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And Then Littlejohn Said to St. Guillen...

"Don't worry, I'll take you home."

2006_03_11_cruz.jpg That's what a 47-year-old homeless man dug up by the Post claims suspect Darryl Littlejohn said as he helped Imette St. Guillen into his van. Miguel Angel Cruz says he had beel sleeping across the street from The Falls when he was awoken by Littlejohn's van pulling up and then watched the bouncer and St. Guillen drive off.

Our first reaction to this, and we suspect we're not alone on this, was "Gee whiz, what a convenient witness for the New York Post to find for the NYPD!" But apparently Cruz was able to describe distinctive jewelry that Imette was wearing and which haven't been made public. So we'll see what comes of this.

In the meantime, Littlejohn's lawyer is becoming more vocal over the growing doubt "that they have the right guy." A doubt which isn't helped each day that no charges are made or by the fact that the two victims of a series of other rapes were unable to ID Littlejohn in a lineup, though they did ID him in photographs Police say (an aside: ID'ing someone in a lineup is way harder than it looks on TV. Twice we've had to pick someone out of a lineup and both times it was excruciating, un-fun, inexact, and intimidating. And we were on the "good" side of the glass. OK, we just wanted to get that out there, take it as you will.)

And don't get us started on the dozen or so protesters that were standing outside of The Falls yesterday.

Photograph of Miguel Cruz by Jeff Day for the Post

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Comments [rss]

  • P

    There has been a lot of talk about the time frame which it takes to get DNA evidence from Littlejohn's lawyers. Does anyone know how long this should take?

    Also, is there any information about Who he was talking to when he made those three phone calls? Additonally, how can police obtain DNA info from other employees if they haven't charged them as being in connection with the murder?

  • Suzanne

    The police most likely have a lot more incriminating evidence against Littlejohn than they are releasing.



    The fact that fibers on Imette's body match fibers from Littlejohn's home, coupled with Cruz's (the homeless man) very accurate description of wardrobe, etc, is enough to indict Littlejohn.



    I don't get the Gothamist comment that failure of rape victims to pinpoint him in a lineup somehow casts doubt on his murdering Imette. Just because you are not a proven serial rapist somehow clears you of other crimes? I don't think so.



    This guy is guilty as hell and only conspiratorialists and card-carrying members of the Victim Brotherhood will believe otherwise. I can't wait to see him pummelled in in court with all the evidence they use against him.

  • Mike

    Rich,

    I wasn't implying that Littlejohn raped Imette, then she went on her merry way and then a random person killed her. I think that an accomplice/friend of Littlejohn's (read: someone who has a criminal record of sexually violent crimes, not bank robbery) did the actual slaying. I'm sure they're already doing this, but investigators should seriously look at Littlejohn's prison buddies who are out of jail. There is no way he acted alone.

  • just saying

    One of the aliases Littlejohn used was "Damon Wells". That is curious because about that is around the time that Littlejohn was arrested under that alias, there was a serial killer in California named Damon Wells who said that demons had asked him to brutally murder young women. Coincidence? Who knows? In view of subsequent events, something like that would certainly grab the investigators' attention.



    Oh, that and the fact that there were a few rapes where the perpetrator claimed to be a federal agent in addition to driving a van similar to Littlejohn's. This rapist was extremely meticulous about not leaving any DNA or other evidence. Another coincidence?



    Littlejohn wasn't just a armed bank robber and a drug dealer, he also ran with the violent and notorious drug gang of "Fat Cat" Nichols in Jamaica, Queens.



    How is it that a 7 time felon can get hired for not one but two jobs? This guy was in prison for most of the past 25 years. Don't these places check references? Does anybody know the name of that mortgage brokerage co. which also employed Littlejohn? Odd that there hasn't been anything about that company.

  • Brooklyn Book Worm

    Since every paper has a different story, I remain agnostic on who might be guilty. I am, frankly, disturbed by the tab frenzy -- a phenomenon that has, historically, subjected totally innocent people to a whitch hunt. I vividly remember a trial in the late '70s, in which a band of accused terrorists were acquitted on all charges after a trial lasting more than seven months. The jurors later told reporters, "There was no evidence."



