monserrate shirley daughter

The most money she ever remembered seeing him lose on a single trip was $7,000. In another, she said Mark Leonard turned on the gas line and actually lit the fire during the second attempt. Shirley and her boyfriend Mark Leonard were out of town for the weekend while her 12-year-old daughter stayed with friends. It was the last time she would be in her home before the explosion. Robert Leonard, who was convicted of murder and multiple felonies, was sentenced to life without parole. At that point, Shirley and her co-defendants her boyfriend Mark Leonard and his brother, Bob Leonard Jr. had been sitting in jail for two years following their arrest on charges of murder, arson and attempted insurance fraud in connection with the explosion. She found a house with a floorplan she liked." Having Shirley as a witness came with its own pitfalls, though. Police became suspicious when they uncovered evidence that the couple had taken similar steps the previous weekend; the cat had been boarded and Shirley's daughter had been placed with a babysitter overnight before the couple went to the casino. ", "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 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. 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. Defense attorney Ted Minch on cross-examination: "You're not happy to be here today." As Mark Leonards defense team would point out repeatedly throughout his trial, there was a chance, however small, that Shirleys cooperation could end with her walking free at the end. He did come to the house one week before the first attempt. Shirley would receive over $300,000 in insurance money for the replacement of the home as well as personal items. "I am a nurse. 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. Monserrate Shirley and her boyfriend, Mark Leonard, who lived in the home, along with Leonard's brother, Robert Leonard, were arrested Friday on 48 charges, including murder and arson. . When you come out and say, My client attempted to commit insurance fraud through a small fire and this just happened, he had no idea, what the jury doesnt realize, because Im not allowed to tell them, is attempted insurance fraud even if coupled with reckless homicide is a class C felony. The two divorced on July 25, 2011. "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. 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. "That cannot be real. Shirley: "Yes. [14] In April 2015, a fifth man, Glenn Hults, was charged with conspiracy to commit arson. Robinson says she didnt expect anything to change. Yes, I didnt think it would be possible, Monserrate Shirley said.HUGE EXPLOSION. "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.". Shortly thereafter I moved some furniture into the apartment. How to fix the pii__email__cbd448bbd34c985e423c Error code? Bob Leonard, Monserrate Shirley, Gary Thompson and Glenn Hults also face charges in connection to the explosion. Shirley said she thought the fire plan was crazy, but went along with it anyway. It had three gas appliances - the water heater, the furnace and the fireplace. "I don't understand it," Shircliff said of the judge's ruling. She asked Mark not to try the house fire plan again. I have morals.I love my patients and I would do anything for them. Heappears to have died of natural causes. At the end of the interview, Carter asked Shirley what should happen to the person responsible for the explosion. 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. Minch: "Before that, you did have some problems with the pilot light on the furnace?" Mark started telling Shirley they needed to get their stories straight before police started asking questions. [13] A fourth person, Gary Thompson, was charged in January 2015 on the same charges. The home was owned by his girlfriend at the time, Monserrate Shirley, who testified earlier this month that Bob. [29] He was sentenced to life in prison plus 75 years without parole on August 14, 2015. The man he called was actually an undercover agent. One year of his sentences wassuspended, and the rest was to be split between jail and work release. [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. Today, Snowball, a white Persian cat, is in the care of John Shirley, Monserrate's ex-husband. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. 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. 2023 CIRCLE CITY BROADCASTING I, LLC. She has already been behind bars for four years. Residents, particularly the younger ones, report experiencing continued psychological trauma from the incident. He was, however, eventually able to return to his hobby of umpiring softball. He says sometimes strong winds would blow out the pilot light when someone opened the garage door. Hults faces no prison time to three years . ", She re-iterated that she offered him her retirement savings in place of burning the home. After he was done, the fireplace worked properly and they never smelled any gas inside the home because of it. 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. No one, Shirley replied, crying.I WAS IN LOVE WITH HIM. (WISH) Monserrate Shirley told jurors Wednesday she would do anything for Mark Leonard, because she was in love with him. At the trial I had firefighters crying on the stand. I tried to ignore Mark Leonards history as much as I could, Robinson said. We used to cook together, have dinner together.Very charming, very lovely man.". If I could bring Dion and Jennifer back, I would do that in a heartbeat, she said. Required fields are marked *. 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. They agreed to say they'd been having trouble with the thermostat and smelling gas for a while. 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. You may have noticed that the name monserrate has been replaced with the word shirley, which is used in both a variety of other games and in the game of death. They said they didn't know. Should I have accepted that stipulation? When testimony moved to the night of the explosion that killed Jennifer and Dion Longworth, Monserrate Shirley had a difficult time staying composed. Mark Leonard was the first to go on trial. At least half a dozen marriages in the Richmond Hill neighborhood ended in divorce in the years immediately following the blast. 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. After speaking with detectives, they went to Mark's sister's home, where they spent the night. The home also had a microwave above the stove which had a programmable timer. 