Suspect in Queens double murder taken into NYPD custody

MIDTOWN - Jamel McGriff, who allegedly tortured an elderly couple inside their Queens home for hours before killing them and setting the home on fire, has been taken into custody by the NYPD, according to NYPD Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch.

Suspect in custody, manhunt allegedly over

What we know:

Tisch updated the public in a post on X, saying that McGriff was taken into custody by the NYPD "a short time ago."

Tisch said McGriff was spotted in Midtown by police officers.

Elderly couple tortured, killed

The backstory:

Police say surveillance video shows McGriff approaching one home around 10 a.m. and asking the owner if he could go inside and charge his phone – the homeowner declined. McGriff then proceeded on foot to the home of Frank and Maureen Olton, police said.

Investigators say Frank initially let McGriff into the backyard, and then both men were seen going through a back door. McGriff wasn't seen on camera again until five hours later at 3 p.m. walking eastbound on 87th Dr. After that, the victims’ son was alerted to a fire at his parents’ home by the family's alarm system.

The Oltons had lived in their Bellerose home for decades and raised their family there. 

Who is Jamel McGriff?

The NYPD said the 42-year-old suspect, identified as ex-con Jamel McGriff, is considered "armed and dangerous." NYPD Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch says McGriff has a criminal record that spans 30 years.

According to police, McGriff spent 16 years in prison on a 2006 robbery conviction and was out on parole. He's also wanted by police for two recent robberies – one at a Harlem GameStop from this July and another at a Manhattan Verizon store, where the clerk noticed he had a fake gun and fought him off, police said. McGriff also failed last year to register as a sex offender, which should have violated his parole, police said.