All language subtitles for American Greed s11e17 Neighborhood Inferno

In this episode of American Greed... 9
-1 -1, where's your emergency?

Sounded like a plane crash.

A car hit your house?

It felt like that.

That was one hell of a boom.

It's a massive explosion in the middle
of the night that destroys homes.

They can't get out.

Oh my God, look!

And takes lives.

One person thought it was the end of the
world. Another person said it was like

standing in death.

But this is no accident.

Why would somebody do this
intentionally?

$300 ,000.

That's what it was done for. $300 ,000.

As they pick apart this insurance fraud
gone wrong, investigators close in on

suspects Monserrati Shirley.

It feels horrible when everybody's just
like pointing at you like if we did

something wrong.

And her conman boyfriend, Mark Leonard.

He never felt bad about hurting anybody.

He didn't care.

He had a demon in him. And when the law
closes in, Leonard calls for more

violence. Sir, the neighbors think
you're a killer. Are you a killer, sir?

On the south side of Indianapolis,
Indiana, Richmond Hill looks like

neighborhoods all across the country.

Everybody pretty much knows everybody.

It felt like a little small town
community in a big city.

But it was just so quiet.

10, 30, 11 o 'clock at night, you didn't
hear anything.

Among the many families living here in
the fall of 2012 are schoolteacher

Jennifer Longworth and her husband, an
audio engineer named Dion.

His backyard was about one -third
garden.

Dion's father, John Longworth, says that
since building a house in Richmond Hill

in 2005, his son worked diligently to
create his own little Eden.

He had blackberries, raspberries,
apples, pears, and many kinds of

He actually knew the Latin names for all
of them.

On Saturday, November 10, 2012, the sun
that helps grow a bounty for Dion

shines unseasonably warm upon him and
his neighbors.

As this perfect day turns to night,
families settle in to watch TV

or cozy up in bed.

I probably hadn't been asleep but maybe
20 minutes.

And the loudest, ungodly sound I ever
heard in my life woke us straight up out

of bed.

911, what's the location of your
emergency?

Big old boom here, man.

The whole house just like shook like it
was a huge bang.

It was large, and it was a huge
explosion.

Our house shook so bad, I thought a car
had actually hit our home.

Items were falling off the wall.

We really didn't know at the time, at
that second, what had happened.

I've seen smoke. We hear sirens right
now. You need to get over here right

But whatever it was, it was pretty
major.

Does anybody have any idea what the hell
exploded?

It's an explosion so powerful it moves
the needle of an earthquake sensor 26

miles away.

Insulation falls from the sky like snow,
and neighbors emerge into a dark

suburban hellscape.

You actually hear people screaming
because they were in such a panic.

I remember seeing neighbors walk past,
away from the explosion,

just drenched in blood.

People aren't supposed to see that in
their lifetime.

You know, your neighbor's bleeding.

And then it was just chaos.

Amid this chaos, Kelly says her husband
runs outside, then returns with news.

All he was saying was, it's gone, it's
gone, it's gone.

I said, what's gone? He said, the house,
the house is gone.

And I looked at him, still half asleep,
and said, what are you talking about?

I said, I'm standing in the house. Our
house? Not our house. The neighbor's

house is gone.

The missing house belongs to a nurse
named Montserrati Shirley.

Her next -door neighbors, the Olbys,
have also been hit hard.

I went from standing there with the soda
in my hand, watching TV, to flying

across the room.

I can remember hearing...

My youngest daughter screamed, I'm
bleeding.

I can remember my ex -wife yelling
something at her.

Then it was lights out.

Neighbors rescue Oldby and his family
members before a quickly spreading blaze

consumes their collapsed house.

I'm on the scene. I'm on the rear of
this incident.

And we have extensive damage to a lot of
houses along this area. We got a lot of

frantic people back here.

On the other side of Shirley's home, the
explosion has destroyed the Longworth

house, killing Jennifer instantly and
trapping Dion below two stories of

Keep the air clear. I got a trap on this
side. We're trying to get the people

out of here.

