New York(BN24) — A 76-year-old man was fatally stabbed and his 77-year-old wife severely burned in what New York City police are calling a “horrific double homicide, robbery and arson” in Queens. Authorities have identified a parolee with a violent criminal history as the primary suspect.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Tuesday that Frank Olton was discovered tied to a pole in the basement of his home in the Springfield Gardens neighbourhood on Monday, suffering multiple stab wounds. His wife, Maureen Olton, was found on the first floor, critically burned. The couple did not survive.
Their son, a paramedic with the New York City Fire Department, responded to the house after receiving an alert from the home’s alarm system. The house was already in flames by the time he arrived.
Police are now searching for 42-year-old Jamel McGriff, who was last seen on surveillance video leaving the Oltons’ home around 3 p.m. Monday. Investigators believe he spent nearly five hours inside the residence, possibly attempting to steal valuables before setting the house on fire.
Authorities say there is no known relationship between McGriff and the victims. Witnesses told police they saw a man matching McGriff’s description earlier that morning, knocking on doors in the neighborhood. One resident reported that the man asked to charge his phone but was turned away. Surveillance footage later captured the same man being let into the Olton residence by Frank Olton.
McGriff is currently on parole for a first-degree robbery conviction and has a violent criminal record spanning three decades, Tisch said. In addition to being wanted in connection with this double homicide, McGriff failed to register as a sex offender in November 2024—a parole violation—and is also suspected in two robberies in Manhattan earlier this summer.
“The suspect’s method of operation involves going door-to-door requesting help until he’s let inside,” Tisch said. “We urge the public not to allow entry to anyone they don’t know or aren’t expecting.”
Police are asking anyone with information about McGriff’s whereabouts to come forward. He is considered armed and dangerous.
