monserrate shirley daughter

Two of those alleged co-conspirators were arrested as a direct result of her cooperation: Gary Thompson and Glenn Holts. 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. While Shirley and the Leonards had been sitting in jail, Robinson and Hollingsworth had been traveling to the ATF lab in Washington D.C. to learn about explosions and taking a crash course on natural gas. But I dont feel bad for the deceased.. The now 49-year-old originally faced life in prison without parole. And then there was the arrangement that when I picked up my daughter I would get to take some of my belongings. Shirley told jurors he lost a number of things in the explosion, including a collection of tennis rackets and a drafting table. The Richmond Hill neighbors had been waiting long enough without a trial. Amazingly, despite the force of the explosion, a hybrid pear tree planted by Dion Longworth still grows in the yard where he and his wife Jennifers house once stood. 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. But a whole days-worth of potential jurors would end up tainted anyway not by media coverage, but by Leonards defense team. 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. Its an interesting concept. While questioning potential jurors, one of Leonards attorneys, Diane Black, brought up out of the blue that her client had tried to hire a hitman from jail to kill his friend, and potential witness against him, Mark Duckworth. [10] Included on the probable cause affidavit were complaints from several women claiming that Leonard scammed them out of thousands of dollars. He occasionally worked on those cars at Shirley's home so she saw he had a wide array of tools. We interviewed our tech expert, Jaime Vazquez, to learn more about accessible smart home devices. 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. monserrate is a real-life cousin of Shirley, and its said that her daughter monserrate will be taking us on when we die. "That's not what you told me," she remembered saying to Mark. Shirley wasnt a suspect at the time, and the interview was a routine one. She has already been behind bars for four years. Wednesday in court, Shirley said that at the July 4th pool party, she called lighting the house on fire crazy. Both the prosecution and defense attorneys asked Shirley if she thought Hults was joking. PREVIOUS|Timeline of events|Gallery: The Richmond Hill Explosion|Where were you at 11:11 PM? They moved into a home they built in Richmond Hill toward the end of 2003. While Shirley said he lost a lot, he pointed out the toll was much greater on his then-13-year-old daughter Brook. . The inmate and Leonard drew up a contract agreeing that Leonard would pay the inmate $15,000 when he was released, the affidavit said. She said Mark didn't actually want anyone to come to the house, he just wanted a trail they could point to after the fire so they could explain why they were in the hotel. The girlwas already out of the house while they cleared it of the sentimental items. With good behavior, her earliest possible release date is Dec. 19, 2032. Prosecutors ended by asking Shirley if the Longworths or any of her other neighbors deserved what happened. Shirley and Leonard had gone on television on multiple occasions following the blast to state their innocence, and to ask for privacy. So in the game of death, monserrate daughter is the Shirley of the game of death. They started looking around the house at potential ways to start the fire. Powerball winner sold in central Indiana! 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. He gave her $3,000 to use, and they lost it all. That presented a potential pitfall in the case, Robinson said. And I understand it, because of their feelings about her. But the majority supported us.. 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. ", Minch: "At no time did she ever say she was involved in the explosion?" The man he called was actually an undercover agent. Bob had been asking for his $10,000 payment before the explosion even happened. This story is Chapter III of a three-part series. Get caught up on the first two chapters here:Chapter I: The Night the Sky Caught Fire|Chapter II: The $4 Million Arson Plot. "You face one, you get over one and you've got another one all the way until the end. This time, Shirley's daughterwas at home, but she was upstairs. Shirleys apology rang hollow to many Richmond Hill residents in the courtroom. Today, Snowball, a white Persian cat, is in the care of John Shirley, Monserrate's ex-husband. The blast the product of an insurance fraud scheme killed two people and injured dozens of others. "(Whoever is responsible will) have to pay for what they did to me and everybody else," Shirley said in the interview. His sentencing is set for December 28, 2016 at 1 p.m. Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry issued the following statement: We respect the Courts decision ordering Monserrate Shirley to serve a fifty-year prison sentence for her participation in this senseless conspiracy. Somebody knew that I was out of town. Shirley, her boyfriend Mark Leonard, and three others were convicted and sentenced to prison on various charges, including felony murder for Leonard. He asked how much was in the 401k, according to Shirley. Lisa Marie Presley's daughter Riley Keough wears a Graceland sweater as she . She was crying and hysterical and said the house blew up.". She said Leonard had bought it a few months beforehand at that point. After her 12 hour shift, she planned to see her daughter at the Holts' house and change there. 