Through a small opening in the debris,
Dion calls to neighbors and talks with

some of the firefighters under the
command of Battalion Chief Mark Culver.

You could actually see him and hear him,
and he was pleading with us to get him

out. One of my guys was actually laying
down with him, had his hands on him, but

you're talking an opening that was a few
inches wide to try to get him out.

Two firefighters struggle to extract
Dion.

racing against the elements in this
tinderbox of exposed lumber.

Give us water on this north sideline as
soon as you can so we can get these

people out of this house.

The fire marched across that house from
the opposite end towards where we were,

where Mr. Longworth was trapped, so
fast.

I had to pull my guys physically back
for their safety because it got so hot

quick.

These men trained to save lives.

Must retreat.

All companies have been pulled back and
mustered on the streets.

And Dionne Longworth, just 34 years old,
perishes in the flames.

That's something we'll live with the
rest of our life.

And it's one of those things that you
wish you'd never see.

In the morning, Dion's father receives
the news every parent fears.

And that's when it just kind of, the
bottom falls out and

you, you, well,

that's

just the most awful feeling I ever had.
I don't know how to describe it because

I've never had it with anything else.

We're going to need a representative
from an unsafe building or some code

enforcement agency.

We have several homes that are damaged
that are going to require inspection.

All around Richmond Hill, neighbors are
dealing with tragedy.

And in the morning's first light, news
reports provide the first real view of

what's occurred.

It was described as a war zone, and upon
entering the Richmond Hill subdivision,

you can clearly see why.

I cried.

I just couldn't believe how bad that
was. I mean, it looked like someone had

dropped a bomb in the middle of our
neighborhood.

If a plane would have crashed inside
that neighborhood, there would probably

have been less damage.

And I just looked at it and said, oh, my
God.

If you had told me... That 40 people had
died, I would have believed you.

That's not something I was used to
seeing in Indianapolis.

These houses, some were obliterated.

Some caught fire. Some collapsed.

Some were shredded.

Some knocked off their foundations.

Every time you thought you'd seen
everything, you looked at another house.

You went around the corner and just
realized how bad this is.

Homes are in obvious ruin.

Elsewhere, the damage is harder to see,
but no less real.

You know, by looking at them on the
outside, you didn't know that they were

damaged. But they weren't square.

They were, you know, unlovable.

The structural damage adds up to at
least $4 .4 million.

With 200 residents forced from their
homes.

More than 80 houses are damaged.

Three are completely destroyed.

And approximately 30 must be demolished.

Before long, authorities placed the
blame on a natural gas explosion inside

home of Monserrati Shirley, who happened
to be away that Saturday at 11 .10 p

.m.

And the next day, her neighbor, Liz
Kelly, sees her near the wreckage and

to comfort her.

And she looked at me and she said, I'm
so sorry.

And I said, Monsi, why are you sorry?

Your house blew up.

You're a victim too, just like me.

And she said, the neighbors are saying
such horrible things about me.

And I said, Monsi, I don't listen to all
that.

I said, it's just gossip.

And I said, you're a victim. I said, the
Lord's put on my heart to pray with

you.

would you mind if I prayed for you? She
goes, would you please?

Shirley's apology will take on new
meaning as her neighbors learn the true

of this deadly disaster.

It was greed.

And greed makes people do stupid things.

Coming up, this chance encounter may
look like love, but Mark Leonard has

plans.

He was always greedy.

He always wanted the best. He wanted to
shine the most. He always wanted to be

the big shot.

After the devastating explosion at her
Richmond Hill home, Monserrati Shirley

finds herself literally in the center of
this tragic story.

A neighbor's phone call. That's how
Muncie Shirley learned her neighbor's

she might be dead after an explosion did
this to Shirley's home and the house

next door.

Born in Puerto Rico, Shirley, known to
many as Muncie, moved to the U .S. at

25.

Montserrati Shirley is an educated,
professional person, a registered nurse,

comes here from Puerto Rico. She's
living the American dream.

