A former New York City nightclub bouncer faces up to life in prison without parole this afternoon for the brutal murder of a graduate student from Boston.
He was convicted of first-degree murder last month for the 2006 killing of criminal justice student Imette St. Guillen. The case spurred a crackdown on New York City nightlife security.
Littlejohn is already serving 25 years to life for kidnapping another woman. Prosecutors portrayed him 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 Imette 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, Darryl 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. She had been sexually assaulted.
Littlejohn pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in her death.
