In the early hours of a fateful day in February 2008, Wauconda firefighters responded to an alarming scene at a home in a northwest suburb of Chicago. It seemed as though tragedy had struck, with homeowner Ari Squire believed to have met a grim fate in a devastating house fire.

Upon their arrival, responders uncovered a harrowing sight: charred remains beneath a truck in the garage, the fire’s epicenter. Initial assumptions pointed to a tragic accident, suggesting Ari was crushed while attempting automotive repairs.

However, as investigators delved deeper into the circumstances surrounding the incident, they unearthed startling evidence that challenged the initial narrative. What emerged was a chilling realization that a suspected murderer might be at large. This baffling case is revisited in Oxygen’s series Accident, Suicide, or Murder, which explores crimes where reality defies appearances.

Fatal Blaze at Ari Squire’s Home in 2008

The chain of events was set in motion when Denise Squire, Ari’s wife, made a desperate 911 call on February 23, 2008, reporting a fire at their Lake Barrington residence.

“Hi, I think my garage is on fire,” Denise told the dispatcher with palpable urgency. “I was hearing all this noise, and I went to open the door, and it’s all black.”

When emergency crews reached the scene, they found Denise anxiously waiting in the yard. She informed them that her husband Ari, along with his white truck, was nowhere to be found, adding another layer of mystery to the unfolding drama.

“The fire department was able to extinguish the fire,” retired Lake County Sheriff’s Sgt. John Lucas explained. “When they went inside they observed the white pick up truck and, there was smoke damage through the whole garage, but the fire was pretty much contained to the engine compartment and the floor underneath the truck.”

While further analyzing the scene, authorities found a body underneath the truck, which appeared to have fallen off the jack, trapping the victim underneath the front of vehicle.

“The truck essentially dropped right on top of the body,” Retired Lake County Sheriff Marc Curran said. “So you’re talking about, you know, thousands of pounds and the force of that dropping on the body, that’s a heck of a way to have to die.”

The fire had badly damaged the victim’s head and torso, but detectives were able to find a wallet in the man’s jeans identifying him as Ari. When they delivered the news to Denise that her husband of 14 years was dead, Lucas noted that she seemed “relatively calm.”

She explained to investigators that she was waking up around 8 a.m. when she heard three loud booms and raced to the garage to find it filled with smoke. Although she shouted for Ari—described by others as a gentle soul with a knack for automative repair—he never responded. 

Lucas noted, “To me, it looked like it had been an accidental fire.”

Strange Clues At the Crime Scene

Yet, there were unusual findings at the crime scene. Although Ari was a seasoned car buff, nothing was put under the truck as a precaution in case it fell off the jack, which had been placed in an unusual location. The truck also had no scratches or denting. In addition, the scene smelled of gasoline, despite the fact that Ari had been working on a diesel truck.

They also noticed the electrical circuit board was off—eliminating a possible electrical fire—and a propane torch in the garage had been turned on, suggesting the fire may have been set on purpose. 

Lucas remarked of the finding, “It was a big, big red flag that we’re looking at an arson.”

Although Denise told detectives Ari did not have an insurance policy, they later discovered he did have one that would pay Denise, his primary beneficiary, millions in the event of his death.

They also learned that at the time of his death Ari was facing significant financial difficulties. Although he had once been the president of an in-home health care company, his career collapsed after he was charged with filing false cost reports and misusing company funds. Ari—who had been on house arrest in connection to the crimes and ordered to pay back the money and restitution—had started his own construction business, but that was also struggling amid the 2008 housing crisis. 

More warning bells went off when the coroner was unable to positively identify the remains. They noticed distinctive characteristics of the body, like the victim’s age and tattoos, did not match Ari’s description. A forensic dentist determined the victim was closer to 20 years old than the 40-year-old Ari. 

It all prompted Curran to wonder, “Was Ari Squire involved in the murder of this individual underneath Ari’s truck and did he abscond somewhere?” 

During the interview, investigators learned that Justin’s physical description matched the body in the morgue and collected a DNA sample from Justin’s mom, which they sent off for testing.

Investigation Leads to a Deadly Development

As the investigation into Ari continued, authorities learned that he’d also approached another Home Depot employee—one with strikingly similar physical characteristics to himself—to try to get him to come and work for him, but the employee found aspects of the offer odd, like requesting information on the job application about his tattoos and banking pin numbers. The man turned down Ari, who then set his sights on Justin.

Then on March 2, Eureka Police Officer Bob Watson noticed a suspicious car in the parking lot of a Eureka, Missouri hotel. The car was registered to Justin, an endangered missing person. 

Watson and a few other officers knocked on the hotel room door that had been registered to Justin. 

“We called for Justin numerous times and no one responded, which brought our concern to a whole new level,” Watson remembered. “The attendant unlocked the door, and then all of a sudden there was a gunshot.” 

Inside, they found Ari—who had assumed Justin’s identity—dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. 

After discovering email correspondence between Ari and Denise after the fire, investigators suspected that Denise had been a part of the plot.

According to Curran, “It appears that Denise Squire knew absolutely that Ari was alive, that he was coaching her what he wanted to have happen and what needed to be done next.”

Yet, they were never able to prove her involvement in a crime and Denise was never charged. 

She ultimately collected $6 million in life insurance benefits, but Justin’s family took her to civil court, where she was found civilly liable for Justin’s death and ordered to pay them the $6 million.