Queens Parolee Charged With Murder, Arson in Couple’s Deaths
BELLEROSE, Queens — A parolee with a violent past has been charged in the brutal slaying of a Queens couple whose home was set on fire earlier this week, police announced Thursday.
Jamel McGriff, 42, faces multiple counts of murder, robbery, burglary, arson, kidnapping, identity theft, and criminal possession of stolen property, according to the NYPD.
McGriff was arrested Wednesday evening near Times Square after investigators tracked him across Manhattan. Police said he had been using the victims’ credit cards, including at a Union Square movie theater just hours before his capture. Officers arrested him without incident on West 44th Street.
Authorities allege McGriff approached homes in the neighborhood Monday morning, asking for help by claiming his phone had died. After being turned away at one residence, he was allowed into the backyard of Frank and [Name] Olton’s home. Surveillance footage shows him entering the rear door around 10:18 a.m. and leaving just after 3 p.m.
Responding to a fire later that day, police discovered the couple dead inside. Frank Olton was found bound and stabbed in the basement, while his wife’s body was discovered burned beyond recognition.
As he was led from the 107th Precinct Thursday, McGriff shouted that the victims had abused him as a child, a claim investigators have not substantiated.
McGriff, who has prior convictions for violent robberies and sexual assault, is also wanted in connection with a string of summer robberies in Manhattan.
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