According to CNN, Tisch alleged at a news conference that McGriff, 42, used a ruse to get into Frank and Maureen Olton's home in the Bellrose neighborhood, where security footage purportedly showed he stayed for about five hours before re-emerging. The homeowners, both in their 70s, denied him entry at first but he's later seen entering the couple's backyard, the outlet reported.
Tisch further claimed that McGriff had been going door-to-door in the neighborhood asking to charge his phone, a request investigators believe he made to the Oltons that morning, the Associated Press reported.
Fifteen minutes after McGriff was seen leaving the home with two bags in his hand, the couple's home went up in flames, the New York Times reported, citing police officials. Officers who responded to the scene by 3:30 p.m. found Maureen severely burned on the first floor and Frank stabbed and tied to a pole in the basement, per the Times.