Indiana sheriffs deputy dies after falling ill during training, Myles Colvin captivates Heritage Christian crowds, preps for Purdue. The third weekends attempt was the one that killed the Longworths. Gary Thompsonwas handed a 30-year prison sentence, 20 years executed, for his role in the murderous insurance fraud scheme. Leonard is the brother of Mark Leonard, who is dating Montserrate Shirley, who along with Mark Leonard, lives in the home . Monserrate "Moncy" Shirley, a nurse, owned the home at the center of the explosion. 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. No one deserved what happened. 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. As stated previously, the investigation and prosecution of this matter has literally taken tens of thousands of hours of effort by numerous individuals. And your daughter lost some things?" There's little remaining of Shirley's home (pictured at left) after Saturday's explosion. An offhand comment would change that. [3][4] Damage to homes in the neighborhood was estimated at $4 million. 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. "Mark can insult [Thompson], and he never does anything," Shirley said. On Thursday, Shirley worked a 12 hour shift. Shirley said she recalled telling them two innocent people die out of this.THIS HAS TO BE DONE. That becomes eight years when good time credit is applied. She and her daughterwent to the hotel, where Mark later joined them. [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." He occasionally worked on those cars at Shirley's home so she saw he had a wide array of tools. In court Wednesday, she said he turned on the gas, but never lit the fire. She has already been behind bars for four years. The inmate and Leonard drew up a contract agreeing that Leonard would pay the inmate $15,000 when he was released, the affidavit said. Shirley alleged that Hults initially came up with the idea. When she told him, Holts said, "Between Mark and Gary, they're going to blow up the whole neighborhood.". 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. Heappears to have died of natural causes. 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. "She lost everything," he said. Yes, I didnt think it would be possible, Monserrate Shirley said.HUGE EXPLOSION. 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. Prosecutors entered all three into evidence Tuesday. One small job. She testified Wednesday she has a condition that prevents her tear ducts from actually producing tears. She asked Mark not to try the house fire plan again. All I can say is, I had one small role in this. I certainly might feel bad for his family. Shirley told jurors he lost a number of things in the explosion, including a collection of tennis rackets and a drafting table. Bob Leonard, Monserrate Shirley, Gary Thompson and Glenn Hults also face charges in connection to the explosion. Below, former IMPD Det. They moved into a home they built in Richmond Hill toward the end of 2003. 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. Estimates for the total scope of the damage caused by the explosion exceeded $4.5 million. Robinson could not tell them, for example, that Shirley would be facing a sentencing range of 20-50 years in prison. Bob had been asking for his $10,000 payment before the explosion even happened. 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. But their arrests wereonly the beginning of years of work to put them behind bars for good. Monserrate Shirley, 49, said she became distraught when neighbors telephoned her after the November 2012 explosion and told her that her home was destroyed. Shirley says the house had three gas appliances when he lived there: furnace, water heater and fireplace. The home of Monserrate Shirley was the center of the explosion that resulted in the deaths of next-door neighbors John "Dion" Longworth and his wife Jennifer (ne Buxton), the injuries of seven others, and $4 million in property damage. 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. 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. Leonard and Shirley went to the casino on Saturday, October 27, expecting Shirley's best friend and neighbor to call when the house caught fire. She was able to take that to the prosecutor and get a protective order against me. 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. We again offer our condolences to the families of Dion and Jennifer Longworth and to those who suffered injury and loss. This time, Shirley's daughterwas at home, but she was upstairs. In the game of death, monserrate daughter is the only way to be reunited with the game of life. Shirley: "In order to pay a very large amount of child support, I was working a full-time job and two part-time jobs. Her house exploded on their third attempt of trying to claim insurance money. Its quite obvious that monserrate is the source of the name in this case. "I don't know what happened. The blast the product of an insurance fraud scheme killed two people and injured dozens of others. Marion County Superior Court Judge Sheila Carlisle sentenced Monserrate Shirley to spend the maximum sentence of 50 years in prison on Tuesday. She got in the van with them, and Mark asked her to give Bob $40. Says Sen. Tom. ", She said Mark told her, "It cannot be that bad.Don't worry about it. She met Mark Leonard at a bar on November 12, 2011. It had three gas appliances - the water heater, the furnace and the fireplace. 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. [20] The trials started in 2015. 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. It was a good feeling.. And the water heater." Glenn told me, Between Mark and Gary, theyre going to explode the whole neighborhood. I said, Dont play like that. We did what prosecutors are supposed to do. On top of his prior criminal convictions, at the time of his arrest, Mark Leonard was being sued civilly by multiple women who accused him of scamming them out of money through online dating sites. The sentence accounts for time served and good time credit. Mark was a handsome man with sex appeal and a lot of money, judging by his stash of cash and fast luxury cars. Prosecutors contend that the motorcycle was disassembled in Shirley's garage. In addition to the thousands of pieces of physical evidence, they had more than 200 witnesses lined up to testify. [29] He was sentenced to life in prison plus 75 years without parole on August 14, 2015. 