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N.Y. police ID ‘prime suspect’ in student death

41-year-old bouncer's blood found on ties used on victim, authorities say

 

NBC News and news services

Updated: 3:26 p.m. ET March 12, 2006

 

 

NEW YORK - Darryl Littlejohn, the person of interest in the murder of New York graduate student Imette St. Guillen, “is the prime suspect” in her murder, New York police commmissioner Raymond Kelly said at a Sunday afternoon press conference.

 

Kelly said that “Littlejohn's blood was found on plastic ties that were used to bind Imette's hands behind her back,” and that on that basis, authorities will seek an indictment next week.

 

Littlejohn, a convicted felon, would have had his DNA on file, allowing authorities to investigate matching it with DNA from the body or potential crime scenes.

 

Littlejohn, 41, who was employed at the Falls bar in lower Manhattan, remains in custody for a parole violation.

 

Days of speculation

Kelly's announcement follows days of speculation on the status of Littlejohn, who emerged early as a person of interest in the investigation. Investigators told NBC News on Thursday that carpet fibers found on St. Guillen's body matched the carpet in Littlejohn's home.

 

That development came as Littlejohn appeared in court on Thursday, WNBC-TV reported.

 

Scott Steinhardt, spokesman for the New York State Division of Parole, told NBC on Thursday that Littlejohn was being held on a warrant that he violated his parole by working after 9 p.m.

 

One-seventh of Littlejohn's sentence on robbery and weapons charges remains — about a year.

 

Within the next 15 days, the state parole board will hold a closed hearing to determine whether he should be sent back to prison, Steinhardt said.

 

Nondescript life as bouncer

Until recently, Littlejohn was a faceless ex-convict getting by as a bouncer. That changed when authorities began investigating him in connection with the slaying of Imette St. Guillen, a 24-year-old graduate student who disappeared after last call at the bar where he worked.

 

Littlejohn has not been charged in the death of St. Guillen, 24, whose naked and bound body was found dumped on the side of a service road in Brooklyn on Feb. 25. But in recent days, investigators have grilled him about the case, and spent hours combing the bar, his Queens home and his van for evidence.

 

He has a criminal career that spanned more than 20 years and featured colorful aliases, including John Handsome. He once robbed a bank of more than $60,000 — during a blizzard. A parole board later labeled him a menace to society.

 

Authorities said they didn’t know if he had a lawyer. His aunt, Addie Harris, has tried to defend him publicly, arguing, “Many people have a record, but that doesn’t mean he committed that type of crime.”

 

Savage circumstances of crime

St. Guillen, a student at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan, was raped, strangled and suffocated by someone who stuffed a sock in her mouth and wrapped her head with packaging tape.

 

The victim was last seen alive at The Falls bar, where a manager recalled instructing Littlejohn to remove the patron at the 4 a.m. closing time after she lingered too long over a drink. The manager said he overheard the two arguing before they exited a side door.

 

Littlejohn shouldn’t have been working at the bar because the job kept him out past his 9 p.m. parole curfew. Officials say they only knew about a second job he had at a mortgage company.

 

 

Criminal background

Records show the suspect’s first brush with the law at age 17, when he robbed someone with a shotgun. Over the years, he was convicted on drug and gun charges using names like Darryl Banks, John Handsome and Jonathan Blaze — the name of a comic book character.

 

As Blaze, he held up a Long Island bank with two other men at gunpoint in December 1995 amid a snowstorm.

 

“It’s tough enough in good weather, and you’re doing it in a blizzard,” one parole commissioner marveled at a 2004 hearing.

 

Littlejohn said he had learned to “think before reacting to anger” through counseling. But the board denied his parole, telling him, “Your violent and out-of-control behavior shows you to be a menace to society.”

 

Littlejohn was freed two months later, in July 2004, after serving enough time to qualify for conditional release.

 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

 

© 2006 MSNBC.com

 

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11742476/

 

-this so sad.. and greusome.. I can't believe we as humans are capable of such acts.... its a disgrace.

so, by now you all may have heard the news... how this por girl was brutally murdered and raped. The NYPD has officially indicted the bouncer from the club.

 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11961701/

 

the claim to have DNA that links him to the victim... this story is right out of the Law and Order files.. I swear. Sad really... I think the family may end up sueing the bar for which he was employed. His employment there violated his parole.

that's a tradgic event. :( First time I have really read about it.

yea... its gruesome indeed. The guy got a bum wrap really.... I feel for him in the sense that he gives all ex-cons a bad name. I am sure there are some who have served their time and are now better people.. but he just gives in to the stereotype that the tiger never changes his stripes. He's a sick individual.. who had obvious anger issues and couldn't handle a strong, opinionated woman. Word has it they got into a heated argument before he 'escorted' her out the bar....