Cook County

Northwestern Professor, Oxford Employee Sought in Chicago Killing

The pair are wanted in connection with the death of 26-year-old Trenton H. James Cornell-Duranleau, who was found fatally stabbed on the tenth floor of the Grand Plaza Apartments on State Street

Arrest warrants have been issued for a Northwestern University professor and a University of Oxford employee in connection with the killing of a 26-year-old man, who was found stabbed to death last week in a River North apartment. 

First-degree murder warrants were issued Monday for 42-year-old Wyndham Lathem and 56-year-old Andrew Warren, according to Cook County court records. 

The pair are wanted for the death of 26-year-old Trenton H. James Cornell-Duranleau, who was found fatally stabbed Thursday on the tenth floor of the Grand Plaza Apartments on State Street, where police say Lathem lives. 

Cornell-Duranleau, a Michigan native and hairstylist, was pronounced dead at the scene just after 9 p.m. An autopsy found he died of multiple sharp force injuries and his death was ruled a homicide. 

Lathem is an associate professor of microbiology and immunology at Northwestern University's medical school, where he has worked for 10 years. He has been placed on administrative leave and banned from entering Northwestern campuses, according to university spokesman Alan Cubbage.

“There is no indication of any risk to the Northwestern community from this individual at this time,” Cubbage said in an emailed statement. 

Warren is a senior treasury assistant at the University of Oxford in Great Britain, according to the university’s website.

Both men disappeared after the young hairstylist was found dead, authorities said. 

Residents were notified via email that Chicago police swept the property and were investigating motives in the killing, including whether it may have been a "domestic incident."

On Wednesday, Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said detectives suspect the pair may have fled Illinois and their passports have been flagged by the State Department. The U.S. Marshal has also joined in the search. 

"Our search will only intesify," Guglielmi tweeted, asking both Lathem and Warren to "do the right thing & turn yourself in to any police dept."

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