She asked Mark not to try the house fire plan again. [6] Her attorneys argued that she was trapped in an abusive relationship and was coerced by Mark Leonard into participating in the crime. 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. Prosecutors contend that the motorcycle was disassembled in Shirley's garage. Shirley would receive over $300,000 in insurance money for the replacement of the home as well as personal items. At about 11:10p.m., on November 10, 2012, a large explosion occurred in Richmond Hill, a subdivision on the southeast side of Indianapolis. As his court date neared, the workload ramped up. On Thursday, Shirley worked a 12 hour shift. Robinson could not tell them, for example, that Shirley would be facing a sentencing range of 20-50 years in prison. Shirley says he replaced the thermostat "so there were more options to heat the house during the day.". When she told him there was around $10,000-12,000 in it, he said that wasn't enough. ", Holts then asked who would get the money if they went through with it and Mark said, "Of course, me. After her 12 hour shift, she planned to see her daughter at the Holts' house and change there. He was sentenced to 3 years in prison. Prosecutors entered all three into evidence Tuesday. When asked why she didn't take Leonard's hospitalization in March 2012 as an opportunity not to let him back into her home since she knew what he wanted to do by that point, she said she couldn't turn away a sick person. "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 went to the casino and waited for the call that a fire had broken out, but again, the call never came. Mark Leonard first mentioned trying to burn the house down in February 2012, according to Shirley. We believed that he did, we had some very thin evidence that he did. 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. After the second failed attempt to burn the home, Monserrate Shirley said she went to the home of Glenn Hults to pick up her daughter. But no other problems. Residents, particularly the younger ones, report experiencing continued psychological trauma from the incident. He was working in Fishers on the night of the explosion. Bob had been asking for his $10,000 payment before the explosion even happened. It was a good feeling.. He leaves to cherish his memory his daughters: Britney Morales (Malcolm Richardson) and Maria Morales: two step-daughters Latasha (Nathan) Roberts and Kizzy Carter; three grandchildren and a host of other relatives and friends. The shirley daughter is an Italian restaurant that takes more than 15 minutes to make you feel at home. Its been around since the late 80s, but Im sure well find more of it on our own site. 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. SOUTH BEND, Ind. I went into the breakroom and texted my ex about what happened. I was at one of my part-time jobs when I got a text from my daughter, which was very unusual. ", "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. "Shortly thereafter I moved some furniture into the apartment. Prosecutors told Judge Marnocha Tuesday they will likely rest their case next Wednesday or Thursday. She asked Mark and Bob what happened that made it be an explosion instead of a fire. Robinson, all-too-aware of the limitations of the justice system after decades as a prosecutor, says she is just glad they were able to get some amount of justice for the victims. At 11:11 p.m. on Nov. 10, 2012, a two-story home on the south side of Indianapolis exploded with the force of as much as 5 tons of TNT. The sentence accounts for time served and good time credit. "Cases are made up of hurdles all the time," Robinson said Wednesday. Roughly a week afterward, Mark asked Shirley for $500. An autopsy will be conducted by the Marion County coroner's office Wednesday, according to the DOC. UPDATE: Search for accused Johnson County scammer ends in arrest, Men's challenges in fatherhood and marriage explored in new documentary, Live Doppler 13 Weather Blog: Record-breaking rain raises ongoing flood concerns, Saturday Sunrise Live Doppler 13 forecast March 4, 2023. Will they get to the felony murder?. "(Whoever is responsible will) have to pay for what they did to me and everybody else," Shirley said in the interview. Her sister had lived in the same housing complex. 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. Would you describe her demeanor the same way?" The defense wrapped up a little more quickly than expected after Judge John Marnocha denied their request to play a video of Shirley's 2012 interview with the media. 