1 00:00:01,784 --> 00:00:06,354 ♪ 2 00:00:06,397 --> 00:00:10,793 Narrator: Up next, her murder stuns even hardened New Yorkers. 3 00:00:10,836 --> 00:00:13,056 Dickerson: It was a pretty horrific homicide, 4 00:00:13,100 --> 00:00:16,059 and we knew that the suspect's perpetrator 5 00:00:16,103 --> 00:00:19,410 was still on the loose. 6 00:00:19,454 --> 00:00:21,064 Cooper: We begin tonight with the latest developments 7 00:00:21,108 --> 00:00:23,501 in a crime that has shocked this unshockable city. 8 00:00:23,545 --> 00:00:27,070 Cornicello: The life cut short, way too short-- 9 00:00:27,114 --> 00:00:28,463 that should have never happened. 10 00:00:28,506 --> 00:00:29,899 Narrator: The killer has attempted 11 00:00:29,942 --> 00:00:32,380 to strip all identification from his victim. 12 00:00:32,423 --> 00:00:34,599 Taub: We didn't know the cause of death at that point. 13 00:00:34,643 --> 00:00:36,384 We didn't know who she was. 14 00:00:36,427 --> 00:00:39,604 I can't find out who killed you unless I know who you are. 15 00:00:39,648 --> 00:00:42,259 Narrator: Detectives finally I.D. the dead woman... 16 00:00:42,303 --> 00:00:44,044 and are led to a killer 17 00:00:44,087 --> 00:00:47,090 with a seemingly limitless capacity for violence. 18 00:00:47,134 --> 00:00:49,092 It's just beyond belief. 19 00:00:49,136 --> 00:00:51,529 It's like a Jack the Ripper kind of guy. 20 00:00:51,573 --> 00:00:53,705 You know, just absolute animal. 21 00:00:53,749 --> 00:01:16,119 ♪ 22 00:01:16,163 --> 00:01:17,990 Narrator: Away from the glare of the lights 23 00:01:18,034 --> 00:01:20,906 and gleaming skyscrapers of New York City 24 00:01:20,950 --> 00:01:22,821 are some little-traveled byways, 25 00:01:22,865 --> 00:01:26,129 notorious to locals and to police, 26 00:01:26,173 --> 00:01:29,915 for being dirty, desolate, and dangerous. 27 00:01:29,959 --> 00:01:33,310 On Saturday, February 25, 2006, 28 00:01:33,354 --> 00:01:35,530 a body turned up in one of those places, 29 00:01:35,573 --> 00:01:38,446 about 20 miles from downtown Manhattan. 30 00:01:59,597 --> 00:02:02,861 First responders came upon a horrific scene. 31 00:02:02,905 --> 00:02:06,343 The victim was a young female, probably in her 20s. 32 00:02:06,387 --> 00:02:09,825 Petraco: This victim was naked and wrapped in a blanket 33 00:02:09,868 --> 00:02:13,524 and was bound with twist ties behind her back, 34 00:02:13,568 --> 00:02:16,788 which basically held-- used as handcuffs. 35 00:02:16,832 --> 00:02:19,791 Narrator: The victim's head was wrapped with packing tape. 36 00:02:19,835 --> 00:02:22,968 Some sort of cloth had been shoved down her throat. 37 00:02:23,012 --> 00:02:25,275 A chunk of her hair had been cut away-- 38 00:02:25,319 --> 00:02:27,886 one of a number of apparent attempts by her killer 39 00:02:27,930 --> 00:02:30,019 to cover up his crime. 40 00:02:30,062 --> 00:02:33,675 He knew enough on how to clean up the scene. 41 00:02:33,718 --> 00:02:35,590 He cut her fingernails down, 42 00:02:35,633 --> 00:02:40,247 so there was no DNA underneath underneath her nails. 43 00:02:40,290 --> 00:02:42,901 Narrator: There were no surveillance cameras in the area. 44 00:02:42,945 --> 00:02:45,077 There was no identification on the victim. 45 00:02:45,121 --> 00:02:47,297 But her body still gave investigators 46 00:02:47,341 --> 00:02:49,386 some basic information. 47 00:02:49,430 --> 00:02:54,174 What stood out to me is she had specific tan lines on her 48 00:02:54,217 --> 00:02:55,914 and she was Latino. 49 00:02:55,958 --> 00:02:59,788 So, middle of February, in the cold, 50 00:02:59,831 --> 00:03:03,139 she either just came from somewhere warm 51 00:03:03,183 --> 00:03:05,968 or was not from the area originally. 52 00:03:06,011 --> 00:03:09,406 Narrator: A snow brush was found near the body. 53 00:03:09,450 --> 00:03:13,018 No one was sure if this had anything to do with the murder. 54 00:03:15,064 --> 00:03:17,545 48 hours after the body was found, 55 00:03:17,588 --> 00:03:18,937 a woman called police 56 00:03:18,981 --> 00:03:21,375 to say her friend, Imette St. Guillen, 57 00:03:21,418 --> 00:03:23,246 had gone missing. 