In 2003...

She and her then -husband build an
approximately 2 ,800 -square -foot home

Richmond Hill, complete with four
bedrooms, two and a half baths, and a

room with a gas -fed fireplace.

When they divorce seven years later, she
keeps the house, living there with her

11 -year -old daughter and a Persian cat
named Snowball.

In November 2011,

Shirley heads to Crazy Street, a bar on
the south side of Indianapolis.

As she walks in, she sees a man staring
straight at her.

His name is Mark Leonard, and she likes
what she sees.

What attracted her the first time would
probably be the blonde hair, blue eyes.

He always tanned and had his hair
highlighted to the max.

She found out later he drove a nice
vehicle, a Hummer.

Seemed to be dressed nice, seemed to be
flashing money.

Well, driving a Hummer, pulling out a
big wad of money. The average woman

a man with money.

And he was polite and sweet, and he was
funny.

That night, Shirley and Leonard talked
for hours.

He says he has his own construction
business and also buys and sells cars.

As the evening winds down, he drives her
home and sleeps over.

Little does she know, she's not the
first woman to fall under his spell.

In his words, I remember he was looking
for someone to pamper and treat like a

lady.

Years before Shirley ever entered the
picture, Joanne Engel says she meets

Leonard on a dating website called
plentyoffish .com.

Well, he said he was an entrepreneur and
really wanted someone that he could

settle down with that could complete
him.

Raising a disabled son alone, Engel is a
nurse who's spent a career taking care

of others.

Now she thinks she's met a man who'll
take care of her.

He told me several times he just
couldn't wait to hear my voice again and

couldn't wait to see me. And he said
that I just completed his world and I

him happy.

Out on the town, Engle says Leonard
insists on paying for everything at

Eventually, however, she says he asks to
borrow a small amount of money and

appears to have no problem paying Engle
back.

Everything that he told me all fit
together just like a puzzle. I didn't

red flags, any reason to not trust him.
He'd come across as somebody that was

giving and genuine and really, really
cared enough that he wouldn't take

advantage of me.

Then Engel says Leonard asks her for a
$10 ,000 loan to replace a machine he

needs to complete a huge construction
job.

He goes, at this job, I will make $300
,000.

He goes, I'm within a month of
completing it, and somebody came and

big machine from the job. And without
that machine, I can't finish the job. I

don't know what I'm going to do.

Blinded by love, Engel says she gives
him the money.

And he soon comes back asking for $30
,000 more.

When she says no, Leonard dumps her the
same day.

And Engle says she never sees him or her
10 grand again.

I was really looking for someone just
like him. So, yeah,

it broke my heart.

Authorities say Engle is not his only
victim.

I think Mark Leonard played off
primarily women's insecurities. He took

advantage of women who were older, who
had not had a man in their life for a

significant period of time. He told them
he cared about them. He pretended to

care about them.

Leonard's own relatives say he's a
hustler who's addicted to money.

And police records say he's also pulled
off many other love cons and insurance

scams in the past.

For Mark Leonard, he had the Harleys. He
had a Cadillac. He liked the lifestyle

of cars, but he also liked the faster
lifestyle of going to casinos, hanging

with friends, and spending money.

So when Montserrati Shirley meets
Leonard and brings him home in November

she may be attracted to him, but it's
clear that she also has something he

wants.

She had a house.

She had a job. She had a pension plan.
For Mark Leonard, this was the

culmination of all of the scams that he
had come up with in the past.

Coming up, Mark Leonard launches a plan
to cash in.

He was going to make sure the house
exploded.

He was going to make sure he got the
money that he wanted.

He was not going to let this go.

And all eyes turned to Monserrati
Sherry.

Devastated and people keep asking me
questions and questions. Like I know

something, I don't know nothing.

Within weeks of meeting, Mark Leonard
and Monserrati Shirley are living in her

Richmond Hill home.

Together, they ride motorcycles and
visit a nearby casino.

And she takes care of him when he falls
ill.

