Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Danny Dorrian Grilled By Littlejohn Defense
By
Jen Chung
Published May 14, 2009
Modified May 14, 2009
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Jen Chung
Published May 14, 2009
Modified May 14, 2009
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Danny Dorrian, the former manager of downtown bar The Falls, was hammered on the witness stand by defense lawyers representing his former employee, Darryl Littlejohn. Littlejohn is on trial for the murder of Imette St. Guillen, last seen at The Falls on February 25, 2006.
On Tuesday, Dorrian had admitted that he lied to police about seeing St. Guillen and yesterday, he admitted that he let cops put words in his mouth when he told the police that St. Guillen and Littlejohn had spoken to each other: "I told the detectives that [Littlejohn and St. Guillen] were having a conversation and that it escalated... By the end of the interrogation it came out as if it were a scream... They just put it down ... After 25 times of asking me what had happened, I said, 'Yes, fine, she was screaming.' They put down screaming."
Dorrian, 36, had chalked up his initial lack of help in the 24-year-old's murder investigation because his family was raked over the coals when the Preppy Murderer Robert Chambers had met his victim Jennifer Levin at his family's other bar, Dorrian's Red Hand on the Upper East Side, in 1986. He eventually came forward with information, "I didn't tell them everything. I [later] told them what I remembered in more detail."
Littlejohn's defense lawyer Joyce David has suggested that Dorrian is the real murderer and that Littlejohn is being framed because he's a criminal and a black man, therefore considered expendable. The Post reports that David got Dorrian to admit he's taken acting classes at Stella Adler, he's used cocaine, and he's very privileged, living with his parents' in their "tony" townhouse." The prosecution, though, did get Dorrian to state he had nothing to do with the murder.
Tagged
cross-examiniation
danny dorrian
darryl littlejohn
imette st guillen
murder
trial
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Man shot and killed on Midtown subway platform Saturday afternoon, NYPD says
Police said they're searching for a person of interest.
By
Ryan Kost
Published Oct 17, 2026 at 1:16 p.m. ET
Modified Oct 17, 2026 at 2:04 p.m. ET
Have you seen this Yorkie? NYPD looking for adorable pup dognapped from her Queens home
Suspects were driving a Subaru Forester, police said.
By
Ryan Kost
News
Have you seen this Yorkie? NYPD looking for adorable pup dognapped from her Queens home
Suspects were driving a Subaru Forester, police said.
By
Ryan Kost
Being reigning champions is weird for Knicks fans, but we could get used to this.
By
Catalina Gonella
Tompkins Square Park is getting a makeover. Some say it's too much.
By
Willow Higgins
Deer are all over New Jersey roads looking for sex, state officials warn
By
Rosemary Misdary
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .