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| -Lurid Crime Tales- |
| 3 Hoosiers arrested for murders, arson and insurance scam plot |
| 2012-12-22 |
| From Besoeker in the other post on this one:Yep, here it is Frank. They increased coverage on the structure and contents to $21,400,000 just last month. Looks like we've solved another one. Indianapolis -- A devastating explosion that killed two neighbors and destroyed dozens of homes in the Richmond Hill neighborhood last month was the culmination of a tangled tale of greed, debt, desperation and deceit. Three people were arrested and charged with murder in what Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry called a "thoroughly senseless act." Monserrate Shirley, 47, her boyfriend Mark Leonard, 43, and his half-brother Robert "Bob" Leonard, Jr., 54, were charged with murder and multiple other felony counts for what investigators described as having essentially turned Shirley's home into a bomb. Investigators say the blast was a plan hatched by the Leonards, two men characterized by others as practiced con men -- half brothers with a history of suckering people and insurance companies out of cash. Detectives believe that the suspects tried to blow up the home the weekend before the explosion. The gas, however, failed to detonate. Just the day before the actual blast. Mark and Bob Leonard spoke with a gas company employee at a Southside business about the differences between natural gas and propane. They asked him about how valves work and "how much gas would it take to fill a house." The employee told detectives that he said "a house is like a balloon which would fill until it popped." The employee said he didn't think anything of the conversation at the time, but arson investigators say that information helped the brothers formulate a plan that would turn their home into a bomb. They say Shirley's gas fireplace was rigged so it would pour out natural gas and that they set a microwave oven's timer to trigger the blast. |
| Posted by:Anguper Hupomosing9418 |