NOTE:
I am guessing the other Trial Blog I was using has decided to stop posting their play by play in the court room. I checked today, and there isn't even a June 16th update posted. THIS Trial Blog here that I have had to start using says DAY 6 of the Trial, it is actually DAY 8. This blog is not counting the 2 days of Jury selection like the previous blog I was using. So just keep that in mind. Just wanted to settle any confusion you may have.
THIS IS DAY 8: TESTIMONY
June 16, 2015
9:35 a.m. – Court resumes session for the day.
9:40 a.m. – Patrick Crosley, 8337 Fieldfare Way, called as a witness by the prosecution.
9:42 a.m. – Crosley testifies that no one in his family was home on the night of the explosion. His daughters had decided that day to spend the night at a friend's.
9:46 a.m. – Crosley says his home had to be demolished. Estimated damage $232,000. He says his family decided to move out of the Richmond Hill subdivision. His family still owns the lot where their house stood, though the basement was filled in and it sits empty.
9:47 a.m. – Defense attorney Diane Black asks Crosley about whether his family knew and sometimes socialized with Monserrate Shirley and her daughter Brook. He says yes.
9:49 a.m. – Black asks Crosley about a church meeting he attended a few days after the explosion where Monserrate Shirley was in attendance. Crosley: "She looked as upset as the rest of us. She was crying. People were around her comforting her and asking her if there was anything they could do for her."
9:50 a.m. – Black asks Crosley if he attended a meeting with prosecutors regarding Monserrate Shirley's plea agreement and if the exact terms of that agreement were discussed. Deputy prosecutor Denise Robinson objects. Her objection is sustained.
9:51 a.m. – Crosley excused as a witness.
9:52 a.m. – Kevin Cole, 8403 Fieldfare Way, called as a witness by the prosecution.
9:53 a.m. – Cole: "When had gone to bed and were dozing off. Then there was a tremendous eruption. Just the loudest thing I'd ever heard. Then all at once there was a lot of violence. There was a tremendous pressure wave. The ceiling collapsed on us. I thought it was the end of the world. I thought a bomb had gone off on us."
9:55 a.m. – Cole: "Our bedroom was fortunately on the far side of the house from the house that had blown up. If we'd been on the other side it could have been much worse."
9:55 a.m. – Cole: "I went out to assess the damage. I heard a lot of water running from the broken pipes. I realized that if the water pipes were broken, the gas pipes might have been broken as well. I knew we had to get out."
9:56 a.m. – Cole testifies that he had to kick his door open to get out of the house.
9:57 a.m. – Cole: "I saw the house next door, and that's really the only thing I noticed. It was almost totally gone. It was basically just a pile of rubble."
9:57 a.m. – Cole: "We made it to the corner, and then we turned around and saw our house was beginning to burn. So we had the experience of watching our house burn down."
9:59 a.m. – Cole: "There was a gentleman on the back of one of the fire trucks I'll never forget. He was unloading a hose and had this panicked look on his face. I never expected to see that."
10:01 a.m. – Cole testifies that his home had to be demolished and rebuilt. Estimated damage $250,000.
10:02 a.m. – Defense attorney David Shircliff asks Cole whether he knew the Longworths, who were his next-door neighbors. Cole says they were friendly, but their relationship didn't really extend beyond being neighbors.
10:03 a.m. – Shircliff asks Cole about whether he knew Monserrate Shirley at the time of the explosion. He says he did not.
10:04 a.m. – Shircliff asks Cole whether he was at a meeting with prosecutors about Monserrate Shirley's plea agreement. Denise Robinson objects, but Judge Marnocha allows this question to continue.
10:05 a.m. – Cole says he was at the meeting, but prosecutors specifically said they weren't allowed to discuss the terms of the agreement.
10:05 a.m. – Cole dismissed as a witness.
10:05 a.m. – Glen Olvey, 8343 Fieldfare Way, called as a witness by the prosecution.
