{"id":2221,"date":"2025-10-14T19:51:26","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T19:51:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/2221\/"},"modified":"2025-10-14T19:51:26","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T19:51:26","slug":"cold-blooded-queens-murder-suspect-used-slain-couples-credit-cards-after-killing-them-in-their-home-da","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/2221\/","title":{"rendered":"Cold-blooded Queens murder suspect used slain couple\u2019s credit cards after killing them in their home: DA"},"content":{"rendered":"

The family of a senior couple from Queens murdered in cold blood last month<\/a> wept profusely in court on Tuesday as prosecutors detailed the horrific way their alleged killer took their loved ones\u2019 lives.<\/p>\n

Assistant District Attorney<\/a> John Esposito unraveled a massive 50-count indictment to Judge Kenneth Holder on Oct. 14. Accused murderer Jamel McGriff, 42, stood in silence with his hands handcuffed behind his back after pleading not guilty alongside his attorney Michelle Benoit.<\/p>\n

McGriff was cuffed for allegedly killing a married couple, 76-year-old Frank Olton and 77-year-old Maureen Olton, on Sept. 8 in a double murder police believe to have been motivated by greed \u2014 although prosecutors alleged that the victims could have been anyone who was ill-fated enough to cross the suspect\u2019s path that day.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Although McGriff refuted charges that included 13 counts of murder, which could land him in prison for life without the possibility of parole, Esposito said he had already confessed to police last month on camera.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll admit it, I killed them. I don\u2019t give a fuck. I killed them. I burnt those ni**as. Don\u2019t matter to me,\u201d McGriff allegedly told cops when he was arrested in Times Square on Sept. 10.<\/p>\n

Queens murder suspect acted with murderous greed: DA<\/p>\n

According to court documents, McGriff was seen on surveillance video stalking the Bellerose neighborhood on Sept. 8 and first tried his luck at another residence, telling the homeowner that he was lost and needed a phone charger, but was ultimately turned away.<\/p>\n

Then, at just before 10 a.m. that morning, McGriff came upon Frank Olton.
\n\"\"<\/a>Accused murderer Jamel McGriff, 42, stood in silence with his hands handcuffed behind his back after pleading not guilty alongside his attorney Michelle Benoit. Photo by Dean Moses\n<\/p>\n

\u201cSensing an opportunity, [he] stopped and engaged Mr. Olton in a conversation, apparently attempting the same ruse he had just tried around the corner,\u201d Esposito explained. \u201cMr. Olton allows the defendant into his yard, where they have a conversation and where the defendant remains for several minutes. Mr. Olton appears to offer him assistance. Ultimately, when Mr. Olton tries to re-enter his home, the defendant follows and forcibly pushes his way inside of the residence, and Mr. Olton can be heard yelling back again, \u2018Get the f*ck out.’\u201d<\/p>\n

McGriff was inside the home for about five hours, during which time prosecutors say that he split up the seniors.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThe level of violence and depravity that this defendant perpetrated against the Oltons during those five hours will shock your conscience,\u201d ADA Esposito added.\n<\/p>\n

McGriff allegedly tied Frank Olton to a pole in the basement before stabbing him over and over in the neck and chest. The killer then attempted to conceal the crime by burning the body, but the flames smoldered out.<\/p>\n

He then made his way upstairs to the living room, where he had tied Maureen Olton to a chair and strangled her to death. He then set her ablaze, and the fire quickly spread.\n<\/p>\n

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said that, despite serving as the boorugh\u2019s top prosecutor for over half a decade, this case is among the worst she has ever overseen.
\n\"\"<\/a>Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said that, despite serving as DA for over half a decade, this case is among the worst she has ever overseen. Photo by Dean Moses\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been doing this now six years \u2014 this is an extremely gruesome case, it\u2019s one of the worst that we\u2019ve had. I will say that every time there is a murder, there\u2019s a family that suffers. But to have two people in the house like this and all the evidence that we have pointing to this defendant being the perpetrator, it was amazing,\u201d Katz said.<\/p>\n

Stole their cards, used his Macy\u2019s points<\/p>\n

Some of the evidence included audio recordings of phone calls that McGriff allegedly made to the Oltons\u2019 bank during the five hours he spent in their home. Prosecutors allege that he called the banks while posing as Frank Olton in an effort to have their funds transferred to his Cash App account. The scheme ultimately failed because he was unable to answer the security questions.<\/p>\n

Later, prosecutors noted, he traveled to Macy\u2019s in Manhattan and was spotted on camera purchasing $500 in clothing with the Oltons\u2019 credit cards. However, he left his real name to take advantage of Macy\u2019s customer rewards program.<\/p>\n

The next morning, Sept. 9, prosecutors said McGriff was allegedly photographed in the Bronx cashing in the victims\u2019 cellphones for a cash payment at a recycling machine. His movements were later traced to Times Square, where he allegedly used the stolen credit cards to buy a movie ticket and snacks at a theater.<\/p>\n

Finally, police picked McGriff up at 5:40 p.m. on Sept. 9 at the corner of West 44th Street and 7th Avenue. He was found in possession of two stolen credit cards from the Oltons and a signed baseball that had been removed from the basement of their home.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The victims\u2019 family and friends, who arrived at court wearing photos of the Oltons pinned to their shirts, broke down in soft sobs as prosecutors broke down the murders.Photo by Dean Moses<\/p>\n

The victims\u2019 family and friends, who arrived at court wearing photos of the Oltons pinned to their shirts, broke down in soft sobs as prosecutors broke down the murders; they were too emotional to speak on their reactions to the case.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that they are showing up for the court hearings shows an enormous interest in what happens here today, but I can only talk for most families that I know they\u2019d be devastated by this news to hear in a courtroom, in the way that their parents died, to hear in a courtroom all of the things that happened that we can talk about would devastate any family,\u201d DA Katz said.<\/p>\n

McGriff, who hails from the Bronx, also has a lengthy criminal history, having been previously convicted of 11 crimes, four of which were felonies. In 2006, he was sentenced to 29 years behind bars for a robbery, assault, and criminal sex act. He was paroled in 2023 and still on parole when arrested for the murders.<\/p>\n

McGriff\u2019s charges include two counts of murder in the second degree, two counts of kidnapping in the first degree, two counts of kidnapping in the second degree, three counts of burglary in the first degree, two counts of arson in the second degree, three counts of robbery in the first degree, two counts of burglary in the second degree, criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, two counts of grand larceny in the fourth degree, two counts of criminal possession of stolen property in the fourth degree, three counts of criminal possession of stolen property in the fifth degree, identity theft in the second degree, three counts of identity theft in the third degree, three counts of unlawful possession of personal information in the third degree and six counts of attempted identity theft in the third degree.<\/p>\n

Judge Kenneth Holder ordered McGriff held without bail. He is next expected to appear in court on Nov. 12.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The family of a senior couple from Queens murdered in cold blood last month wept profusely in court…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2222,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[2803,303,259,9,24,63,103,613,104,122,2804,124,123],"class_list":["post-2221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-court","tag-crime","tag-murder","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-nypd","tag-pm-newsletter","tag-police","tag-queens","tag-queens-da","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2221","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=2221"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2221\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}