58 00:03:23,290 --> 00:03:26,249 And one thing she said was 59 00:03:26,293 --> 00:03:29,992 that Imette had just returned from Florida, 60 00:03:30,035 --> 00:03:32,255 you know, the day before she went missing. 61 00:03:32,299 --> 00:03:34,475 And that immediately struck a chord with the detective, 62 00:03:34,518 --> 00:03:36,607 because there was a tan. 63 00:03:36,651 --> 00:03:38,087 Host: Tonight, the sad irony. 64 00:03:38,130 --> 00:03:39,567 New York's top detectives 65 00:03:39,610 --> 00:03:41,873 are furiously investigating her murder 66 00:03:41,917 --> 00:03:44,789 as they search for a killer on the loose. 67 00:03:44,833 --> 00:03:48,315 Narrator: 24-year-old Imette St. Guillen, a Boston native, 68 00:03:48,358 --> 00:03:49,794 was two months away 69 00:03:49,838 --> 00:03:52,319 from a graduate degree in criminal justice. 70 00:03:52,362 --> 00:03:54,103 She was fabulous. 71 00:03:54,146 --> 00:03:56,148 Fabulous young woman. 72 00:03:56,192 --> 00:03:58,150 It's a tremendous loss. 73 00:03:58,194 --> 00:04:01,284 In this case, when your child dies, you die. 74 00:04:01,328 --> 00:04:02,851 There's a part of you that will never, 75 00:04:02,894 --> 00:04:07,072 ever be resurrected again. 76 00:04:07,116 --> 00:04:08,770 Narrator: Imette's autopsy made it clear 77 00:04:08,813 --> 00:04:10,989 her murder was even more gruesome 78 00:04:11,033 --> 00:04:13,818 than first responders originally thought. 79 00:04:13,862 --> 00:04:19,650 There was definitely damage to her private areas, 80 00:04:19,694 --> 00:04:22,174 indicating it would seem as though 81 00:04:22,218 --> 00:04:26,701 there was a forceable sex crime of some sort going on. 82 00:04:26,744 --> 00:04:29,007 McTighe: I believe it was a sock that was in her mouth 83 00:04:29,051 --> 00:04:31,053 actually pushed her tongue in backwards. 84 00:04:31,096 --> 00:04:32,576 That was the cause of death. 85 00:04:32,620 --> 00:04:34,448 So we're not looking for a weapon. 86 00:04:34,491 --> 00:04:37,407 We're not looking for ballistic evidence in this type of case. 87 00:04:37,451 --> 00:04:41,368 Narrator: Incredibly, no foreign DNA was found on the body. 88 00:04:41,411 --> 00:04:42,891 Assaulting his victim 89 00:04:42,934 --> 00:04:45,415 and then removing all his DNA from her body 90 00:04:45,459 --> 00:04:47,156 would have taken hours, 91 00:04:47,199 --> 00:04:49,027 which meant Imette's killer 92 00:04:49,071 --> 00:04:51,769 had to have a safe place to do all this. 93 00:04:51,813 --> 00:04:55,338 And that location wasn't where her body was found. 94 00:04:55,382 --> 00:04:59,211 It was so time-consuming with the zip ties 95 00:04:59,255 --> 00:05:03,520 and the wrapping and the cord and the blanket and the tape. 96 00:05:03,564 --> 00:05:06,262 It'd be too much time for the person to do it there. 97 00:05:06,306 --> 00:05:08,525 Narrator: If this case was going to be solved, 98 00:05:08,569 --> 00:05:10,179 detectives needed to find out 99 00:05:10,222 --> 00:05:14,618 not only who did the murder, but also where he did it. 100 00:05:26,674 --> 00:05:29,067 Narrator: Investigators were stunned 101 00:05:29,111 --> 00:05:30,852 to find that Imette St. Guillen's killer 102 00:05:30,895 --> 00:05:34,725 was able to remove all foreign DNA from her body. 103 00:05:34,769 --> 00:05:36,771 But he couldn't remove everything. 104 00:05:36,814 --> 00:05:39,164 The tape and blanket used to wrap her body 105 00:05:39,208 --> 00:05:41,689 were rich sources of trace evidence. 106 00:05:41,732 --> 00:05:45,562 Analyst Nick Petraco found red carpet fibers on both. 107 00:05:45,606 --> 00:05:47,390 Petraco: A cheap-colored nylon fiber. 108 00:05:47,434 --> 00:05:49,392 Carpet fibers. 109 00:05:49,436 --> 00:05:51,351 And I happen to know what those red rug fibers 110 00:05:51,394 --> 00:05:53,265 look like on that particular carpet, 111 00:05:53,309 --> 00:05:57,661 because I've seen that kind of carpet many times in casework. 112 00:05:57,705 --> 00:06:01,752 Narrator: Petraco's microscopic search also revealed animal hairs. 