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. ", 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?" Shirley: "Yes. That hit man was later revealed to be an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. I didnt give it any credibility. -- John Shirley told jurors Tuesday that, while his relationship with his ex-wife Monserrate was severely damaged by the time he moved out, the gas appliances in their home were not. 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. 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. A second home was reduced to rubble as well, and other houses were half-collapsed. And then there was the arrangement that when I picked up my daughter I would get to take some of my belongings. In addition to the thousands of pieces of physical evidence, they had more than 200 witnesses lined up to testify. (They were) my neighbors for a very long time since we built the house, Shirley said. Mr. Monserrate Morales was born on January 7, 1955 in Puerto Rico. She, at first, struggled to identify her other neighbors. After a while, Mark came back in and said Bob had agreed to help for $10,000, but never specified what exactly Bob would be doing. Shirley stated that her daughter had smelled gas during the week before the explosion. TRANSCRIPT | Opening statements in the trial of Mark Leonard. There's little remaining of Shirley's home (pictured at left) after Saturday's explosion. [10] Included on the probable cause affidavit were complaints from several women claiming that Leonard scammed them out of thousands of dollars. Monserrate Shirley leaves court after learning her sentence. But their arrests wereonly the beginning of years of work to put them behind bars for good. Richmond Hill explosion: 'It's the toughest thing I've ever done in my career', Richmond Hill explosion: 7 keys that solved the case, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. 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. Shirley: "No.". Shirley's next-door neighbors, John and Jennifer Longworth, died in the blast. The stove was electric. She asked that Mark and Bob switch it back out for the nicer version. The men were reportedly in the home briefly and hurriedly left. Of the dozens and dozens of homes damaged by the blast, 33 were affected so severely they had to be demolished. Later that same day, an attorney asked Shirley if the Longworths deserved what happened to them. He reportedly said, "[T]he tsunami winds came down the chimney, blew out the fire in the fireplace and the gas kept running and the house blew up. SOUTH BEND, Ind. 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.. Shirley said she would come back immediately, but they told her there was no house to come back to. I went into the breakroom and texted my ex about what happened. It started as a bad headache, but quickly grew until he was hospitalized with an autoimmune disease serious enough he would need a blood transfusion. Leonard said he talked to Gary Thompson without her, telling him they were ready to do it. The next morning, they went to Bob Leonard's mobile home. Leonards death doesnt change the fact that Jennifer and Dion died, Buxton said. She lived in the four-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath home with her daughter. PREVIOUS|Timeline of events|Gallery: The Richmond Hill Explosion|Where were you at 11:11 PM? Another woman reported that she had loaned him about $5,000 for a construction job, which he had yet to pay back. She said they should be punished, Carter testified. Follow his reporting on Twitter at @Jordan_RTV6 or on Facebook. PREVIOUS | Full testimony: Monserrate Shirley takes the stand. Mark Leonard moved in with Monserrate Shirley about a month later. Shirley said she has been reeling from the pain of people blaming her for the tragic event. Shirleys apology rang hollow to many Richmond Hill residents in the courtroom. . He was sentenced to 3 years in prison. Shirley said she recalled telling them two innocent people die out of this.THIS HAS TO BE DONE. It was a restaurant that had the name of a famous Italian poet who died young, but the restaurant only lasted for a year. Prosecutors alleged that the natural gas explosion was intentionally set to collect insurance money. Unresolved: Release in which this issue/RFE will be addressed. By this time, Shirley's daughterhad noticed her portrait was no longer above the fireplace and asked Monserrate about it. 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. Prosecutors told Judge Marnocha Tuesday they will likely rest their case next Wednesday or Thursday. Im telling the truth and nothing but the truth was a phrase repeated by Monserrate Shirley throughout the day. Neighbors, family testify in sentencing hearing of Monserrate Shirley, owner of the home. She was the nurse. The sentence accounts for time served and good. You're done.". Much of Tuesdays testimony included accounts of Shirleys difficult childhood. It wasnt the only curveball Black and Shircliff would throw at the prosecution. Shirley says he and Monserrate married on July 17, 1993. "Cases are made up of hurdles all the time," Robinson said Wednesday. At the center of the case, Mark Leonard, a womanizer with gambling debts who preyed on divorcees, hatched an arson plot for money with his girlfriend, Monserrate Shirley. I went into the breakroom and texted my ex about what happened. [1] Thirty-three homes were damaged severely enough to require demolition. [2] Over sixty firefighters responded to the blaze. Leonard asked her to get a babysitter for her daughter, make a reservation at the casino's hotel for the two of them and to board the family cat, "Snowball." Sgt. Shed said similar things in an interview with IMPD Det. If Monserrate Shirley keeps up her part of the agreement, a judge will decide her sentence after all the Richmond Hill explosiontrials have been completed. Says Sen. Tom. . They should go to jail. He says he "was very surprised" to learn Snowball had been boarded on the night of the explosion. We are sure to have a lot more weird coincidences in the next few days, but this one is pretty crazy. The next time, Monserrate Shirley said Mark Leonards brother, Bob, was supposed to carry out the plan. [16] On March 13, Leonard allegedly placed a call to a man who he believed to be a hit man. [28], Mark Leonard was found guilty on all 53 counts, including murder and felony murder charges, on July 14. 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. Shirley: "She wanted us to live in a bigger house. When the relationship first started, she said, "He was a nice guy. Monserrate Shirley spent the entire day on the stand Wednesday, and the anticipation of her testimony was evident in courtroom attendance. I commend Det. 