But if Leonard came looking for a meal
ticket, he soon learns it's not what he

thought.

It turns out Shirley's been living
beyond her means.

She's buried in credit card debt.

has declared bankruptcy and owes more on
her house than it's worth.

But that's not going to stop his
scheming.

Very quickly after meeting, he convinced
her to raise the contents coverage on

her home from basically $100 ,000 to
$300 ,000, in essence tripling the

contents coverage over her home.

With this policy change, there'll be
money to help pay off Shirley's two

mortgages, plus $300 ,000 for the
contents of the home, if

it's completely destroyed.

And soon, Leonard begins convincing
Shirley this is what's going to happen.

At first, she resisted. She said, no,
she didn't want any part of it. But from

her testimony, Mark Leonard persisted.

Mark Leonard brought it up to
Montserrati Shirley and said it was

they could get away with.

I think she was physically attracted to
Mark Leonard, didn't want to lose him.

She was really stressed by her financial
situation and was probably looking that

this could possibly be an out for her.

Shirley later says she thinks they'll
just be starting a small fire.

And the last weekend in October 2012,
they kicked their plan into action.

She drops off her cat, Snowball, at a
local kennel, and her daughter stays at

the home of Glenn Holtz, a friend of
Mark Leonard's, who she says helped

convince her that this would all be
easy.

She and Leonard head to a casino, where
they are safe from harm and sure to be

seen.

There they wait for word that Leonard's
acquaintance, Gary Thompson, has done

what Mark is going to pay him $5 ,000 to
do.

Gary Thompson was supposed to pour
gasoline throughout the house and then

it on fire and leave the scene.

Gary Thompson ultimately, for whatever
reason, didn't do that.

He said he was scared. He didn't want to
drive over there and get caught driving

the vehicle.

But the scheme is far from over.

And the next week, they try again.

This time, authorities say they shift
tactics, attempting to use natural gas

from the home's fireplace and a spark
from an old model thermostat to ignite

And for the second weekend in a row,
Shirley stows away her daughter and cat,

then heads with Leonard to the casino
and waits.

Either there was too much natural gas or
the ignition switch, the thermostat,

was not sufficient to ignite the natural
gas that was present.

Many of us, if you attempt this sort of
thing and failed, you might have second

thoughts about it, but obviously he had
no second thoughts whatsoever.

Mark Leonard was hell -bent on making
sure that this happened.

And so on the third try, Mark gets to
work with his half -brother Bob.

promising him $10 ,000 for his help.

On Friday, November 9th, the Leonards go
to a bar and chat with one of the

knowledgeable owners.

Ironically, the name of the bar was the
Gaslight Inn.

And the bartender actually is a full
-time employee of the gas company.

And literally in the video, the
bartender is motioning his hands like

goes like this.

that he was saying was that it would
fill up like a balloon until it then

exploded.

Later that night, with her daughter at
the sitter and Kitty in the kennel,

Muncie heads to the casino with Mark and
says Bob holds on to his brother's

white van.

Meanwhile, at the casino, Muncie in pink
and Leonard in a black motorcycle

jacket. spend hours doing pretty much
nothing.

The purpose of doing so was obvious, and
that is they had an alibi for where

they were when the incident occurred.

Time ticks by.

Then shortly after 11 .10 p .m., Shirley
gets the call they've been waiting for

and learns she's gotten herself into
something much bigger than expected.

I don't think any of them had any clue
whatsoever of the magnitude of the

that would be caused by creating that
explosion.

It's probably not the easiest thing to
do, but with three attempts, they got it

right.

In the coming days, Shirley and Leonard
tell cops and insurance investigators

that they have no idea what caused the
explosion.

And even as the consequences of their
scheme become clear, They remain intent

collecting from their misdeed.

Monserrati Shirley, for example, told
the insurance company they had purchased

some expensive items, including, she
said, a Picasso painting.

It would be very, very unusual for
someone living in a medium -income

subdivision in Indianapolis to claim
they had a Picasso, and especially if

were claiming they purchased a Picasso
they were just going to put on the wall

of their suburban house.

