A suspect accused of killing a couple in Bellerose, Queens, and then torching their house with their bodies inside has been taken into custody, New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch announced Wednesday.

Police said officers took Jamel McGriff, 42, into custody in Times Square just after 5:30 p.m. Police said they were able to track McGriff when he allegedly used one of the victims' credit cards.

McGriff was taken to a Queens police precinct for questioning. No charges have been filed at this time.

According to police, McGriff was out on parole following a 16-year prison sentence for a 2006 robbery. He was charged in 2024 for failing to register as a sex offender and is also wanted in two armed robberies this summer in Manhattan.

Law enforcement sources tell CBS News New York that McGriff has 17 arrests on record, dating to 1998, and 11 convictions.

Suspect forced his way into home, police source says

There has also been an important change to how the deadly events unfolded. 

A high-ranking police source tells CBS News New York that surveillance video captured the suspect and the homeowner struggling at the back door, and the suspect forcing his way in. 

That's a significant change from the initial description by police, in which they said the victim let the suspect in voluntarily. 

Police said the suspect had knocked on someone else's door and asked to charge his cellphone but was turned down before approaching the victims' home.   

Video shows McGriff interact with victim

Surveillance video shows the moment victim Frank Olton, 76, opened his back gate and interacted with the suspect walking down the sidewalk before letting the suspect into his backyard.

Originally, police said Olton then let McGriff into his home willingly. New video shows, however, shows McGriff struggling with Olton at the back door, and McGriff pushing his way inside, a high-ranking police source tells CBS News New York. 

Five hours later, the suspect was seen leaving the house, as smoke began to billow from inside.

Fire crews arrived to find the bodies of Frank Olton and his 77-year-old wife, Maureen.

"Mr. Olton was found in the basement, tied to a pole with multiple stab wounds. Mrs. Olton was found on the first floor with severe burns," NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Tuesday. 

"They were a lovely couple" 

The smell of charred wood still lingers in the air at their home. 

Ed Hysyk, Frank Olton's longtime friend and coworker, paid his respects.

"I'm very sorry that it happened. They were a lovely couple," Hysyk said. "It should never have happened."

"They were trying to do the right thing, that family. Because they are decent human beings, and someone took horrible advantage of them. So I'm angry," neighbor Bill Clabby said.

"These people, all they try to do is open their hearts and open their homes for somebody, and something like this happens," neighbor Thomas Pomposello said.

"We all have family that we love, and I can only imagine how that must feel," neighbor Eileen Isenberg said.

Neighbors were breathing a sigh of relief after hearing McGriff was in custody.

"It's a relief that he is in custody. We have neighbors who are extremely nervous because we weren't sure if he would return to the scene of the crime," neighbor Lourdes Villanueva Hartrick said.

"Hopefully for the family, it's some sort of closure that, you know, he's not running the streets anymore. It's still gonna be traumatic obviously, but it's a breath of fresh air knowing that he's off the streets," neighbor John Ruiz said.