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. "She lost everything," he said. She was 11 years old at that point. And it wasn't the answer we were looking for. She was crying and hysterical and said the house blew up.". 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. Shirley says Monserrate got the house in the divorce. They enter into evidence two golf bags with clubs and a driver. ", Minch: "You've had problems over the years with the furnace and the water heater. And I think when the motivation is that, what we have is a person who is the worst of the worst.. "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.". On Friday, October 26, Leonard told Shirley to get anything sentimental out of the house. 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. They are charged with. 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. 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 . Bob Leonard said, "Well, you're in it. "Our investigators believe natural gas is involved," the Indianapolis Department of Homeland Security said in a statement. "I have everybody telling me stuff that they said on the TV," she said. When she told him there was around $10,000-12,000 in it, he said that wasn't enough. Until shed agreed and signed on the dotted line, there were things I could not tell them. "Mark can insult [Thompson], and he never does anything," Shirley said. [6] One woman had previously won a $70,000 judgment against Leonard in a civil suit after lending him $53,000, which he never repaid. On Thursday, Shirley worked a 12 hour shift. 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. I cant give back what was taken from them on November 10. 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. Again, she said, "Because I was not able to tell him 'no'." [24], On March 28, 2015, Mark Leonard was charged with conspiring to murder the key witness against him, Mark Duckworth. She would sit with him, eat and drink and occasionally play slot machines. At the end of the day, we still miss her and him, Dion, as much as ever, Buxton said. I don't want anyone to get hurt," then started cooking dinner. Prosecutors started by addressing her plea agreement. From confusion to conviction, Richmond Hill blast recapped. 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. 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. It would have shortened the trial a week. Leonard is the brother of Mark Leonard, who is dating Montserrate Shirley, who along with Mark Leonard, lives in the home . Shirley told her daughternot to come back to the house for any reason, though she didn't explain why not. 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. 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. FOLLOW|Rafael Sanchez on Twitter|Jordan Fischer on Twitter, RELATED LINKS |Richmond Hill Special Section|Mark Ray Leonard convicted on all counts. I cant give the Olveys back a peace of mind. Bad food, non-first class flights drop Colts to middle-of-pack in player survey. John moved out in February 2010 and their divorce was finalized that summer. But she had no hesitation when asked to identify the Longworths as her neighbors. Mark Leonard first mentioned trying to burn the house down in February 2012, according to Shirley. He was sentenced to two life sentences without parole, as well as 70 years from other charges, on March 18, 2016. Powerball winner sold in central Indiana! Resolved: Release in which this issue/RFE has been resolved. Made and inspired by a love triangle, this was written by a girl from Italy. She told them she didn't want anything to do with them anymore. Prosecutors then proposed an unusual strategy involving one trial, but three separate juries, one for each defendant. 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. I had seen it used in a couple of games, but I never knew it was the name of a real person. Holts invited Leonard and Shirley to his friend's house for a pool party in the Geist neighborhood. More than one-third of the families who lived in the neighborhood on the night of the blast have since moved away for good. 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. 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. All I can say is, I had one small role in this. As his court date neared, the workload ramped up. "No one deserves what happened," she said. 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. Get caught up on the first two chapters here:Chapter I: The Night the Sky Caught Fire|Chapter II: The $4 Million Arson Plot. Their first trip together was to the Hollywood Casino roughly 3-4 months after they first met. He said that his daughter had mentioned that the furnace wasn't working, and he wondered whether a gas leak ignited the blast. [15], Prosecutors contended that the trio filled the house with natural gas and then used the spark from a microwave which could be set in advance to detonate it. 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. To this day, absolutely they had the right to do that. Robinson could not tell them, for example, that Shirley would be facing a sentencing range of 20-50 years in prison. 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. Monserrate "Moncy" Shirley, a nurse, owned the home at the center of the explosion. On December 21, 2012, Monserrate Shirley, Mark Leonard, and his brother Bob Leonard were charged with 2 counts of felony murder and . On November 19, it was announced that the investigation had become a criminal investigation. Its very difficult sentencing hearing weve been through for two days. She said he also told her not to worry because he took out the step-down valve on the gas line, "and put it away where no one else would ever find it. Monserrate and John had the home in Richmond Hill built in 2003. The case was expected to be the largest and most expensive trial in Marion County history. Her earliest possible release date is December 19, 2037when she will be 72 years old. Deputy Prosecutor DeniseRobinson has said she will argue for 50 when the time comes. She went to a bar on the south side of Indianapolis in November 2011 and they immediately noticed each other. Although the jury would eventually hear testimony and an audio recording of Leonard talking to an undercover ATF agent posing as a hitman (and Leonard would eventually get an extra 50 years in prison for it), having that information before the trial even began would have been extremely prejudicial against him. I said OK, she said. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

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