New York City police hunt for man suspected of killing elderly couple and burning their home
Sep 9, 2025, 2:41 PM | Updated: 6:14 pm
NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City couple in their 70s was killed Monday in what the police commissioner said was a “horrific double homicide, robbery and arson” — the man tied to a pole and stabbed, the woman’s body severely burned as their home went up in flames.
Frank Olton, 76, and Maureen Olton, 77, were found dead around 3:30 p.m. Monday, about 20 minutes after surveillance video showed suspect Jamel McGriff walking near their Queens home. The couple’s son, a fire department EMT, called 911 after being alerted to the fire by the couple’s alarm monitoring service. A fire marshal ruled that the fire was intentionally set.
McGriff, 42, remained at large as of Tuesday afternoon, police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said. He was last seen on video earlier Tuesday pawning two cellphones in the Bronx and “should be considered armed and dangerous,” she said.
McGriff’s parole officer identified him as a suspect from surveillance video images obtained near the home, Tisch said.
Tisch said McGriff, a serial robbery suspect on parole after a previous conviction, was going door-to-door in the borough’s Bellerose neighborhood asking if he could come in and charge his cellphone.
After one homeowner rebuffed him, Tisch said, video showed McGriff approaching the Oltons’ home around 10:18 a.m. and talking with Frank Olton. He was allowed into the couple’s backyard and eventually entered the home with Olton through a rear door.
McGriff remained in the home for nearly five hours and was next seen on surveillance video leaving around 3:08 p.m., Tisch said. He carried a paper bag and a duffel bag and wore a black hat, black jacket, black sneakers and dark blue jeans, she said.
After getting the fire under control, firefighters entered the home and found Frank Olton’s body in the basement, tied to a pole with multiple stab wounds, and Maureen Olton’s body on the first floor with severe burns, Tisch said. Their exact causes of death are still under investigation, she said.
“At this time, there is no known connection between Mr. McGriff, our suspect, and our victims beyond this chance encounter,” Tisch said at a news conference on Tuesday.
McGriff has a “lengthy, violent” criminal history spanning several decades and is on parole after serving 16 years in prison for a conviction in a 2006 robbery, Tisch said. He is also wanted by police for two recent robberies — one at a Harlem GameStop store in July and another at a Manhattan Verizon store where the clerk noticed he had a fake gun and fought him off, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said.
McGriff also failed last year to register as a sex offender, Tisch said, which should have violated his parole. The NYPD and a regional fugitive task force that combines local, state and federal officers are working to apprehend McGriff, the commissioner said.
“For the public, the message is clear: the suspect’s MO is to go door-to-door asking for some kind of assistance until he can gain entrance, so do not allow someone you don’t know or someone you’re not expecting into your home,” Tisch said.