113 00:06:01,796 --> 00:06:03,319 Petraco: I'm finding mink hair, 114 00:06:03,363 --> 00:06:05,756 so there's a mink coat around there somewhere. 115 00:06:05,800 --> 00:06:10,370 Narrator: Rabbit hairs of the type used in coats were also found. 116 00:06:10,413 --> 00:06:12,720 A tiny drop of blood was found 117 00:06:12,763 --> 00:06:16,593 on one of the plastic ties used as handcuffs. 118 00:06:16,637 --> 00:06:19,553 And some DNA was recovered from the snow brush 119 00:06:19,596 --> 00:06:21,859 found near the victim's body. 120 00:06:21,903 --> 00:06:25,210 The sample that came off of the snow brush was touch DNA. 121 00:06:25,254 --> 00:06:27,996 And so that is basically DNA that is deposited 122 00:06:28,039 --> 00:06:30,390 when someone handles an item. 123 00:06:30,433 --> 00:06:32,696 Narrator: Analysts paid particular attention 124 00:06:32,740 --> 00:06:34,916 to the blanket that wrapped the body, 125 00:06:34,959 --> 00:06:36,874 hitting it with ultraviolet light 126 00:06:36,918 --> 00:06:40,443 in an attempt to expose possible bodily fluids. 127 00:06:40,487 --> 00:06:42,140 And in a major potential break, 128 00:06:42,184 --> 00:06:44,360 what turned out to be a semen stain 129 00:06:44,404 --> 00:06:46,884 luminesced when hit with the light. 130 00:06:46,928 --> 00:06:49,060 Dickerson: The semen profile was very degraded, 131 00:06:49,104 --> 00:06:51,454 so we knew right away that the semen profile 132 00:06:51,498 --> 00:06:53,848 was likely to be pretty old. 133 00:06:53,891 --> 00:06:57,025 Narrator: Detectives now turned to Imette's final night. 134 00:06:57,068 --> 00:07:00,637 It was a Friday, just days away from her 25th birthday, 135 00:07:00,681 --> 00:07:03,031 and she was celebrating with friends, 136 00:07:03,074 --> 00:07:05,642 including her best friend, Claire. 137 00:07:05,686 --> 00:07:07,165 And it was getting late in the night. 138 00:07:07,209 --> 00:07:09,472 It was almost like 4:00 in the morning. 139 00:07:09,516 --> 00:07:11,822 They had been on vacation. 140 00:07:11,866 --> 00:07:13,607 Claire was ready to go home. 141 00:07:13,650 --> 00:07:15,522 "Come on, Imette. Let's go." 142 00:07:15,565 --> 00:07:17,175 Imette wasn't ready to go. 143 00:07:17,219 --> 00:07:20,570 McTighe: Claire's trying to almost pull her in the cab 144 00:07:20,614 --> 00:07:21,919 and convince her to go home. 145 00:07:21,963 --> 00:07:24,487 Imette doesn't want any part of it, 146 00:07:24,531 --> 00:07:27,490 and she starts to walk down the block. 147 00:07:27,534 --> 00:07:29,492 Narrator: Police hoped surveillance cameras 148 00:07:29,536 --> 00:07:32,452 would give them some idea of where Imette went. 149 00:07:32,495 --> 00:07:35,672 These days, they're on practically every street corner 150 00:07:35,716 --> 00:07:37,021 and every shop. 151 00:07:37,065 --> 00:07:39,676 Not so in 2006. 152 00:07:39,720 --> 00:07:42,897 And so they got no video of any help 153 00:07:42,940 --> 00:07:45,465 in determining where she went. 154 00:07:45,508 --> 00:07:48,380 Narrator: But by tracing Imette's credit-card activity, 155 00:07:48,424 --> 00:07:51,427 detectives found she paid for two drinks at a bar 156 00:07:51,471 --> 00:07:53,211 called The Falls. 157 00:07:53,255 --> 00:07:58,739 The receipt was recorded within 15 minutes of 4:00 a.m., 158 00:07:58,782 --> 00:08:00,305 just before bars in New York City 159 00:08:00,349 --> 00:08:02,090 are required to close. 160 00:08:02,133 --> 00:08:05,963 Narrator: This would be 17 hours from when her body was found. 161 00:08:06,007 --> 00:08:09,663 Detectives needed to find out what happened during this window 162 00:08:09,706 --> 00:08:11,882 and faced some daunting problems. 163 00:08:11,926 --> 00:08:14,319 There were multiple crime scenes. 164 00:08:14,363 --> 00:08:17,235 At some point, Imette's killer needed to subdue her, 165 00:08:17,279 --> 00:08:19,411 and no one knew where that happened. 