Rescuers who came to a burning house in Queens found Frank Olton, 76, bound in the basement and his wife, Maureen, 77, dead on the first floor. The police were seeking a man with a lengthy criminal record.
Published Sept. 9, 2025Updated Sept. 10, 2025, 9:14 a.m. ET
Investigators are seeking a man who spent about five hours at a Queens house, beginning around 10 a.m. Monday.Dakota Santiago for The New York Times
The man approached the first house on Monday morning with a request: Could he come inside to charge his phone? Rebuffed, he walked on to the next house, a compact two-story home on a tree-lined street in Bellerose, Queens, belonging to Frank and Maureen Olton.
There, the police said, the man was invited into the yard, and then through the house’s back door. He stayed for five hours and emerged just after 3 p.m. with two bags in his hands.
Fifteen minutes later, the house was ablaze. Emergency responders rushed over. When the flames were tamped down, officers found the two bodies inside: Mr. Olton, 76, lashed to a pole in the basement with stab wounds on his body, and Mrs. Olton, 77, badly burned and lying on the first floor.
On Tuesday, the police were searching for a man they said was responsible for setting the fire and for the startling act of violence, Jamel McGriff. Mr. McGriff, 42, has a “lengthy violent, criminal history stretching back 30 years,” Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said during a news briefing on Tuesday afternoon.
“For the public, the message is clear,” the commissioner said. “The suspect’s M.O. is to go door to door, asking for some kind of assistance until he can gain entry. So do not allow anyone you don’t know or who you are not expecting into your home.”
At the time of the crime on Monday morning, Mr. McGriff was out on parole after serving more than 16 years for a first-degree robbery he committed in 2006, according to the police. In November, Mr. McGriff was charged with failing to register as a sex offender, and he is wanted for his role in robberies at two stores in Manhattan in July and August, the police said.
Police identified Mr. McGriff as a suspect after he was seen on video near the crime scene and his parole officer confirmed his identity, Commissioner Tisch said.
The violence on Monday began after a man approached Mr. and Mrs. Olton’s home on the corner of 254th Street and 87th Drive just after 10 a.m., Commissioner Tisch said. Surveillance video from around the house shows the man interacting with Mr. Olton and eventually entering the house with him, the commissioner said.
Five hours later, at 3:08 p.m., the man was seen on video once again, this time leaving the house in a black T-shirt and black hat and walking east on 87th Drive.
By 3:22 p.m., the property’s fire alarm was ringing and the flames were rising, the police said. The couple’s son, an emergency medical technician who was off duty, was alerted to the fire by the home’s alarm system. He contacted the Fire Department, who responded to the scene and put out the blaze, Commissioner Tisch said.
Inside, officers discovered Mr. and Mrs. Olton’s bodies. Mr. Olton had been tied to a basement pole with a bungee cord and wire, according to a law enforcement official who asked to remain anonymous because the investigation was open. Mrs. Olton suffered burns, the police said.
Emergency medical workers pronounced them dead at the gray two-story house where their neighbors said they had lived for decades.
On Tuesday, Linda Lee, a city councilwoman representing the area, said that since the fire she had received reports that Mr. McGriff had been knocking on doors asking to use a phone charger. He was recorded on electronic doorbell cameras approaching several houses, she said.
He was last seen on video Tuesday after the fire, pawning two mobile phones in the Bronx, according to Commissioner Tisch.
There was no known connection between Mr. McGriff and the Oltons, Commissioner Tisch said. The couple’s exact causes of death are still under investigation, she said. On Tuesday afternoon, the Fire Department said that the fire had been deliberately set.
The killings sent a wave of horror through the Queens neighborhood, where people remembered the couple as a quiet and friendly presence.
Sean Kelly, their nephew, said in a brief phone call on Tuesday that his aunt and uncle had been “amazing people.” He added, “They did not deserve this.”
