I didnt give it any credibility. She remained in the house as the sole owner until the explosion. Robert Leonard, who was convicted of murder and multiple felonies, was sentenced to life without parole. [6] A friend of the couple reported that Mark Leonard had lost $10,000 at the casino approximately three weeks before the explosion. To this day, absolutely they had the right to do that. [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." The blast killed two people and. Contribute to chinapedia/wikipedia.en development by creating an account on GitHub. INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. 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. When she arrived at the bar, she found Mark and Bob in the white van at a nearby gas station. The case was expected to be the largest and most expensive trial in Marion County history. Shirley: "No. The girlwas already out of the house while they cleared it of the sentimental items. Lisa Marie Presley's daughter Riley Keough wears a Graceland sweater as she . Powerball winner sold in central Indiana! Leonard said he talked to Gary Thompson without her, telling him they were ready to do it. Its a difficult case. I dont know why they did it. "They are currently in the process of recovering the appliances from destroyed homes to help determine the cause.". They agreed to say they'd been having trouble with the thermostat and smelling gas for a while. "I have everybody telling me stuff that they said on the TV," she said. 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. It wasnt the only curveball Black and Shircliff would throw at the prosecution. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated. Shirley and her boyfriend Mark Leonard were out of town for the weekend while her 12-year-old daughter stayed with friends. 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. It had three gas appliances - the water heater, the furnace and the fireplace. She and her husband Gabriel Ferrer (son of Rosemary Clooney and Jos Ferrer, and a first cousin to George Clooney) had four children: Jordan Alexander Ferrer (born July 8, 1980), twin girls (Gabrielle Monserrate Ferrer & Dustin Boone Ferrer, born September 17, 1983), and Tessa Ferrer (born March 30, 1986). 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. Mark had called her asking which credit card he could buy the thermostat with, but she didn't see him actually switch out the thermostat for the new one, nor did he ever say who did it. . 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. 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. She got in the van with them, and Mark asked her to give Bob $40. The Richmond Hill neighbors had been waiting long enough without a trial. She was crying and hysterical and said the house blew up.". 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. A second home was reduced to rubble as well, and other houses were half-collapsed. 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. 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. On multiple occasions Wednesday, Shirley said she didnt say no to Mark Leonard because she loved him. The meeting was difficult for me because I couldnt ethically tell them everything, Robinson said. Shirley, her boyfriend Mark Leonard, and three others were convicted and sentenced to prison on various charges, including felony murder for Leonard. Monserrate Shirley, 47, her boyfriend, Mark Leonard, 43, and his brother, Bob Leonard Jr., 54, are accused of intentionally leaking natural gas into the house and then using the kitchen's. The Version table provides details related to the release that this issue/RFE will be addressed. I certainly might feel bad for his family. Leonard asked Holts to tell the story of his own fire, how easily he'd gotten the money and to re-assure Shirley everything would be alright if they did it at her house. This may help explain why this dish is beloved by patrons like myself. I have morals.I love my patients and I would do anything for them. Monserrate "Moncy" Shirley, a nurse, owned the home at the center of the explosion. 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. 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. That presented a potential pitfall in the case, Robinson said. "That cannot be real. Says Sen. Tom. "I don't understand it," Shircliff said of the judge's ruling. She would then go to a southside bar to meet Mark before they left for the casino. She transferred from her job in Michigan to the VA hospital in Indianapolis, where she worked for 17 years, focusing in the ICU. After court adjourned for the day, Shircliff said he attacked her inconsistencies "to show that she can tell the truth as easily as she tells a lie, and it's hard for the jury to know the difference. 