Indiana House Explosion Update: 3 jailed without bond in Indianapolis blast that killed 2

By: Crimesider Staff
Topics: Daily Blotter

Monserrate Shirley returns to jail after entering a not guilty plea in the arraignment for the fatal Richmond Hill blast

/ AP Photo/Indianapolis Star, Kelly Wilkinson)

(CBS/AP) INDIANAPOLIS - Residents whose Indianapolis homes were battered by a gas explosion and relatives of a couple who were killed packed a court hearing Monday where the three suspects charged with rigging the blast were ordered jailed without bond.

A Marion County judge entered not guilty pleas Monday for Monserrate Shirley, her boyfriend Mark Leonard, and his brother, Bob Leonard. They are charged with murder, arson and other counts in the Nov. 10 blast.

The three, who appeared in court for the hearing, were ordered held without bond. Prosecutors say Shirley and the Leonard brothers deliberately blew up her home so they could collect the insurance payout.

The blast destroyed five homes, including Shirley's, and damaged dozens of others in the Richmond Hill subdivision in the far south side of the city. The explosion killed Shirley's next-door neighbors, John Dion Longworth, a 34-year-old electronics expert, and his 36-year-old wife, second-grade teacher Jennifer Longworth. Shirley and Mark Leonard told investigators they were at a southern Indiana casino at the time of the blast.

John Dion Longworth's aunt, Pam Mosser, said it is important for people to know how her family suffered while the suspects apparently gave no thought for their neighbor's lives.

"Dion and Jennifer died suffering and screaming. It is unbelievable to me that someone could be gambling and drinking while their house blows up and people are dying," Mosser told reporters after the hearing.

"I cannot forgive that," she said.

Shirley, 47, was facing mounting financial owes, including $63,000 in credit card debt and bankruptcy proceedings, court documents say. And a friend of Mark Leonard's told investigators that Leonard said he had lost about $10,000 at a casino some three weeks before the explosion. The home's original loan was for $116,000 and a second mortgage was taken out on the home for $65,000, the affidavit says.

Shirley and the Leonard brothers face two counts of murder as well as 33 counts of arson - one count for each of the homes damaged so badly that officials have ordered their demolition.

Shirley an Mark Leonard, 43, also face two counts of conspiracy to commit arson, while Bob Leonard, 54, faces a single count. The conspiracy charges stem from a failed explosion that prosecutors claim the trio had attempted the weekend before the blast.

Mark Leonard told the judge that he couldn't pay for an attorney because all his cash was inside Shirley's house when it blew up, leaving him with about $500 in a checking account.

Prosecutor Terry Curry has said he will consider seeking the death penalty. A trial for all three suspects was scheduled for March 4.

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Dec. 21, 2012 - Indiana House Explosion Update: 3 charged with murder

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