Sarah Roslonowski, 27, whose house faces the couple’s home, said they had always been benevolent figures when she was growing up, keeping an eye on her and other children when they played soccer and football in the street.
She recalled a recent day in May when she found an injured baby bird and knocked on the couple’s door to ask whether the hatchling had fallen from a nest on their property.
“They went into the backyard to check for a nest,” she said. Although they didn’t find one, Ms. Roslonowski said, “they were really kind about it.”
On Tuesday, a police officer stood watch outside the remains of the burned-out home with crime-scene tape encircling the lot. The house, which is tucked on a residential street near the border of Nassau County, was badly charred, with buckled siding exposed on one side. Outside on the lawn, the grass was dotted with household debris, fragments of window frames and a singed armchair.
A pair of votive candles and a small bouquet of flowers lay beside a street sign on the curb nearby.
Jamar Williams, who lives a few doors down, said he had been coming home from a doctor’s appointment on Monday afternoon when the babysitter watching his child called to say that a nearby house was on fire.
When he learned later that the police believed the fire had been deliberately set, he could hardly believe it.
“This is some true-crime horror story type of stuff,” Mr. Williams said
BELLEROSE, Queens (WABC) -- Police are investigating after the bodies of a man and woman were discovered inside a home in Queens following a fire they believe to be suspicious.
Officials said the fire started just before 3:30 p.m. on Monday at a single-family home on 254th Street near 87th Drive in the Bellerose section.
NewsCopter 7 captured the quick response from the firefighters who got it out in less than an hour and found the bodies of a 77-year-old man, and 78-year-old woman.
Sources told Eyewitness News that the man and woman appeared to have been set on fire. They say the man's remains were found tied to a pole in the basement, and the woman was found somewhere else in the house.
Neighbors told Eyewitness News that the victims had lived there at least 40 years and raised a family. They said just the two of them were left and they seemed to take great care of their house.
"The nicest neighbors you can ever ask for," said neighbor John Ruiz. "My daughter just brought up, remember when they came out when the essential workers at 7 p.m., you know, during COVID, they were out with us. He would always wave to us. Just this past weekend, he waved to us. And, you know, it's sad."
The FDNY called the fire suspicious and did not offer the usual post-fire briefing for the public. Instead, they quickly sent in fire marshals to thoroughly investigate, while the NYPD Crime Scene unit waited for its turn to go through the scene Monday night, along with a team from the Office of the City Medical Examiner.
Detectives went to each home on the block looking for any video that might offer clues to move forward the investigation.
"I said, I don't have much to show you on the camera, but if any little bit will help," said neighbor Greg Roslonoski. "It didn't. It goes off at 5 a.m. But you can tell that there was more to it than just the fire they were looking for."
Arson investigators, and NYPD detectives are looking to determine how, why and who would attack the couple this way, in their home.
"I mean, that would be in the middle of the day. I'd be very shocked," Roslonowski said. "Looking at the flame, there had to be something that made it happen that fast."
The NYPD hasn't released the victims' names as the investigation continues
2 people found dead in suspicious Bellerose, Queens home fire
Police are investigating after the bodies of a man and woman were discovered inside a home in Queens following a fire they believe to be suspicious.
abc7ny.com
***Police have not recently reported a body found dumped in an alleyway in Bellerose, Queens, but news reports describe a double homicide that occurred inside a home there on September 8, 2025
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*****The murders of Frank and Maureen Olton:
- On September 8, an elderly couple, Frank and Maureen Olton, were found dead after a fire at their home on 254th Street.
- Frank Olton was found tied up in the basement with multiple stab wounds, while Maureen Olton was found on the first floor with severe burns.
- Authorities have confirmed the fire was set intentionally after the killings.
- Police released surveillance video showing a suspect, 42-year-old Jamel McGriff, entering and leaving the couple's home.
- McGriff allegedly talked his way into the house by asking to charge his cellphone.
- He is considered armed and dangerous, and a manhunt for
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