Suspected arsonist started fire at daycare and killed two elderly people in separate blaze, cops say

A Texas man has been arrested after setting three separate fires, one of which was at a children’s daycare, and another that killed an elderly couple.

John Howard Ore, 36, of Denton, now faces four arson charges, following an investigation into the deaths of 103-year-old Dante Bassi and 83-year-old Marilyn Bradley-Bassi in December.

According to the Denton Police Department, the three incidents occurred over a month from December 17 to January 21.

The first fire occurred around 3 a.m. on Dec. 17 at a restaurant, which resulted in significant fire damage to the building but no injuries.

Denton Fire Department responded to another fire the next day at 10:54 p.m. at Houston Place. Firefighters rescued the two victims, later identified as the Bassis, from the home, but the couple later succumbed to their injuries in hospital.

Just over a month later, on January 21, the fire department extinguished a fire at a local daycare, with no injuries recorded.

Surveillance footage showed a man breaking a window with a stone, spraying a liquid through the window, and igniting a small fire in the building.

Evidence collected by authorities from each location showed that the fires were started in similar ways. Additional footage and other evidence led investigators to identify Ore as the suspect in all three arsons.

Ore was arrested on January 23 and charged with two counts of Arson for the restaurant and daycare fires.

Since then, the Tarrant County and Dallas County Medical Examiner’s Offices have ruled the manner of death for the Bassis victims as homicide.

Denton police and fire investigators have now secured two additional warrants for arson causing serious bodily injury or death, the second of which was served on him on Tuesday afternoon.

Ore is being held in the Denton County Jail on a bond of $2.1 million.