Is this a break? The police have questioned a bouncer at The Falls yesterday, as well as conducted more investigations at the 218 Lafayette Street bar and restaurant over the weekend, as they try to solve the murder of graduate student Imette St. Guillen. The NY Times calls the bouncer a "potential suspect," and the NY Post says that the bouncer is a "hardened criminal still on parole for a robbery rap." While the Post seems to be hyperbolic, they also claim that the 41 year old man's cellphone was traced to the Belt Parkway and packing tape and wires - similar to what St. Guillen was found tied with - were found on the basement of The Falls. The Daily News says that there's a "secret doorway" at the restaurant, and that may have been used in the crime. And get this: Geraldine Ferraro's family owns the building, and she tells the News, "[The police] went into the basement, they went on the roof, they went upstairs to the second floor. We allowed them total access to anything that they wanted to see."
The police did get a warrant to search the bar, though the police's spokesman wouldn't explain why the search was taking place over a week after the murder. Neighbors tells the NY Times that the offices above The Falls never seemed busy. The Post's story is the most comprehensive with police source leaks and conjecture (" But cops now believe that the bouncer likely tried to have sex with the inebriated young woman and, when she resisted, he panicked and killed her."), but the bouncer, Darryl Littlejohn, called the Daily News to say he was being harrassed: "I'm not taking away what happened to this lady and not to play the race card, but you are singling out the only black guy."
