The Oscars will air on ABC and can be streamed on ABC.com and the ABC app as well as Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV, AT&T TV or FuboTV. She then got food for them both and went back to the room around midnight. She grew up in Puerto Rico with a violently abusive father who would often beat Shirley as well as her siblings and mother. Or that, because it was her first serious offense, a judge could eventually decide to suspend some or all of that sentence. [28], Mark Leonard was found guilty on all 53 counts, including murder and felony murder charges, on July 14. 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. Monserrate Shirley is lead into her sentencing hearing in December 2016. Monserrate Shirley detailed the multiple attempts made to set the house on fire prior to the explosion that leveled the home. When she left that morning, her daughterand Snowball were still there (Mark was going to take them to school and the kennel). Shirley told her daughternot to come back to the house for any reason, though she didn't explain why not. He says he and Monserrate never boarded the cat when they were married. Monserrate worked Friday, November 9. 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. He was sentenced to 3 years in prison. Seven months later, on March 18, 2016, his brother Bob Leonard Jr. received his own sentence of life without parole in a courtroom in Fort Wayne, Indiana. "They are currently in the process of recovering the appliances from destroyed homes to help determine the cause.". I know it caught us by surprise and we had to react to it.. monserrate is the name of the dish, as well as its chef and owner. I look at a neighbor that I would have been happy to help if she would have just come across the street and said, man I got a problem will you give me a hand? She was crying and hysterical and said the house blew up.". 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. 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. Shirley: "No.". While Thompson checked the digital thermostat, Shirley heard him and Leonard say they could use it to trigger the fireplace as the source of the fire, but they never directly gave her any specifics on how they were going to do it. 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 came into the courtroom looking much different than she did the weekend of the explosion in 2012. The problem was that none of that criminal history would be admissible at trial. 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. But these were good defense attorneys. In the game of death, monserrate daughter is the only way to be reunited with the game of life. This story is Chapter III of a three-part series. [34][35], Monserrate Shirley pled guilty to conspiracy to commit arson. The sentence accounts for time served and good. Ms. Shirley ultimately took responsibility for her actions by pleading guilty and provided important information during the investigation. Mark and Bob stayed in the garage while they talked about what Bob's part would be, while Shirley stayed inside. Shirley said she would come back immediately, but they told her there was no house to come back to. The shirley daughter is an Italian restaurant that takes more than 15 minutes to make you feel at home. 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. When we got in this case, we were asked to save her life, said defense attorney James Voyles. Leonard is the brother of Mark Leonard, who is dating Montserrate Shirley, who along with Mark Leonard, lives in the home . [6] Prosecutors also allege that he offered the hit man a $5,000 bonus if he made the murder look like a suicide. We firmly believed that Gary Thompson played a role, but until she cooperated, we couldnt prove that, Robinson said. And the game of death is the game of life itself. 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. The home of Monserrate Shirley was the center of the explosion that resulted in the deaths of next-door neighbors John "Dion" Longworth and his wife Jennifer (ne Buxton), the injuries of seven others, and $4 million in property damage. Follow us on Twitter at @AOLRealEstate, or connect with AOL Real Estate on Facebook and Pinterest. Mr. Monserrate Morales was born on January 7, 1955 in Puerto Rico. Shirley says Monserrate's sister moved out of the neighborhood around the same time they moved in. Shirley and her boyfriend Mark Leonard were out of town for the weekend while her 12-year-old daughter stayed with friends. "He'll do anything I ask," Mark said of his brother. I care about people. 