A 36-year-old man is facing four arson charges, including two first-degree felony counts, following a joint investigation by the City of Denton Fire Department and Police Department into a series of fires that culminated in the December 2024 deaths of an elderly couple.
John Howard Ore, of Denton, is accused of intentionally setting three fires between December 17, 2024, and January 21, 2025. The second of those fires resulted in the deaths of 103-year-old Dante Bassi and 83-year-old Marilyn Bradley-Bassi at their residence in the 2000 block of Houston Place.
The timeline of incidents is as follows:
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December 17, 2024, at approximately 3 a.m., a fire broke out at a restaurant in the 6400 block of I-35. The building sustained significant fire damage. No injuries were reported.
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December 18, 2024, at 10:54 p.m., Denton Fire Department responded to the residential fire at Houston Place. Firefighters pulled the victims from the structure. Both later died from their injuries at area hospitals. The Tarrant County and Dallas County Medical Examiner’s Offices have since ruled their deaths as homicides.
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January 21, 2025, at 10:14 p.m., a fire was reported at a daycare in the 1700 block of W. Oak Street. Surveillance footage showed a man breaking a window with a stone, spraying a liquid inside, and igniting a small blaze. No injuries occurred in that incident.
Investigators linked the three incidents through similar methods used to start the fires. Additional video footage and evidence identified Ore as the suspect in all three.
Ore was arrested January 23 on two charges of Arson for the restaurant and daycare fires. Two additional warrants for Arson Causing Serious Bodily Injury or Death were later issued and served after the ruling of homicide in the Houston Place fire.
Ore is currently held in the Denton County Jail on a total bond of $2.1 million.