10:06 a.m. – Olvey says his family was on the first floor of their home watching television on the night of the explosion.
10:07 a.m. – Olvey: "Basically, everything exploded. The entire floor we were sitting at erupted and we went flying. I tried to get out from underneath whatever was pinning me down before I passed out. I knew Catherine was in back of me somewhere because I could hear her screaming."
10:08 a.m. – Olvey says he was able to get out of his house "with a lot of assistance."
10:08 a.m. – Olvey: "It seemed like an eternity, but it was actually like 10-15 minutes."
10:09 a.m. – Olvey on his injuries: "Various puncture wounds in my back, legs. Mild concussion from the explosion and from getting hit in the head."
10:13 a.m. – Olvey testifies that his family did not rebuild their home and actually sold the lot a few months ago. Estimated damage $185,000 to the home and $150,000 for the contents.
10:15 a.m. – Diane Black asks Olvey about whether he knew Monserrate Shirley. He says that his family would sometimes socialize with Shirley and her daughter.
10:16 a.m. - Black asks Olvey if he attended any of the community meetings following the explosion. He says he attended some of them. He says he was not at the meeting regarding Monserrate Shirley's plea agreement.
10:17 a.m. – Denise Robinson asks Olvey to expand on the timeframe in which his family would socialize with Monserrate Shirley. Olvey says it would have been 3-4 years prior to the explosion.
10:18 a.m. – Olvey excused as a witness.
10:19 a.m. – Glen Olvey's wife, 8343 Fieldfare Way, called as a witness by the prosecution.
[Olvey's wife and daughter asked that their names not be included in our transcript of testimony from the trial. Out of respect, we agreed to their request.]
10:19 a.m. – Olvey: "We were sitting in the living room. All of a sudden I turned to speak to the family and I felt something hit me in the face. Everything went dark for a second and then there were some flashes of light. I felt the roof fall down on top of me. Everything went quiet for a second. I asked Glen what had happened and he didn't know. I heard Catherine crying and saying she was bleeding from the head. I asked Catherine if she could move, she said, 'No, I can't move. I'm bleeding. I’m bleeding. I can't move.'"
10:21 a.m. – Olvey: "I couldn't move. I had a very large section of the roof sitting in my lap. A couple of neighbors came in and used a 2x4 to lift the roof off of me. One of the neighbors grabbed me by the shirt and pulled me out of the chair."
10:22 a.m. – Olvey: "I had 33 stitches in my leg where a 2x4 went through my calf. Five more stitches in my head, and numerous puncture wounds from nails."
10:23 a.m. – Olvey says she heard a "hissing" coming from the gas meter on Monserrate Shirley's house in the day prior to the explosion. "It was a hiss. It wasn't like what you would think of with a snake hiss, but more of a mechanical hiss."
10:23 a.m. – Olvey: "I went over to the meter and looked. There was nothing that looked out of place. There was no vapors, there was no smoke or anything. I thought maybe I was imagining it." Olvey says there was no smell of natural gas at the time.
10:25 a.m. – Diane Black asks Olvey if she ever called the gas company about the hissing sounds. She says she did not.
10:25 a.m. – Olvey dismissed as a witness.
10:25 a.m. – Glen Olvey's daughter, 8343 Fieldfare Way, called as a witness by the prosecution.
10:26 a.m. – Olvey: "I was sitting in the living room, and everything just kind of went dark. I knew that something was wrong, but I couldn't figure out what went wrong. Then I could feel that I was bleeding from the head. I started to panic a little bit. Then I heard there were some people in our house asking if anyone was there. I yelled that I was alive. Somebody helped dig me out from where I was sitting. I told them that my mom and dad and sister were still in the house."
10:29 a.m. – Olvey: "I had to get stitches in my neck and cheek. I had a cut in my head that I still have a scar from. I had to get stitches in my leg just below my knee."
10:30 a.m. – Olvey says she smelled something prior to the explosion: "I said that I had been smelling like propane." Olvey says she didn't and doesn't know the difference in smell between propane and natural gas.
