The sex offender parolee suspected of setting fire to a Queens home and robbing and brutally murdering the elderly couple who lived there has been arrested.
Jamel McGriff, 42, who police have been seeking since the Monday double murder, was nabbed Wednesday after he was spotted by sharp-eyed officers in Midtown, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch announced.
“He was spotted in Midtown Manhattan by eagle-eyed cops who didn’t hesitate before jumping into action. Thank you to the best detectives and the best cops in the world for their work tracking and apprehending this violent criminal,” Tisch said on X.
Police were tracking McGriff’s credit card usage and were pushing his photo out to every cop’s cell phone with each new purchase made, police sources said. McGriff used one of the victim’s credit cards at the Regal movie theater in Union Square.
He was apprehended by officers around 5:40 p.m. near Seventh Ave. and W. 44th St., cops said.
Criminal charges for McGriff were pending as he was being transported to a Queens precinct.
He was identified Tuesday by NYPD top cop Tisch as the man police believe responsible for forcing his way into the Bellerose home of Frank and Maureen Olton on 254th St. near 87th Drive.
After trying unsuccessfully to get into other homes on the block by claiming he needed to charge his cell phone, he went to the Olton home, Tisch said.
“At that house, video shows the suspect interacting with the male victim, and it appears the suspect was allowed into the backyard,” Tisch said. “At approximately 10:18 a.m. the suspect and male victim were seen entering the rear door of the residence.”
McGriff was in home about five hours, Tisch said, then left after setting the fire.
Responding firefighters found Frank Olton, 76, tied to a pole in the basement, his body sporting numerous stab wounds.
Found dead on the living room floor was his wife, Maureen Olton, 77. It wasn’t clear if she had been stabbed.
McGriff left through a back door after stealing two cell phones and setting a fire, police said.
Video shows him walking down the block.
Other video shows McGriff selling two cell phones at a pawn shop on E. Fordham Road near Decatur Ave. in the Fordham section of the Bronx earlier on Tuesday. His last known address is a homeless shelter a few blocks away.
A 41-year-old resident of the shelter, who said he recognized McGriff from the photos police released of the suspect, said he often noticed McGriff carrying multiple lighters.
“He used to have lighters in his pocket … [Shelter staff] stopped him at the metal detectors, telling him he couldn’t come into the shelters with lighters,” the resident added.
McGriff has 19 arrests on his record, nine for felonies and 10 for misdemeanors, police sources said. He was conditionally released on parole in April 2023 after being sentenced to 20 years in prison for robbery, attempted assault and committing a criminal sex act.
On Nov. 22, 2005, he tried to make a purchase at a Manhattan pet shop on Seventh Ave. near W. 15th St., according to reports at the time. After making the purchase, he pulled a knife and forced the 23-year-old clerk into a back room, where he sexually attacked her before rifling through the cash register and fleeing with her iPod. He was arrested a little over a week later at a men’s shelter in Brooklyn, amNY reported.
McGriff is currently wanted for two recent Manhattan robbery incidents, police said.
Originally Published: September 10, 2025 at 7:05 PM EDT
