{"id":2168,"date":"2025-10-14T19:20:25","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T19:20:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/2168\/"},"modified":"2025-10-14T19:20:25","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T19:20:25","slug":"fiend-who-killed-elderly-queens-couple-also-tried-to-raid-their-bank-account-d-a","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/2168\/","title":{"rendered":"Fiend who killed elderly Queens couple also tried to raid their bank account: D.A."},"content":{"rendered":"

The parolee who murdered an elderly Queens couple<\/a> and torched their house also repeatedly tried to steal more than $10,000 from the victims\u2019 bank account, prosecutors said after the suspect was hit with a 50-count indictment Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Jamel McGriff, 42, was arraigned in Queens Supreme Court Tuesday on first-degree murder, kidnapping and a host of other charges in the monstrous killing<\/a> of Frank Olton, 76, and his wife, Maureen Olton, 77, on Sept. 8.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe level of violence and depravity that this defendant perpetrated against the Oltons<\/a> during that five hours will shock your conscience,\u201d Assistant District Attorney John Esposito said at McGriff\u2019s grand jury arraignment, referring to the amount of time McGriff spent in the couple\u2019s Bellerose home.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe defendant separated Frank and Maureen during their final moments, which must have been terrifying, tied Frank Olton to a pole in the basement, stabbing him multiple times in the chest and neck, killing him,\u201d Esposito said. \u201cHe tried to set Frank Olton on fire to conceal evidence of his vicious crime, but that fire failed to catch. He appears to have tied Maureen Olton to a chair upstairs in the living room, where he then strangled her to death.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Jamel<\/p>\n

Gardiner Anderson \/ New York Daily News<\/p>\n

Jamel McGriff is pictured in police custody outside the NYPD 107th Precinct station house in Queens on Sept. 11. (Gardiner Anderson \/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

McGriff, a registered sex offender with a lengthy rap sheet, knocked on the Oltons\u2019 door, telling the couple that he was lost and needed to charge his dead cell phone, authorities allege. He had already tried a neighbor\u2019s door, but was rebuffed, prosecutors said.<\/p>\n

Frank Olton offered him help, and when he went back inside, McGriff followed, pushing his way into the home on 254th St. near 87th Drive while the septuagenarian husband yelled in desperation, \u201cGet the f\u2014 out!\u201d Esposito said.<\/p>\n

McGriff made several attempts to drain the couple\u2019s bank accounts, trying to move more than $10,000 to his own Cash App account, only to be thwarted by the bank\u2019s transfer limits, the prosecutor said. He then called their bank directly for help, but failed to answer their security questions, Esposito said. The call was recorded.<\/p>\n

Before he left, McGriff set the place\u2019s living room on fire and \u201ccreated a raging inferno\u201d that left Maureen Olton\u2019s charred remains unrecognizable.<\/p>\n

\"FlamesFlames shoot from the home on Sept. 8 shortly before the elderly couple were found dead inside. (Obtained by Daily News)<\/p>\n

\u201cHe clearly took the credit cards, because he went from the Oltons\u2019 house to Macy\u2019s and used Mr. Olton\u2019s credit cards, not only for clothing, but also for movies the next day,\u201d Queens D.A. Melinda Katz<\/a> told reporters Tuesday. \u201cSo there\u2019s a lot of evidence that shows he was trying to utilize that time (in the house) to get access to financial means.\u201d<\/p>\n

McGriff\u2019s post-murder shopping spree included a trip to Macy\u2019s in Herald Square in Manhattan, where he bought $796.10 worth of clothes with Frank Olton\u2019s credit card, using his own store loyalty account, prosecutors allege. He also used his own ID when he deposited the victims\u2019 cell phones into a machine that disburses cash for mobile devices at a Bronx check-cashing store on Sept. 9, prosecutors said.<\/p>\n

The next day, he caught a matinee movie in Manhattan, buying snacks with the victim\u2019s credit card, Esposito said.<\/p>\n

Police caught up with McGriff in Times Square after the movie let out, Esposito said, and he was caught on police body camera confessing, \u201cI admit it. I killed them. I don\u2019t give a f\u2014.\u201d<\/p>\n

Police found two of Frank Olton\u2019s credit cards in his possession, as well as a signed baseball from the victims\u2019 basement, Esposito said.<\/p>\n

McGriff pleaded not guilty to the charges against him, and remains held without bail. His lawyer, Michelle Benoit of Legal Aid, said she reserved the right to apply for bail at a later date.<\/p>\n

He could face life without parole if convicted at trial.<\/p>\n

Originally Published: October 14, 2025 at 2:46 PM EDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The parolee who murdered an elderly Queens couple and torched their house also repeatedly tried to steal more…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2169,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[262,263,266,85,267,75,9,24,264,12,63,261,122,124,123,265],"class_list":["post-2168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-city","tag-county","tag-crime-and-public-safety","tag-latest-headlines","tag-local-news","tag-manhattan","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-county","tag-news","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-crime","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news","tag-sub-county-region"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2168"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2168\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}