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New York City law enforcement is cautioning locals to remain vigilant for a suspect accused of subjecting an elderly couple in Queens to prolonged torture before killing them and setting their residence ablaze, under the pretense of needing to charge his phone at their home.
The NYPD has distributed new images of Jamel McGriff, aged 42, a former convict with a long history of legal issues. Authorities are warning that he should be considered armed and dangerous.
The victims have been identified as Frank and Maureen Olton, 76 and 77.
This surveillance image captures the individual sought by police for a connection to a double-homicide arson case in close proximity to New York’s Belmont Park racetrack. (NYPD)
With a criminal timeline stretching back decades, McGriff previously served 16 years in prison due to a robbery conviction from 2006 and was on parole, according to FOX 5. He is additionally sought in connection to recent robberies, one occurring at a GameStop in Harlem in July and another at a Verizon store in Manhattan, where a clerk managed to fend him off after noticing his weapon was a replica, police stated.
Last year, McGriff also failed to register as a sex offender, a parole violation, police said.
McGriff’s whereabouts were last recorded when he pawned two mobile devices in the Bronx on Tuesday. Surveillance footage later captured him strolling in Queens clad in a black hat, jacket, and sneakers, paired with blue jeans, while he carried both a backpack and a paper bag.
Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS, share tips online at or on X @NYPDTips.
