Monserrate Shirley | Natural Gas Explosion Destroys Neighborhood Due to Romance Scammer

[00:00:00] When we made our McDonald's spicy chicken McNuggets, you were praise hands emoji. Then we ran out and you were streaming tears emoji. Now they're back so you can be grinning face with sweat emoji. Order ahead on the McDonald's app. And get money mouth face emoji with two orders of crispy irresistible 10 piece McNuggets, spicy or classic for just $6. Limited time only prices and participation may vary cannot be combined with any other offer single item at regular price.

[00:00:30] This is True Crime Psychology and Personality where we discuss the pathology behind some of the most horrific crimes and those who committed them from a scientifically informed perspective.

[00:00:49] I'm Dr. Todd Grande, I have a PhD in counselor education and supervision and a licensed professional counselor of mental health. Dr. Todd Grande, that's my YouTube channel.

[00:01:01] Today's question is can I analyze the case of Monserat Shirley? First I'll look at the background of this case moved to the timeline of the crime and offer my analysis.

[00:01:12] Monserat Shirley was born on October 3, 1965 in Puerto Rico. She went by the name Monsy. In 1990 she moved to Michigan to study nursing and college on July 17, 1993. Monsy married a man named John Shirley. They had a daughter together named Brooke.

[00:01:32] Near the end of 2003, the family moved to the Richmond Hill neighborhood. This is on the southeast side of in the Annapolis. Their 2500 square foot house was at 8349 Field Fairway. The relationship between Monsy and John disintegrated. He moved out in February of 2011 and the couple divorced in July of that same year. Monsy ended up with the house but she also ended up with the mortgage payment. They came with it.

[00:02:01] She lived in the house with her daughter Brooke and the cat named Snowball. John Shirley worked one full-time job and two part-time jobs in order to pay Monsy $1,000 a month in child support.

[00:02:14] In November of 2011, Monsy met a man named Mark Leonard and they became romantically involved. He had been an exotic dancer when he was younger but now Mark worked as a rougher.

[00:02:26] In December of 2011, Mark moved into Monsy's house in Richmond Hill. In early 2012, Mark was in the hospital with an autoimmune disease and almost died but he recovered somewhat and moved back in with Monsy and Mae.

[00:02:41] Now moving to the timeline of the crime on November 10, 2012 at 111 pm, the Shirley Family House on Field Fairway exploded.

[00:02:52] The force of the blast was equivalent to three tons of TNT. It was so massive that the house was completely obliterated. The explosion was described by people as tremendous, frightening, overwhelming, panic-inducing, earth-shattering and easily confused by the fact that the house was completely obliterated.

[00:03:10] It was so much more than just a small amount of time that it was completely unconfused with the dawn of the apocalypse. It could be heard for over ten miles away. Immediately following the explosion, disoriented residents were running through the streets, somewhere wearing pajamas.

[00:03:24] People were screaming, crying, hysterical and confused as insulation rained down. The fire department started responding even before receiving emergency calls because they heard and felt the explosion.

[00:03:37] The occupants of 8355 Field Fairway, Dion and Jennifer Longworth were killed in the explosion. 12 other people in the neighborhood were injured.

[00:03:49] The blasts caused about four and a half million dollars in damage. About 30 houses in the neighborhood were damaged so severely they would later be demolished.

[00:03:58] The people law enforcement agencies started parallel investigations into the cause of the explosion. At first, they wondered if the blasts was caused by a mismanaged methamphetamine laboratory or maybe an aircraft had crashed into the neighborhood.

[00:04:13] Here's what the agencies found during their investigations. Natural gas was intentionally leaked into the Shirley Family House. Two key pieces of equipment had been removed, the step-down regulator and a valve from the fireplace.

[00:04:28] A microwave was used as a delayed timing device which ignited the natural gas.

[00:04:33] Moncy and Mark had substantial financial problems, they were in bankruptcy proceedings. Right before the explosion, the insurance on the house was increased from $160,000 to $300,000.

[00:04:46] Moncy took her daughter to a babysitter and boarded Snowball the cat. She did this the two weekends before the explosion as well, which was out of the ordinary.

