The career criminal accused of killing then torching an elderly couple in their Queens home was busted by “eagle-eyed” cops Wednesday after he romped with his victims’ credit cards, cops and sources said.
Jamel McGriff, 42, was taken into custody by the NYPD in Times Square two days after he allegedly stabbed and burned Frank and Maureen Olton and then set their home on fire in a shocking double homicide Monday in the typically safe Bellerose neighborhood, the sources said.
Jamel McGriff, 42, was taken into custody Wednesday
by the NYPD. DOCThe cold-blooded killer used his victim’s charge cards at Macy’s and then to see a movie at the Regal Cinema in Times Square on Wednesday afternoon after he had pawned off two cell phones in the Bronx a day earlier, according to sources.
“He was spotted in Midtown Manhattan by eagle-eyed cops who didn’t hesitate before jumping into action,” police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said in a tweet at 6:15 p.m.
“Thank you to the best detectives and the best cops in the world for their work tracking and apprehending this violent criminal.”
Police utilized real-time updates on his location and appearance, which enabled the Times Square cops to recognize and pounce on the wanted suspect, according to sources.
McGriff allegedly terrorized the couple, whose son is an FDNY paramedic, for up to five hours after entering the home around 10:15 a.m. Frank Olton, 78, was found dead — tied to a pole in his basement and set on fire while his 77-year-old wife was found dead on the first floor, sources said.
Two people were found dead inside the home in Bellerose. FNTV
McGriff allegedly terrorized the couple for hours, before exiting the house prior to the climactic fire. James MesserschmidtCharges against McGriff are pending.
The suspect has a long rap sheet and is the prime suspect in two incidents this past summer — one just a week before the horrifying murders.
On Aug 31, McGriff allegedly forced an employee at a Verizon store on Sixth Avenue into a back room at gunpoint — only to have the victim notice it was a fake gun and chase him away.
Charges against McGriff are pending. FNTVMcGriff allegedly walked into a GameStop in Harlem in July with a gun and made off with cash, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said Tuesday.
He spent nearly 17 years of a 20-year sentence in state prison on a 2006 robbery, sex act and assault conviction and was released on parole in 2023, according to state records.
In 2005, he robbed a 34-year-old man at knifepoint on the F-train, according to sources.
The creep was also convicted of molesting a 23-year-old female employee of a business at knifepoint in 2006, cops said.
Police said he remained free despite failing to register as a sex offender in 2025 following his release.
The state Department of Correction and Community Supervision would not answer questions from The Post about why he was not charged with a parole violation.
A neighbor, Asif, told The Post surveillance footage set up for his house shows the suspect met Frank outside the gate of the murder victim’s home.
The pair went to the backyard together, then Frank went inside before McGriff also entered the home about 20 minutes later, Asif said.
“Then you don’t see him come back out until around 3:10. He came out before there was any sign of a fire,” the neighbor, 35, said.
