The ex-convict accused of torturing and killing an elderly couple in New York City was ordered Tuesday to stay locked up on Rikers Island, less than a week after prosecutors said he randomly preyed on the husband and wife before burning their house down as he left the residence.
Court records show Jamel McGriff appeared Tuesday night before a Queens County judge for the status hearing, days after he pleaded not guilty to the killings of Maureen and Frank Olton, 77 and 76. He was remanded back into custody and will return to court in October.
McGriff, 42, faces several murder, kidnapping, arson, robbery and burglary charges in what Queens County District Attorney Melinda Katz called a “horrific double murder that has shocked our entire city.”
“As alleged, in a brazen act of violence, the defendant forced himself into a Bellerose home, stabbed one of the elderly homeowners to death and then deliberately set the house on fire,” Ms. Katz said Friday. “Frank and Maureen Olton were simply spending a Monday morning at home, and their deaths have shattered the sense of safety and security in New York.”
McGriff, who has previous convictions for sex crimes and was imprisoned for 17 years for a 2006 robbery, could spend the rest of his life behind bars if convicted.
Police said McGriff was going door to door Sept. 8, asking Bellerose residents if he could come inside and charge his phone when he approached the Oltons’ house.
McGriff forced his way into the home despite Mr. Olton’s resistance, prosecutors said, then tortured the husband and attacked Mrs. Olton during his five-hour intrusion. He set the home on fire as he left with a duffel bag full of their belongings.
Officials said Mr. Olton was tied to a pole in the basement and died from several stab wounds to his chest and neck. Mrs. Olton had a fractured larynx and soot in her trachea, to go with severe burns, when the couple’s remains were found inside the burned-out home.
McGriff went on a $500 shopping spree at Macy’s with Mr. Olton’s credit cards, police said, then used the slain husband’s card again to catch a movie at a nearby theater. He also traded in the Oltons’ phones for cash the next day.
New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the multiday manhunt for McGriff came to an end Wednesday when officers spotted him in Times Square.
Following his arrest, prosecutors said McGriff confessed to police by saying, “I’ll admit it. I killed them. I molested them.”
Authorities said McGriff was wanted in connection with two recent robberies, including at a GameStop store in July and a Verizon store in August.
He was arrested in November for failing to register his address due to his status as a sex offender.
McGriff was still on parole from his robbery conviction when he was taken into custody in 2024. The New York Department of Corrections told The New York Times that the ex-con was cooperative and had “not violated his parole in an important respect.”
McGriff was ultimately released on his own recognizance.
