Fire Captain John Leonard Orr was a serial arsonist who killed four: Very Scary People investigates

ID is re-airing the Very Scary People investigation into the crimes of John Leonard Orr, a serial arsonist who was responsible for setting thousands of blazes, mainly in the Los Angeles area. One of his fires led to the deaths of four people, and another destroyed 67 homes.

Orr was a Glendale Fire Department Captain who specialized in investigating arson attacks. He was well respected and considered very talented at his job. The authorities later concluded that he likely started many of the fires he investigated.

On October 10, 1984, Orr started a fire at the Ole’s Home Center hardware store in Pasadena, CA. He ignited the blaze in a section displaying foam rubber, which allowed the flames to spread rapidly throughout the large store. The fire trapped and killed four people.

The victims were two store employees, 26-year-old Carolyn Kraus and 17-year-old Jimmy Cetina, and customer 50-year-old Ada Deal and her two-year-old grandson Matthew Troidl.

At the time, responding firefighters spotted Orr filming at the scene, but nobody queried why he was there or suspected he may have been the arsonist. Fire investigators were unable to adequately determine whether it was arson or an accident; however, Orr was one investigator who said he believed it was arson.

Orr started thousands of fires between 1984 and 1991. He mainly targeted hardware or soft furnishing stores, which often contained highly flammable materials, earning him the nickname the Pillow Pyro.

Arson investigator John Orr traveled California setting fires

He also burned residential homes, and in June 1990, one of his blazes destroyed 67 homes in the College Hills area of Glendale. Thankfully, one was killed.

In November 1991, Orr burned down a section of Warner Brothers’ studio used to film the TV series The Waltons. Orr traveled further around California, attending conferences for arson investigators; he used these occasions to start blazes in Fresno and Bakersfield.

The police and Orr’s fire investigator colleagues finally caught up to him in December 1991 after he left a fingerprint at the Fresno fire. In 1992, he was convicted of arson and sentenced to 30 years.

Former Fire Captain John Leonard Orr received four life sentences

It took another few years before investigators were finally able to charge him with four counts of murder at the hardware store in Pasadena. He was put on trial for murder in 1998 and was eventually found guilty and given four life sentences.

The prosecution was greatly aided by an unpublished novel written by Orr. The novel described in detail the story of a fire investigator who was an arsonist. The police soon realized the book described real-life events, such as the Ole’s Home Center hardware store, in great detail.

At the sentencing, Superior Court Judge Robert J. Perry said, “The enormity of the defendant’s crimes should not be understated. He embarked on a campaign of setting arson fires that is remarkable in the number of fires he set and in the expert way he set them.”

A relative of one of the victims, Luis Cetina, told the court, “He’s a shell. He fails to be human. He’s sentenced our families to a life of pain and grief.”

Orr reportedly showed no emotion or remorse during his trial and refused to address the court at the sentencing. He is currently incarcerated at the Mule Creek State Prison in Ione, CA.

This episode of Very Scary People re-airs Thursday at 9/8c on Investigation Discovery.