Shirley's insurer rejects her claims.

And before long, neighbors begin to
wonder if something is up.

Hoping to exonerate herself, Shirley
talks to reporters a few days after the

explosion.

Didn't seem sincere.

We call it the fake tears interview.

It feels horrible when everybody's just
like pointing at you like if we did

something wrong.

Leave me alone.

Please leave me alone.

The consensus even in the Annapolis area
on social media is like, Please leave

me alone.

This is not good.

Next on American Greed.

Investigators work to solve the crime,
and an old friend holds the key to Mark

Leonard's fate.

When I seen the Richmond Hill thing on
TV, I figured Mark Leonard blew the

neighborhood up.

Because of its destructive nature, arson
can be a very difficult crime to solve.

But Mario Garza, from the Indianapolis
Fire Department, aided by investigators

from the U .S. Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, will

that not all the evidence has been
destroyed.

This was the epicenter of the explosion.
Police believe it originated inside the

home near that burned -out car.

And that is where detectives, arson
investigators, and federal ATF agents

concentrating to find out what caused
this massive destruction.

Residential gas lines, like the one on
the left, should have a step -down

regulator that lowers gas pressure going
into a home.

At Monserrati Shirley's home, however,
investigators see that someone has

replaced the regulator with a piece of
straight pipe, allowing gas to flow into

the house at a higher pressure than
normal.

There's no logical reason to remove it.

In fact, it's a safety hazard to remove
it. Your appliances don't work. There's

too much gas coming into your house.
You're just looking for problems. The

reason to remove the step -down
regulator would be to put a lot of

into your residence.

Arson investigators also spend weeks
exhaustively looking for a missing

fireplace valve called a Dante valve and
find nothing.

If you remove that Dante valve, the gas
flow comes in much faster, it's

unregulated, and the house fills up much
quicker with natural gas.

They also find evidence that the home's
microwave and a nearby cylinder blew

apart from the inside.

It was our belief that this cylinder was
put in the microwave with a liquid. The

microwave was on a timer. It was set to
come on at a certain time. The microwave

came on, the microwave heated the liquid
inside the container, and it blew

apart. And that sheer force and spark
and heat from that ignited the natural

gas, which exploded the house.

There's also plenty that investigators
don't find.

Any item of value is suspiciously
absent.

There were no televisions. There were no
computers.

There was no jewelry. We found remote
controls, but no TVs.

So the typical stuff that you would find
or you would expect to find in a house,

we didn't find.

As Garza sifts through the rubble,
Detective Sergeant Jeffrey Wager begins

ask questions about Shirley and Leonard.

I learned that Mark Leonard was a person
that liked to commit fraud.

He had on several occasions.

I learned that there were prior arsons
that had been committed among people he

had known, among his relatives.

I learned that he was in debt. I learned
that Montserrat Shirley was in debt and

that they needed money.

With this information, it's time to take
a closer look at Leonard and Shirley's

casino alibi.

Tape from the casino on first viewing
appeared to confirm their alibi.

Except when you started viewing it and
asking questions like, well, how long

they gamble?

Where did they go?

And then you start realizing they're
sitting at the same place for hours at a

time. And you start watching the tape
and you see things as it approaches 11 o

'clock at night.

that Mark Leonard, for example, glances
at his wristwatch.

And there's more.

A neighbor says that on the day of the
explosion, he saw two men get out of

Leonard's white van and go into
Shirley's house.

And Leonard's relatives say Mark and Bob
have been moving valuables from the

house prior to the incident.

Then there's Snowball's three trips to
the kennel.

I'm a cat owner myself.

I see no reason to board the cat if I'm
only going to be gone for a day or two.

Leave enough food and water and it takes
care of itself.

All of this is adding up to a strong
circumstantial case.

But still, investigators have found no
direct link.

Mark Duckworth is a former exotic dancer
who says he first met Mark Leonard when

Leonard came to him looking for a job in
the 1980s.

