Hunt underway for university researcher accused of murder in Chicago stabbing
A Northwestern University associate professor and a University of Oxford employee were being sought in connection with the stabbing death of a man in a Near North Side apartment, according to public records.
A Cook County judge issued arrest warrants Monday charging Wyndham Lathem, 42, and Andrew Warren, 56, with first-degree murder in the death of 26-year-old Trenton Cornell-Duranleau last week, records show.
An alert broadcast over police radio said the two should be considered armed and dangerous. Late Wednesday afternoon, Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi reported no arrests.
"Our search will only intensify,'' tweeted Guglielmi. "Prof Latham [Lathem] & Mr Warren, do the right thing & turn yourself in to any police dept.''
Lathem is an associate professor at Northwestern's Department of Microbiology-Immunology at the Feinberg School of Medicine. In his LinkedIn profile, Lathem said his research is focused on pathogens and the diseases they cause.
Lathem has been placed on administrative leave and is banned from all Northwestern campuses, according to school spokesman Alan K. Cubbage. He was a faculty researcher at the school's Chicago campus.
The university is cooperating with the police investigation, Cubbage said.
Warren is a senior treasury assistant at Somerville College, part of the Oxford University network, in Oxford England, according to a university Web page.
Chicago police officers were sent to a 10th-floor apartment in the 500 block of North State Street about 8:30 p.m. Thursday after a maintenance worker reported getting an anonymous call that a crime was committed there. Officers found Cornell-Duranleau dead on the scene.
Lathem lists his home at the same address on State Street, public records show.
Cornell-Duranleau died of multiple sharp force injuries, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. He had lived in the 2200 block of South Wood Street in the Heart of Chicago neighborhood on the Near Southwest Side, the office said.
He grew up in Michigan, according to public records. Cornell-Duranleau earned a state license as a cosmetologist in 2011, according to the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs.
His mother, Mischelle Duranleau, posted a message on Facebook over the weekend asking for prayers "as we navigate this very dark part of our Journey."
According to an obituary posted by the mother, Cornell-Duranleau was born in Lennon, Mich., a small town about 50 miles northeast of Lansing.
"Throughout his life he loved music and animals," the obituary said. "His enthusiasm for life was infectious. Trenton was a caregiver and loved to help others. His youthful free-spirit fueled his love of cars, video games and cartoons."
Northwestern was made aware of the investigation into Cornell-Duranleau's death on Monday afternoon, Cubbage said.
Lathem has been with Northwestern since 2007, according to Cubbage, who said he worked primarily in a research lab. "At some point in the past few years he taught medical students or graduate students, never undergrad,’’ Cubbage said.
Lathem was not currently teaching and was not scheduled to be in a classroom in the fall, Cubbage said.
Oxford University, where Warren, the other suspect, worked, released a statement Tuesday saying it was "not aware of this case, which is clearly extremely concerning. We will liaise with the relevant investigating authorities and provide any assistance that is required.”
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