Fugitive parolee who murdered, torched Queens couple in their home preyed on ‘nicest’ people: neighbors

The career criminal accused of senselessly murdering an elderly Queens couple whose son is an FDNY paramedic took advantage of the “nicest” people as he terrorized them for hours, neighbors said.

Jamel McGriff, 42, was knocking on doors in the Bellerose neighborhood Monday asking residents if he could enter their homes to charge his phone but was turned away before he met Frank Olton, who allowed the maniac into his yard with tragic consequences.

The suspect lurked in his backyard for about 20 minutes, nervously pacing back and forth before entering the house, a neighbor revealed.

Hours later, Olton was found dead — bound to a pole in his basement, stabbed and torched, authorities said. Upstairs, officials found the badly burned remains of his wife Maureen Olton were found in a floor above.

The double homicide has rattled the usually safe neighborhood as questions linger how he wasn’t hit with a violation after he didn’t register as sex offender as mandated and was the prime suspect in two robberies.  

The state’s Department of Corrections and Community Supervision has remained mum on the topic when contacted by The Post.

McGriff — a sex offender with a long rap sheet — was still on the lam as of Wednesday afternoon.

Frank Olton first spoke with the suspect for a few minutes on the side of his gate around 10:15 a.m. before the two walked to the homeowner’s backyard, said neighbor Asif, whose security cameras caught the interaction on video.

Maureen Olton came out as the pair chatted, the footage showed, according to the neighbor. The couple then went inside and McGriff alone in their yard.

“Then he stands outside the back door for a while, 20 minutes or so,” Asif said of the footage, which has since been turned over to cops.

“Then he just went inside the house. Then you don’t see him come back out until around 3:10. He came out before there was any sign of a fire.”

McGriff is believed to have terrorized the couple for hours.

Frank Olton was tied to a pole in the basement and lit on fire while Maureen was found dead on the first floor. Both suffered multiple stab wounds, according to law enforcement sources.

Another neighbor, Allen, 78, who lives across the street, said he isn’t surprised that Frank Colton stopped to possibly help the alleged perp leading up to the gruesome crime.

“He was a social worker so you know he had to let him in,” he said. “You know he’s just one of those guys, he’s got to help everybody, got to be nice.”

Asif said he spoke with other neighbors who said someone who looks like McGriff knocked on their doors and asked if he could charge his cell phone.

McGriff, who has a string of busts, was mostly recently behind prison bars until 2023 after serving a 17-year sentence on a 2006 robbery, sex act and attempted assault conviction.

He failed to register as a sex offender in 2024 after his release and was suspected of being involved in two robberies yet was never jailed for violating the terms of his parole.

The state’s Department of Corrections and Community Supervision only stated the department’s special investigations and parole officers were working with the NYPD and US Marshals in the manhunt but did not reply to multiple questions about McGriff’s status.

Meanwhile, the Oltons were remembered by friends and loved ones as great neighbors who always wanted to help others as grieving family hangs in there.

Oren Barzilay, president of the union representing paramedics and EMTs, told The Post Wednesday he’s reached out to the victims’ son who works as a first responder.

“He’s holding up. He said he’s OK. He said he is getting a lot of support from family and friends,” Barzilay said.

A cousin of Maureen, Tom Dillon, said family members are stunned and horrified.

“They were two of the kindest people you’ll ever meet,” he told The Post.