IndyStar reporter Robert King contributed to this story. At the end of the day, we still miss her and him, Dion, as much as ever, Buxton said. Shirley and her boyfriend Mark Leonard were out of town for the weekend while her 12-year-old daughter stayed with friends. She would then go to a southside bar to meet Mark before they left for the casino. In another, she said Mark Leonard turned on the gas line and actually lit the fire during the second attempt. The name was inspired by the work of the famous Italian poet Leonardo da Vinci, but it was actually a combination of the two that are so influential in the history of Italian cooking that the name was changed to monserrate. Exasperated, Judge John Marnocha, who was assigned to oversee the trial, dismissed dozens of potential jurors and ended the day early with an admonition for Black and her co-counsel, David Shircliff. Shirley didn't hear anything more about a plot to start a fire that night, and nothing happened. "Our investigators believe natural gas is involved," the Indianapolis Department of Homeland Security said in a statement. ", Minch: "At no time did she ever say she was involved in the explosion?" Homeowner Monserrate Shirley sentenced to 50 years in Richmond Hill [11], Monserrate Shirley, Mark Leonard, and Bob Leonard were initially charged with two counts of murder and arson in the deaths of Dion and Jennifer Longworth. Shirley would receive over $300,000 in insurance money for the replacement of the home as well as personal items. 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 said Leonard planned to pay a person he thought was a hit man $15,000, giving him a $5,000 bonus if a witness in the case called police to say he had lied about information he had given investigators. The name comes from a restaurant that is on the run called theserie rossa which translates to the run of the wits. Shirley says he and Monserrate married on July 17, 1993. Did you see her on TV a few days later? "I moved out in February of 2011," he said. PREVIOUS|Timeline of events|Gallery: The Richmond Hill Explosion|Where were you at 11:11 PM? They went to the casino and waited for the call that a fire had broken out, but again, the call never came. And then there was the arrangement that when I picked up my daughter I would get to take some of my belongings. Minch: "Before that, you did have some problems with the pilot light on the furnace?" Bad food, non-first class flights drop Colts to middle-of-pack in player survey. "I mean, sometimes I wish I was there and I'd be dead, and now I wouldn't have to be asked so many questions.". Your email address will not be published. Monserrate Shirley, 49, said she became distraught when neighbors telephoned her after the November 2012 explosion and told her that her home was destroyed. Richmond Hill Explosion - indyencyclopedia.org As of summer 2022 the show has aired sixteen . 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. I tried to ignore Mark Leonards history as much as I could, Robinson said. Robinson says she didnt expect anything to change. Leonard is the brother of Mark Leonard, who is dating Montserrate Shirley, who along with Mark Leonard, lives in the home . -- John Shirley told jurors Tuesday that, while his relationship with his ex-wife Monserrate was severely damaged by the time he moved out, the gas appliances in their home were not. The Richmond Hill neighbors had been waiting long enough without a trial. Mark and Bob stayed in the garage while they talked about what Bob's part would be, while Shirley stayed inside. Leonard got sick in March 2012. . Shirley is originally from Puerto Rico. At the time her friends called her, Monserrate was at a casino with Mark Leonard. Prosecutors then proposed an unusual strategy involving one trial, but three separate juries, one for each defendant. "I thought it was crazy," she told a jury, "but I went along with him." He said that his daughter had mentioned that the furnace wasn't working, and he wondered whether a gas leak ignited the blast. After her 12 hour shift, she planned to see her daughter at the Holts' house and change there. Robert Leonard, who was convicted of murder and multiple felonies, was sentenced to life without parole. In an interview with former RTV6 reporter Stacia Matthews, Shirley suggested the explosion may have been an attempt on her life. Follow us on Twitter at @AOLRealEstate, or connect with AOL Real Estate on Facebook and Pinterest. Again, she said, "Because I was not able to tell him 'no'." He asked how much was in the 401k, according to Shirley. 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. At one point, after one of the failed attempts to burn the home, Monserrate Shirley said she offered Mark Leonard her 401k instead. She found a house with a floorplan she liked." GitHub export from English Wikipedia. There have been days with only two people in the audience other than media, but there were more than 30 Wednesday. Shirley owned the home at the epicenter of the November 2012 explosion that killed two people and damaged dozens of other homes causing more than $4 million in damages. 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 she wept while speaking publicly for the first time about the horrific incident. She remained in the house as the sole owner until the explosion. [29] He was sentenced to life in prison plus 75 years without parole on August 14, 2015. He never gave her money like that again, but did play with his own money, spending anywhere from $2,000 - 10,000 each trip. For years, the team holed up in that office three days a week to avoid being distracted by other ongoing cases. Hults and his then-fiance babysat Shirley's daughter on the night of the explosion. 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. Shirley spent hours on the stand. HOW TO SOLVE ERROR CODE PII_EMAIL_DE03C2D55A4B639F558D. Monserrate Shirley leaves court after learning her sentence. Shirley said she has been reeling from the pain of people blaming her for the tragic event. . 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). Monserrate Shirley sentencing: 'She is the worst of the bunch' - WTHR And the game of death is the game of life itself. I dont feel bad for Mr. Leonard, said Don Buxton, father of Jennifer Longworth, who was killed in the blast with her husband, Dion. 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. Even years later, Robinson says she doesnt know why Black brought the hitman allegations up. Heappears to have died of natural causes. On Monday, November 5, they changed out the thermostat for a "cheaper" model. 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. "I am a nurse. "Shortly thereafter I moved some furniture into the apartment. Investigators found that the couple had substantial debt, including $63,000 in credit card debt, and were in bankruptcy proceedings. Witness: Indianapolis man promised $10K for home explosion The group researched methods of how to destroy the home and made more than one attempt at doing so before succeeding, authorities said. On Friday, October 26, Leonard told Shirley to get anything sentimental out of the house. 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. Prosecutors alleged that the men conspired to submit an insurance claim for a stolen motorcycle. "Everything they were telling me, it could not be possible," Shirley said on the stand as she started to get emotional. "I don't know what happened. Im telling the truth and nothing but the truth was a phrase repeated by Monserrate Shirley throughout the day. She asked Mark not to try the house fire plan again. Fixed: Release in which this issue/RFE has been fixed.The release containing this fix may be available for download as an Early Access Release or a General Availability Release. But these were good defense attorneys. Mark Leonard moved in with Monserrate Shirley about a month later. Jordan Fischer is the senior digital reporter for RTV6. Notifications can be turned off anytime in the browser settings. Leonard went to pick up Thompson in the white van witnesses in the neighborhood have previously testified seeing in Shirley's driveway. 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. Shirley says they were his. Federal grand jury indicts man on hate crime charges after he allegedly shot 2 Jewishmen in Los Angelesin February, Pot vote has Oklahoma hungry to rake in green from Texas, Indonesia fuel depot fire kills 18, over dozen missing, Fishers firefighters assist car flipped NB over I-69. 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. Thirty-three homes were damaged so severely they were deemed unrecoverable, and had to be torn down to the foundation. But she put an end to that in August 2011.". 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.