Venue Change Hearing Set in Indianapolis Blast Trials

A judge has set a hearing to start in July on whether trials of the three people charged in a deadly explosion that ravaged an Indianapolis neighborhood should be moved outside the city.

Homeowner Monserrate Shirley, her then-boyfriend Mark Leonard and his brother, Bob Leonard, face murder and arson charges for the 2012 blast that killed a couple who were Shirley’s neighbors.

Prosecutors say they rigged a natural gas explosion in Shirley’s home in hopes of collecting insurance money. The blast damaged more than 80 houses in the Richmond Hill subdivision on the city’s far south side.

The Indianapolis Star reports a Marion County judge has scheduled hearings about moving the trials for July 25 through Aug. 1. Their attorneys are making the requests because of extensive news coverage.