Testimony in Richmond Hill trial reveals suspects lied to insurance investigators

South Bend — Insurance investigators testified Tuesday that Mark Leonard and ex-girlfriend Monserrate Shirley lied to them about personal belongings that were lost in the November 2012 explosion in the Richmond Hill subdivision.

Ken Bailey, who investigates claims for State Farm Insurance Co., said that Leonard claimed he had $20,000 in cash stored in Shirley's home when it exploded. Investigators, however, did not find any remains of that amount of money after the blast.

Shirley told Bailey that she had several expensive items in the house, including a Picasso painting that she bought from Puerto Rico, Bailey testified in court. She also claimed that she wasn't in need of money and that she had no knowledge of how or why the explosion occurred. Previous witnesses said that Shirley's debts, which resulted from a heavily mortgaged home and the dismissal of a bankruptcy claim, totaled about $300,000.

Prosecutors say Leonard and Shirley conspired to blow up Shirley's home at 8349 Fieldfare Way to collect about $300,000 in insurance claims. The natural gas explosion killed two people, injured a dozen others and destroyed or damaged more than 80 homes.

Leonard, 46, is on trial on 53 charges, including felony murder, arson and conspiracy to commit arson. He also is facing life imprisonment without parole.

Jurors in Leonard's trial in St. Joseph County – where it was moved because of heavy pretrial publicity in Marion County – heard from Bailey and other witnesses from State Farm Insurance Co., which insured Shirley's home, as well as two vehicles that belonged Leonard.

The insurance claims on Shirley's home and on Leonard's two vehicles, a Cadillac and a Harley Davidson motorcycle, were denied, insurance investigators said.

Amber Horine, who also investigates insurance claims for State Farm, said Leonard told investigators that both of his vehicles were in good condition. Horine said Leonard and Shirley both told her the Cadillac was "gorgeous." But Ed Nightingale, a master mechanic who examined the vehicles, testified that both were already damaged and weren't drivable before the explosion.

Steve Engle, who had been Shirley's home insurance agent since 1998, said he met with Shirley and Leonard shortly after the Nov. 10, 2012 blast. The conversation was a somber one, Engle said.

"Ms. Shirley just kept saying, 'Everything's gone. My house is gone,'" Engle said, who issued a $5,000 check to Shirley to pay for initial living expenses.

Tonya Fishburn, DNA analyst for the Indianapolis-Marion County Forensic Services Agency, also testified Tuesday. She said a DNA sample taken from a letter written inside the Marion County Jail matched Mark Leonard's DNA. The letter was given to jailhouse informant Robert Smith and contained a map to the house of a key state witness whom Leonard allegedly tried to have killed while he was in jail.

Call Star reporter Kristine Guerra at (317) 444-6209. Follow her on Twitter: @kristine_guerra.