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Denton arson suspect charged in children's daycare fire, death of elderly couple

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Published  April 30, 2025 5:52pm CDT
Crime and Public Safety
FOX 4
article

John Howard Ore

The Brief

    • A Denton man is facing four arson charges, including two first-degree felonies, following a joint Denton Fire and Police investigation.
    • Denton FD responded to a structure fire in the 2000 block of Houston Place as firefighters rescued the two victims from the home, but the couple later succumbed to their injuries at area hospitals.
    • Video footage showed a man breaking a window with a stone, spraying a liquid through the window, and igniting a small fire in the daycare.

DENTON - A Denton man is facing four arson charges, including two first-degree felonies, following a joint Denton Fire and Police investigation into the December deaths of an elderly couple and the January fire at a daycare.

Investigators determined that 36-year-old, John Howard Ore, intentionally set three fires in December and January. 

Timeline:

Fatal arson

The first fire occurred around 3 a.m. on December 17, 2024, at a restaurant in the 6400 block of I-35. The building sustained significant fire damage, and no one was injured.

The next day, on December 18, 2024, at 10:54 p.m., Denton Fire Department responded to a structure fire in the 2000 block of Houston Place. Firefighters rescued the two victims, 103-year-old Dante Bassi and 83-year-old Marilyn Bradley-Bassi, from their Houston Place home, but the couple later succumbed to their injuries at area hospitals.

Daycare fire

Just after 10 p.m. on January 21, 2025, Denton Fire Department extinguished a fire at a daycare in the 1700 block of W. Oak Street. Video footage showed a man breaking a window with a stone, spraying a liquid through the window, and igniting a small fire in the building. No one was injured.

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

Dig deeper:

On January 23, 2025, Ore was arrested on two counts of arson for the restaurant fire and the daycare fire.

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

Ore is in the Denton County Jail with bail set at $2.1 million bond.

Denton Police Department and Denton Fire Department investigators secured two additional warrants for Arson Causing Serious Bodily Injury or Death, the second of which was served on Tuesday afternoon.

The Source: Information in this article was provided by the Denton Police Department.

Crime and Public SafetyDentonDenton County