You were a neighbor and you were a friend, Carlisle said. 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. Shirley told jurors he lost a number of things in the explosion, including a collection of tennis rackets and a drafting table. Its because the game of death is the game of life itself. [6] Her attorneys argued that she was trapped in an abusive relationship and was coerced by Mark Leonard into participating in the crime. 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. Its about remembering who you are. Resolved: Release in which this issue/RFE has been resolved. Call IndyStar reporter Holly Hays at (317) 444-6156. Mark started telling Shirley they needed to get their stories straight before police started asking questions. Shirley says he was paying Monserrate $1,000 a month in child support and mortgage payments. I had seen it used in a couple of games, but I never knew it was the name of a real person. (They were) my neighbors for a very long time since we built the house, Shirley said. He couldn't get a card to play with so she got a card for him and played on his behalf. Leonard later tried telling Shirley that the only reason Holts wouldn't talk about his own fire was because he didn't want Leonard to end up with more money than he had. The man he called was actually an undercover agent. After her 12 hour shift, she planned to see her daughter at the Holts' house and change there. Prosecutors contend that the motorcycle was disassembled in Shirley's garage. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. She will not learn her fate until after all four of her alleged co-conspirators has been tried. If your child will play baseball or softball this spring, youll need to stock up on appropriate clothing and equipment. In exchange, she offered him the money in her 401K. 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 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. He was going to bring Thompson to their house so she could say she was okay to move forward, too. She took care of all three. "Cases are made up of hurdles all the time," Robinson said Wednesday. In addition to his roofing business, Mastercraft, Leonard also flipped cars on the side. But she had no hesitation when asked to identify the Longworths as her neighbors. How to fix pii_email_029231e8462fca76041e Error Code? Shirley gave 12 interviews and statements between the explosion and Wednesday's testimony - some for law enforcement, others for attorneys and one for the media - and defense attorneys pointed out inconsistencies between some of those. Shirley testified in Fort Wayne at the trial of Bob Leonard, Jr. one of five people accused in the deadly 2012 Richmond Hill Explosion. While Leonard has been in slacks, a dress shirt and tie throughout the trial, Shirley walked into the courtroom in shackles and a prison jumpsuit. Mark and Bob stayed in the garage while they talked about what Bob's part would be, while Shirley stayed inside. You were a mom. 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. Shirley and Leonard had gone on television on multiple occasions following the blast to state their innocence, and to ask for privacy. I got upset with her and sent her some derogatory texts. Its been around since the late 80s, but Im sure well find more of it on our own site. FORT WAYNE, Ind. I didn't do nothing wrong.". He never gave her money like that again, but did play with his own money, spending anywhere from $2,000 - 10,000 each trip. He was, however, eventually able to return to his hobby of umpiring softball. [23] The plea deal involved Shirley pleading guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit arson in exchange for testifying against the other suspects. The next time, Monserrate Shirley said Mark Leonards brother, Bob, was supposed to carry out the plan. The entire day she answered questions from attorneys, repeatedly crying. I didnt want it to affect the trial date, Robinson said. The defendants requested that the trials be moved over concerns they would not receive a fair trial in Central Indiana due to the high-profile media coverage received by the case. We have done that. "I want $300,000. Shirley alleged that Hults initially came up with the idea. Except her cat, the clothes on her back and a teddy bear she got when she was 1. Get caught up on the first two chapters here:Chapter I: The Night the Sky Caught Fire|Chapter II: The $4 Million Arson Plot. Shirley says he was working at Eli Lilly at the time, and Monserrate was working as an RN at the VA hospital. Shirley: "Yes. If I could bring Dion and Jennifer back, I would do that in a heartbeat, she said. Monserrate Shirley agreed to testify against Mark Leonard as part of a plea agreement to reduce her potential prison time. He said that his daughter had mentioned that the furnace wasn't . So you do get concerned about, will they see the arsons? They moved into a home they built in Richmond Hill toward the end of 2003. The evidence Robinson and Hollingsworth had was substantial. The meeting was difficult for me because I couldnt ethically tell them everything, Robinson said. 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. At least half a dozen marriages in the Richmond Hill neighborhood ended in divorce in the years immediately following the blast. [29] He was sentenced to life in prison plus 75 years without parole on August 14, 2015. Worried that jurors might easily convict Leonard of the lesser charges against him, but not the larger ones that carried the life without parole sentence prosecutors were asking for, Robinson built her closing argument from the bottom up. But ultimately I think we were able to accomplish what we needed to do for her.. Thompson said he'd been pulled over by a cop so he couldn't get to the house. [7] Shirley told the police she never smelled any natural gas, but that her daughter had thought she did recently. [28], Mark Leonard was found guilty on all 53 counts, including murder and felony murder charges, on July 14. Monserrate Shirley, 49, would have to testify against former boyfriend Mark Leonard and his brother in the plea deal . Mark Leonard moved in with Monserrate Shirley about a month later. Her earliest possible release date is December 19, 2037when she will be 72 years old. Leonard told him Shirley was ready and she agreed. There was discussion about: Should we cut all of those? 