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Early Addition
As expected Darryl Littlejohn has been indicted for first-degree murder in the killing of Imette St. Guillen.
On a CBS interview last night Littlejohn emphasized his innocence, saying that he had escorted St. Guillen from the Falls because it was closing time. He did not say what happened after that, but said that the police had focused on him because of his past. "I'm a likely suspect because I have a criminal background and I wasn't supposed to be there working." His lawyer has said that at today's afternoon arraignment, he'll plead not-guilty.
So far the strength of the case tying Littlejohn to St. Guillen's gruesome final moments, at least as it has been revealed to the public, is sketchy. Though the press online and off, ourselves included, have been more than happy to fill in the details all that the police have actually said publicly is that Mr. LIttlejohn "is the last person known to have seen Ms. St. Guillen alive, and that his DNA matches DNA found on plastic ties used to bind her." Besides being charged with first-degree murder Littlejohn has also been charged with second-degree murder, "to allow the jury that eventually hears his case to convict him of killing the John Jay College honors student even if it finds the murder was not premeditated." He is not being charged with rape as the City's forensic evidence couldn't pin any of it to him.
Meanwhile, in a sad counterpoint to the St. Guillen case, the Gray Lady points out the story of 21-year-old Guyanese immigrant Romona Moore who disappeared three years ago from the East Flatbush, Brooklyn. The Police initially wouldn't open a case for her, and when her body was found they misspelled her name in a notice to the Police. The case has largely gone without comment in the local tabloids. There have been some shocking developments that might have merited front-page coverage, but each time the story was overshadowed by an even grislier one. No surprise then that yesterday's announcement that a verdict had been reached in one of the trials of the two men accused of Moore's murder was completely drowned out in the news by the Littlejohn indictment.
Screengrab from WCBS interview with Darryl Littljohn by Triborough.
UPDATE: press conference was held at 11:10am. The Brooklyn DA and Police Commissioner both spoke. Kelly gave an overview of the case-- where the body was discovered, the forensic evidence, and the witnesses that saw them leaving together. Another mention of his blood on the ties, and the fiber evidence found on the tape that wrapped her head, and on the blanket that wrapped the body. Cellphone evidence, showing it was used at 7:31pm, an hour before the body was found in the same area. Witness saw a van leaving the scene at around the same time-- detectives matched the van to Littlejohn. No alibi witnesses have been found to support his claim that he was visiting his mother in a nursing home that Saturday. Commissioner Kelly thanked the detectives and DAs.
Charles Hynes, the DA, talked about how the DAs presented evidence to the Grand Jury, and mapped out the timeline of the crime. He also complimented the DAs and cops (the 75th Precinct detectives, Brooklyn North Homicide, and Major Case Squad, and the Crime Scene Unit and Police Laboratory team, and the Medical Examiners office.) Indictment is 3 counts, two counts of murder in the 2nd degree, and one count of murder in the first degree (murder committed during a felony sex crime.) Arraignment is in State Supreme Court in Brooklyn. Kenneth Taub, chief of the homicide bureau at the Brooklyn DA will personally try the case later in the year.
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I must say, Little John has been a dear friend and companion of mine since the beginning of our crusade to free our fellow countrymen from the tyranny of Prince John and the Sheriff of Nottingham.
Me and my Merry Men throw our full support behind Little John and hope that he is indeed vindicated from these outrageous and false accusations!
Can we dispense with the fiction that the "tabloids" have ignored the Romona Moore story while the New York Times has somehow been out there championing this story? A quick Nexis search reveals 22 hits for Romona/Ramona Moore in the Times, but six of those were corrections, for a net story count of 16. Meanwhile, both the News and the Post published 18 stories apiece over the same time period.
Yes, there have been/will be more Imette St. Guillen stories than Romona Moore stories, and the reasons for that are a valid discussion point. But it's demonstrably untrue that Moore's case "has largely gone without comment in the tabloids," especially when said tabloids have published more stories than the Times.
At any rate, please let us know the outcome of the verdict when it's made public. A lot of us do care, and want to see that justice was done!
