monserrate shirley daughter

She now faces 20-50 years, though a judge has the right to suspend some, or all of that time. He did come to the house one week before the first attempt. She remained in the house as the sole owner until the explosion. I tried to ignore Mark Leonards history as much as I could, Robinson said. 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 grew up in Puerto Rico with a violently abusive father who would often beat Shirley as well as her siblings and mother. Leonard died around 9:15. He says sometimes strong winds would blow out the pilot light when someone opened the garage door. We knew we were taking a week of testimony from the residents to talk about what had happened to their houses, Robinson said. [16] On March 13, Leonard allegedly placed a call to a man who he believed to be a hit man. She came into the courtroom looking much different than she did the weekend of the explosion in 2012. 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. I worked from the smaller charges to the larger ones to say, Of course its clear he did this, this and this, but heres how you get to here, Robinson said. Minch: "You testified about some things you lost in the explosion. He says he and Monserrate never boarded the cat when they were married. monserrate is the name of the dish, as well as its . That's whatwe'll be asking the jury to consider.". Did you see her on TV a few days later? Shirley and her boyfriend Mark Leonard were out of town for the weekend while her 12-year-old daughter stayed with friends. The Richmond Hill explosion took place on November 10, 2012, in the Richmond Hill subdivision in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Shirley may have been the prosecution's highest profile witness, but that doesn't mean they're done. 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. 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. 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 Denise Robinson, the Marion County Prosecutor on the case, told the court she rarely asks for the maximum sentence. Defense counsel said the deposition version showed she was actually in favor of burning the house down, she just didn't want to get caught. You're done.". "No one deserves what happened," she said. We did what prosecutors are supposed to do. Today, Snowball, a white Persian cat, is in the care of John Shirley, Monserrate's ex-husband. She asked Mark not to try the house fire plan again. Shirley testified in Fort Wayne at the trial of Bob Leonard, Jr. one of five people accused in the deadly 2012 Richmond Hill Explosion. [22], On January 16, 2015, Shirley agreed to a plea deal with prosecutors. Roughly a week afterward, Mark asked Shirley for $500. The men were reportedly in the home briefly and hurriedly left. The force of the blast shattered windows and ripped down garage doors at dozens of other homes in the neighborhood. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. [27], Mark Leonard's trial began in June 2015. And it wasn't the answer we were looking for. 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. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. 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. This story is Chapter III of a three-part series. Your email address will not be published. ", She said Mark told her, "It cannot be that bad.Don't worry about it. At one point you replaced the thermostat." 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.. 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. For their families, the tree is one last connection to the loved ones they lost on Nov. 10, 2012. 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. They'd soon get a new roommate. Eventually, hed be asked to repeat her answer at her boyfriends murder trial. 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. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated. 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. We firmly believed that Gary Thompson played a role, but until she cooperated, we couldnt prove that, Robinson said. 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. More than one-third of the families who lived in the neighborhood on the night of the blast have since moved away for good. The Richmond Hill neighbors had been waiting long enough without a trial. The defendants requested that the trials be moved over concerns they would not receive a fair trial in Central Indiana due to the high-profile media coverage received by the case. He was, however, eventually able to return to his hobby of umpiring softball. In a deposition before the trial, though, she reported saying, "I'm not doing this. Most importantly, Shirleys testimony would further tip the scales against the Leonard brothers. They had left town the night before, after Ms. Shirley's nursing shift at a local. This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Then there was the question of Leonards history. By this time, Shirley's daughterhad noticed her portrait was no longer above the fireplace and asked Monserrate about it. [20] The trials started in 2015. 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 never got a call, though. How to fix pii_email_029231e8462fca76041e Error Code? 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. She was crying and hysterical and said the house blew up.". 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. Shirleys apology rang hollow to many Richmond Hill residents in the courtroom. And in each of those categories, you betrayed your trust.. Its a difficult case. Residents, particularly the younger ones, report experiencing continued psychological trauma from the incident. Follow his reporting on Twitter at @Jordan_RTV6 or on Facebook. He says he "was very surprised" to learn Snowball had been boarded on the night of the explosion. She has already been behind bars for four years. 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. Call IndyStar reporter Holly Hays at (317) 444-6156. Get the Android Weather app from Google Play, Glenn Hults, the final defendant to stand trial for the explosion, Best athletic wear for kids joining baseball and, How to watch all the Oscar-nominated movies in style, Best smart home devices for older users, according, Bryce Young falls short: 5-10 . The home also had a microwave above the stove which had a programmable timer. Thirty-three homes were damaged so severely they were deemed unrecoverable, and had to be torn down to the foundation. The most money she ever remembered seeing him lose on a single trip was $7,000. And I wanted to be able to tell them everything., TRANSCRIPT | The full testimony of Monserrate Shirley. She will not learn her fate until after all four of her alleged co-conspirators has been tried. Shirley met Mark Leonard. 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. At least three of his possessions did survive, however: two golf bags, with clubs, and a driver he'd been gifted. But she put an end to that in August 2011.". [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. "Except her cat, the clothes on her back and a teddy bear she got when she was 1.". 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. 