Mar 14, 2006 10:34 am US/Eastern
Witness: Littlejohn Gave St. Guillen A Ride
Homeless Man Describes Conversation, Suspect's Van
by Tamsen Fadal
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Witness Miguel Angel Cruz
CBS
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Suspect Darryl Littlejohn in his police mugshot
CBS
This morning, police continue to piece together just what happened to Imette St. Guillen after she left the Falls bar in SoHo the night she was killed.
This morning witness testimony, evidence and DNA test results will be presented to a Brooklyn Grand Jury for a possible indictment.
Police are calling Darryl Littlejohn their prime suspect. But according to Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, there is not only a DNA link between murder victim Imette St. Guillen and the bouncer from the Falls bar. Now police are confirming that people saw the two together that night.
"There are witnesses that put the victim in the company of Mr. Littlejohn when she left the bar that evening," said Kelly.
Miguel Angel Cruz said he was in a small park across from The Falls at 3 a.m. He claims not only to have seen Littlejohn and St. Guillen, he could also hear what they were saying.
According to Cruz, "He said, 'Come on, I'll take you home.' It's the only thing he said."
Cruz talked to CBS 2's Scott Weinberger about what he saw outside the bar in SoHo, perhaps one the last people to see St. Guillen alive.
"She said, 'why is he throwing me out of the bar, I did nothing wrong,'" Cruz said, referring to reports that said the 24-year-old graduate student appeared drunk and stayed until the bar's last call.
Cruz then described a van he said the bouncer used to take the grad student away.
"It was a blue van, it had stairs and a wheel in the back," said Cruz.
Littlejohn is in custody on a parole violation for working late nights at a bar. He has not been charged in connection with the murder.
Despite a prime suspect and all the evidence so far, according to the police commissioner, this case is not closed. In fact, investigators are waiting for hair and fiber test results to come back.
There are still many unanswered questions this morning, including when and where the young graduate student was killed, and if there are any other suspects.
On Sunday afternoon Kelly announced a major break in the case: DNA evidence had directly tied Littlejohn to the murder.
"Darryl Littlejohn's blood was found on little plastic ties used to bind Imette's hands and a DNA match to Littlejohn was made," Kelly said.
While prosecutors are preparing to present their evidence to a grand jury, which will likely include testimony from Cruz, commissioner Kelly said the hard work of his detectives, along with science, solved this gruesome murder.
"This is a very significant development here," Kelly said. "When you talk about DNA, you're talking about the certainty of 1 in a trillion. This is a very important piece of evidence for us."
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Slideshow: Evidence In Imette St. Guillen Murder Case
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