The depraved career criminal accused of killing then torching an elderly couple in their Queens home was captured by the NYPD Wednesday after a desperate manhunt, according to law enforcement sources.
Jamel McGriff, 42, was taken into custody by the NYPD in Manhattan 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.
by the NYPD. DOC
McGriff allegedly terrorized the couple, whose son is an FDNY paramedic, for five hours after entering the home around 10:15 a.m. Frank Olton, 78, was also 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.
Charges against McGriff are pending.
The suspect was seen asking residents of the neighborhood to charge his phone on Monday, with Olton the only person generous enough to offer McGriff help.
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.