Around the time of the explosion, he
spoke to his old friend and asked what

was up to.

He said to me, I'm looking for a Ferrari
online.

I said, how can you afford a Ferrari?

He said, our house blew up, tsunami
winds went through and blew the

out.

We're getting $300 ,000.

But more important than what Leonard
says is when he said it.

All this conversation occurred before
the actual explosion had happened.

That seemed to be a heck of a
coincidence in terms of what happened at

And I don't believe in coincidences.

So when Mark Duckworth learns of the
Richmond Hill explosion after the call,

says he knows who's responsible and has
no choice but to tell the cops.

I knew too much.

Anybody with common sense would know I
knew too much. He said too much.

Told me too much.

Days after Duckworth tells his story,
500 people gather at St. Barnabas

Church for the funeral of Jennifer and
Dionne Longworth.

It just seems like such a waste of
wonderful people to die so young.

That night, authorities announced the
Richmond Hill case has become an active

homicide investigation.

And four days before Christmas, police
make their move.

As of yesterday, we filed charges
against Mark Leonard, Monterey Shirley,

Bob Leonard.

All three individuals were arrested this
morning and are in custody.

Next on American Greed, Mark Leonard
gambles on one last shot at freedom.

Oh, it's unbelievable, dude. I've known
him for 25 years.

He's just flabbing like a...

Sir, your neighbors think you're a
killer. Are you a killer, sir?

Following their arrests, Mark Leonard,
Monserrati Shirley, and Bob Leonard

charges of conspiracy to commit arson,
45 counts of arson, and two counts of

felony murder.

Inside Marion County Jail, Mark Leonard
knows that if convicted, he could face

life without parole.

He also learns from court filings that a
big part of the case against him

involves his chat with M .D., a .k .a.
his old friend Mark Duckworth.

Soon, though, Leonard makes a new
friend, a fellow inmate named Smitty.

who he thinks can help set things right.

Mark Leonard believed that Smitty was a
person that was involved in a Southside

motorcycle gang who had a history of
killing people, and he believed that

would know someone that could kill
someone.

Smitty does nothing to dissuade Leonard
of this idea and gets Leonard to draw a

map pointing the way to Duckworth's
home.

Hello, this is a prepaid call from...

Mark for Jay.

For an inmate at the Marion County Jail.

Then, in mid -March 2013,

Smitty helps Leonard call a guy on the
outside named Jay so they can work out

the details.

I'm going to make it look like a
suicide.

Oh, for real?

Yeah, because if... See, this way, it'll
get me out of jail pretty much

instantly. If you have him call 911...
like from the cell phone right before

do it. And I got three sentences that I
wrote down that if you just have him say

these three sentences inside that 911
call right before, it'll get me out of

here quick.

I want him to say,

I did not mean to frame Mark and Muncie
for their own house in Richmond Hills.

Originally offering $15 ,000,

Leonard says that if Jay pulls it off,
there'll be an extra five.

Oh, for real?

Yeah, dude, because this is going to
make a big difference right here, and

a little bit tougher to get done, you
know, so.

Yeah, man, I'm going to get it done here
for sure.

All right.

It ain't going to be no problem. How
soon do you think you're going to get

after? Well, if you do it that way right
there, I would say no longer than a few

days. With this plan, Leonard sees
freedom in sight.

And authorities say he might be on to
something.

Had Mark Duckworth been killed, had that
phone call been made, it would have

seriously caused me to reconsider
whether we had sufficient evidence to go

forward with the case.

But there's a big problem.

Smitty is hardly Mark's friend.

He's a jailhouse snitch.

And Jay is hardly a hitman.

Mark Leonard thought that Jay was a
badass motorcycle assassin and was going

solve all his problems when, in fact, he
is really an ATF agent.

Two weeks after the call, prosecutors
charged Leonard with an additional count

of conspiracy to commit murder.

It's not his only setback.

Mark, what do you think of Montserrat
and Shirley testifying for the

Will her testimony change her play at
all?