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. It also didnt carry much weight for the families of Dion and Jennifer Longworth, who died in the blast. Shirley: "I moved out in February of 2011. [25] Leonard allegedly asked another inmate at the Marion County jail if he could put him in contact with a hitman, according to the probable cause affidavit. Follow his reporting on Twitter at @Jordan_RTV6 or on Facebook. Unresolved: Release in which this issue/RFE will be addressed. Leonard died around 9:15. Shirley, her boyfriend Mark Leonard, and three others were convicted and sentenced to prison on various charges, including felony murder for Leonard. Robinson says she didnt expect anything to change. Four years after thedeadly Richmond Hill explosion, another chapter has closed. Before meeting Mark, Shirley had never been to a casino. So you do get concerned about, will they see the arsons? "I mean, I'm totally devastated like my neighbors are.". Shirley met Mark Leonard. Yes, I didnt think it would be possible, Monserrate Shirley said.HUGE EXPLOSION. He was going to bring Thompson to their house so she could say she was okay to move forward, too. But she put an end to that in August 2011.". ", When prosecutors asked if she was serious about the 401K offer, Shirley said, "I would have given him anything because I was in love with him.". You were a mom. She will not learn her fate until after all four of her alleged co-conspirators has been tried. Until shed agreed and signed on the dotted line, there were things I could not tell them. [8], Prosecutors alleged that on the Friday before the explosion, Leonard and his brother Bob spoke with a neighbor who was a Citizens Energy employee, asking that person about the differences between natural gas and propane. Your email address will not be published. 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. Their challenge was to distill two-and-a-half years of research and investigation into a six week trial without losing the jury in the process. For one thing, the trial team deputy prosecutors Denise Robinson and Mark Hollingsworth, plus two junior deputies would have to wade through an entire subdivision-worth of evidence to build, arguably, the largest criminal prosecution in Indiana history. When you come out and say, My client attempted to commit insurance fraud through a small fire and this just happened, he had no idea, what the jury doesnt realize, because Im not allowed to tell them, is attempted insurance fraud even if coupled with reckless homicide is a class C felony. Shirley told jurors he lost a number of things in the explosion, including a collection of tennis rackets and a drafting table. Estimates for the total scope of the damage caused by the explosion exceeded $4.5 million. PREVIOUS | Full testimony: Monserrate Shirley takes the stand. Today, Snowball, a white Persian cat, is in the care of John Shirley, Monserrate's ex-husband. Prosecutors then proposed an unusual strategy involving one trial, but three separate juries, one for each defendant. They went home together that night and he moved in the first week of December. The defense certainly offered to stipulate that 60 homes were damaged. While still at the hotel, Mark asked her to call a heating & cooling company on Sunday, November 4, to see what they would charge to check on the heat because the house was too cold. Its about your game being the only game that matters. Thats time served, and hes out. I dont wish them any hardship. "Mark can insult [Thompson], and he never does anything," Shirley said. "Shortly thereafter I moved some furniture into the apartment. 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 says the house had three gas appliances when he lived there: furnace, water heater and fireplace. They claim that Leonard wanted the hit man to force the witness to call 9-1-1 and recant his statement before killing him. "She lost everything," he said. Its because the life of the game itself is the life of the game itself. "I want $300,000. So in the game of death, monserrate daughter is the Shirley of the game of death. [36] Shirley was sentenced to 50 years in prison, the maximum possible under her plea agreement, on December 20, 2016. It was a restaurant that had the name of a famous Italian poet who died young, but the restaurant only lasted for a year. Leonards death doesnt change the fact that Jennifer and Dion died, Buxton said. Monserrate Shirley was ordered to serve out her sentence at the Indiana Womens Prison in Indianapolis. The third weekends attempt was the one that killed the Longworths. In addition to his roofing business, Mastercraft, Leonard also flipped cars on the side. Many people may remember Shirley giving an interview to the media, including WISH-TV, after the explosion. Shirley struck a plea deal with prosecutors and was sentenced to 50 years in prison. Iwas scared. Its very difficult sentencing hearing weve been through for two days. To begin the day, Monserrate Shirley explained how she and Mark Leonard met. Its about becoming who you were meant to be. Shirley says he was paying Monserrate $1,000 a month in child support and mortgage payments. They should go to jail. Among the "no" votes, inexplicably: political dancer Hiram Monserrate. [7] Shirley told the police she never smelled any natural gas, but that her daughter had thought she did recently. 