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). She was 11 years old at that point. Prosecutors alleged Leonard was the mastermind behind the explosion, plotting with his. 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. 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. Should I have accepted that stipulation? She later pointed out she agreed to the plot under Mark Leonard's premise that it would be a small fire at just her home - not an explosion that would affect other people. Shirley agreed to plead guilty to two counts conspiracy to commit arson and testify against the co-conspirators in exchange for having all other charges dropped. (WISH) - Monserrate Shirley told jurors Wednesday she would do anything for Mark Leonard, because she was in love with him. The sentence accounts for time served and good. He says he "was very surprised" to learn Snowball had been boarded on the night of the explosion. You can't do anything," he said. The first time Shirley cried on the stand Wednesday was when she was asked about her neighbors. Thirty-three homes were damaged so severely they were deemed unrecoverable, and had to be torn down to the foundation. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. But didnt the jury need to hear from the residents? BREAKING: By a vote of 24-38, New York's State Senate has voted against same-sex marriage legislation. "It's like waking up to this bad dream," Shirley said, her voice cracking as tears flowed down her cheeks. Bob Leonard, Monserrate Shirley, Gary Thompson and Glenn Hults also face charges in connection to the explosion. This is too risky." 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. Shirley met Mark Leonard. And you have to weigh that out? Mark was a handsome man with sex appeal and a lot of money, judging by his stash of cash and fast luxury cars. Start the day smarter Notable deaths in 2023 The world's largest war 2023 meteor showers 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. Thats time served, and hes out. Prosecutors then proposed an unusual strategy involving one trial, but three separate juries, one for each defendant. Bob Leonard said, "Well, you're in it. They are charged with. 2023 CIRCLE CITY BROADCASTING I, LLC. Ultimately, she could end up serving 21 years if she maintains good behavior in prison. They enter into evidence two golf bags with clubs and a driver. Dion and Jennifer Longworth, two occupants in the house at 8355 Fieldfare Way, died in the explosion; seven others were injured. This has to be done, Shirley testified. She wanted to put it on her plate. [6] They had arranged for Shirley's 12-year-old daughter to stay with friends and had boarded their cat, Snowball, for the weekend. 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. 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. 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. At one point, after one of the failed attempts to burn the home, Monserrate Shirley said she offered Mark Leonard her 401k instead. She was an RN for more than 20 years, starting her career in Michigan where she attended college, before moving to Indianapolis after her then-husband John Shirley got a job offer there. 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. It was a restaurant that had the name of a famous Italian poet who died young, but the restaurant only lasted for a year. 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. She grabbed a few pictures, including the canvas portrait of her daughterat age 5 that hung above the fireplace. At one point you replaced the thermostat." Having Shirley as a witness came with its own pitfalls, though. I had seen it used in a couple of games, but I never knew it was the name of a real person. [7] Shirley told the police she never smelled any natural gas, but that her daughter had thought she did recently. Jeffrey Wager and IMPD investigators, Lt. Mario Garza and IFD investigators, agents of the Federal ATF, and our trial team for their commitment and perseverance to bring justice for the Richmond Hill residents.. The stove was electric. He couldn't get a card to play with so she got a card for him and played on his behalf. A prosecuting attorney showed her a photo of the house that exploded and asked her who lived on either side of her. In November 2014, Glenn Olvey who was trapped with his family in his collapsing house finally gave up on rebuilding his home in the neighborhood. Shirley said she has been reeling from the pain of people blaming her for the tragic event. They then worked to establish a pattern of poor decisions in her personal life and changing stories throughout the investigation. Mark Leonard drove her home that night and stayed with her for what the defense characterized as a romantic, sexual night. Marion County Superior Court Judge Sheila Carlisle sentenced Monserrate Shirley to spend the maximum sentence of 50 years in prison on Tuesday. INTERACTIVE MAP|Residents relive Richmond Hill explosion, ViewExplosion Damaged Homesin a larger map, Download the new and improved RTV6 app to get the latest news on the go and receive alerts to your phone, Sign up to have the latest news headlines delivered straight to your email inbox, Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way, Indianapolis, IN Interactive Weather Radar, Full testimony: Monserrate Shirley takes the stand. The defense certainly offered to stipulate that 60 homes were damaged. At least three of his possessions did survive, however: two golf bags, with clubs, and a driver he'd been gifted. Thompson arrived on Monday or Tuesday, October 22-23, while Shirley's daughter was at school. 