10:32 a.m. – Defense attorney Diane Black asks Olvey if she recalls that her father grilled out the evening of the explosion. She says she does not. Black asks Olvey if she recalls telling a firefighter her mother smelled gas the evening before. Olvey says she does not. Black asks her if a firefighter testified she said that if she would have reason to doubt him. Denise Robinson objects. Objection sustained.
10:33 a.m. – Olvey excused as a witness.
10:35 a.m. – Lt. Dean Teagarden, IFD firefighter, called as a witness by the prosecution.
10:35 a.m. – Teagarden says he was stationed at Station 63 on Stop 11 Road on the night of the explosion.
10:36 a.m. – Teagarden: "I felt a blast that actually pushed me a little bit forward from the wall I was leaning against while watching the game. I kind of went forward and rocked back and hit my head against the wall."
10:37 a.m. – Teagarden: "We could see a mushroom cloud, explosion-type sight, in the air."
10:38 a.m. – Teagarden says he was first dispatched to an area north of the explosion where the first call came in. Once he confirmed the explosion hadn't occurred there, he proceeded toward Richmond Hill.
10:39 a.m. – Teagarden: "Upon arrival, it looked like a blast. We parked the ladder just south of the explosion site. That house looked like it was 70-80 percent involved in fire. Immediately upon parking we were approached by four or five civilians who said there was a person trapped in the rear of the house."
10:40 a.m. – Teagarden: "Immediately we made contact with a civilian that we could see from about the waist up who was in the building that was 70-80 percent involved. We made contact with him and we proceeded to try to extricate him from the hole."
10:41 a.m. – Teagarden: "He could move in what I've described as like a box. He could move from side to side, but couldn't escape. We worked frantically to try to get him free."
10:42 a.m. – Teagarden: "It was extreme heat. I thought about removing my mask to see if I could get in further to help the guy. I just barely removed my mask and the heat was so intense it came back down immediately."
10:43 a.m. – Teagarden: "It continued to get worse. The fire continued to spread. Within several minutes it was encompassing both firefighters and the trapped man."
10:44 a.m. – Robinson asks Teagarden if he returned to Richmond Hill after the explosion.
10:45 a.m. – Teagarden: "We were assisting with the investigation. We were basically removing large items out of the way.
10:46 a.m. – Teagarden excused as a witness with no cross-examination.
10:47 a.m. – Defense attorney David Shircliff says the defense would like to enter for the record their concern that objections from the prosecution are not being presented by the basis for the objection.
10:47 a.m. – Defense attorney David Shircliff: "Judge, we find ourselves in a very uncomfortable position as the defense. It's hard for us as the defense to even feel we can make an argument when the court is stating the basis for the objection and then ruling on it."
10:48 a.m. – Marnocha: "Here's my view: If the objection is clear, then I'm just going to rule on it."
10:50 a.m. – Court recesses for a break.
11:14 a.m. – Richard Shirven, Indianapolis firefighter, called as a witness by the prosecution.
11:16 a.m. – Shirven: "The lot, the actual explosion house, was just rubble. The house to the right, the front of the house was still standing but the back was collapsed."
11:19 a.m. – Shirven: "There was a lot of fire. We heard Mr. Longworth calling before we saw him. He was trapped in the residence. The first floor, the second floor, the roof … they'd all collapsed on top of him. I could see him through this little hole of wood and debris. It was probably 4 or 5 inches by 1 foot. At this time the fire was very hot. It was a fast-moving fire."
11:21 a.m. – Shirven: "Mr. Longworth was saying, 'It's hot, it's hot. Get me out."
11:22 a.m. – Shirven: "I'm moving any kind of wood or debris that I can. I could reach in. I grasped his hand and tried to pull him out. He was very mobile. He wasn't hurt very bad. He had blood all down his face and arms. I assumed he had a laceration on his head."