166 00:08:19,455 --> 00:08:22,240 He took his time to assault her, kill her, 167 00:08:22,284 --> 00:08:25,069 and remove his DNA from her body. 168 00:08:25,113 --> 00:08:27,898 Where that happened, no one knew. 169 00:08:27,942 --> 00:08:29,987 And he most likely needed a vehicle 170 00:08:30,031 --> 00:08:33,034 to get to and from all these spots, 171 00:08:33,077 --> 00:08:36,298 and no one knew where that vehicle was. 172 00:08:36,341 --> 00:08:37,995 There was really very little evidence 173 00:08:38,039 --> 00:08:41,564 to point in any direction. 174 00:08:41,608 --> 00:08:44,741 Dickerson: The investigation is really just the body at that point. 175 00:08:44,785 --> 00:08:47,918 You don't have any items or a location 176 00:08:47,962 --> 00:08:52,096 that you can focus on or use in investigating that crime. 177 00:08:52,140 --> 00:08:56,318 ♪ 178 00:08:56,361 --> 00:08:59,843 Narrator: Detectives hoped people at Imette's last known location, 179 00:08:59,887 --> 00:09:02,977 The Falls bar, could provide some answers, 180 00:09:03,020 --> 00:09:05,588 but got yet another setback. 181 00:09:05,632 --> 00:09:07,111 First of all, do they have any video? 182 00:09:07,155 --> 00:09:09,026 They don't have any video inside. 183 00:09:09,070 --> 00:09:11,942 Narrator: But the bartender at The Falls remembered Imette. 184 00:09:11,986 --> 00:09:15,250 She told detectives closing time was 4:00 185 00:09:15,293 --> 00:09:17,557 and Imette wasn't ready to go. 186 00:09:17,600 --> 00:09:18,906 And she didn't want to leave 187 00:09:18,949 --> 00:09:20,255 because she still paid for her drinks. 188 00:09:20,298 --> 00:09:22,213 Narrator: This bartender said her boss, 189 00:09:22,257 --> 00:09:25,739 bar manager Danny Dorrian, saw what was happening 190 00:09:25,782 --> 00:09:27,610 and told the bartender to get a bouncer 191 00:09:27,654 --> 00:09:30,047 to escort Imette from the bar. 192 00:09:30,091 --> 00:09:32,615 But Danny Dorrian denied that ever happened. 193 00:09:32,659 --> 00:09:36,619 McTighe: Danny Dorrian was not very forthcoming initially. 194 00:09:36,663 --> 00:09:39,491 He claimed not to have any recollection of her. 195 00:09:39,535 --> 00:09:41,581 Cornicello: And I remember the detectives coming back, 196 00:09:41,624 --> 00:09:42,886 and they're like, "Yeah, we went there. 197 00:09:42,930 --> 00:09:45,323 We spoke to this guy, Danny Dorrian, 198 00:09:45,367 --> 00:09:47,543 and we think he's holding back on something." 199 00:09:47,587 --> 00:09:52,940 And I just remember thinking, "Wait a minute. Dorrian? 200 00:09:52,983 --> 00:09:55,029 I know that name. Why do I know that name?" 201 00:09:55,072 --> 00:09:57,814 Narrator: It turned out that in New York City, 202 00:09:57,858 --> 00:10:00,991 a lot of people knew the Dorrian name. 203 00:10:01,035 --> 00:10:03,820 Dorrian is a famous name in New York City. 204 00:10:03,864 --> 00:10:06,083 Host: There is the eerie connection between The Falls 205 00:10:06,127 --> 00:10:08,608 and another infamous New York watering hole, 206 00:10:08,651 --> 00:10:13,656 the one where preppy killer Robert Chambers met his victim. 207 00:10:13,700 --> 00:10:17,529 Narrator: In 1986, 20-year-old Robert Chambers 208 00:10:17,573 --> 00:10:19,923 was arrested for the murder of his girlfriend, 209 00:10:19,967 --> 00:10:22,665 18-year-old Jennifer Levin. 210 00:10:22,709 --> 00:10:26,756 It became infamous as the "preppy murder case." 211 00:10:26,800 --> 00:10:29,846 It was the highest-profile case in New York, 212 00:10:29,890 --> 00:10:32,153 probably in that entire decade, 213 00:10:32,196 --> 00:10:35,373 and everyone knew the name Dorrian. 214 00:10:35,417 --> 00:10:37,027 Narrator: Why? 215 00:10:37,071 --> 00:10:39,029 Because the last place Jennifer Levin was seen alive 216 00:10:39,073 --> 00:10:42,554 was at a bar owned by Danny Dorrian's family. 217 00:10:42,598 --> 00:10:44,208 Was there a possible connection 218 00:10:44,252 --> 00:10:46,254 with this latest high-profile murder? 219 00:10:46,297 --> 00:10:47,951 No one knew. 220 00:10:47,995 --> 00:10:51,563 But one thing not in question was that Danny Dorrian, 221 00:10:51,607 --> 00:10:53,348 bar manager of the last place 222 00:10:53,391 --> 00:10:55,350 Imette St. Guillen was seen alive, 223 00:10:55,393 --> 00:10:59,963 was telling police a story they did not believe. 