[00:04:56] Moncy and Mark just happened to be at a casino when the explosion occurred. Most of the time they just stood around as if they were trying to be noticed by the surveillance cameras.

[00:05:05] Mark only gambled for a few minutes. On November 2, eight days before the explosion, Mark told a friend of his that he was looking to buy a Ferrari.

[00:05:15] He said that tsunami winds blew out the fireplace and the house blew up. He was going to be getting $300,000. This makes it seem as though Mark had planned to blow up the house that weekend and did not realize that the plan had failed when he made that statement to the friend.

[00:05:31] Mark's brother, Robert Leonard, spoke to a neighbor who worked for a local energy company and asked about the difference between natural gas and propane.

[00:05:40] A van pulled up to the Shirley family house on the day of the explosion and removed personal belongings.

[00:05:46] The police came to believe that Moncy, Mark and Mark's brother, Robert, were involved in the explosion as part of an insurance scheme. On December 20, 2012, they were arrested and charged with dozens of crimes, including murder and

[00:06:00] arson. Moncy reached an agreement with the state and confessed to her involvement. Here is what she said happened. She and her husband planned the detonation for October 27, 2012.

[00:06:12] A man named Gary Thompson was supposed to ignite the gas but he failed to complete the job. He said that he had been pulled over by the police.

[00:06:21] The second attempt was on November 3, 2012. This time Mark's brother, Robert, was supposed to ignite the gas but he also failed. A man named Glenn Holtz knew about the scheme but did not warn anybody.

[00:06:35] Mark and Robert managed to set the microwave and successfully ignite the gas on November 10, but they did not anticipate a massive explosion.

[00:06:45] Moncy's cooperation led to the rest of Gary and Glenn. At the end of 2016, Gary pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit arson. He received 20 years in prison.

[00:06:54] Glenn pleaded guilty to one count of assisting a criminal and was sentenced to three years in prison. In June of 2015, Mark Leonard went to trial. His defense attorney admitted that Mark blew up the house but maintained that it was supposed to be a small explosion.

[00:07:09] Mark never intended to kill anyone. The defense even suggested that precautions were taken to ensure that no one would be harmed. On July 14, 2015, Mark Leonard was found guilty on all counts.

[00:07:23] A month later, he received the life in prison without the possibility of parole plus 75 years. Mark only served less than four years because he died in prison on January 30, 2018 from a gastrointestinal hemorrhage.

[00:07:39] On February 24, 2016, Robert Leonard was convicted on all counts. Less than a month later, he was sentenced to two life sentences without the possibility of parole plus 70 years.

[00:07:50] Moncy pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit arson under her plea bargain. On December 20, 2016, she was sentenced to the maximum allowable under her agreement 50 years in prison.

[00:08:04] She could be released as early as September 9, 2036 at the age of 7 day, now moving to my analysis. Here are my thoughts on a few areas that stood out to me in this case.

[00:08:14] Item number one. As I mentioned, the explosion in Richmond Hill was equivalent to three tons of TNT. Just to put that in perspective, the 1995 bombing in Oklahoma City, which killed 168 people and injured 680, involved the equivalent of 2.4 tons of TNT.

[00:08:34] Mark and Robert essentially constructed a bomb out of natural gas and a house. They probably did not think the explosion would kill anyone, but they did know there was a substantial risk.

[00:08:46] Item number two. Since 1995, Mark Leonard was a con artist. He maintained a preference for insurance fraud, but also used other scams.

[00:08:56] For example, Mark would use dating sites and select women who he considered to be heavy, unattractive and older. He would target them with his superficial charm and start a fake romance.

[00:09:08] Once a woman believed that she was in love with Mark, he would borrow money from her and disappear. He also used a variation of the scam where he would take a woman to a casino.

[00:09:19] Mark would pretend that he forgot his wallet. The woman would let him gamble with her money than he would disappear.

[00:09:25] When Mark died, not many people missed him, including his brother. Robert said, quote, I've only been in trouble twice in my life and both times were his fault.

[00:09:35] I could care less to these dead, good riddance unquote. Robert went on to describe his brother as a piece of blank. The blank rhymes with trap, which is exactly what Robert fell into.

[00:09:48] Item number three. When Mark was awaiting trial, he contacted another inmate in jail and asked to be put in touch with a hitman.