11:23 a.m. – Shirven: "I was prying what I could. I was pulling out what I could. But, like I said, there was two floors of wood on top of him."
11:24 a.m. – Shirven: "Time was so surreal. I'm guessing that 7-8 minutes into it Lt. Teagarden made the decision that we had to pull back. It was a matter of a minute or so after the time we pulled out that he was gone."
11:27 a.m. – Prosecutors enter into evidence photographs of firefighters on the scene the night of the explosion. Shirven identifies one photograph as an effort by firefighters to find John Longworth's body.
11:29 a.m. – Shirven: "I was not the one who found him. When he was found, I kind of removed myself. I'd had my hand on him … it was kind of personal. I didn't want to be part of it."
11:30 a.m. – Shirven excused as a witness with no cross-examination.
11:31 a.m. – Elaine Scorcea, John Longworth's mother, called as a witness by the prosecution.
11:34 a.m. – Scorcea: "I didn't learn about it until we were about halfway to Indianapolis. My daughter called me again and made sure I understood what had happened."
11:36 a.m. – Scorcea tells defense attorneys she doesn't know many of the residents of Richmond Hill, because she lives in Kentucky, and has no specific knowledge about the neighbors and firefighters who tried to save her son.
11:38 a.m. – Scorcea excused as a witness.
11:40 a.m. – Nancy Buxton, Jennifer Longworth's mother, called as a witness by the prosecution.
11:40 a.m. – Buxton: "The first we'd heard about it was when John Longworth's father called us. He said have you heard from your daughter? Something's happened."
11:41 a.m. – Buxton describes calling hospitals to see if they have any information about her daughter.
11:42 a.m. – Buxton said she went to Mary Bryan Elementary, where she stayed until around 6 a.m.: "The coroner came in about 4 or 5 a.m. and said they had found two bodies." Buxton says she subsequently made positive identification of her daughter Jennifer Longworth.
11:43 a.m. – Buxton excused as a witness without cross-examination.
11:44 a.m. – Bryan Hedrick, Indianapolis firefighter, called as a witness by the prosecution.
11:45 a.m. – Hedrick says he was assigned to Station 63 on the night of the Richmond Hill explosion. He was responsible for driving the fire engine on that night.
11:45 a.m. – Hedrick: "I was in the southwest TV room watching TV. I heard a loud boom and the whole station shook. I walked out to the back parking lot, looked south, you could see some smoke coming up from southwest of us. At that time my lieutenant was out in the bay. He said to go ahead and get our gear on, we were going to head that way."
11:47 a.m. – Hedrick: "We could see the smoke. We saw that before we left the station. When we got to the entrance to the Richmond Hill subdivision, you could already see some debris. There were already people out on the street pointing us to the back of the subdivision. As we got closer, we could see the damage got worse. We eventually hit a large area of debris that we didn't want to take the engine through, so that's where we stopped."
11:51 a.m. – Hedrick says the engine he was on carried 750 gallons of water – roughly 5-7 minutes worth of water when fighting a fire.
11:51 a.m. – Hedrick: "When we first arrived, the house was completely gone. There was even some discussion about whether that was where a house had actually stood. There was some fire starting on the houses on both sides."
11:53 a.m. – Hedrick: "At one point the fire grew so fast we thought we were going to have to move the engine, it was so hot. We thought it was going to burn the engine."
11:54 a.m. – Hedrick says it took "well into the next day" before all of the fires were completely out.
11:54 a.m. – Hedrick: "I could tell it was some type of explosion, but I didn't know of what."
11:56 a.m. – Hedrick excused as a witness with no cross-examination.
11:57 a.m. – Joseph Baumann, Indianapolis firefighter, called as a witness by the prosecution.
11:57 a.m. – Baumann: "I was sitting in a recliner watching the end of the Notre Dame game when I was started by guys running around the firehouse. Once I saw the looks on their faces, I knew something was going on."
