Crime Chronicles: John Leonard Orr, Firefighter and Firestarter

Ever heard of Hero Syndrome? It's also called a Saviour Complex. This is a psychological condition where an individual seeks recognition for heroism. Now, from what I understand, this condition is pretty rare as such, it's not recognized by American Academy of Psychiatry. When this condition does manifest, however, it's usually in connection with someone in a position of trust; nurses, firefighters, police officers...you get the idea.

Typically, what these people do is orchestrate a situation wherein they can get involved and save the day - thus becoming a hero. These situations can and do put people's lives at risk. There are a few cases that would, I think, qualify as Hero Complex cases including the one we're discussing today: John Leonard Orr.

Who is John Leonard Orr?

John L. Orr was born as one of three boys to a small family on April 26, 1949, in Pasadena, California. His parents divorced when he was a kid, and it seems he had an interest in fire since he was a child. After high school, he joined the US Air Force. He shipped off for basic training in 1967 and eventually transferred to the Air Force's firefighting school - this is where his firefighting career would start.

He was stationed in Spain for a while, but I'm not sure how many fires he had to deal with - as far as I know, there were only two. In 1970, Orr was transferred to Montana and married Jody, his high school sweetheart. He was given an honorable discharge the following year and returned to Los Angeles. John and Jody had two daughters, Carrie Lyn and Lori before they divorced. Orr married three more times, but as far as I know he only had two daughters.

Upon returning to California, John Orr applied to two police departments and two fire departments in the L.A. area. When he tested for the police department, he passed everything except the psych exam. It was much the same with the fire department, he passed all the tests except one - the physical test.

In the end, he took a post with the Glendale Fire Department in 1974 and worked at a 7-Eleven as a clerk and at Sears Roebuck as a security guard to supplement his income. This is where he got his rather unfortunate nickname: Inspector Clouseau. His colleagues would make fun of him constantly because he was always - and I do mean ALWAYS - overstepping his bounds.

He later got a gun and carry permit, and became a fire investigator. John Leonard Orr earned the rank of captain.

South Pasadena, 1984, the First of many Fires

October 10, 1984, a fire broke out at a hardware store in South Pasadena, California. The store was completely destroyed in the blaze, and four people were killed including a two-year-old boy. There was a convention of fire investigators in the area at the time, and they converged on the site of the blaze.

All the investigators ruled it an accident - an electrical fire - to be specific. Well, almost all of them, the exception? John Leonard Orr was one of the investigators and he insisted the fire was arson.

Investigating an Investigator

January 1987, three years after the fire in South Pasadena, another fire broke out in Fresno, California - ironically right in the midst of a convention for arson investigators. There were also several other fires - all of which were suspicious. Additionally, an unidentified fingerprint was found which led to suspicions that the arsonist was, in fact, an arson investigator.

Another series of fires broke out in 1989, once again during an arson investigator convention. Okay, our guy is getting really cocky here. Captain Marvin Casey of the Bakersfield Fire Department compared a list of attendees between the different conferences that were held around the time of the fires. Care to take a guess who was present at all conventions? That's right, John Leonard Orr.

Now, remember that fingerprint? Well, at the time of its recovery the technology wasn't great and the print wasn't matched to Orr. That all changed in 1991. In late 1990, there was another string of fires which caught the attention of a task force investigator who got a copy of the fingerprint collected a few years prior. Advancements in technology, made it possible to match the print to Orr's left ring finger.

A Prolific Arsonist

Orr is thought to have set at least 2000 fires over the course of his career, a few them are:

1. October 10, 1984 - South Pasadena, California
2. January 13, 1987 - Fresno, California
3. January 15, 1987 - Fresno, California
4. January 16, 1987 - Tulare, California
5. January 16, 1987 - Bakersfield, California
6. January 30, 1987 - Fresno, California
7. March 3, 1989 - Morro Bay, California

I think you guys get the idea, here and the investigators at the time went to work keeping an eye on Orr and his activities. He was finally arrested on December 4th, 1991.

Points of Origin: The Trial of John Leonard Orr

Now, the investigation into the various fires got underway. One of the things that detectives found when looking into John Orr was a manuscript for Points of Origin, a book that John was writing. That manuscript really got the investigators' attention because it told the story of a firefighter, named Aaron Stiles, who was a serial arsonist. Several of the fires in the book were eerily similar to the real-world fires that Orr had investigated.

For his part, John defended the book as a work of fiction, saying:

"The character of Aaron Stiles was a composite of arsonists I arrested."

Right...a composite...sure, whatever you say buddy. Well, even so; the jury was unconvinced. He was convicted of 3 counts of arson in July of 1992 and sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Two years later, Orr was back in court - this time on four counts of murder in the first degree with special circumstances and 21 counts of arson. The lead prosecutor on the case, Mike Cabral sought the death penalty, but offered a plea deal to John (off the record, of course); confess to his crimes and the death penalty would be off the table. That sounds like a pretty good deal, but for some reason Orr turned it down flat.

He was convicted on June 25, 1998 of all four counts of murder and all but one of the arson charges. As far as the death penalty was split 8 to 4 in favor of the penalty. Now, as far as I understand it, the majority vote should've seen him put on death row, but it may be that they needed a larger majority (i.e. 10 to 2). John's daughter, Lori, also got on the stand for the defense and pleaded that her father NOT get the death sentence.

He was ultimately given 4 concurrent life sentences with an additional 21 years for the arson charges. So, the life terms would run together and the 21 years would run alongside the 30 years he'd gotten for the previous arson charge in 1992. The California appeals court vacated nine years from his 21 year sentence as it was decided that some of the damage caused by Orr's crimes had been unintentional. Not that it helps, of course, because unless he manages to appeal and/or get early release, he will die in prison.

A Nutty Pyro

Now, I don't know about you guys, but I think this guy is just messed up in the head. There are a few thoughts on why John Orr did these things, the prevailing theory being that he has a mental disorder; either pyromania or pyrophilia. Both are fire-related mental disorders but what's the difference?

Pyromania

Pyromania is an impulse control problem (no, really?) wherein the sufferer deliberately, and regularly sets fires. There are a few reasons for this, but a few common ones are:

• Fascination with fire
• Stress relief
• Pleasure

The idea that one would set fires to release tension is...weird to me, but the mind is a weird thing anyway so I guess I shouldn't be surprised that this is a thing.

Pyrophilia

Pyrophilia is similar to pyromania, with the main difference being the motive behind the setting of a fire. This is a very rare disorder that sees sufferers gaining pleasure from both seeing and starting fires. Now, the main difference between pyrophilia and pyromania is that the pleasure gained from a fire is sexual in nature.

In other words, fire and fire starting is a turn-on for an arsonist. I'm not sure which of these diagnoses John Orr has been given - if he was ever diagnosed.

John Orr's Ultimate Fate

Ultimately, John Leonard Orr's fate is pretty much sealed. Even if he does manage to weasel his way into a new trial and be acquitted - very unlikely - he's got nothing to come back to. The guy's in his 70s and is one of the most well-known arsonists in recent history. From what I understand, his wife divorced him shortly after his sentencing, and his daughters have cut ties with him completely.

He has no home outside of prison, no family, and certainly no employment prospects - seriously, who's going to hire a convicted arsonist? Nobody, so he's stuck exactly where he belongs and it's highly unlikely he's getting out.