    True, Littlejohn has a criminal record, but it has nothing to do with rape or sexual violence; he's a bank robber. He is an amazingly easy target -- whose employers ignored the law in hiring him -- who can be legally retained in jail, thanks to his parole violation.



    I worry that the political pressure to find Imette's killer will overrule basic civil rights.

  • Rich Wallner

    The DNA under her fingernails is a woman's DNA and quite possibly her own, although they did according to one story, get DNA samples from Littlejohn's Aunt who he lives with. Anyway the rapist apparently wore gloves and a condom, he was VERY careful.



    Also whoever raped her, killed her. The odds of one being violently raped by one person, and then separately and in another situation, strangled and killed in the same day would have to be astronomical.



    Besides cell phone records place Littlejohn in East New York right near where the body was found the next morning. Littlejohn also has a large scratch on the back of his neck that witnesses said he didn't have the previous night.



    There is strong circumstantial evidence that he did this, but sadly he may walk because he was meticulous in cleaning up the body and had days--thanks to the bartender lying to police-- to destroy the evidence.

  • Mike

    I can see how Littlejohn may have date raped her, but right now and I don't see what connects him with Imette's serial psycho-slaying. Those 2 acts are incongruent. I'm willing to bet that whomever's DNA is under her nails is her murderer. And if it's someone Littlejohn knows, why wouldn't he have given them up by now? Is he afraid of getting whacked?

  • rich wallner

    It sounds like someone in the bar, maybe Littlejohn or maybe someone else, probably slipped a Mickey Finn into her drink to make her sick. The reason is that the eyewitnesses say they saw Imette being escored by Littlejohn and voluntarily getting into his vehicle, and them driving away. One eyewitness said she was staggering a bit.



    I believe that Imette would not have accepted a ride home from this total stranger unless she had suddenly gotten so ill that she couldn't even handle going into the street to hail a cab, so ill that she couldn't handle getting to the subway.



    This would also explain how she could have been driven all the way to Queens against her will. If she was drugged, she could have been so sick or out of it that she didn't realize where they were driving, and thus didn't put up a struggle in the car.



    Littlejohn probably kept a cheap blanket from a dive hotel handy, because he knew it probably had semen stains on it and wrapping her in that blanket would only throw the cops off when the dna on the semen didn't match. Besides he wore a condom supposedly, there was no bodily fluids in her, so there wouldn't have been any of HIS stains.



    This case is all circumstantial at this point, and it is going to be very hard to make in court without direct physical evidence. The eyewitness accounts of the two homeless people are questionable because who can even verify that those two were even in that park that night? They could be saying they were to try and collect the reward. You need verification of these things before you can believe their stories.

  • Kojak

    homeopt a troll. Ignore him if you don't like his comments.



    As for Littlejohn, if they don't nail him for this crime, they'll find something else to stick to him just to buy the investigation time.

  • NKW

    Is Google Image Search censoring all hits for Darryl Littlejohn, or is it possible that there are no image files with those keywords on the whole Internet? Check it out for yourself: Google only returns 10 hits for Darryl Littlejohn, and none of them are for the bouncer.



    http://images.google.com/images?sourceid=navclient-ff&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGGL,GGGL:2005-09,GGGL:en&q=Darryl+Littlejohn

  • sybil

    susie, aren't you hiding anonymously? i don't see your full name, email and address.

  • mohamed el kaboom

    hey Susie ... any cartoons you want banned while you're at it?

  • susie

    Gothamist, I think the comment from homeopt deserves to be deleted. Where is your comment policy? Some people just do not have basic decency.



    Not surprisingly, it's cowards like homeopt who hide behind an anonymous name to spew out their ignorant venom.

  • Aaron Snow

    I agree with the guy on darryllittlejohn.com. He is being set up for the fall. Police are getting desperate.



    Arron

  • fullofit

    Well they have the evidence of the tape and carpet fibers found in littlejohns home. They also found out he was 2 blocks away from Imettes body at 4 am.. The guy is guilty, they have evidence to show he was invloved in this. But something needs to be done about Dorrian lying like this. Maybe they all raped her.

    Obviously no one could care less in soho, did 5 people show up for the protest.

    In a couple of months this will pass. If anyone learned anything from this its if your female dont walk around like your on Sex and The City at 4am alone, out drinking, chatting up at bars with strangers. Most girls usually get raped in that scenario not killed.

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