2012. They said they didn't know. She asked that Mark and Bob switch it back out for the nicer version. [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. "We had a lot of parties," the late. When we got in this case, we were asked to save her life, said defense attorney James Voyles. Shirley: "I moved out in February of 2011. But no other problems. Jordan Fischer is the senior digital reporter for RTV6. Shirley said she was attracted to Mark Leonard, particularly noting he was well-dressed and had bleach blonde hair. But ultimately I think we were able to accomplish what we needed to do for her.. After demands for a vote on the bill, we finally received one. He says he "was very surprised" to learn Snowball had been boarded on the night of the explosion. [39] Glenn Hults received a three-year sentence.[40]. BREAKING: By a vote of 24-38, New York's State Senate has voted against same-sex marriage legislation. Many Git commands accept both tag and branch names, so creating this branch may cause unexpected behavior. And I look at all the opportunity she had where she could have gone for help and she never did.. If your child will play baseball or softball this spring, youll need to stock up on appropriate clothing and equipment. 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.. At the time of the explosion, Shirley says he was living in Noblesville. Authorities blamed a natural gas explosion inside the home of Monserrate Shirley, who was away at the time of the explosion. SOUTH BEND, Ind. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. . 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. Mark then asked Bob twice to "go get the part that we need." She died at age 85 in 2014, but Shirley Temple's childrenand fans gathered in LA on Monday, April 23 to celebrate what would have been her 90th birthday. The next time, Monserrate Shirley said Mark Leonards brother, Bob, was supposed to carry out the plan. Glenn told me, Between Mark and Gary, theyre going to explode the whole neighborhood. I said, Dont play like that. But I dont feel bad for the deceased.. It was a restaurant that had the name of a famous Italian poet who died young, but the restaurant only lasted for a year. The jury found 46-year-old Mark Leonard guilty of all counts against him, including murder and felony murder. They claim that Leonard wanted the hit man to force the witness to call 9-1-1 and recant his statement before killing him. She grew up in Puerto Rico with a violently abusive father who would often beat Shirley as well as her siblings and mother. Marion County Superior Court Judge Sheila Carlisle sentenced Monserrate Shirley to spend the maximum sentence of 50 years in prison on Tuesday. They got to the room, but Mark wasn't feeling well so he stayed there while Shirley played slot machines for about an hour. [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. Snapped: Killer Couples (known as Killer Couples from seasons 7 to 15) is an American true crime television series currently airing on the Oxygen Network.The program details couples who commit crimes together. To see the faces of the neighborhood people and the sense of relief and calmness when the verdicts came in was a good thing, Garza said. She was the one who got her daughter and her cat out of the situation and left her neighbors in the situation. 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. Its about becoming who you were meant to be. She said she did not tell officers at the time what happened because she was scared. Four years after thedeadly Richmond Hill explosion, another chapter has closed. [6] Prosecutors also allege that he offered the hit man a $5,000 bonus if he made the murder look like a suicide. In a room inside IFD Station 63 less than a mile from the Richmond Hill subdivision Carter and Shirley talked about her whereabouts on the night of the explosion. Once the trial began, rather than trying to claim their client was innocent, Black and Shircliff instead told the jury up front that he was guilty but of trying to start a small fire, not cause an explosion. [37] She is serving her sentence at Indiana Women's Prison in Indianapolis. Did you see her on TV a few days later? Shirley: "Yes. Prosecutors told Judge Marnocha Tuesday they will likely rest their case next Wednesday or Thursday. I was scared for my life and the life of my daughter., Forgive me for my poor choices in life, she continued. How to fix pii_email_029231e8462fca76041e Error Code? The sentence accounts for time served and good. While there had been some communications early on, we were not willing to offer Monserrate Shirley a significant deal for her cooperation, Robinson said. 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 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. Leonardwas placed under "imminent death watch" earlier this week. As his court date neared, the workload ramped up. "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. By the time wed got to trial, hed already been in jail for going on three years. "Everything they were telling me, it could not be possible," Shirley said on the stand as she started to get emotional. 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. This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Shirley: "Yes. This type of trial is unusual but not unheard of, and had been used in the trial of the Menendez brothers. "No one deserves what happened," she said. She was too involved. But didnt the jury need to hear from the residents? 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. [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. Made and inspired by a love triangle, this was written by a girl from Italy. You're done.". So in the end there were a couple of people who were opposed to it, and I respected that. 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. Powerball winner sold in central Indiana! I tried to ignore Mark Leonards history as much as I could, Robinson said. 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 . Ultimately, she could end up serving 21 years if she maintains good behavior in prison. Prosecuting Mark Leonard presented with some challenges. Heappears to have died of natural causes. The Richmond Hill explosion took place on November 10, 2012, in the Richmond Hill subdivision in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. She didnt know anyone died, she said. Shirley said she has a condition with her tear ducts that makes her unable to produce tears, so people dont think Im crying for real.. But the majority supported us.. I said, You guys are crazy, that my house is too big.. 