{"id":225593,"date":"2025-09-14T07:23:25","date_gmt":"2025-09-14T07:23:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/225593\/"},"modified":"2025-09-14T07:23:25","modified_gmt":"2025-09-14T07:23:25","slug":"man-accused-in-horrific-new-york-double-murder-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/225593\/","title":{"rendered":"Man accused in ‘horrific’ New York double murder’"},"content":{"rendered":"

A New York couple in their 70s was killed in what officials described as a “horrific” double murder, as the man was tied to a pole and stabbed, while the woman\u2019s body was severely burned.<\/p>\n

Authorities identified the suspect as 42-year-old Jamel McGriff. He was arrested on Friday after a multi-day manhunt. <\/p>\n

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,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a news release<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is a horrific double murder that has shocked our entire city. 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,” Katz added. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Frank Olton, 76, and Maureen Olton, 77, were found dead Monday afternoon. The couple’s son, a fire department EMT, called 911 after he was alerted to the fire by the couple’s alarm monitoring service. <\/p>\n

Katz said the New York Fire Department responded to the home, where they got the fire under control. When they went inside, they found the Oltons dead. <\/p>\n

Maureen Olton was in the living room with extensive burns to her body. She also sustained a fractured larynx and had soot in her trachea and one lung,” Katz said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Frank Olton was discovered in the basement with his hands bound with a cord and tied to a pole. He was stabbed multiple times in the neck and chest, which caused his death. A fire had been set in the living room and a separate one in the basement,” she added.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A fire marshal later ruled that both fires were intentionally set.<\/p>\n

After the murders, officials said McGriff was seen on surveillance video on Tuesday when he was pawning two cellphones in the Bronx. A day prior, he was spotted using two of Frank Olton\u2019s credit cards to make clothing purchases totaling nearly at Macy\u2019s in Herald Square in Manhattan. <\/p>\n

McGriff allegedly provided his own Macy’s loyalty card number for the transactions, according to Katz.<\/p>\n

Katz said McGriff was arraigned on 12 counts of first-degree murder, along with the following crimes: <\/p>\n