Hollywood’s interest in Orr continues

Tim Willert

GLENDALE -- More than a decade has passed since former Glendale Fire

Capt. John Orr did the unthinkable and turned firebug.

But his story continues to smolder.

Home Box Office and Court TV have taken an interest in Orr, the former

arson investigator who was convicted in 1998 of setting the 1990 College

Hills fire that destroyed 67 homes and caused $50 million in damage.

HBO is making a movie about Orr called “Point of Origin,” starring Ray

Liotta in the title role. The film will also star John Leguizamo, and is

being directed by Newton Thomas Sigel. A scene from the movie was shot in

Burbank in April.

The movie was scheduled to air Dec. 8, but has been rescheduled for

release sometime in 2002, according to HBO spokeswoman Tanya Owens.

Court TV, the cable network that specializes in court and justice

programming, has reviewed back issues of the News-Press for information

on Orr’s case for an upcoming documentary about his various appeals.

“We always look for interesting real-life mysteries,” said Ed Hersh,

Court TV’s vice president of documentaries and specials. “You can

certainly say that the John Orr story has some interesting twists to it.”

The documentary, part of a Court TV series called “The System,” is

scheduled to air Dec. 12, Hersh said.

Orr, meanwhile, is serving a 30-year sentence in a federal

penitentiary in Lompoc and faces a life sentence in state prison for his

role in a fire that killed four people. Orr continues to maintain his

innocence.

He gained notoriety when he wrote a 104,000-word manuscript about a

fire official who becomes enthralled with blazes and starts setting them.

The manuscript was the centerpiece of the federal case against him, but

it isn’t clear whether his body of work was the impetus for the HBO

movie.

Attempts to reach HBO for details about the movie or the motivation

behind it were unsuccessful.

According to producer Fred Caruso, who spoke to a News-Press staffer

on the set of the one-day shoot in Burbank, the scene centered around a

witness who saw a man running from the scene of the College Hills fire.

In the scene, the witness is subsequently interviewed by Orr, a Glendale

arson investigator and the man eventually convicted of setting the blaze.

The documentary series “Nova” has already televised a show about Orr,

titled “Hunt for the Serial Arsonist.” The one-hour documentary, which

included an interview with Orr, aired on KCET in November 1995 and

followed investigators through their search.