224 00:11:12,541 --> 00:11:16,719 Narrator: In the 1980s, a New York family, the Dorrians, 225 00:11:16,763 --> 00:11:19,591 got caught up in the infamous "preppy murder case." 226 00:11:19,635 --> 00:11:23,160 They owned the bar where the victim spent her final night. 227 00:11:23,204 --> 00:11:26,990 Now, in 2006, there was a possible connection 228 00:11:27,034 --> 00:11:29,601 to yet another gruesome murder. 229 00:11:29,645 --> 00:11:33,605 The Dorrian family's bar, The Falls, was the last place 230 00:11:33,649 --> 00:11:37,044 murder victim Imette St. Guillen was seen alive, 231 00:11:37,087 --> 00:11:39,699 and bar manager Danny Dorrian told police 232 00:11:39,742 --> 00:11:41,701 he'd never laid eyes on her. 233 00:11:41,744 --> 00:11:45,487 That wasn't what police heard from people working the bar, 234 00:11:45,530 --> 00:11:48,229 and that was a big problem for Danny Dorrian. 235 00:11:48,272 --> 00:11:50,927 We get a phone call to report to police headquarters 236 00:11:50,971 --> 00:11:54,017 right away to the chief of detective's office. 237 00:11:54,061 --> 00:11:56,280 Now, it's very strange to get a phone call like that, 238 00:11:56,324 --> 00:11:57,804 especially in the middle of a case. 239 00:11:57,847 --> 00:11:59,109 So we get there, and it turns out 240 00:11:59,153 --> 00:12:01,416 it was Danny Dorrian and his attorney. 241 00:12:01,459 --> 00:12:03,940 Cornicello: Turns out he did know that she was there. 242 00:12:03,984 --> 00:12:06,029 He doesn't know how she died, 243 00:12:06,073 --> 00:12:09,467 but he's now able to put her there in the bar. 244 00:12:09,511 --> 00:12:13,123 Narrator: Danny Dorrian's problem wasn't any connection to the murder. 245 00:12:13,167 --> 00:12:14,690 He was alibied. 246 00:12:14,734 --> 00:12:18,128 His problem was his bouncer, Darryl Littlejohn. 247 00:12:18,172 --> 00:12:21,436 Danny Dorrian was not a good bar manager, 248 00:12:21,479 --> 00:12:23,612 and the evidence that he was not a good bar manager 249 00:12:23,655 --> 00:12:25,962 is who he hired to be his bouncer, 250 00:12:26,006 --> 00:12:28,486 or one of his bouncers, which was Darryl Littlejohn. 251 00:12:28,530 --> 00:12:31,098 And he did so without any attempt 252 00:12:31,141 --> 00:12:36,668 to check his references and see how legitimate or not he was. 253 00:12:36,712 --> 00:12:39,933 41-year-old Littlejohn was a convicted felon. 254 00:12:39,976 --> 00:12:41,717 He'd served more than eight years 255 00:12:41,761 --> 00:12:43,893 for robbery and drug offenses. 256 00:12:43,937 --> 00:12:45,808 Cornicello: So he violated his parole. 257 00:12:45,852 --> 00:12:49,072 He should not have been working in any place that sells liquor, 258 00:12:49,116 --> 00:12:51,814 and he should not have been working at 4:00 in the morning 259 00:12:51,858 --> 00:12:53,555 while he's on parole. 260 00:12:53,598 --> 00:12:56,384 Narrator: Littlejohn told police that on Imette's last night, 261 00:12:56,427 --> 00:12:59,691 he did what his boss Danny Dorrian told him to do-- 262 00:12:59,735 --> 00:13:01,824 He got her out of the bar. 263 00:13:01,868 --> 00:13:05,697 This made him the last known person to see her alive. 264 00:13:05,741 --> 00:13:07,699 Now, that caused the police 265 00:13:07,743 --> 00:13:10,050 to obviously take an interest in him. 266 00:13:10,093 --> 00:13:13,183 ♪ 267 00:13:13,227 --> 00:13:16,186 Narrator: Because Littlejohn violated his parole, 268 00:13:16,230 --> 00:13:19,276 detectives had no problem getting a search warrant. 269 00:13:19,320 --> 00:13:22,802 The trail left by his cellphone on the morning of the murder 270 00:13:22,845 --> 00:13:25,848 put him at his house, and, ominously, 271 00:13:25,892 --> 00:13:29,199 near where Imette's body was dumped. 272 00:13:29,243 --> 00:13:31,767 Does that mean that he killed her? No. 273 00:13:31,811 --> 00:13:34,291 But it means now he's at the crime scene 274 00:13:34,335 --> 00:13:35,815 where we found Imette. 