Richmond Hill trial: 'There's dots we're now starting to connect'

• Monserrate Shirley%2C one of the prosecutors%27 key witnesses%2C will testify Wednesday.

SOUTH BEND – A link connecting Mark Leonard to the fatal Richmond Hill blast in 2012 was made known to jurors Monday, when the lead arson investigator testified that a witness had told him about conversations he had with Leonard before the explosion.

Lt. Mario Garza of the Indianapolis Fire Department said Mark Duckworth, who was a friend and former associate of Leonard's, told him that he and Leonard had conversations about a fire place and other things.

"I found it quite interesting that he had a conversation with Mr. Leonard about areas I'm looking at … talking about fire place, tsunami, etc.," said Garza, who was investigating several possible ignition sources, including a fire place, for the natural gas explosion in the home of Leonard's then-girlfriend, Monserrate Shirley.

Until Monday, the beginning of the fourth week of Leonard's trial in South Bend, nothing had been said connecting him to the explosion. Testimony over the past three weeks focused on damage caused by the blast, how it happened and what natural gas is.

"There's dots we're now starting to connect," said Marion County Deputy Prosecutor Denise Robinson, adding that Duckworth also is expected to testify.

According to a probable cause affidavit, a man identified as "MD" told investigators that Leonard told him his house blew up and that "tsunami winds came down the chimney, blew out the fire in the fireplace and the gas kept running and the house blew up." The conversation occurred Nov. 2, 2012, a week before the home actually exploded. Investigators say it suggests a failed attempt to blow up the house.

Prosecutors say Leonard conspired to blow up Shirley's home to collect about $300,000 in insurance claims. The scheme resulted in a fatal explosion in the Southeastside neighborhood. He is on trial on 53 felony charges, including felony murder, arson and conspiracy to commit arson. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Before testimony Monday, St. Joseph Superior Court Judge John Marnocha granted prosecutors' request to keep defense attorneys from mentioning or asking witnesses questions about Shirley's extramarital affairs.

Robinson asked that witnesses not be questioned about whether Shirley had an affair while she was married to John Shirley, or about any other dating or sexual relationships she had with other men aside from Leonard, according to the motion filed Monday morning.

Defense attorneys asked that they be allowed to ask such questions, particularly about her alleged affair with a doctor. Public defender Diane Black said Shirley was blackmailing the doctor for "hush money." This, Black said, contradicts prosecutors' contention that Shirley is a woman who has no will of her own. Instead, she is a woman who knows how to play people for her own financial gain, Black said.

Marnocha ruled in favor of prosecutors, saying whether Shirley had "one affair, two affairs or a hundred affairs" isn't relevant.

Shirley, who also was charged with murder and arson, became one of the prosecutors' key witnesses after she accepted a plea deal earlier this year. Leonard's defense team has been intent on pointing the blame at Shirley. Defense attorneys also have made sure that jurors know that Shirley changed her story by initially telling several reporters that she was innocent but later admitted — through a plea agreement — that she wasn't.

Robinson said Shirley, who has been transported to South Bend, will testify Wednesday.

The rest of the testimony Monday focused on the fire and police investigation of the explosion.

Garza, who wrote the report on the origin and cause of the explosion, said the blast was incendiary and that natural gas was intentionally released into Shirley's home, causing it to explode. Shirley's next-door neighbors, John Dion and Jennifer Longworth, were killed in the blast.

Garza also testified that there were several potential ignition sources in Shirley's home, including the water heater, gas furnace and candles found in the debris field. Witnesses testified last week that the water heater and the furnace did not have the physical damage they should have had if they were the sources of ignition.

Prosecutors say the gas was ignited with a timing device on a microwave. The microwave's manual indicates that it can be programmed within a 24-hour time range. That means the microwave could have been set around 11 p.m. Nov. 9, 2012 — 24 hours before Shirley's home exploded. Under questioning by Black, Garza said it was not programmed by Leonard, who was at a casino 90 miles away that night. He also said no physical testing was done on the microwave.

Travis Bell, a disc jockey at the Hollywood Casino in Lawrenceburg, said he saw Leonard and Shirley at the casino bar Nov. 10, the night of the explosion. After Leonard and Shirley were arrested and charged, Bell said he saw their pictures on TV and recognized them as the couple he saw.

Bell's testimony suggested that Leonard and Shirley made sure that he saw — and remembered — them that night. Bell said Leonard and Shirley asked him to announce to the bar's crowd that it was their anniversary. They also told him that they knew him from the Southside, Bell said.

Officials from the casino and the Indiana Gaming Commission will testify Tuesday. Prosecutors also will soon begin introducing evidence, such as cellphone records and DNA.

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