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. Mark was a handsome man with sex appeal and a lot of money, judging by his stash of cash and fast luxury cars. While we knew that Monserrate Shirley on her own would never have caused this crime, it couldnt have happened without her. 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. He told her to tell Holts, though, that they would be trying the fire again that night (Sunday night). 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. The third weekends attempt was the one that killed the Longworths. 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. And then there was the arrangement that when I picked up my daughter I would get to take some of my belongings. Monserrate Shirley, 49, said she became distraught when neighbors telephoned her after the November 2012 explosion and told her that her home was destroyed. The explosion leveled 8349 Fieldfare Way, the home at the center of the explosion, and severely damaged a number of other residences, including several (on either side) which were damaged by the ensuing fire. A tag already exists with the provided branch name. She has already been behind bars for four years. Although prosecutors didnt need their blessing to go ahead with the plea, Robinson said they felt it was important to tell the residents as much as they could. We interviewed our tech expert, Jaime Vazquez, to learn more about accessible smart home devices. After her 12 hour shift, she planned to see her daughter at the Holts' house and change there. Gary Thompson, who had helped with the first two unsuccessful attempts to blow up Monserrate Shirleys house, pleaded guilty on Dec. 2, 2016, to conspiracy to commit arson and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. (WISH) - Monserrate Shirley told jurors Wednesday she would do anything for Mark Leonard, because she was in love with him. There was discussion about: Should we cut all of those? Call 6 Investigator Rafael Sanchez and Senior Digital Correspondent Jordan Fischer will be in Fort Wayne covering the trial every day. "I thought it was crazy," she told a jury, "but I went along with him." Im thankful for my trial team for sticking with me. He asked how much was in the 401k, according to Shirley. A class C felony carries 2-8 years. ", 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?" wishtv.com your home page, Business, Equity and Opportunities Podcast with Scott Sander. He says he and Monserrate never boarded the cat when they were married. But she had no hesitation when asked to identify the Longworths as her neighbors. [21] Mark Leonard was granted a change of venue and was tried in South Bend. That presented a potential pitfall in the case, Robinson said. [14] In April 2015, a fifth man, Glenn Hults, was charged with conspiracy to commit arson. Aaron Carter. 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. Except her cat, the clothes on her back and a teddy bear she got when she was 1. 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. 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. 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. 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. I don't want anyone to get hurt," then started cooking dinner. The co-conspirators include Shirleys boyfriend at the time, Mark Leonard, and his brother, Bob Leonard Jr. She got in the van with them, and Mark asked her to give Bob $40. 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. In fact, they said that at the time she raised her insurance policy to $300,000, she was roughly $300,000 in debt (more than $200K between her two mortgages on top of the bankruptcy settlement left over from her divorce). Shirley and Leonard had gone on television on multiple occasions following the blast to state their innocence, and to ask for privacy. Monserrate Shirley spent the entire day on the stand Wednesday, and the anticipation of her testimony was evident in courtroom attendance. 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. Or that, because it was her first serious offense, a judge could eventually decide to suspend some or all of that sentence. 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. Mark. 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. "John Shirley, whose ex-wife Monserrate Shirley lives at the home with their 12 year-old-daughter, said he got a text from his daughter about a week-and-a-half ago telling him the heat. "They are currently in the process of recovering the appliances from destroyed homes to help determine the cause.". 2023 CIRCLE CITY BROADCASTING I, LLC. "He'll do anything I ask," Mark said of his brother. She and Mark then gassed up her car and drove to the casino. Glenn Hults, the final defendant to stand trial for the explosion, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge last month that may result in no additional jail time. He was sentenced to 3 years in prison. 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. The girlwas already out of the house while they cleared it of the sentimental items. [6] She claimed to have been horrified at the Longworths' deaths, as well as the massive destruction wrought by the explosion. Prosecutors contend that the motorcycle was disassembled in Shirley's garage. In her sentencing order, Judge Sheila Carlisle repeatedly stressed that Shirley could have stopped the plan at any time but didnt. 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. Sometimes they would go during the week while her daughterwas at school and leave in enough time to pick her back up. . There's little remaining of Shirley's home (pictured at left) after Saturday's explosion. At least half a dozen marriages in the Richmond Hill neighborhood ended in divorce in the years immediately following the blast. While Shirley said he lost a lot, he pointed out the toll was much greater on his then-13-year-old daughter Brook. The man he called was actually an undercover agent. "I don't know what happened. Made and inspired by a love triangle, this was written by a girl from Italy. 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. You were a mom. 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. [20] The trials started in 2015. 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. Mark Leonard drove her home that night and stayed with her for what the defense characterized as a romantic, sexual night.