A former New York City nightclub bouncer has been sentenced to life in prison without parole for the brutal murder of a graduate student from Boston.
Darryl Littlejohn was convicted of first-degree murder last month in Brooklyn for the 2006 killing of criminal justice student Imette St. Guillen.
Littlejohn said nothing during the 18 minute proceeding, declining the judge's offer to make a statement. The victim's mother and only sister did speak briefly, about how much the 23 year-old's loss meant to the family.
The case spurred a crackdown on New York City nightlife security.
Judge Abraham Gerges could have given as few as 20 years to life for the brutal beating and strangulation killing. Instead he gave the maximum.
Littlejohn is already serving 25 years to life for kidnapping another woman. The sentence is consecutive.
Prosecutors portrayed Littlejohn as a sexual predator who liked to pretend he was a law enforcement officer.
Littlejohn's defense claimed he was framed by his employer in a cover-up that reached as high as Rudy Giuliani.
The employer, Danny Dorrian, came from a wealthy family with friends in high places. Defense attorney Joyce David said he accidentally killed St. Guillen after a night of sexual domination play where she was bound and gagged, and then asked his family for help.
David suggested Dorrian, his family and his friends, who included an adviser to then-presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani, chose to lay the blame on her client, Littlejohn.
Dorrian has denied having anything to do with St. Guillen's killing. A prosecutor called David's accusation "the rankest kind of speculation."
St. Guillen was last seen alive on Feb. 26, 2006. Her nude body, bound and with a sock shoved down her throat, was discovered the next day on a roadside in Brooklyn wrapped in a quilt.