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. 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. Her role in the plan and execution of this act protected her own child and the family pet, but failed to consider the obvious danger it presented to anyone else. 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. Monserrate Shirley was a divorced Puerto Rican mother whose exotic looks quickly attracted Mark Leonard. [1] Thirty-three homes were damaged severely enough to require demolition. 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. So there wasnt a great deal of pressure on us, or desire by us, to offer her anything.. 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. Shirley is originally from Puerto Rico. John moved out in February 2010 and their divorce was finalized that summer. John did all the maintenance on the home - she never did any. Shirley says he was worried Brook's cat Snowball was in the house and might have been killed. I went into the breakroom and texted my ex about what happened. 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. The most money she ever remembered seeing him lose on a single trip was $7,000. 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. She was upset when she got home that night and saw her nicer digital thermostat sitting on the kitchen island and the new cheaper model on the wall. They said they didn't know. 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. She still wiped under her eyes with a tissue several times while she was on the stand. I always get the money.". The couple says their neighbor Bob Leonard was led away for questioning. Shirley's next-door neighbors, John and Jennifer Longworth, died in the blast. Marion County Superior Court Judge Sheila Carlisle sentenced Monserrate Shirley to spend the maximum sentence of 50 years in prison on Tuesday. We are sure to have a lot more weird coincidences in the next few days, but this one is pretty crazy. A second home was reduced to rubble as well, and other houses were half-collapsed. PHOTOS: First Richmond Hill trial Mark Leonard is on. Much of Tuesdays testimony included accounts of Shirleys difficult childhood. In her sentencing order, Judge Sheila Carlisle repeatedly stressed that Shirley could have stopped the plan at any time but didnt. Shirley stated that her daughter had smelled gas during the week before the explosion. In the game of death, monserrate daughter is the only way to be reunited with the game of life. The explosion in the subdivision just south of the city on Saturday, Nov. 10, killed John and Jennifer Longworth. Im telling the truth and nothing but the truth was a phrase repeated by Monserrate Shirley throughout the day. HS counselor at board meeting, Serial Indianapolis rapist pleads guilty to 9 counts, Mom speaks out after 2 kids killed by falling tree, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. 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. [28] Prosecutors expected to submit nearly 3,000 pieces of evidence, and potentially call up to 175 witnesses. The sentence accounts for time served and good time credit. Deputy prosecutor Denise Robinson returned from prosecuting the Richmond Hill cases to a pile of homicides waiting on her desk. "I want $300,000. In a deposition before the trial, though, she reported saying, "I'm not doing this. Investigators have ruled out a natural gas leak from the home's underground pipelines, the Star reported, and they are now focusing on whether there may have been a leak from one of the gas appliances inside three homes that were obliterated in the explosion. Download the RTV6 app to get the latest live blog posts as the proceedings unfold. We firmly believed that Gary Thompson played a role, but until she cooperated, we couldnt prove that, Robinson said. 2012 explosion in Richmond Hill, Indianapolis, Indiana, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, "At least 2 killed, others injured in explosion, fire in Indianapolis neighborhood", "Family breaks ground on new home in Richmond Hill subdivision after Indianapolis home explosion", "36 homes critically damaged in explosion in south side neighborhood", "Homeowner at center of explosion feels lucky to be alive", "Authorities call Richmond Hill explosion a homicide case, seek details on white van", "Probable cause suggests pattern of fraud, details inconsistencies", "Richmond Hill suspect, friend face insurance fraud charges", "Affidavit: women say richmond hill blast suspect Mark Leonard has long history of scheming", "Shattered Subdivision Offers a Trail of Clues", "Life sentences without parole sought for Indianapolis explosion suspects", "4th person arrested in Indianapolis house explosion", "Fifth suspect charged in 2012 Indianapolis south side explosion", "Mark Leonard, Indy Blast suspect, pleads not guilty in murder plot", "Jim Voyles now representing Monserrate Shirley", "Home Explosion Case: Monserrate Shirley, Mark And Bob Leonard Due In Indianapolis Court", "Richmond Hill explosion: 3 trials for price of 1? ", "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.

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