12:00 p.m. – Baumann describes arriving on scene in Richmond Hill: "It was a mass exodus, but it was controlled chaos."
12:00 p.m. – Baumann says he approached a woman who was walking around in her front yard frantically: "I'll never forget it. She looked at me like, 'I'm gonna die.' She let out this scream I'll never forget. I basically told her, 'Ma'am, you're going to be OK,' and escorted her to where people could take care of her."
12:02 p.m. – Baumann: "In the debris field there were little fires all over the place, basically trash fires, that were growing because of the natural gas that had been released when the house exploded."
12:04 p.m. – Baumann: "Basically, the Longworth house had shifted and the gas main was exposed. Along their house was a column of fire. You could spray it, and then in a few minutes it would be right back up and you'd have to spray it again."
12:05 p.m. – Baumann: "Once the fires were knocked out, everybody had started talking about what was going on. Basically, what happened was, certain groups of firemen were selected to go to different parts of the house to look for Mr. and Mrs. Longworth."
12:09 p.m. – Baumann: "Mr. Longworth was in the basement. Mrs. Longworth had fallen through the house, so we had to search through all the debris that had fallen on top of her."
12:10 p.m. – Prosecutors enter into evidence photographs from the search for the Longworths' bodies. Baumann points out in one photograph where Jennifer Longworth's leg was visible underneath a pile of rubble. He also points out the area of the basement where John Longworth's body was discovered.
12:14 p.m. – Baumann excused as a witness.
12:15 p.m. – Court recesses for lunch.
1:45 p.m. – Court resumes session.
1:48 p.m. – Prosecutors ask the judge to admit autopsy photos of the Longworths into evidence. Defense attorney David Shircliff says there is no argument that "the Longworths died a horrible death," and that the photos serve no purpose other than to be prejudicial.
1:50 p.m. – Marnocha: "The question becomes not, are these photographs gruesome, but are they overly gruesome" to the point where it outweighs their evidentiary value? "There's not at this time argument about identity. There's no argument about cause of death. So, I don't think I'm going to allow these photos into evidence at this time."
1:56 p.m. – Jurors brought back into courtroom.
1:59 p.m. – Melissa Wilson, Marion Co. Crime Lab forensic evidence technician, called as a witness by the prosecution.
2:01 p.m. – Wilson: "The first thing I do when the bodies come into the autopsy room is take a full set of photos as is." Wilson continues to describe how she takes samples of various tissues from the body.
2:03 p.m. – Wilson says she followed the same protocol for the bodies of Jennifer and John Longworth.
2:04 p.m. – Wilson excused as a witness with no cross-examination.
2:05 p.m. – Jurors excused for short break to wait for prosecution's witnesses to arrive at court.
2:45 p.m. – Court resumes session.
2:47 p.m. – Dr. Joye Carter, chief forensic pathologist at the Marion County Coroner's Office, called as a witness by the prosecution.
2:49 p.m. – Carter tells the jury she has performed more than 10,000 autopsies during her 30-year career, and has supervised more than 10,000 more.
2:50 p.m. – Carter tells the jury the medical definition of homicide is when one person causes the death of another person.
2:53 p.m. – Carter: "Mr. Longworth had received extensive burns on over 90 percent of his body."
2:54 p.m. – Carter: "I determined the cause of death to be inhalation of soot and hot gases, followed by burns of over 90 percent of the body."
2:54 p.m. – Carter: "Mr. Longworth had inhaled hot gases and soot, and had high levels of carbon monoxide in his blood. Soot was found covering his entire respiratory tract and then into his lungs."
2:55 p.m. – Carter: "[Jennifer Longworth's] body also received extensive thermal injuries. The cause of death was blast injuries. That means extensive change of pressure causing fractures of the skull, fractures of the inner ear. You had a sudden change of pressure causing almost instant death."
2:56 p.m. – Carter: "They died in different ways, yes."
2:57 p.m. – Carter tells the jury she determined the manner of death of Jennifer Longworth to be homicide.