275 00:13:35,858 --> 00:13:40,254 So now everything is now focusing on Littlejohn. 276 00:13:40,297 --> 00:13:41,690 Cooper: Police here in New York 277 00:13:41,733 --> 00:13:43,431 now say they've got compelling evidence 278 00:13:43,474 --> 00:13:44,911 connecting a barroom bouncer 279 00:13:44,954 --> 00:13:47,130 to the murder of this promising young woman 280 00:13:47,174 --> 00:13:49,959 who spent her final hours at his bar. 281 00:13:50,003 --> 00:13:52,483 Narrator: Trace evidence teams descended on the home 282 00:13:52,527 --> 00:13:54,877 Littlejohn shared with his mother, 283 00:13:54,921 --> 00:13:58,272 and also his van, searching for anything 284 00:13:58,315 --> 00:14:00,883 that could be tied back to Imette's body. 285 00:14:00,927 --> 00:14:02,319 Cornicello: One of the first things 286 00:14:02,363 --> 00:14:05,192 that the crime-scene investigators noticed 287 00:14:05,235 --> 00:14:08,586 was about a dozen empty bleach bottles 288 00:14:08,630 --> 00:14:11,502 in the garbage outside the house. 289 00:14:11,546 --> 00:14:14,984 What do you use a dozen empty bottles of bleach for? 290 00:14:15,028 --> 00:14:17,595 Well, if you know how to destroy DNA evidence, 291 00:14:17,639 --> 00:14:19,336 you know bleach does it. 292 00:14:19,380 --> 00:14:22,339 Narrator: Every inch of the house and van was searched. 293 00:14:22,383 --> 00:14:25,125 Incredibly, just as with Imette's body, 294 00:14:25,168 --> 00:14:27,692 no foreign DNA was found. 295 00:14:27,736 --> 00:14:29,912 Cornicello: Absolutely no DNA. 296 00:14:29,956 --> 00:14:32,262 So we don't find any evidence 297 00:14:32,306 --> 00:14:34,699 that shows that she was there at all. 298 00:14:34,743 --> 00:14:39,182 ♪ 299 00:14:39,226 --> 00:14:41,924 Narrator: If Darryl Littlejohn was Imette's killer, 300 00:14:41,968 --> 00:14:43,970 he'd done an unusually thorough job 301 00:14:44,013 --> 00:14:47,582 of cleaning multiple crime scenes. 302 00:14:47,625 --> 00:14:51,803 But a forensic dogma called the Locard Exchange Principle-- 303 00:14:51,847 --> 00:14:54,371 it dates back more than 100 years, 304 00:14:54,415 --> 00:14:57,635 to the very beginning of crime-scene investigation-- 305 00:14:57,679 --> 00:14:59,289 holds that's it's impossible 306 00:14:59,333 --> 00:15:01,639 to completely clean a crime scene. 307 00:15:01,683 --> 00:15:04,251 Petraco: If you could go back to the guy named Edmond Locard, 308 00:15:04,294 --> 00:15:05,643 a doctor from France-- 309 00:15:05,687 --> 00:15:07,080 his principle states 310 00:15:07,123 --> 00:15:10,735 that there's always materials to be found. 311 00:15:10,779 --> 00:15:12,650 Someone always leaves something. 312 00:15:12,694 --> 00:15:14,478 Ultimately, what it's saying, 313 00:15:14,522 --> 00:15:17,481 "If you don't find it, it means it's your fault. 314 00:15:17,525 --> 00:15:19,005 It's there." 315 00:15:19,048 --> 00:15:21,616 Narrator: And sure enough, tiny clues remained 316 00:15:21,659 --> 00:15:23,574 that finally told the story 317 00:15:23,618 --> 00:15:25,663 of what happened to Imette St. Guillen. 318 00:15:37,023 --> 00:15:39,895 Narrator: Among the key pieces of trace evidence recovered 319 00:15:39,939 --> 00:15:42,332 from Imette St. Guillen's crime scene 320 00:15:42,376 --> 00:15:44,160 were red carpet fibers 321 00:15:44,204 --> 00:15:47,163 and animal hairs from a mink and a rabbit. 322 00:15:47,207 --> 00:15:48,991 You're trying to use these bits of evidence 323 00:15:49,035 --> 00:15:51,646 to help you figure out where it happened. 324 00:15:51,689 --> 00:15:54,910 Narrator: Once Darryl Littlejohn emerged a suspect, 325 00:15:54,954 --> 00:15:56,781 crime-scene techs were on the lookout 326 00:15:56,825 --> 00:15:58,696 for these hairs and fibers. 327 00:15:58,740 --> 00:16:00,089 That's the beauty of this stuff, 328 00:16:00,133 --> 00:16:02,439 and it helps you reconstruct the whole event. 329 00:16:02,483 --> 00:16:04,050 It's really powerful. 