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. Shirley: "She wanted us to live in a bigger house. At the final tally, the explosion meant to allow Shirley and Leonard to collect $300,000 in insurance money caused more than $4 million-worth of property damage. She said they should be punished, Carter testified. 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. She remained in the house as the sole owner until the explosion. She was wearing a jail jumpsuit, was shackled and her hair had grown long, dark and curly.IM TELLING THE TRUTH. 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 later worked at St. Francis and Community South. She was the nurse. Required fields are marked *. Sometimes they would go during the week while her daughterwas at school and leave in enough time to pick her back up. 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. She lived in the four-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath home with her daughter. The human toll is harder to estimate. . 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. At the time of the explosion, Shirley says he was living in Noblesville. Thirty-three homes were damaged so severely they were deemed unrecoverable, and had to be torn down to the foundation. But I dont feel bad for the deceased.. Leonardwas placed under "imminent death watch" earlier this week. IndyStar reporter Robert King contributed to this story. It's been hard for me and my daughter. Shirley had heard of Bob before, but had not met him before he came over Thursday, November 1. "Two innocent people died because of this!" In her sentencing order, Judge Sheila Carlisle repeatedly stressed that Shirley could have stopped the plan at any time but didnt. On December 21, 2012, Monserrate Shirley, Mark Leonard, and his brother Bob Leonard were charged with 2 counts of felony murder and . towns among 150 Best Small Town in America, Citizens support Ind. More on AOL Real Estate:Find homes for rent in your area.Find out how to calculate mortgage payments.Find homes for sale in your area.Find foreclosures in your area. They moved into a home they built in Richmond Hill toward the end of 2003. But Im not allowed to say that. On Thursday, Shirley worked a 12 hour shift. Prosecutors told Judge Marnocha Tuesday they will likely rest their case next Wednesday or Thursday. I went into the breakroom and texted my ex about what happened. [23] The plea deal involved Shirley pleading guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit arson in exchange for testifying against the other suspects. "We had a lot of parties," the late. Lisa Marie Presley's daughter Riley Keough wears a Graceland sweater as she . Minch: "Before that, you did have some problems with the pilot light on the furnace?" Monserrate Shirley cried at various points Wednesdaybut didnt shed any actual tears. He said that his daughter had mentioned that the furnace wasn't working, and he wondered whether a gas leak ignited the blast. This time, Mark and Bob talked alone while Monserrate left to pick up her daughter. [18], Prosecutors initially sought to try the suspects together, but the defendants were granted the right to separate trials. "[6] The witness also told investigators that Leonard talked about buying a Ferrari with the insurance money from the house. 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. Having Shirley as a witness came with its own pitfalls, though. [13] A fourth person, Gary Thompson, was charged in January 2015 on the same charges. Shirley testified in Fort Wayne at the trial of Bob Leonard, Jr. one of five people accused in the deadly 2012 Richmond Hill Explosion. Somebody knew that I was out of town. [5], Monserrate "Moncy" Shirley, a nurse, owned the home at the center of the explosion. She will be 72 years old. There was discussion about: Should we cut all of those? She took care of all three. 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). Heappears to have died of natural causes. Indiana sheriffs deputy dies after falling ill during training, Myles Colvin captivates Heritage Christian crowds, preps for Purdue. 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. Your email address will not be published. "I thought it was crazy," she told a jury, "but I went along with him." 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. As of summer 2022 the show has aired sixteen . Prosecutors alleged Leonard was the mastermind behind the explosion, plotting with his. Leonard is charged with 53 counts of murder, arson and conspiracy. It was the last time she would be in her home before the explosion. (They were) my neighbors for a very long time since we built the house, Shirley said. 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. Mark then asked Bob twice to "go get the part that we need." They started looking around the house at potential ways to start the fire. 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. | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.