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. News, information &. From confusion to conviction, Richmond Hill blast recapped. When they arrived, Mark told her the fire would happen Saturday night so she needed to ask to keep their room a second night (Saturday night). How to fix pii_email_029231e8462fca76041e Error Code? Shirley said she has been reeling from the pain of people blaming her for the tragic event. We knew somebody else was involved, and he was the only one whose name consistently came up, but it was only after she cooperated that we were able to charge Gary Thompson and Glenn Hults.. She grabbed a few pictures, including the canvas portrait of her daughterat age 5 that hung above the fireplace. How to fix the pii__email__cbd448bbd34c985e423c Error code? It would have shortened the trial a week. The home also had a microwave above the stove which had a programmable timer. Marion County Superior Court Judge Sheila Carlisle sentenced Monserrate Shirley to spend the maximum sentence of 50 years in prison on Tuesday. Leonard got sick in March 2012. Jordan Fischer is the senior digital reporter for RTV6. They'd soon get a new roommate. She was 11 years old at that point. Prosecutors alleged that the natural gas explosion was intentionally set to collect insurance money. Im thankful for my trial team for sticking with me. FOLLOW|Rafael Sanchez on Twitter|Jordan Fischer on Twitter, RELATED LINKS |Richmond Hill Special Section|Mark Ray Leonard convicted on all counts. 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. [20] The trials started in 2015. 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. She said she did not tell officers at the time what happened because she was scared. Mark Leonard, the man considered the mastermind behind the 2012 Richmond Hill neighborhood explosion that killed two peopleand wounded at least adozen others, is dead. She and Mark then gassed up her car and drove to the casino. Shirley says the house had three gas appliances when he lived there: furnace, water heater and fireplace. He says he "was very surprised" to learn Snowball had been boarded on the night of the explosion. A prosecuting attorney showed her a photo of the house that exploded and asked her who lived on either side of her. Below, former IMPD Det. 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. We again offer our condolences to the families of Dion and Jennifer Longworth and to those who suffered injury and loss. [16][17] The alleged motive for the arson was to collect insurance money to ease financial strain. Shirleys apology rang hollow to many Richmond Hill residents in the courtroom. The Richmond Hill explosion took place on November 10, 2012, in the Richmond Hill subdivision in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Monserrate Shirley, who had initally pleaded not guilty after she and two men were charged in late 2012, appeared Tuesday before a Marion County judge in a courtroom filled with current and. John Duncan was the one to call, saying something horrible had happened on her street and he wanted to make sure she and her daughterwere okay. But no other problems. Thompson returned to their home to plan their next attempt. Your email address will not be published. There was discussion about: Should we cut all of those? So in the end there were a couple of people who were opposed to it, and I respected that. 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. "You face one, you get over one and you've got another one all the way until the end. 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. Robinson told the residents what she could: That they didnt need Monserrate Shirley as a witness, but that she would help fill in blanks they hadnt been able to. Get caught up on the first two chapters here:Chapter I: The Night the Sky Caught Fire|Chapter II: The $4 Million Arson Plot. To do that, the team moved 80 boxes of documents connected to the case to an office on the east side of Indianapolis. The name comes from a restaurant that is on the run called theserie rossa which translates to the run of the wits. Too little, too late, said Jennifer Longworths father, Don Buxton. None of them had given any indication they were willing to take a plea under the terms prosecutors were offering. Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way, Indianapolis, IN Interactive Weather Radar, Mark Leonards friend says he knew too much, Opening statements in the trial of Mark Leonard. Made and inspired by a love triangle, this was written by a girl from Italy. You're a piece of [expletive]. Defense attorneys tried to play that video for jurors Wednesday, but the judge wouldnt allow it. I didnt want it to affect the trial date, Robinson said. She owned the house. I want everyone to know how sorry I am for this horrible tragedy, she said in court in front of Richmond Hill residents. Call 6 Investigator Rafael Sanchez and Senior Digital Correspondent Jordan Fischer will be in Fort Wayne covering the trial every day. [36] Shirley was sentenced to 50 years in prison, the maximum possible under her plea agreement, on December 20, 2016. monserrate is the name of the dish, as well as its chef and owner. Monserrate Shirley entered a guilty plea in the case that started as an insurance scam in Richmond Hill in 2012.