In 2015, Shirley strikes a deal,
agreeing to provide law enforcement with

inside view of the conspiracy that led
to the destruction of Richmond Hill.

She completed the picture. She certainly
gave us an inside perspective.

Following her plea, authorities
announced more arrests, including that

Leonard's employee, Gary Thompson, who
helped with the first two attempts, and

Glenn Holtz, Leonard's friend, who knew
about the plot but kept silent.

Next, the criminals behind the Richmond
Hill disaster faced justice, and

residents worked to get their lives
back.

Even with everything else that's
happened since then.

It still goes back to that night. How
are we still here?

We're ready.

We've been ready, but it's time to get
this case to a jury.

Nearly three years after the explosion
that decimated Richmond Hill, Mark

Leonard's trial gets underway.

When it's time for opening arguments,
Leonard's lawyer makes a bold gambit.

She admits that Leonard caused the
explosion, but says he had no intent to

anyone, calling it a stupid and selfish
insurance fraud that went horribly

wrong.

When I heard that, I didn't believe it.
And the reporters around me.

were equally stunned.

Never heard anything like that from a
defense attorney.

Prosecutor Denise Robinson doesn't buy
the argument.

The fact that Shirley went to such
efforts to protect Snowball and to

her daughter, they may not have known
they were going to blow up the whole

neighborhood, but they knew the extent
of what it is they were doing because

they cared more about their daughter and
their cat than they cared about their

neighbors.

Over the course of six weeks, the
prosecution calls more than 160

with Monserrati surely as the star.

Following closing arguments, the jury
takes less than four hours to find Mark

Leonard guilty of all charges.

A month later at sentencing, the judge
calls him the worst of the worst.

and hands down two life without parole
sentences plus 75 years.

After his own trial, Bob Leonard is also
sentenced to two life terms plus 70

years.

Leonard's helper, Gary Thompson, pleads
guilty and will spend 20 years behind

bars.

And Glenn Holtz, who knew of the plot
but kept quiet, also pleads guilty to

assisting a criminal and gets a three
-year sentence.

After pleading guilty and telling
authorities what she knows, some

worry Shirley could get off easy.

There were 52 counts that were released,
including the demolition of at least 33

homes. And she could walk out with
nothing but time served?

That doesn't sound right to me in any
way.

Her lawyer argues she has a history of
being abused that made her susceptible

being coerced and controlled.

But prosecutor Denise Robinson says that
excuses nothing.

She had a daughter. She had an
education.

She had family who would have listened
to her, who would have taken her in, who

would have protected her.

And she didn't go to any of those
sources but simply allowed this to

And then after it did happen, lied about
it. It feels horrible when everybody's

just like pointing at you like if we did
something wrong.

And she bears responsibility for what
happened.

She was as guilty as if she had opened
that valve or set that microwave

herself.

In the end, Shirley escapes life without
parole, but gets 50 years in prison to

think about her greed.

Now, years after the explosion, the lots
where the Shirley and Longworth homes

once stood remain empty.

Some neighbors have left Richmond Hill.

Others have rebuilt.

But for those who survived that November
night in 2012, scars remain.

A lot of people say, you know, why can't
you just get past it?

I don't think it's anything you ever get
over.

People lost their lives. I lost
everything.

I lost my sense of security.

You don't get over that. You learn to
live with it.

First two years, I relived it every day.

Every day.

You know, it just played over and over
and over in your mind.

It got to the point my wife sent me to a
psychiatrist.

Because it just, every time I saw the
videos on TV, I just started crying.

It's still so irritating that somebody
could be that greedy

that they would do this. I mean,
sentences have been handed down. They

never see the light outside of that
prison for as long as they live.

But it's not going to bring those two
kids back.

$300 ,000.

That's what it was done for, $300 ,000.

Next. When money is no object.

They had so much cash in these clinics,
they kept the cash in garbage bags.

The object is to get more.

There's not many people who were able to
scam as well as he did. Enter the dark

side. American Greed, next on CNBC.