John orr arsonist biography

While leaving a May fire conference in San Luis Obispo, California, he discovered the tracking device. Orr rushed to a nearby police explosives range, thinking it was a bomb. Orr was never aware of a second tracking device installed in his city vehicle that November. His actions continued to be watched. After Orr was found to be present at another suspicious fire, a federal grand jury handed down an indictment.

Orr was arrested on December 4, , and was charged with arson for a series of fires not related to the South Pasadena Ole's fire. After his arrest, fire investigators began a forensic re-evaluation of the Ole's fire. They found a highly detailed description of a similar fire in his novel Points of Origin which tells the story of a fireman who is also a serial arsonist.

The book chronicles acts of arson and bears several striking similarities with the real-life fire. When questioned, Orr stated the novel is a work of fiction and has no relation to any actual events. Among those who covered the trial was award-winning journalist Frank Girardot, who would later collaborate with Orr's daughter Lori on a book about the case.

After much deliberation, a federal jury in Fresno convicted Orr on July 31, , of three counts of arson, while acquitting him on two other counts. Federal Judge Oliver Wanger sentenced Orr to 30 years in prison. A federal appeals court affirmed his conviction in Orr maintains his innocence, notwithstanding his subsequent guilty plea on March 24, , to three more counts of arson in Los Angeles after reaching a plea agreement that saw him paroled from federal prison in He took the plea deal when it became apparent that he could not afford to mount a defense and stood little chance at trial.

The lead prosecutor on the case, Mike Cabral, opted to seek the death penalty in order to ensure that Orr would spend the rest of his life in prison. He made an off-the-record offer to Orr: if Orr accepted a sentence of life without parole and confessed all of his acts of arson in open court dating to his youth, Cabral would take the death penalty off the table.

Orr turned the offer down out of hand. A jury in a California state court convicted Orr on all four murder charges and all but one of the arson counts on June 25, Choose how we communicate with you, opt out at anytime. Check your email. An account confirmation link was sent to your email. Don't forget to check your spam! Got it! Enter the email address you used when you joined and we'll send you instructions to reset your password.

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John orr arsonist biography

Reset password instructions sent. If you have an account with us, you will receive an email within a few minutes. Try again or contact support if the problem persists. Category: True Crime. Who is John Orr, the firefighter arsonist? John Orr, once a respected fire captain, concealed his sinister double life as a serial arsonist, leaving a trail of destruction across California.

Taylor Floyd. Recommended Videos. If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly. Forgot your password? Retrieve it. Who is John Leonard Orr? We need you! Help us build the largest biographies collection on the web! For other people named John Orr, see John Orr disambiguation.

California , United States. Early life [ edit ]. This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living people that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately. Investigation [ edit ]. Arrest [ edit ]. Trial and conviction [ edit ].

Aftermath [ edit ]. In popular culture [ edit ]. References [ edit ]. The San Francisco Examiner. The Associated Press. Ex-Glendale Fire Capt. John Leonard Orr, New York: Academic Press. ISBN Fire Lover. William Morrow Paperbacks. The New York Times. Retrieved February 7, Casefile: True Crime Podcast. Retrieved The Cinemaholic. New York, N.

Y: Avon books. Archived from the original on Denver, Colorado: WildBlue Press. WildBlue Press.