‘Worst Neighbor Ever’ Explores Moncy Shirley, the Nurse Whose Deadly Explosion Rocked Richmond Hill

Netflix’s true crime slate keeps growing, and its latest entry pulls back the curtain on one of Indianapolis’s most devastating criminal cases. ‘Worst Neighbor Ever’ devotes its second episode to Monserrate ‘Moncy’ Shirley, a woman once beloved in her community who ended up at the center of a scheme that killed two of her neighbors.

The docuseries traces how a seemingly ordinary suburban life unraveled into arson, fraud, and tragedy. The episode, titled “Midwest Meltdown,” introduces viewers to the residents of Richmond Hill, a gated Indianapolis subdivision where neighbors were described as “all best friends.”

Who Is Moncy Shirley

Monserrate Shirley first moved into Richmond Hill in the early 2000s with her then husband John and their young daughter. Originally from Puerto Rico, she had come to the United States, attended nursing school, and built a career as a professional nurse. Friends and neighbors affectionately called her Moncy, and she was seen as a foundational part of the tight knit community.

She grew close with the women in her neighborhood and became something of a parental figure to the local kids, and life seemed to be going well for her. That changed around 2009, when her marriage to John began falling apart and she decided to pursue a divorce. Eyebrows were raised in the neighborhood once her new boyfriend, Mark Leonard, moved in, particularly because of his criminal record.

Investigators later learned that Leonard had a pattern of targeting single women who had recently lost husbands, financially duping at least three other women before turning his attention to Shirley in 2011. This time, though, he set his sights on something far bigger than a bank account.

The Richmond Hill Explosion That Changed Everything

On November 10, 2012, the home belonging to Shirley exploded, killing next door neighbors John “Dion” Longworth and his wife Jennifer. Seven other neighbors were injured, the blast caused four million dollars in property damage, and thirty three homes were damaged beyond repair and had to be demolished.

Court testimony revealed that Leonard had promised to show Shirley how to make a lot of money, and she went along with the plan despite thinking it sounded crazy. Crucially, investigators found that the personal insurance on the home had recently been increased to three hundred thousand dollars.

Shirley raised her home insurance to that same figure while Leonard rigged the house with a gas line and a microwave meant to spark the blast, and the couple boarded Shirley’s daughter’s cat, Snowball, before heading out of town to a casino for the night to wait for their payday. The pair had reportedly attempted the same plan twice before on earlier weekend trips, but the explosion failed to ignite properly both times.

Police initially believed the explosion was an accident, but the investigation soon pointed toward foul play. Prosecutors ultimately contended that the trio filled the house with natural gas and used a spark from the microwave, which could be set in advance, to trigger the blast.

Moncy Shirley’s Arrest and Trial

Monserrate Shirley, Mark Leonard, and Leonard’s half brother Bob Leonard were initially charged with two counts of murder and arson in the deaths of Dion and Jennifer Longworth. Two additional men, Gary Thompson and Glenn Hults, were later charged in connection with the plot.

Though the trio was eligible for the death penalty under Indiana law, prosecutors instead pursued life sentences without parole because they believed a jury would be unlikely to impose death without evidence the suspects intended to kill anyone. Shirley ultimately avoided the possibility of life without parole thanks to a plea deal in which she agreed to testify against her co-conspirators and provide information about the insurance fraud scheme.

She pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit arson and told jurors during the proceedings that she believed Mark and Bob only intended to start a small fire to collect the insurance money. She also claimed that after the blast, the men threatened her and her daughter, testifying that Mark Leonard told her he would “cut me into pieces and my daughter” if she ever spoke about what happened, and that she was afraid and did not want anything to happen to her child.

Her attorneys argued she had been trapped in an abusive relationship and coerced by Leonard into participating, and a psychologist diagnosed her with dependent personality disorder, though the expert acknowledged under cross examination that the diagnosis did not absolve her of responsibility.

Where Moncy Shirley Is Now

Shirley was sentenced to fifty years in prison, the maximum allowed under her plea agreement, on December 20, 2016. During sentencing, Judge Sheila Carlisle heard directly from Shirley’s former neighbors, all of whom asked for the maximum penalty, with Dion Longworth’s sister Brookley telling the court she did not believe Shirley should ever hold her daughter again.

She is currently serving her sentence at the Indiana Women’s Prison in Indianapolis, with an earliest possible release date of December 19, 2037, when she will be seventy two years old.

Her co-defendants fared differently, Mark Leonard was convicted on dozens of counts and sentenced to two consecutive life terms plus additional years before dying of natural causes in prison in 2018, while Bob Leonard received two life sentences without parole plus additional time, and Gary Thompson was sentenced to thirty years after also pleading guilty.

The ‘Worst Neighbor Ever’ installment leaves little doubt about how a friendly nurse from a close knit cul de sac became the center of one of Indiana’s most infamous criminal cases. Did Moncy Shirley deserve leniency as a manipulated victim of Mark Leonard, or does her role in the deaths of Dion and Jennifer Longworth make her just as culpable, let us know where you land after watching the episode for yourself.