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. [16] On March 13, Leonard allegedly placed a call to a man who he believed to be a hit man. The man he called was actually an undercover agent. The case was expected to be the largest and most expensive trial in Marion County history. The Richmond Hill neighbors had been waiting long enough without a trial. And the game of death is the game of life itself. 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 took care of all three. . She asked that Mark and Bob switch it back out for the nicer version. I don't want to be involved in any of this.". She said that she hasn't been eating or sleeping well and that she has been taking Xanax to get what little sleep she can. "In order to pay a very large amount of child support, I was working a full-time job and two part-time jobs," he said. To begin the day, Monserrate Shirley explained how she and Mark Leonard met. At one point, after one of the failed attempts to burn the home, Monserrate Shirley said she offered Mark Leonard her 401k instead. Leonard is charged with 53 counts of murder, arson and conspiracy. They laughed at her for asking, but it was switched back out. Mark Leonards trial at the St. Joseph County Courthouse was eventful before it even started. The blast the product of an insurance fraud scheme killed two people and injured dozens of others. "I mean, I'm totally devastated like my neighbors are.". Monserrate Shirley and Mark leonard, profiled on the next "American Greed," staged a natural gas explosion to collect the insurance on their Indianapolis home. Made and inspired by a love triangle, this was written by a girl from Italy. Mark Leonard was the first to go on trial. -- 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. When she left that morning, her daughterand Snowball were still there (Mark was going to take them to school and the kennel). Having Shirley as a witness came with its own pitfalls, though. 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. She asked Mark not to try the house fire plan again. 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. Hults and his then-fiance babysat Shirley's daughter on the night of the explosion. Leonard was being held at the Wabash Valley Correctional Facilitybut was transferred to the hospital several days ago. Deputy prosecutor Denise Robinson returned from prosecuting the Richmond Hill cases to a pile of homicides waiting on her desk. Required fields are marked *. Would you describe her demeanor the same way?" Shirley says the house had three gas appliances when he lived there: furnace, water heater and fireplace. 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. It's been hard for me and my daughter. The stove was electric. Shirley testified that friends called and told her there was a huge explosion. He refused, though, and warned them, "You guys be careful, because I know someone who committed arson and got 75 years in prison. 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. If that timeline holds, final jury instructions would be given Monday, July 13 then deliberation would begin. 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. See also:Shantonia Heard of Atlanta Left Her 2 Children Alone With No Power and Gas Oven On, Police Say Apartment Fire Safety Tips Man Killed as Gas Explosion Destroys Connecticut Home. A second home was reduced to rubble as well, and other houses were half-collapsed. Shirley said she would come back immediately, but they told her there was no house to come back to. [22], On January 16, 2015, Shirley agreed to a plea deal with prosecutors. They claim that Leonard wanted the hit man to force the witness to call 9-1-1 and recant his statement before killing him. 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. It's also possible she will walk free if the judge sentences. FORT WAYNE, Ind. John did all the maintenance on the home - she never did any. That presented a potential pitfall in the case, 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. To this day, absolutely they had the right to do that. 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. 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. Indiana sheriffs deputy dies after falling ill during training, Myles Colvin captivates Heritage Christian crowds, preps for Purdue. Saturday morning, they headed to the casino and Mark played a blackjack table, then they went to the bar and sat, waiting to get the phone call their home had caught fire. 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. But she put an end to that in August 2011.". She would then go to a southside bar to meet Mark before they left for the casino. Officials did not release further information regarding his death. "(Whoever is responsible will) have to pay for what they did to me and everybody else," Shirley said in the interview. We believed that he did, we had some very thin evidence that he did. During the course of this lengthy process, we have sincerely appreciated the cooperation and patience of these families. She didnt know anyone died, she said. 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. [1] Thirty-three homes were damaged severely enough to require demolition. [34][35], Monserrate Shirley pled guilty to conspiracy to commit arson. She never got a call, though. ", Minch: "At no time did she ever say she was involved in the explosion?" They'd soon get a new roommate. Shed said similar things in an interview with IMPD Det. ", When they went to pick up Shirley's daughteron Sunday, Holts told Mark to "Get the [expletive] out of here. Shirley had earlier cooperated in providing testimony against alleged co-conspirators but. "They are currently in the process of recovering the appliances from destroyed homes to help determine the cause.". Monserrate Shirley agreed to testify against Mark Leonard as part of a plea agreement to reduce her potential prison time. In an interview with former RTV6 reporter Stacia Matthews, Shirley suggested the explosion may have been an attempt on her life. 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. The next morning, they returned to Indianapolis and saw the house was again still standing so Mark called Bob and told him to meet at a nearby parking lot. 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. This is too risky." But she had no hesitation when asked to identify the Longworths as her neighbors. Monserrate Shirley testified that Mark Leonard is the one who told her to increase the insurance on the contents of her house, and she also testified Mark Leonard brought up the idea of setting fire to her house for easy money. She was able to take that to the prosecutor and get a protective order against me. She said they should be punished, Carter testified. Shirley: "In order to pay a very large amount of child support, I was working a full-time job and two part-time jobs. She remained in the house as the sole owner until the explosion. BREAKING: By a vote of 24-38, New York's State Senate has voted against same-sex marriage legislation. She has already been behind bars for four years. Snapped: Killer Couples (known as Killer Couples from seasons 7 to 15) is an American true crime television series currently airing on the Oxygen Network.The program details couples who commit crimes together. And the water heater." Thirty-three homes were damaged so severely they were deemed unrecoverable, and had to be torn down to the foundation. Ultimately, she could end up serving 21 years if she maintains good behavior in prison. I tried to ignore Mark Leonards history as much as I could, Robinson said. Prosecutors started by addressing her plea agreement. He was sentenced to 3 years in prison. TRANSCRIPT | Opening statements in the trial of Mark Leonard. They are charged with. Make 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? Her sister had lived in the same housing complex. 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. I went into the breakroom and texted my ex about what happened. [20] The trials started in 2015. He says he "was very surprised" to learn Snowball had been boarded on the night of the explosion. She told him the attempt didnt work but that there would be another attempt. Mark. Marion County Superior Court Judge Sheila Carlisle sentenced Monserrate Shirley to spend the maximum sentence of 50 years in prison on Tuesday. She later worked at St. Francis and Community South. Richmond Hill explosion: 'It's the toughest thing I've ever done in my career', Richmond Hill explosion: 7 keys that solved the case, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. I told them I dont even want to be a part of this, Shirley testified as telling the Leonards. Heappears to have died of natural causes. Again, Monserrate agreed to do her same three preparations: a casino hotel reservation, a babysitter for her daughterand boarding for Snowball. As fate would have it, it would be Carter, just a few weeks later, who would place Monserrate Shirley in handcuffs. Gary Thompson, who had helped with the first two unsuccessful attempts to blow up Monserrate Shirleys house, pleaded guilty on Dec. 2, 2016, to conspiracy to commit arson and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Thompson said he'd been pulled over by a cop so he couldn't get to the house. "Everything they were telling me, it could not be possible," Shirley said on the stand as she started to get emotional. PREVIOUS|Timeline of events|Gallery: The Richmond Hill Explosion|Where were you at 11:11 PM?