Citizens worker: Gas in Richmond Hill home equal to 3 tons TNT

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (WISH) – An investigator testifying in the Richmond Hill explosion trial told jurors the amount of gas used in the billing period before the blast at Monserrate Shirley’s home, was equal to about three tons of TNT.

Christopher Braun, with Citizens Energy Group, was one of the first people jurors heard from Thursday.

He spoke again about the testing Citizens Energy did after the explosion in November of 2012 in the Richmond Hill subdivision on Indianapolis’ south side.

The blast killed Dion and Jennifer Longworth, and damaged or destroyed more than 80 homes.

Mark Leonard is the first person accused in connection to the explosion to stand trial. He is accused, along with his girlfriend, Monserrate Shirley, his half-brother Bob, and two others, of plotting the deadly blast.

• FULL COVERAGE | Read more about the Richmond Hill explosion and criminal cases

Christopher Braun with Citizens Energy told jurors he tested the meter from Monserrate Shirley’s home to see if a large amount of gas had passed through the home, as compared to their neighbors, during the billing period right before the explosion.

The meter at the Shirley’s home was found largely intact under debris.

Braun said he found the Shirley’s home had substantially more gas pass through than other neighbors during that billing period. In fact, the amount of gas was more than twice the next highest reading.

He also said he tested the past 89 months of gas consumption at the Shirley’s home, which showed an average usage, then a giant spike in the billing period that ended with the explosion on November 10, 2012.

Braun testified that he also wanted to calculate if that amount of gas was enough to cause that explosion. He said he found the amount of gas used during that billing period at the Shirley’s home was equal to about three tons of TNT, roughly.

During cross examination, defense attorney Diane Black asked Braun if their calculations showed the exact date the usage occurred on. He said they calculated it based on the billing period between October 26 and the explosion in November.

Investigators also told jurors that they’d performed leak surveys and hadn’t found any leaks on Citizens Energy pipelines.

Wednesday, two Citizens Energy Group leaders testified that the regulator on the gas system at Monserrate Shirley’s home was not there. The regulator reduces pressure of the gas going into the home. They said the regulator was replaced with some hard piping.

Prosecutors say Mark Leonard’s girlfriend, Monserrate Shirley’s home blew up after it was filled with gas due to the regulator being removed and also a shut-off valve to the gas fireplace in the home being removed.

They’ll work to prove a microwave and cylinder sparked the explosion.

Hundreds of items found

Lt. Mario Garza took jurors through the meticulous investigation process they used to go through debris.

They searched, using hand tools you would use in a garden, digging about 14-16 inches below the foundation of homes.

They said they didn’t use any gas-powered equipment, and ran a metal detector over everything as they went through debris.

After material was searched, it was placed into giant dumpsters and secured.

Garza said they found hundreds of items.

Jurors saw pictures of three of the items found.

One, they said, was the piece of the gas system coming out of the Shirley residence. Garza showed jurors that on one side of it, that Maxitrol regulator should have been there to reduce the pressure going into the home, but it wasn’t there. Garza also showed jurors that all valves were in the ON position to show that gas was flowing.

That was found in between the foundation of the Shirley residence, and the home to the north of that, the Olvey residence.

Garza also showed jurors an aluminum cylinder they found at the scene, that he called “one of the main pieces of the puzzle.”

He also showed jurors a picture of the microwave to the home that appeared to have force on the inside of the microwave. He said it “looked like something on the inside had pushed the walls out,” as compared to have been thrown or having something fall on it from the explosion.

Aluminum cylinder and microwave

Dirk Shaw, a forensic analyst at the Marion County Crime Lab, told jurors he had tested two submissions from the Richmond Hill scene, to look for the presence of ignitable liquid.

He tested charred carpet, but found it didn’t have ignitable liquid on it.

Then, he received an aluminum cylinder from the scene. He said he “believe definitely indications are, this bottle did explode.” He said most likely a liquid in it, heated to extreme temperatures, caused it to explode. He said the metal was paper thin, indicating so much pressure building up inside the bottle, and also had an irregular bulge. The cylinder, he added, was charred only in a smaller area of it.

Prosecutor Denise Robinson asked him, “Could that bottle have been placed in the microwave?” He responded, “Yes.”

Monserrate Shirley’s ex-husband

Jurors later heard from John Shirley, Monserrate Shirley’s ex-husband.

Shirley said he and Monserrate had an acrimonious divorce in 2011, and he had left the home to his ex-wife in the divorce. He said he and Monserrate built the home on Fieldfare Way. He was last in that home more than a year before the explosion, in August or September of 2011.

Shirley has aided investigators and prosecutors in understanding how the gas system was laid out in the home he and Monserrate built. Prosecutors show the jury a diagram he had drawn for ATF investigators.

He also took prosecutors through a picture of the living room at the home on Fieldfare, describing a picture there, a photograph, that was a prized possession. He also described to jurors the fireplace that used gas simply to help light the wood. He said then, you would turn the gas off at that point, once the wood lit.

He also told jurors how he found out about the explosion, saying he got a text from his daughter that night asking if he’d heard that. He said no. Then he heard from others at his job in Noblesville there had been an explosion.

He later learned it was in his ex-wife’s neighborhood, and called her. He said she answered, crying, and told him it was her house.

Shirley said he called her back, asking what had happened to Snowball, their cat, who was important to their daughter.

He said Shirley told him, “well I had her staying someplace,” and he said, “which I thought was odd.”

He said the cat typically stayed at home.

Investigators have said Monserrate Shirley boarded the cat before the explosion.

Shirley also said investigators with the ATF asked him to identify a golf bag, which he did.

More on the investigation

Jurors heard from a worker who surveyed the sewer system near the explosion site, looking for any items out of the ordinary. He said he didn’t find anything.

They also heard from two special agents with the ATF, who said they’d aided in the investigation at the Richmond Hill neighborhood. They’d been looking for a valve to a gas fireplace, and did not find it.