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. This story is Chapter III of a three-part series. "Everything they were telling me, it could not be possible," Shirley said on the stand as she started to get emotional. But Im not allowed to say that. Monserrate Shirley was a divorced Puerto Rican mother whose exotic looks quickly attracted Mark Leonard. Did you see her on TV a few days later? Jordan Fischer is the senior digital reporter for RTV6. As of summer 2022 the show has aired sixteen . PREVIOUS | Full testimony: Monserrate Shirley takes the stand. Contribute to chinapedia/wikipedia.en development by creating an account on GitHub. Heappears to have died of natural causes. Their first trip together was to the Hollywood Casino roughly 3-4 months after they first met. She asked that Mark and Bob switch it back out for the nicer version. (Item updated.) [5], Monserrate "Moncy" Shirley, a nurse, owned the home at the center of the explosion. She continued handling some of Marion Countys most heinous crimes until January 2017, when her former boss, then-Elkhart County Prosecutor Curtis Hill, called her up and asked her to join him at the Indiana Statehouse, where he had just been elected attorney general. She took care of all three. I didn't do nothing wrong.". The now 49-year-old originally faced life in prison without parole. Its about not letting the person who was watching your game die ever have a say in your game. Its an interesting concept. She found a house with a floorplan she liked." There's little remaining of Shirley's home (pictured at left) after Saturday's explosion. [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. 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. Shirley says Monserrate got the house in the divorce. "They are currently in the process of recovering the appliances from destroyed homes to help determine the cause.". Officials did not release further information regarding his death. There have been days with only two people in the audience other than media, but there were more than 30 Wednesday. 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. In court, Shirley testified Leonard had promised to show her how to make a lot of money. Mark Leonard drove her home that night and stayed with her for what the defense characterized as a romantic, sexual night. Prosecutors alleged that the natural gas explosion was intentionally set to collect insurance money. Shirley, her boyfriend Mark Leonard, and three others were convicted and sentenced to prison on various charges, including felony murder for Leonard. The jury found 46-year-old Mark Leonard guilty of all counts against him, including murder and felony murder. 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. One of the projects he took on was working on the gas line in the fireplace. "No one deserves what happened," she said. 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. But didnt the jury need to hear from the residents? Shirley told her daughternot to come back to the house for any reason, though she didn't explain why not. He never gave her money like that again, but did play with his own money, spending anywhere from $2,000 - 10,000 each trip. Investigators found that the couple had substantial debt, including $63,000 in credit card debt, and were in bankruptcy proceedings. She grew up in Puerto Rico with a violently abusive father who would often beat Shirley as well as her siblings and mother. Prosecuting Mark Leonard presented with some challenges. Everything's under control.". The force of the blast shattered windows and ripped down garage doors at dozens of other homes in the neighborhood. Having Shirley as a witness came with its own pitfalls, though. It would have shortened the trial a week. Shirley said that she was at a casino bar at the time of the explosion, and her boyfriend and daughter -- who also live with her -- weren't home either. 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. But their arrests wereonly the beginning of years of work to put them behind bars for good. She will not learn her fate until after all four of her alleged co-conspirators has been tried. Its about becoming who you were meant to be. They claim that Leonard wanted the hit man to force the witness to call 9-1-1 and recant his statement before killing him. The inmate and Leonard drew up a contract agreeing that Leonard would pay the inmate $15,000 when he was released, the affidavit said. 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. "He'll do anything I ask," Mark said of his brother. But in this case, Monserrate Shirley had already received leniency from the state when she entered into a plea agreement that dismissed a total of 50 charges, including murder. The Version table provides details related to the release that this issue/RFE will be addressed. Bob Leonard, Monserrate Shirley, Gary Thompson and Glenn Hults also face charges in connection to the explosion. To the uninitiated, it seems to be a reference to a nickname used by the family of the deceased who are being called Shirley by their name. She transferred from her job in Michigan to the VA hospital in Indianapolis, where she worked for 17 years, focusing in the ICU. Follow his reporting on Twitter at @Jordan_RTV6 or on Facebook. 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.