It is a plausible assumption that if a woman gets raped, that traces of the suspect’s semen should be found in or on her body. But this was not the case in the recent crime against a graduate student of John Jay Criminal Justice College. On the night of February 25th, 2006, Imette St. Guillen was raped and murdered after visiting the Pioneer Bar and The Falls bar in Manhattan, New York. Upon her arrival at the Falls bar, people stated that she was already drunk and it was at this bar that the tragedy occurred. The supposed rapist and murder was the bouncer of The Falls bar ( seen above in a mug shot),Darryl Littlejohn.

     St. Guillen (left picture) was found thrown on the side skirts of the Belt Parkway wrapped in a blanket. Investigators have not ruled out the possibility of there being a gang rape, however, Littlejohn is the prime suspect being held in custody, for he was the last person seen with St. Guillen that very night. Littlejohn was also the individual who escorted St. Guillen out of the bar due to her high level of intoxication and rowdiness. Upon the escort, eyewitnesses say that she was forced into a van that is said to belong to Littlejohn.

     We can all agree that this is a wicked event, but with all the evidence presented in many articles, I am still not convinced that Littlejohn is the true suspect. The most important forensic evidence, “the semen” was not matched with Littlejohn. If there is no semen match, how do we know that he is the actual murderer and or the rapist? Is it not possible that he was just the get-a-way driver for the actual criminals? But other evidence suggest that he was apart of the crime; the fiber found in the crime scene was linked to Littlejohn, and blood found on the plastic used to blind fold the St. Guillen was determined to be the blood of Littlejohn.

     Even though there was a matching blood sample found on the blind fold, I think that the true murderer is still on the loose. Littlejohn is only one part of the puzzle. It is baffling how he is the prime suspect for a rape and murder, without a semen match. Investigators need to keep looking for the real suspect because New York City is not safe yet!