2:57 p.m. – Defense attorney David Shircliff asks Carter why her autopsy report wasn't signed until Dec. 24. She says that's customary for them to wait for investigative evidence and positive identification.
2:59 p.m. – Shircliff asks if Carter determined the death was a homicide because investigators found there was an intentional setting of the fire. She says yes.
2:59 p.m. – Carter excused as a witness.
3:00 p.m. – Dr. Edwin Thomas Parks, faculty member at Indiana University School of Dentistry, called as a witness by the prosecution.
3:00 p.m. – Parks says he is occasionally called upon to make identification of deceased persons based on dental records.
3:01 p.m. – Parks: "The teeth withstand an awful lot of abuse … other than Mt. Dew. They can withstand fire, being buried, being underwater for 100 years. Nothing really happens to the teeth."
3:04 p.m. – Parks excused as witness with no cross-examination.
3:05 p.m. – Prosecutors ask for a quick break to allow them to prepare materials for their next witness, IFD Lt. Garza.
3:07 p.m. – Defense attorney Diane Black: "Because of Dr. Shepherd's change to his calculations [in the ATF report about the explosion], since we don't have that information, my cross-examination of Lt. Garza may not be effective because his report did reference gas build up."
3:08 p.m. – Marnocha says that since Garza will be present throughout the trial, he will allow him to be recalled for further questioning if necessary. Robinson further states that Garza will be testifying several times.
3:25 p.m. – Lt. Mario Garza, Indianapolis Fire Department – Fire Investigations Unit, called as a witness by the prosecution.
3:30 p.m. – Garza describes to the jury his process as a fire investigator and how he was trained to conduct investigations.
3:32 p.m. – Garza: "There's two types of damages. There's a low order damage, and a high order damage. Low order damage is basically the pushing or heaving of walls. The pushing of windows from the frame. High order damage is basically an explosion. There's lots of little pieces and fragments."
3:50 p.m. – After some debate between the defense and prosecution, jurors are handed a binder they will fill with printed Power Point slides during Garza's testimony.
3:54 p.m. – Garza: "Initially the day after, while walking the grounds, we noticed quite a few toys and stuff like that littered along the grounds near the Longworth residence. I knew we had discovered two bodies, but I was worried we might have missed somebody. So we spent that day going through the rubble again looking for anyone we may have missed."
3:55 p.m. – Garza said he ordered the explosion scene fenced off the day after the explosion.
3:56 p.m. – Garza testifies that he lives five miles east of the Richmond Hill subdivision, and that he felt the blast on the night of the explosion.
3:57 p.m. – Garza: "I grabbed my radio and was listening, and they were talking about an explosion. The only reason I knew it was near my house was of the coordinates."
3:58 p.m. – Garza: "Like most police and firemen, even when we're not working, we're working. I knew because of the explosion they were going to need help. To need hands. Many of the police and firefighters who lived in the area responded on their own."
4:00 p.m. – Garza says he was designated as the lead fire investigator on the case.
4:01 p.m. – Garza testifies that his efforts shifted to fire investigation around 1-2 a.m. on the night of the explosion.
4:03 p.m. – Garza said it is protocol for Citizens Energy to be dispatched to a fire scene when gas is either part of the explosion or could potentially become involved.
4:07 p.m. – Garza describes the fenced-in area of the explosion scene, saying there was "only one way in and one way out." Garza also says IMPD officers were on-scene 24/7. Investigators had to sign in and out to enter fenced-in area.
4:08 p.m. – Garza says the Olvey residence had to be stabilized before they examined it.
4:10 p.m. – Garza says generators were set up around site to keep lights illuminated on area at all times through the night.
4:15 p.m. – Defense attorney Diane Black asks to begin her cross-examination of Garza in the morning. Judge Marnocha agrees.
4:15 p.m. – Jurors dismissed for the day. Court adjourns. Trial to resume Wednesday morning at 9:30 a.m.
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