A Denton man is facing arson charges after allegedly setting fires at a restaurant, a daycare and a home, resulting in the deaths of an elderly couple, according to the Denton Police Department. 

John Howard Ore, 36, is jailed on a $2.1 million bond in Denton County Jail after being charged with four counts of arson. 

Ore allegedly set three fires in December and January, including one that resulted in the deaths of 103-year-old Dante Bassi and 83-year-old Marilyn Bradley-Bassi in their Houston Place home, police said.

Ore, according to police, is accused of setting fires:

• At a restaurant in the 6400 block of I-35, which caused significant damage but resulted in no injuries on Dec. 17, 2024. 
• At the home in the 2000 block of Houston Place, where the elderly couple was rescued on Dec. 18, 2024. The couple later succumbed to injuries.
• At a daycare in the 1700 block of West 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," Denton police said in a news release.

No one was injured in the daycare blaze, police said.

According to Denton police, evidence and video footage linked Ore to all three fires.

Police arrested Ore on Jan. 23 for the restaurant and daycare fires. Subsequently, medical examiners ruled the Houston Place deaths as homicides, leading to two additional charges of arson, including arson causing serious bodily injury or death, police said.