330 00:16:04,093 --> 00:16:07,183 One red carpet fiber by itself wouldn't mean a lot. 331 00:16:07,227 --> 00:16:09,881 But you get two, three different materials 332 00:16:09,925 --> 00:16:12,232 that are all associating in one place, 333 00:16:12,275 --> 00:16:14,582 it means a lot more mathematically 334 00:16:14,625 --> 00:16:17,802 as far as the probability it happened there. 335 00:16:17,846 --> 00:16:21,154 Narrator: When Darryl Littlejohn's house and minivan were searched, 336 00:16:21,197 --> 00:16:23,895 a red carpet was found inside the house, 337 00:16:23,939 --> 00:16:27,073 and fibers from it were micrscopically consistent 338 00:16:27,116 --> 00:16:29,553 with fibers from the dump site. 339 00:16:29,597 --> 00:16:31,947 Littlejohn's mother, who lived with him, 340 00:16:31,991 --> 00:16:33,905 owned a mink coat, 341 00:16:33,949 --> 00:16:36,996 and those hairs were also consistent, 342 00:16:37,039 --> 00:16:38,954 as were hairs from a coat of hers 343 00:16:38,998 --> 00:16:40,564 with a rabbit-fur collar. 344 00:16:40,608 --> 00:16:42,523 Petraco: And there were also shoes he had. 345 00:16:42,566 --> 00:16:44,351 On the bottom of the shoes, 346 00:16:44,394 --> 00:16:47,006 there were red carpet fibers attached to it. 347 00:16:47,049 --> 00:16:49,356 So that's probably how they got into the van. 348 00:16:49,399 --> 00:16:52,054 The mother probably wore the mink coat 349 00:16:52,098 --> 00:16:54,056 to go to church on Sunday, 350 00:16:54,100 --> 00:16:57,581 and she leaves a couple hairs from the mink coat on the seat. 351 00:16:57,625 --> 00:17:00,628 Narrator: This evidence definitively tied Darryl Littlejohn 352 00:17:00,671 --> 00:17:02,586 to Imette's body. 353 00:17:02,630 --> 00:17:04,240 But there was a problem. 354 00:17:04,284 --> 00:17:07,287 So far, prosecutors could only prove 355 00:17:07,330 --> 00:17:09,941 that he'd gotten rid of Imette's corpse, 356 00:17:09,985 --> 00:17:11,900 not that he'd committed her murder. 357 00:17:11,943 --> 00:17:15,425 It created, or it left some degree of doubt 358 00:17:15,469 --> 00:17:17,819 as to whether he was actually the killer. 359 00:17:17,862 --> 00:17:20,604 Narrator: And Darryl Littlejohn, who had a very good lawyer, 360 00:17:20,648 --> 00:17:22,215 said he was no killer. 361 00:17:22,258 --> 00:17:26,436 I'm truly sorry what happened to this young lady, 362 00:17:26,480 --> 00:17:29,657 but they have the wrong person. 363 00:17:29,700 --> 00:17:31,441 Narrator: Forensic analysts now turned 364 00:17:31,485 --> 00:17:33,878 to the degraded semen stain on the blanket 365 00:17:33,922 --> 00:17:35,967 used to cover Imette's body. 366 00:17:36,011 --> 00:17:38,448 The DNA results delivered a bombshell. 367 00:17:38,492 --> 00:17:40,798 And I took another look at the semen sample 368 00:17:40,842 --> 00:17:44,802 and thought it looks similar to Darryl Littlejohn's DNA-- 369 00:17:44,846 --> 00:17:47,153 similar enough that it could be a relative. 370 00:17:47,196 --> 00:17:50,634 Taub: Now, as it turns out, Darryl had a brother who did die 371 00:17:50,678 --> 00:17:53,637 while in custody in the Queens house of detention, 372 00:17:53,681 --> 00:17:55,683 awaiting trial on a double murder. 373 00:17:55,726 --> 00:17:57,989 He died of some sort of asthma attack. 374 00:17:58,033 --> 00:18:00,557 Narrator: This happened 11 years earlier, 375 00:18:00,601 --> 00:18:04,822 which would account for why the sample was so degraded. 376 00:18:04,866 --> 00:18:06,346 Cooper: They've also tested, I understand, 377 00:18:06,389 --> 00:18:08,261 the blanket in which Imette's body was wrapped. 378 00:18:08,304 --> 00:18:09,827 What have you learned about those tests? 379 00:18:09,871 --> 00:18:11,655 There was semen on the blanket, 380 00:18:11,699 --> 00:18:16,269 but unfortunately, the semen on the blanket was somebody else's. 381 00:18:16,312 --> 00:18:17,531 Narrator: But in the end, 382 00:18:17,574 --> 00:18:20,795 just as a famous French criminalst stated 383 00:18:20,838 --> 00:18:22,666 nearly a century earlier, 384 00:18:22,710 --> 00:18:25,756 you can't completely clean a crime scene. 385 00:18:25,800 --> 00:18:27,845 The touch DNA from the snow brush 386 00:18:27,889 --> 00:18:30,500 near Imette's body matched Littlejohn. 