Jurors will later hear that the golf bags and clubs were found at Bob Leonard's home after the explosion. Too little, too late, said Jennifer Longworths father, Don Buxton. She was the nurse. The Richmond Hill neighbors had been waiting long enough without a trial. 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. [9], Investigators discovered a number of allegations of insurance fraud and other scams by Leonard prior to the blast, particularly involving stolen or wrecked automobiles. They went to the casino and waited for the call that a fire had broken out, but again, the call never came. Call IndyStar reporter Holly Hays at (317) 444-6156. 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. 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. But I dont feel bad for the deceased.. 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. This type of trial is unusual but not unheard of, and had been used in the trial of the Menendez brothers. Below, former IMPD Det. 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. Its very difficult sentencing hearing weve been through for two days. But didnt the jury need to hear from the residents? The shirley daughter is an Italian restaurant that takes more than 15 minutes to make you feel at home. And I wanted to be able to tell them everything., TRANSCRIPT | The full testimony of Monserrate Shirley. But ultimately I think we were able to accomplish what we needed to do for her.. I thought it was crazy, but I went along with him. [1] Thirty-three homes were damaged severely enough to require demolition. 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. The explosion in the subdivision just south of the city on Saturday, Nov. 10, killed John and Jennifer Longworth. "Our investigators believe natural gas is involved," the Indianapolis Department of Homeland Security said in a statement. They claim that Leonard wanted the hit man to force the witness to call 9-1-1 and recant his statement before killing him. 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. Leonards death doesnt change the fact that Jennifer and Dion died, Buxton said. The here, in this case, was the knowing murder of Dion and Jennifer Longworth. Leonard is charged with 53 counts of murder, arson and conspiracy. Shirley says Monserrate's sister moved out of the neighborhood around the same time they moved in. . Your email address will not be published. Its because the life of the game itself is the life of the game itself. How to fix the pii__email__cbd448bbd34c985e423c Error code? Roughly a week afterward, Mark asked Shirley for $500. Bad food, non-first class flights drop Colts to middle-of-pack in player survey. Most importantly, Shirleys testimony would further tip the scales against the Leonard brothers. [2] Over sixty firefighters responded to the blaze. A copy of her plea agreement was entered into evidence and handed out to each member of the jury. For one: She had earned a reputation as a master liar, as Mark Leonards defense team would later call her. A class C felony carries 2-8 years. [6] Her attorneys argued that she was trapped in an abusive relationship and was coerced by Mark Leonard into participating in the crime. 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. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated. Wednesday in court, Shirley said that at the July 4th pool party, she called lighting the house on fire crazy. Neighbors, family testify in sentencing hearing of Monserrate Shirley, owner of the home. She lived in the four-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath home with her daughter. Shirley: "Yes. The name comes from a restaurant that is on the run called theserie rossa which translates to the run of the wits. [28] Prosecutors expected to submit nearly 3,000 pieces of evidence, and potentially call up to 175 witnesses. She asked that Mark and Bob switch it back out for the nicer version. Shirley said she was attracted to Mark Leonard, particularly noting he was well-dressed and had bleach blonde hair. The first time Shirley cried on the stand Wednesday was when she was asked about her neighbors. Monserrate "Moncy" Shirley, a nurse, owned the home at the center of the 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. He gave her $3,000 to use, and they lost it all. Contribute to chinapedia/wikipedia.en development by creating an account on GitHub. At the time her friends called her, Monserrate was at a casino with Mark Leonard. The case was expected to be the largest and most expensive trial in Marion County history. she said. 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 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. 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 refused, though, and warned them, "You guys be careful, because I know someone who committed arson and got 75 years in prison. Follow us on Twitter at @AOLRealEstate, or connect with AOL Real Estate on Facebook and Pinterest. A tag already exists with the provided branch name. Shirley says he was worried Brook's cat Snowball was in the house and might have been killed. But their arrests wereonly the beginning of years of work to put them behind bars for good. IndyStar reporter Robert King contributed to this story. 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. 