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. 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. Prosecutors entered all three into evidence Tuesday. Much of the attention since the explosion has centered on Monserrate Shirley and her boyfriend Mark Leonard, who lived at the house in the center of the blast area. I was at one of my part-time jobs when I got a text from my daughter, which was very unusual. From confusion to conviction, Richmond Hill blast recapped. Carter would testify that her emotions and demeanor seemed normal at the time, for someone whose house had just blown up. [16] On March 13, Leonard allegedly placed a call to a man who he believed to be a hit man. Its very difficult sentencing hearing weve been through for two days. 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. By this time, Shirley's daughterhad noticed her portrait was no longer above the fireplace and asked Monserrate about it. 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. The shirley daughter is an Italian restaurant that takes more than 15 minutes to make you feel at home. While Shirley said he lost a lot, he pointed out the toll was much greater on his then-13-year-old daughter Brook. 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 was inspired by the way Chef Alberto Marinovich put on this dish and it was a joy to serve. At the end of the day, we still miss her and him, Dion, as much as ever, Buxton said. On December 21, 2012, Monserrate Shirley, Mark Leonard, and his brother Bob Leonard were charged with 2 counts of felony murder and . Leonardwas placed under "imminent death watch" earlier this week. 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. Ms. Shirley, 47, and Mark Leonard, 43, her boyfriend, were 100 miles away at a casino when their home blew up. It was the last time she would be in her home before the explosion. 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. Residents, particularly the younger ones, report experiencing continued psychological trauma from the incident. Prosecutors ended by asking Shirley if the Longworths or any of her other neighbors deserved what happened. 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. "Except her cat, the clothes on her back and a teddy bear she got when she was 1.". HOW TO SOLVE ERROR CODE PII_EMAIL_DE03C2D55A4B639F558D. I said, You guys are crazy, that my house is too big.. She will be 72 years old. Im thankful for my trial team for sticking with me. INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. An Indianapolis woman said she asked her then-boyfriend's half-brother what he had done when she learned the fire they planned to ignite using natural gas had "I mean, I'm totally devastated like my neighbors are.". He told her to tell Holts, though, that they would be trying the fire again that night (Sunday night). Mr. Monserrate Morales was born on January 7, 1955 in Puerto Rico. [6] A friend of the couple reported that Mark Leonard had lost $10,000 at the casino approximately three weeks before the explosion. ", Minch: "You've had problems over the years with the furnace and the water heater. Call 6 Investigator Rafael Sanchez and Senior Digital Correspondent Jordan Fischer will be in Fort Wayne covering the trial every day. You may have noticed that the name monserrate has been replaced with the word shirley, which is used in both a variety of other games and in the game of death. But these were good defense attorneys. The case was expected to be the largest and most expensive trial in Marion County history. Heappears to have died of natural causes. They said they didn't know. He also told Bob to go get Gary Thompson. Shirley's sentencing started Monday morning at 9 a.m. She faces 20 to 50 years in prison for two counts conspiracy to commit arson. She owned the house. Shirley wasnt a suspect at the time, and the interview was a routine one. Robert Leonard, who was convicted of murder and multiple felonies, was sentenced to life without parole. Bob Leonard said, "Well, you're in it. But their arrests wereonly the beginning of years of work to put them behind bars for good. We believed that he did, we had some very thin evidence that he did. By the time wed got to trial, hed already been in jail for going on three years. But Im not allowed to say that. He was sentenced to 3 years in prison. She and her boyfriend, Mark Leonard, who also lived at the residence, told authorities they had left Friday night for a weekend at Hollywood Casino in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. 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. Monserrate Shirley was ordered to serve out her sentence at the Indiana Womens Prison in Indianapolis. Hed also been previously accused of insurance fraud in connection with a car accident. 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). [14] In April 2015, a fifth man, Glenn Hults, was charged with conspiracy to commit arson. [13] A fourth person, Gary Thompson, was charged in January 2015 on the same charges. Should we not use all those witnesses? BREAKING: By a vote of 24-38, New York's State Senate has voted against same-sex marriage legislation. [2] Over sixty firefighters responded to the blaze. Shortly thereafter I moved some furniture into the apartment. . "I was at one of my part-time jobs when I got a text from my daughter, which was very unusual. 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. It was a good feeling.. Its about your game being the only game that matters. Leonard started talking the next week about trying for a second time to burn down the home.