RICHMOND HILL TRIAL OF BOB LEONARD, JR. – DAY 16
9:00 a.m. – IMPD Det. Sgt. Jeff Wager recalled as a witness.
Defense attorney Ted Minch begins summarizing case from defense's point of view with Wager: "Essentially what we know was: A large amount of gas was introduced into 8349 Fieldfare Way. But we couldn't pinpoint when the gas entered the house?" Wager: "Correct. It's over a period of 17 days."
Minch: "There were two individuals who tried to establish a timeline for the gas." Wager: "Correct."
Minch: "And one of them, Mr. Sullivan, came up with a 6-9 hour window." Wager: "I believe that's correct."
Minch: "And we heard from another gentleman, Dr. Sheppard, and their reports were consistent. Is that correct?" Wager: "I believe so."
Wager says there was no testing done on thermostats as an ignition source.
Wager: "I think the important thing is that, when you talk about the monkeying around with the gas pipe, that's an intentional act. It couldn't have happened by accident."
Wager says he ruled out one of Mark Leonard's associates, Dave Gill, after his "baby mama" and current girlfriend confirmed his whereabouts on the weekend of the explosion. He also used cellphone triangulation to confirm Gill's location.
Minch says Tony Burnett identified Gill out of a photo array. Wager: "He was very confused on his identification. He wanted to be very helpful. But I think he was trying so hard he was messing himself up."
Minch asks about wiretaps done on Monserrate Shirley's and Mark Leonard's phones. Minch says Shirley mentioned someone named "Darren" during a phone conversation. Wager never identified that person. Minch says Bob Leonard was never discussed in transcripts of conversations between Mark Leonard and Monserrate Shirley from the wiretaps.
Wager says police also followed Monserrate Shirley and Mark Leonard and placed a GPS tracker on their vehicle.
Minch says there was no meeting between Monserrate Shirley, Mark Leonard and Bob Leonard during the period they were being followed.
Minch says there were no calls between Bob Leonard and Gary Thompson or Dave Gill. There was one call between Bob Leonard and Glen Hultz.
Deputy Prosecutor Denise Robinson begins redirect. She says Mike Sullivan's (Citizens Energy Group) calculations were done in the field without the benefit of a lot of information.
Robinson says Sheppard only testified to a minimum time for the gas in the house to reach the flammability level.
Wager says he thinks Tony Burnett's recollection was too vague to make an identification. Wager says Burnett only identified Dave Gill as someone he'd seen at the house before.
Minch, on re-cross, asks if officers were surveilling Mark Leonard and Monserrate Shirley prior to the GPS tracker being placed. Wager says yes.
Minch asks if the number associated with the thermostat purchased at Menard's was matched to the thermostat found from 8349 Fieldfare Way. Wager says yes.
The State rests its case against Bob Leonard, Jr., at 11:11 a.m.
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Call 6 Investigator Rafael Sanchez and Senior Digital Correspondent Jordan Fischer will be in Fort Wayne covering the trial every day. Download the RTV6 app to get the latest live blog posts as the proceedings unfold.
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RELATED LINKS | Richmond Hill Special Section | Mark Ray Leonard convicted on all counts
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