The Court of Appeals of Indiana has upheld the murder conspiracy conviction of a man who caused a massive Indianapolis house explosion that killed two people and damaged or destroyed more than 80 homes.
The court ruled Thursday that evidence of Mark Leonard's efforts to get a witness killed — a map to the man's home and recordings of his jail phone calls to an undercover agent — were not obtained in violation of his right to counsel, because they involve a later crime.
Leonard received life without parole plus 75 years for murder, arson and conspiracy to commit insurance fraud in the 2012 gas explosion that destroyed his girlfriend's home and killed two next-door neighbors. This February he got another 50 years for trying to have the witness killed.