So, does this mean they're not looking for an accomplice or second perp who may have committed the rape they aren't able to pin on him?
'Cause if there's a rapist or accomplice out there, we'd like him (or her) off the streets too!
Also, not to speak ill of the dead, but I hope she didn't really make that racist remark attributed to her on her way out the door (and which it's been speculated may have sparked Littlejohn's homicidal rage), because that would kind of taint all the stuff they're doing in honor of her if it comes out during the trial. (Mind you, even if she did say it, homicide wasn't the appropriate response. He could've just had her banned).
I think this case has gone a little strangely though I can't put my finger on anything in particular. Am I the only one?
newyorkette, there's a good chance the blanket could have been used in the basement of the bar for consensual sexual relationships between bar patrons and workers. it's pretty typical for bars to have rags and crap in their basements for other things. or littlejohn found the blanket elsewhere.
littlejohn was also known by his relatives and friends to be meticulous in his grooming and OC when it came to neatness and cleanthliness. rememeber, he has spent 20 years behind bars for other crimes, prison is like the military, everything must have order and be VERY clean. not to mention the fact that the falls bar owner lied to NYPD about the situation and did not come clean until a week later—giving littlejohn one week to cover his tracks and discard evidence. the the bar owner will probably face obstruction of justice charges as well as employing a known criminal and not doing proper background checks for security personel.
I find it strange that they made the murder charge hold up but not the rape charge. I'm sure there are reasons for this, but I agree with NYette, for an open-and-shut case, there's still some things that don't add up.
newyorkette, i never said it wasn't a "friendly and positive" good eye. tim, how do you make a rape charge stick if there's no DNA evidence proving he raped her. my guess is, there was an accomplice and either he's on the run or the police will not disclose and information that will taint their hunt or their case. the police are not obligated to give any information to the public, they give basic details such as blood dna and carpet fibers etc... they could be very well be on the hunt for a second or third perp.
i'm not pretending anything, thanks for the false accusation.
--
in recent news: Littlejohn will be charged with rape:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/23/nyregion/23cnd-dead.html?hp&ex=1143176400&en=eb34e177d6d5ad44&ei=5094&partner=homepage
http://news.bostonherald.com/stGuillenMurder/view.bg?articleid=131862
edEx, from the Times article you linked to: "Mr. Littlejohn was indicted on one count of first-degree murder, carrying a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole, and two counts of second-degree murder. Prosecutors based the first-degree murder charge on the reasonable inference that the murder took place in conjunction with the commission of one of four different sex crimes, including rape and sexual assault." [emphasis mine]. He is not being charged with those sex crimes, though that those crimes did occur is the justification the prosocuters are using to explain the first-degree murder charge.
nobody, and if you read the most recent news from the boston herald online-paper (the times was from this morning), Littlejohn will be charged with four counts of rape:
"At 2 p.m. today (March 23, 2006) Littlejohn is expected to be formally charged with two counts of murder in the second degree, and one count of murder in the first degree, along with four counts of rape, including rape in the first degree, criminal sexual attack, sex abuse and aggravated rape at Brooklyn Superior Court, Hynes said.
“The evidence presented to the grand jury showed the murder was
committed in the course of a sexual attack,” Hynes* said."
Littlejohn has been formally charged with murder and rape. He plead not guilty.
*Brooklyn District Attorney Charles J. Hynes
ThisIsAJourney.
Case against Littlejohn sketchy???? Is Gothamist high on crack?
The sadistic psychopath's alibi that he was with his mother at the time of the murder was denied BY HIS OWN MOTHER.
His blood and DNA, and fibers, and rabbit and mink fur FROM HIS HOME were ALL found on Imette!
What's going to convince you of his guilt? Imette's verbal confirmation from the great Hereafter?
And bullshit about anyone else being involved. That serial psychopath acted alone. If anyone else was involved they'd turn up on his phone records during that window of time. Don't think the police haven't checked into it. The cops are far ahead of armchair sleuths, mind you.