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. Marion County Superior Court Judge Sheila Carlisle sentenced Monserrate Shirley to spend the maximum sentence of 50 years in prison on Tuesday. To this day, absolutely they had the right to do that. I dont know why they did it. monserrate is the name of the dish, as well as its . She asked Mark not to try the house fire plan again. and one-eighth, Zionsvilles Brian Mason will be Colts coordinator, Indy east side fire kills dog, injures multiple people, Record breaking weather week in central Indiana, Indiana state trooper hit, killed in the line of, New billboard in Fountain Square tackles antisemitism, Trooper killed on I-69, speeding driver arrested, Everything you need to know about the 2023 Academy, Congressman Baird calls for pause on toxic shipments, Congress works to tackle military spouse unemployment, Indy man gets 16 years after shooting wife in arm, Spencer man killed in rollover crash on I-70, 3 Ind. That's whatwe'll be asking the jury to consider.". 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. 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. Shirley said she has been reeling from the pain of people blaming her for the tragic event. The meeting was difficult for me because I couldnt ethically tell them everything, Robinson said. "She lost everything," he said. "Cases are made up of hurdles all the time," Robinson said Wednesday. But no other problems. Dion and Jennifer Longworth, two occupants in the house at 8355 Fieldfare Way, died in the explosion; seven others were injured. "They are currently in the process of recovering the appliances from destroyed homes to help determine the cause.". Are they going to get bored with it?. At least three of his possessions did survive, however: two golf bags, with clubs, and a driver he'd been gifted. Shirley testified that friends called and told her there was a huge explosion. Leonard got sick in March 2012. So there wasnt a great deal of pressure on us, or desire by us, to offer her anything.. We have done that. Get caught up on the first two chapters here:Chapter I: The Night the Sky Caught Fire|Chapter II: The $4 Million Arson Plot. Monserrate Shirley was given the house after her divorce. The brothers were sentenced to terms of life without parole for spearheading the conspiracy. "No one deserves what happened," she said. Later that same day, an attorney asked Shirley if the Longworths deserved what happened to them. At the end of the interview, Carter asked Shirley what should happen to the person responsible for the explosion. Then there was the question of Leonards history. The name was inspired by the work of the famous Italian poet Leonardo da Vinci, but it was actually a combination of the two that are so influential in the history of Italian cooking that the name was changed to monserrate. After he was done, the fireplace worked properly and they never smelled any gas inside the home because of it. ", She re-iterated that she offered him her retirement savings in place of burning the home. [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. Its about remembering who you are. [29] He was sentenced to life in prison plus 75 years without parole on August 14, 2015. Thompson arrived on Monday or Tuesday, October 22-23, while Shirley's daughter was at school. Will they get to the felony murder?. The two divorced on July 25, 2011. I was scared for my life and the life of my daughter., Forgive me for my poor choices in life, she continued. Glenn told me, Between Mark and Gary, theyre going to explode the whole neighborhood. I said, Dont play like that. And I understand it, because of their feelings about her. When a defense attorney comes out and says, My client didnt do anything at all, but you clearly can show they did, then usually its going to be an all-or-nothing verdict, Robinson said. "I don't know what happened. While she was charged in December 2012 for her role in the explosion, she pleaded guilty to two felony conspiracy charges earlier this year in exchange for her testimony. 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. So in the end there were a couple of people who were opposed to it, and I respected that. They moved into a home they built in Richmond Hill toward the end of 2003. "It's like waking up to this bad dream," Shirley said, her voice cracking as tears flowed down her cheeks. 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. After her 12 hour shift, she planned to see her daughter at the Holts' house and change there. The sentence accounts for time served and good. 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. Shirley would receive over $300,000 in insurance money for the replacement of the home as well as personal items. [12] Though the trio was eligible for the death penalty under Indiana law, prosecutors chose to pursue life sentences without parole because they believed a jury would be unlikely to impose the death penalty without any evidence that the suspects intended to cause the deaths. Says Sen. Tom. [13] A fourth person, Gary Thompson, was charged in January 2015 on the same charges. Call 6 Investigator Rafael Sanchez and Senior Digital Correspondent Jordan Fischer will be in Fort Wayne covering the trial every day.

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