[00:09:56] Mark was actually put in touch with an undercover place officer. He told the fake hitman to kill one of the witnesses against him. Right before committing this murder, Mark wanted the hitman to force the witness to call 911 and recant his statement against Mark.

[00:10:13] How was this conversation between the witness and the 911 operator supposed to go? The witness calls 911. He's like, I'm about to get murdered by a hitman here, but before that happens, I would like to tell you a story about someone I falsely accused of blowing up a neighborhood.

[00:10:31] I think this illustrates Mark's level of functioning fairly well. It was an unsophisticated criminal relied on his charisma.

[00:10:39] Item number four. Some people have challenged the idea that the sentence, moncerat surely received, was fair. They believe that the maximum of 50 years was too harsh.

[00:10:50] Let's take a look at the evidence, both for and against the idea that her sentence was fair, starting with the factors that support the stare.

[00:10:57] The house that was blown up as part of the insurance scam was owned by Moncy. She arranged for her daughter and her cat to be away from the house.

[00:11:06] Prior to cooperating with the state, Moncy claimed that the house had problems with natural gas and said that she owned a Picasso. Clearly, Moncy was trying to inflate the insurance settlement.

[00:11:18] The sheer magnitude of the crime must be considered in any calculation about fairness. For example, two people died in the explosion. They were completely innocent.

[00:11:29] The neighborhood sustained about four and a half million dollars in damage. And the criminal prosecution was the most expensive in the history of the state of Indiana.

[00:11:38] Moving to the factors that contradict the idea that the sentence was fair, Mark was a professional con artist who targeted women.

[00:11:46] One could argue that Moncy was just another in a long line of victims. She was mesmerized by Mark's superficial charm and believed he was a very kind man.

[00:11:57] When he introduced the idea of insurance fraud, Moncy resisted and even offered to give him her 401k if he would give up on his plan.

[00:12:06] He rejected it saying it was not enough, but this still demonstrates that Moncy tried to change course. She later stated that she quote would have given him anything. I wasn't love with him.

[00:12:18] Even though the magnitude of the crime was frightening, Moncy's cooperation with the state led to Gary and Glenn in convicted. They would have escaped justice without her.

[00:12:29] Moncy was diagnosed with dependent personality disorder. This does not excuse her criminal behavior, but it is a mitigating factor among other symptoms. This disorder is characterized by difficulty expressing disagreement, a fear of being alone, trouble making everyday decisions and going to excessive lengths to obtain support.

[00:12:50] It's like she was the perfect target for Mark Leonard.

[00:12:54] Considering the evidence, do I think that the sentence Moncerat Shirley received was fair? No, I think the 50 years was excessive. 20 years would have been more reasonable.

[00:13:04] What do I think happened in this case? This is just a theory, my opinion. Mark Leonard was a con artist who targeted women who were desperate for love. He was impulsive, irresponsible, anti-social and had a tremendous sense of entitlement.

[00:13:19] When she lived in a fantasy world, that Mark created. For example, Mark was cheating other women out of money as his relationship with Moncy was ongoing.

[00:13:29] She told him that she was fine with this, as long as he was not having sex with his victims. Moncy may have been under the delusion that Mark was a valuable partner and that their romance was real.

[00:13:40] She was unwilling to believe what was actually happening. How Mark was a ticking time bomb. He was the driving force behind the insurance scheme.

[00:13:48] Moncy wanted Mark to blow up her world. Apparently, Mark viewed this challenge as literal. He didn't quite get that far but he made it a lot closer than anyone would have believed.

[00:14:00] This has been True Crime Psychology and Personality from R's Lunga Media. This content is for educational and entertainment purposes only. R's Lunga Vita Brebis.

[00:14:20] When we made our McDonald's spicy chicken McNuggets, you were praise hands emoji. Then we ran out and you were streaming tears emoji. Now they're back so you can be grinning face with sweat emoji. Order ahead on the McDonald's app.

[00:14:40] And get money mouth face emoji with two orders of crispy irresistible 10 piece McNuggets, spicy or classic for just $6.

[00:14:48] Limited time only prices and participation may vary cannot be combined with any other offer single item at regular price.