What's going on around here anyway? Some anti-establishment piss party. Can't the NYPD and DA do anything right by you people. Shit!
And lastly, that poor woman was toast whether she uttered anything racially charged or not. People say stupid things when they are drunk, but in this case, the hen was clucking at the fox. She knew what she was talking about.
Honestly, the last high profile case was the
Central park jogger,
and we know what happened in that case.
The wrong guys were arrested and sentenced to prison.
And, Bravo to Ramona moore's mother statement regarding how her case was handled IN THE BEGINNING.
rev pays, have you been living in a cave? The Central Park jogger case did not have crucial DNA tests back then. Today we do and Littlejohn is most definetly connected to the rape and murder of St. Guillen. Littlejohn's writing his own ticket to life in prison.
Ramona Moore should be ashamed of herself for calling the NYPD and all the New York media outlets racist on national television. Allegedly there was no evidence backing that her daughter was kidnapped at the time of her disappearance. Also, her daughter's case was not forgotten as she would like to believe, there has been a tremendous amount of news coverage on her daughter's disappearance, arrests of the perps, trial and sentencing, she was upset for the wrong reasons.
She was screaming about the media not caring enough and focusing on St. Guillen's murder. St. Guillen's case is much newer and not closed, it's also a case with a mountain of forensic evidence (which the police are only about 20% into) as well as witness testimony and his own mother breaking the case even further open. Moore's daughter's case is tragically closed, and the men responsible, thankfully, will get life with no parole. I know she's in a hard place now, but that gives her no right to play the race card.
Lastly, St. Guillen coincidentally was studying criminal forensics. Are you too blind and ignorant to see a relation to her life's work and Littlejohn's criminal investigation of her murder?
I stand by what I wrote,
First, they caught the wrong guys in the CP jogger case and, So, No DNA means you can be locked up for 15 years.
regarding the moore case, Nothing was done IN THE BEGINNING. They did not take the complaint seriously.
OF course it was about RACE.
I Stand by that, too.
And, John Jay is hardly a top level higher level institution.
rev, surely you jest, in regards to John Jay. It's known as one of the more prominant criminal forensic schools in the United States. "is the only liberal arts college with a criminal justice focus in the United States. Internationally recognized as a leader in criminal justice education and research, John Jay is also a major training facility for local, state, and federal law enforcement personnel"
You're ignorance for government and criminal education further proves my point that you have no idea what you're talking about... Please continue to embarrass yourself if you choose.
As for Moore, it was not about race, it was about lack of evidence. When there's nothing to go on, it's very difficult to establish a disappearance/kidknapping in the first 24-48 hours. Same goes for St. Guillen a week before Dorrian changed his story, the police had nothing to go on other than a general sketch of a cab driver. Get your facts straight before you cry the race card.
The Central Park jogger case was not a police screw up, the alleged defendants confessed with out a lawyer present, but that is not NYPD's fault. When you're arrested and read your rights there are three important things that are recited: "you have a right to remain silent, a right to an attorney and do you understand these rights" apparently they did, but still confessed. To confuse a case even more, why confess? Duress? Bottom line, they were read their rights, what they do after that is their problem.
Citing race is a bunch of weak mindedness and surrendering your basic intelligence. It's a cop out.
It was only a matter of time before the card carrying members of victimhood started dragging the race card into it.
Guess what? No one is buying it.
You know something is wrong with your subculture when you have to start defending sadistic criminals in order to save face. Is that who defines you? The Littlejohns of this world?
I'd die of embarrassment, frankly.
Rev
The last high profile case was OJ. And we all know that was about blacks saving face and sticking it to whitey.
The whites on that jury knew he was guilty but were terrified of race riots.
The thing I don't get about the central park jogger case was that at the time it was said she had been raped by multiple people. That was what the forensic evidence showed.
And now it's over turned when one guy confessed and said he acted alone.
Now THAT doesn't add up!
The NYPD's current position on the jogger case. Very different from the political commentary and misrepresentation to the general public. Those boys were involved:
http://www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/html/dcpi/executivesumm_cpjc.html