387 00:18:30,544 --> 00:18:32,328 But it was the trace evidence-- 388 00:18:32,372 --> 00:18:35,505 what analysts call "innocent transfer"-- 389 00:18:35,549 --> 00:18:38,421 that linked Littlejohn to Imette's body. 390 00:18:38,465 --> 00:18:41,685 All of this was confirmed when his DNA was lifted 391 00:18:41,729 --> 00:18:45,036 from a small blood stain on one of the zip ties. 392 00:18:45,080 --> 00:18:48,257 It remained despite what even analysts admit 393 00:18:48,301 --> 00:18:52,566 was an incredible job of attempting to clean the scene. 394 00:18:52,609 --> 00:18:55,525 Petraco: He might be thinking about blood and semen and spittle 395 00:18:55,569 --> 00:18:58,049 and that kind of thing, or even his hairs. 396 00:18:58,093 --> 00:18:59,964 But he's not thinking about 397 00:19:00,008 --> 00:19:02,271 the stuff that's around him all the time-- 398 00:19:02,315 --> 00:19:04,360 the red carpet, the mink coat, the-- 399 00:19:04,404 --> 00:19:06,057 He's not thinking about that stuff. 400 00:19:06,101 --> 00:19:08,451 And that's the stuff that ultimately helps to nail him. 401 00:19:08,495 --> 00:19:10,279 Narrator: Investigators believe 402 00:19:10,323 --> 00:19:13,674 that when Littlejohn was told to get Imette out of the bar, 403 00:19:13,717 --> 00:19:16,198 he'd found an easy mark. 404 00:19:16,242 --> 00:19:17,808 She'd had a lot to drink. 405 00:19:17,852 --> 00:19:19,549 The streets were nearly empty. 406 00:19:19,593 --> 00:19:23,597 Once outside, he subdued her and got her into his van. 407 00:19:23,640 --> 00:19:26,948 Where he took her next is the subject of speculation. 408 00:19:26,991 --> 00:19:30,212 What's clear is that he spent hours assaulting her, 409 00:19:30,256 --> 00:19:33,215 then bleaching her body and the scene. 410 00:19:33,259 --> 00:19:36,566 But he was unaware of the fibers and animal hairs 411 00:19:36,610 --> 00:19:39,265 that had simply become part of his environment, 412 00:19:39,308 --> 00:19:42,093 all of which stuck to his victim. 413 00:19:42,137 --> 00:19:44,748 It appears that at some point in this assault, 414 00:19:44,792 --> 00:19:46,663 Imette might have fought back. 415 00:19:46,707 --> 00:19:48,752 It's possible she injured Littlejohn 416 00:19:48,796 --> 00:19:51,407 and his DNA got on her hair. 417 00:19:51,451 --> 00:19:54,889 That could be the reason he cut part of her hair away. 418 00:19:54,932 --> 00:19:59,285 He also cut her nails in another attempt to eliminate DNA. 419 00:19:59,328 --> 00:20:03,724 Now, with the murder done and the cleanup apparently complete, 420 00:20:03,767 --> 00:20:05,987 he had to get rid of the body. 421 00:20:06,030 --> 00:20:07,641 Soon, he was outside, 422 00:20:07,684 --> 00:20:10,383 exposed and in a hurry to get away. 423 00:20:10,426 --> 00:20:14,517 The snow brush from inside his van, with his DNA, 424 00:20:14,561 --> 00:20:17,520 got tangled up with the body as he dumped it. 425 00:20:17,564 --> 00:20:20,131 But a small blood stain on the zip tie 426 00:20:20,175 --> 00:20:23,961 left absolutely no doubt he was the killer. 427 00:20:24,005 --> 00:20:25,963 In June of 2009, 428 00:20:26,007 --> 00:20:29,184 Darryl Littlejohn was found guilty of first degree murder 429 00:20:29,228 --> 00:20:31,404 and was sentenced to life without parole, 430 00:20:31,447 --> 00:20:35,190 all on the strength of evidence he tried to clear away, 431 00:20:35,234 --> 00:20:37,018 but never saw. 432 00:20:37,061 --> 00:20:40,108 Taub: No one walking into that bar would have had any reason 433 00:20:40,151 --> 00:20:43,894 to think they were gonna meet their killer that night, 434 00:20:43,938 --> 00:20:45,635 whether intoxicated or sober. 435 00:20:45,679 --> 00:20:47,376 It really is a case 436 00:20:47,420 --> 00:20:49,726 that's totally made by forensic evidence. 437 00:20:49,770 --> 00:20:51,989 So between the phone records, the DNA, 438 00:20:52,033 --> 00:20:54,078 and the hair and fiber evidence, 439 00:20:54,122 --> 00:20:57,865 together, that's a trifecta of evidence 440 00:20:57,908 --> 00:20:59,997 that is the thing that proved him guilty.