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. Monserrate Shirley and Mark leonard, profiled on the next "American Greed," staged a natural gas explosion to collect the insurance on their Indianapolis home. It ended in the deaths of Dion and Jennifer Longworth. 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. And that, Im sure, will never change.. After that, the fire wasn't mentioned again until the week before Halloween. The next time, Monserrate Shirley said Mark Leonards brother, Bob, was supposed to carry out the plan. 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. 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. Holts invited Leonard and Shirley to his friend's house for a pool party in the Geist neighborhood. Shirley's sentencing started Monday morning at 9 a.m. She faces 20 to 50 years in prison for two counts conspiracy to commit arson. On August 14, 2015, Mark Ray Leonard was sentenced to two consecutive terms of life without parole, plus an additional 75 years, on 53 counts, including murder, arson and insurance fraud. Its very difficult sentencing hearing weve been through for two days. Robinson has said she will argue for 50 when the time comes. Defense attorney Ted Minch on cross-examination: "You're not happy to be here today." Its quite obvious that monserrate is the source of the name in this case. Many Git commands accept both tag and branch names, so creating this branch may cause unexpected behavior. The here, in this case, was the knowing murder of Dion and Jennifer Longworth. The two divorced on July 25, 2011. "[6] The witness also told investigators that Leonard talked about buying a Ferrari with the insurance money from the house. If that timeline holds, final jury instructions would be given Monday, July 13 then deliberation would begin. [6] A friend of the couple reported that Mark Leonard had lost $10,000 at the casino approximately three weeks before the explosion. Its about your game being the only game that matters. Monserrate Shirley is lead into her sentencing hearing in December 2016. Four years after thedeadly Richmond Hill explosion, another chapter has closed. [10] Included on the probable cause affidavit were complaints from several women claiming that Leonard scammed them out of thousands of dollars. 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. 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. After demands for a vote on the bill, we finally received one. They said they didn't know. "That's not what you told me," she remembered saying to Mark. While Leonard has been in slacks, a dress shirt and tie throughout the trial, Shirley walked into the courtroom in shackles and a prison jumpsuit. (Item updated.) She found a house with a floorplan she liked." She transferred from her job in Michigan to the VA hospital in Indianapolis, where she worked for 17 years, focusing in the ICU. They went home together that night and he moved in the first week of December. At the end of the day, we still miss her and him, Dion, as much as ever, Buxton said. "No one.". Too little, too late, said Jennifer Longworths father, Don Buxton. This is too risky." The program is a spin-off of the Oxygen series Snapped and has a similar format to the Investigation Discovery program Wicked Attraction. I cant give the Olveys back a peace of mind. 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). "I have everybody telling me stuff that they said on the TV," she said. He was going to bring Thompson to their house so she could say she was okay to move forward, too. Shirley told jurors he lost a number of things in the explosion, including a collection of tennis rackets and a drafting table. 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. From confusion to conviction, Richmond Hill blast recapped. On multiple occasions Wednesday, Shirley said she didnt say no to Mark Leonard because she loved him. [26], In a case unrelated to the explosion charges, Mark Leonard and two other men were charged with conspiracy to commit insurance fraud. The truth is, I was scared.. But I dont feel bad for the deceased.. [34][35], Monserrate Shirley pled guilty to conspiracy to commit arson. 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. Mark then asked Bob twice to "go get the part that we need." All I can say is, I had one small role in this. Shirley says the house had three gas appliances when he lived there: furnace, water heater and fireplace. Another woman reported that she had loaned him about $5,000 for a construction job, which he had yet to pay back. 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. Officials did not release further information regarding his death. "I want $300,000. He asked how much was in the 401k, according to Shirley. Download the RTV6 app to get the latest live blog posts as the proceedings unfold. [6] 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. [6] They had arranged for Shirley's 12-year-old daughter to stay with friends and had boarded their cat, Snowball, for the weekend. Of the dozens and dozens of homes damaged by the blast, 33 were affected so severely they had to be demolished. When she got home, Mark told her he and Bob had gone to the library to research other similar homes that had been set on fire without anyone getting hurt. The topic came up again around July 4. The problem was that none of that criminal history would be admissible at trial. Later that same day, an attorney asked Shirley if the Longworths deserved what happened to them. He never gave her money like that again, but did play with his own money, spending anywhere from $2,000 - 10,000 each trip. 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. We used to cook together, have dinner together.Very charming, very lovely man.". Shirley struck a plea deal with prosecutors and was sentenced to 50 years in prison. She could face 20-50 years in prison. Shirley says Monserrate's sister moved out of the neighborhood around the same time they moved in. The first time Gary Thompson first came over to discuss starting a fire, she told him, "I'm ready, as long is this is a small fire. She was wearing a jail jumpsuit, was shackled and her hair had grown long, dark and curly.IM TELLING THE TRUTH. Both the prosecution and defense attorneys asked Shirley if she thought Hults was joking. Bob had been asking for his $10,000 payment before the explosion even happened. Monserrate Shirley detailed the multiple attempts made to set the house on fire prior to the explosion that leveled the home. He faces up to life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted. She met Mark Leonard at a bar on November 12, 2011. They went to the casino and waited for the call that a fire had broken out, but again, the call never came. Somebody knew that I was out of town. In addition to the thousands of pieces of physical evidence, they had more than 200 witnesses lined up to testify. They enter into evidence two golf bags with clubs and a driver. Monserrate "Moncy" Shirley, a nurse, owned the home at the center of the explosion. The entire day she answered questions from attorneys, repeatedly crying. 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. She didnt know anyone died, she said. 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.

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