Family sues Lake Barrington couple in alleged fake-death scheme

Family members of a slain 20-year-old Arlington Heights man have filed a lawsuit Thursday against a Lake Barrington couple accused of killing their relative in attempt to collect a multi-million dollar life insurance policy.

On February 23, Justin Newman was found dead in Ari and Denise Squire's Lake Barrington home during what police say was an attempt by 39-year-old Ari Squire to fake his own death, and then steal the identity of the younger man.

Investigators said Ari Squire, who was struggling with massive financial and legal problems, may have hoped to collect on a $5 million life insurance policy that named his wife as beneficiary.

Ari Squire shot himself to death in a Eureka, Mo., motel on March 2 as police there tried to take him into custody, authorities said. He was driving Newman's car and carrying Newman's identification, police said.

In an eight-count suit filed in Cook County Circuit Court Thursday, Newman's mother and brother, Donna Fiorito and Frank Testa, III, claim Ari Squire and Denise Squire were responsible for Newman's death.

Ari Squire befriended Newman at the Home Depot in Lake Zurich, where Newman worked. After several meetings, Ari Squire lured Newman to his home at 28031 Lakeview Dr. in the Lakeland Estates subdivision in Lake Barrington, with the promise of a higher-paying construction job at his company, the suit said.

The suit claims alleges that Newman was drugged, rendered unconscious and run over by Ari Squire's Chevy Silverado pickup truck in his garage.

Ari Squire then allegedly swapped clothes, wallets, and shoes with Newman. He also staged the scene to appear as if the truck slipped off a jack and crushed Newman's body, the suit alleges.

Ari Squire allegedly then set the garage on fire with Newman inside thereby rendering Newman's body unrecognizable so that it would be mistaken for his own body, the suit said.

According to the suit, Denise Squire is included in the suit because she knowingly contacted Ari Squire by e-mail and cell phone regarding Newman's death, establishing her knowledge of the scheme, the suit alleges.

Denise Squire and her husband's estate are being sued for survival action, family expense, loss of consortium, willful and wanton conduct, intentional infliction of emotional distress, conspiracy and punitive damages.

The wrongful death suit seeks more than $5 million, punitive damages, the costs of the suit, and additional relief.

--STNGWire, Sun-Times Sun-Times News Group W