Suspect accused of killing elderly couple in New York City, taken into custody

New York police found a man suspected of having killed an elderly couple before setting their homes on fire.

Jamel McGriff spent five hours inside Frank and Maureen Olton’s house in the Queen’s arrondissement, before burning him on the ground, investigators said.

The surveillance video shows him to go through the street before speaking to Frank Olton and participating in the backyard of the couple, said NYPD commissioner, Jessica Tisch, who described the crime as a “double homicide, a horrible flight and criminal fire”.

The 42 -year -old suspect, who has a long criminal history, was released in 2023, said officials.

He was placed in police custody Thursday after being spotted by “in Midtown Manhattan by cops in the eyes of the eagle,” said Ms. Tisch, adding that they “did not hesitate before jumping in action”.

The police said that the suspect had gone to the home of Frank Olton, 76, and Maureen Olton, 77, asking for a place on Monday morning to load his mobile phone.

The video shows Mr. Olton allowing him in the courtyard.

The suspect left the house about five hours later, carrying a puff bag and a paper bag, said Ms. Tisch.

Shortly after leaving the house, city firefighters were called on the property for a fire report.

The couple’s son received an alert via his parents’ home security system on a fire at home.

Once the fire is controlled, the olon bodies were found.

“Mr. Olton was found in the basement, attached to a post with several injuries by stab. Ms. Olton was found on the first floor, seriously burned,” said Ms. Tisch.

“For the moment, there is no known link between Mr. McGriff, our suspect and our victims beyond this fortuitous meeting.”

The police said that the suspect’s reason remains uncertain, but at a press conference, they noted that he had tried to go to another house nearby, but was not authorized inside.

“The MO of the suspect is to go to the door to the door to ask for a kind of help until he can enter,” said Ms. Tisch before being placed in police custody.

“So don’t leave anyone you don’t know or who don’t wait in your home.”

The killings amazed the arrondissement.

Jamar Williams, a neighbor of the couple, told New York Times: “This is a type of real horror story.”

Before killing the Olons, the suspect served 16 years for a flight in 2006.

He has also been accused of a handful of flights in New York in recent months.

Ms. Tisch said the suspect failed to register as a sex offender in November 2024, a violation of parole.

The murders are involved in the midst of a repression against the crime of President Donald Trump’s administration.