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 daughters often watched the girl. (Item updated.) Monserrate Shirley cried at various points Wednesdaybut didnt shed any actual tears. She asked that Mark and Bob switch it back out for the nicer version. Should I have accepted that stipulation? The crowd watched in grim silence as a Marion County judge entered not guilty pleas for Monserrate Shirley, her boyfriend Mark Leonard, and his brother, Bob Leonard. They'd soon get a new roommate. Dion and Jennifer Longworth, two occupants in the house at 8355 Fieldfare Way, died in the explosion; seven others were injured. PHOTOS: First Richmond Hill trial Mark Leonard is on. [21] Mark Leonard was granted a change of venue and was tried in South Bend. I didnt want to do anything that would cause that trial date to be continued.. After demands for a vote on the bill, we finally received one. 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. Shirley said she thought the fire plan was crazy, but went along with it anyway. Shirley: "Yes. And that, Im sure, will never change.. This has to be done, Shirley testified. Marion County Superior Court Judge Sheila Carlisle sentenced Monserrate Shirley to spend the maximum sentence of 50 years in prison on Tuesday. It ended in the deaths of Dion and Jennifer Longworth. [23] The plea deal involved Shirley pleading guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit arson in exchange for testifying against the other suspects. Did you see her on TV a few days later? She later found out her neighbors didnt make it. Thompson returned to their home to plan their next attempt. Leonards death doesnt change the fact that Jennifer and Dion died, Buxton said. There was discussion about: Should we cut all of those? She could face 20-50 years in prison. Get caught up on the first two chapters here:Chapter I: The Night the Sky Caught Fire|Chapter II: The $4 Million Arson Plot. She then spoke with another neighbor, who told her there had been an explosion. Defense attorney David Shircliff then said Shirley may not have provided the "means" for the explosion, but she took care of the logistics to make sure no one realized she was helping blow up her own home. But Im not allowed to say that. As of summer 2022 the show has aired sixteen . "Two innocent people died because of this!" [27], Mark Leonard's trial began in June 2015. ", 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]. Shirley and her boyfriend were hoping to collect $300,000 in insurance . I thought it was crazy, that cannot be done, and I asked Mark, Thats not what you told me, theres an explosion in there, (theres) people, my neighbors, that cannot be real, Shirley said. . Leonard started talking the next week about trying for a second time to burn down the home. It was never no for an answer. John moved out in February 2010 and their divorce was finalized that summer. Its not the only weird coincidence Ive noticed in the past few months, but the name shirley was the one that stood out to me most. When we got in this case, we were asked to save her life, said defense attorney James Voyles. Shirley says he was worried Brook's cat Snowball was in the house and might have been killed. She said Leonard had bought it a few months beforehand at that point. She said she did not tell officers at the time what happened because she was scared. Source: http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/11/14/monserrate-shirley-speaks-about-indianapolis-house-explosion/, emmy rossum jay z and beyonce the big chill tony blankley charles barkley beyonce troy polamalu, http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/11/14/monserrate-shirley-speaks-about-indianapolis-house-explosion/. [6] They had arranged for Shirley's 12-year-old daughter to stay with friends and had boarded their cat, Snowball, for the weekend. When she arrived at the bar, she found Mark and Bob in the white van at a nearby gas station. [6] 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. I didnt give it any credibility. Bad food, non-first class flights drop Colts to middle-of-pack in player survey. ", She re-iterated that she offered him her retirement savings in place of burning the home. Shirley: "No. Marion County Superior Court Judge Sheila Carlisle sentenced Monserrate Shirley to spend the maximum sentence of 50 years in prison on Tuesday. 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. This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. We used to cook together, have dinner together.Very charming, very lovely man.". The November 2012 blast claimed the lives of John and Jennifer Longworth and spawned an investigation that landed five people behind bars. Robinson says she didnt expect anything to change. While she was driving, Mark called to tell her to book a hotel room and to tell her daughter it was because the house was too cold to stay at. FORT WAYNE, Ind. Shirley says he and Monserrate married on July 17, 1993. Leonard told him Shirley was ready and she agreed. We firmly believed that Gary Thompson played a role, but until she cooperated, we couldnt prove that, Robinson said. He was sentenced to two life sentences without parole, as well as 70 years from other charges, on March 18, 2016. He was sentenced to 3 years in prison. Shirley: "She wanted us to live in a bigger house. Thats time served, and hes out. He faces up to life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted. 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. It would have shortened the trial a week. HOW TO SOLVE ERROR CODE PII_EMAIL_DE03C2D55A4B639F558D. 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. Shirley and her boyfriend Mark Leonard were out of town for the weekend while her 12-year-old daughter stayed with friends. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Shed said similar things in an interview with IMPD Det. While Shirley said he lost a lot, he pointed out the toll was much greater on his then-13-year-old daughter Brook. Start the day smarter Notable deaths in 2023 The world's largest war 2023 meteor showers [24], On March 28, 2015, Mark Leonard was charged with conspiring to murder the key witness against him, Mark Duckworth. 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. Monserrate Shirley was given the house after her divorce. In a deposition before the trial, though, she reported saying, "I'm not doing this. Residents, particularly the younger ones, report experiencing continued psychological trauma from the incident. She was the neighbor that all the other neighbors were looking at. Shirley: "I moved out in February of 2011. He also told Bob to go get Gary Thompson. Roughly a week afterward, Mark asked Shirley for $500. Later that same day, an attorney asked Shirley if the Longworths deserved what happened to them. Mark Leonards trial at the St. Joseph County Courthouse was eventful before it even started. Everything's under control.". Shirley said she would come back immediately, but they told her there was no house to come back to. A second home was reduced to rubble as well, and other houses were half-collapsed. Shirley says Monserrate got the house in the divorce. "No one.". But she put an end to that in August 2011.". Unresolved: Release in which this issue/RFE will be addressed. Its also the name of the game of death in which our monserrate daughter will be taking us on. Its been around since the late 80s, but Im sure well find more of it on our own site. Hults and his then-fiance babysat Shirley's daughter on the night of the explosion. monserrate is a real-life cousin of Shirley, and its said that her daughter monserrate will be taking us on when we die. 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. 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. This type of trial is unusual but not unheard of, and had been used in the trial of the Menendez brothers. "You can't even do a fire. Shirley met Mark Leonard. Sometimes they would go during the week while her daughterwas at school and leave in enough time to pick her back up. Worried that jurors might easily convict Leonard of the lesser charges against him, but not the larger ones that carried the life without parole sentence prosecutors were asking for, Robinson built her closing argument from the bottom up. How to fix pii_email_029231e8462fca76041e Error Code? 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. To this day, absolutely they had the right to do that. Made and inspired by a love triangle, this was written by a girl from Italy. He was sentenced to 75 years in prison on the arson charges on top of two life sentences for the murder charges. [37] She is serving her sentence at Indiana Women's Prison in Indianapolis. (WISH) Monserrate Shirley told jurors Wednesday she would do anything for Mark Leonard, because she was in love with him. Shirley says he was paying Monserrate $1,000 a month in child support and mortgage payments. Shirley recalled a later conversation that she had with Bob and Mark Leonard, after the explosion. Shirley's daughter went with them in Leonard's Cadillac. 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. Example video title will go here for this video. 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. 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. According to Shirley, he said the house fire would happen, "even if I have to step in the living room and light up this house myself.". Prosecutors ended by asking Shirley if the Longworths or any of her other neighbors deserved what happened. Taking them at face value, taking them at what they told the court, they believed that since it was going to come up in the trial they should talk about it during jury selection, Robinson said. Monserrate Shirley was a divorced Puerto Rican mother whose exotic looks quickly attracted Mark Leonard. [6] She claimed to have been horrified at the Longworths' deaths, as well as the massive destruction wrought by the explosion. It also didnt carry much weight for the families of Dion and Jennifer Longworth, who died in the blast. 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. Shirley's daughterwent with them in Leonard's Cadillac. I look at a neighbor that I would have been happy to help if she would have just come across the street and said, man I got a problem will you give me a hand? 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. He says the log lighter worked fine when he lived there. Shirley didn't hear anything more about a plot to start a fire that night, and nothing happened. Monserrate and John had the home in Richmond Hill built in 2003. And you said she was crying? Shirley struck a plea deal with prosecutors and was sentenced to 50 years in prison. Deputy Prosecutor DeniseRobinson has said she will argue for 50 when the time comes. 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. They said they didn't know. Monserrate Shirley entered a guilty plea in the case that started as an insurance scam in Richmond Hill in 2012. Your email address will not be published. Its about not letting the person who was watching your game die ever have a say in your game. The brothers were sentenced to terms of life without parole for spearheading the conspiracy. Including journalists, it was closer to four dozen. Both the prosecution and defense attorneys asked Shirley if she thought Hults was joking. That's whatwe'll be asking the jury to consider.". Ms. Shirley ultimately took responsibility for her actions by pleading guilty and provided important information during the investigation. Fixed: Release in which this issue/RFE has been fixed.The release containing this fix may be available for download as an Early Access Release or a General Availability Release. The human toll is harder to estimate. A prosecuting attorney showed her a photo of the house that exploded and asked her who lived on either side of her. 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. I tried to ignore Mark Leonards history as much as I could, Robinson 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.