Richmond Hills Bomb Murder Conviction Affirmed

The Indiana Supreme Court affirmed the murder conviction and sentence of the main perpetrator of an insurance fraud bombing that killed two neighbors.

Richmond Hill is a quiet subdivision on the southeast side of Indianapolis. Shortly after 11:00 p.m. on November 10, 2012, this tranquil enclave was rocked by a massive explosion that could be heard for more than ten miles away. One Richmond Hill resident awakened by the explosion is a combat veteran who served a tour of duty in Afghanistan. The sound caused him to have flashbacks and to question where he was. Other Richmond Hill residents made their way outside to find homes in a “shredded” state, a state of complete “chaos”; and variously described what they saw: “smoke”, insulation falling like snow, “debris absolutely everywhere,” “total destruction,” a “war zone,” rubble “up to my knees,” people “running” and screaming, people “disoriented” and “dazed,” “devastation,” “raining ash” and cinder, a “blast zone.” See generally Tr. at 803-1710. Firefighters at a station nearby heard and felt the explosion, and even before emergency calls came in, they set out in the direction of “a large plume of . . . debris and smoke[.]” Tr. at 723. Approaching the neighborhood these first responders observed several houses on fire. Nearly thirty homes were damaged severely enough that they had to be demolished. Others suffered extensive but repairable damage.

Parallel investigations into the explosion were conducted by the Indianapolis Fire Department; the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department; the Department of Homeland Security; the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Citizens Energy Group; and various other federal and state governmental agencies and insurance companies.

Because of the neighborhood’s proximity to a municipal airport, investigators initially questioned whether the explosion could have been caused by an airplane crash. They also considered the possibility that a methamphetamine lab exploded or that this was a weather related incident. These theories were quickly ruled out, and investigators focused on the possibility of a natural gas explosion. The home at the epicenter of these events was owned by Monserrate Shirley, a nine-year resident of Richmond Hill. Her boyfriend Mark Leonard also lived at the residence along with Shirley’s teenaged daughter and the family cat. No one was home at the time of the explosion.

Ultimately authorities concluded natural gas was intentionally leaked into the Shirley home through a modification of the fireplace and that a delayed timing device was triggered which caused an explosion equal in force to approximately three tons of TNT.

IndyStar reported on the horrific crimes. (Mike Frisch)