Police Arrest Suspect in Death of Queens Couple in Burning House

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The arrested adult male is Jamel McGriff. Investigators trust he killed a couple up in their 70s, ace of whom was found tied to a pole.

By Maia Coleman

The New York Police Department on Wednesday evening arrested a man wanted in connection with robbing and killing a couple in their 70s and setting their Queens home ablaze.

The arrested man is Jamel McGriff, 42, the police said. The charges against him were not immediately released.

The crime burst into view on Monday afternoon when the couple, Frank and Maureen Olton, 76 and 77, were discovered, one of them tied to a pole, inside the burned remains of their home. They were pronounced dead by emergency medical workers.

Mr. McGriff arrived in the Bellerose section of Queens, a tree-lined residential neighborhood near the border of Nassau County, around 10 a.m. Monday and began knocking on doors asking to come inside, according to the police.

He first tried to enter another house, asking if he could come inside to charge his phone, but was turned away. Mr. McGriff then walked to Mr. And Mrs. Olton’s home, a gray two-story house set back on the corner of 254th Street and 87th Drive, and tried again. This time, Mr. McGriff was met by Mr. Olton. Surveillance video shows the two men interacting and eventually entering the house together, the police said.

It was not immediately clear what exactly transpired inside the house, but, according to the police, Mr. McGriff set it on fire before leaving.

He was seen on surveillance video exiting the house five hours after he had entered, carrying two bags. Fifteen minutes later, just before 3:30 p.m., firefighters and police officers responded to a 911 call about a fire. The couple’s son, an emergency medical technician who was off duty at the time, had been alerted to the blaze by the house’s alarm system and had called for help, the police said.

When the fire was extinguished, firefighters entered the home and discovered a chilling scene: Mr. Olton was found tied to a pole in the basement with wounds on his body and Mrs. Olton was found badly burned on the home’s first floor.

They were pronounced dead soon after.

The killing on Monday and the subsequent manhunt prompted horror and outrage in Bellerose and beyond, as residents grappled with the attack and the escape of man who the police say has a lengthy and violent criminal history.

According to the police, Mr. McGriff had been out on parole after serving more than 16 years for a first-degree robbery he committed in 2006. In November, Mr. McGriff, a sex offender, was charged with failing to register a change to his address. He is also wanted in connection with robberies at a GameStop and a Verizon store in Manhattan in July and August, and he was seen on surveillance video the day after the fire pawning two mobile phones in the Bronx, the police said.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Maia Coleman is a reporter for The Times covering the New York Police Department and criminal justice in the New York area.

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