Police: Northwestern professor, Oxford employee wanted in River North stabbing surrender to authorities in California

Michelle Gallardo Image
Sunday, August 6, 2017
Police: NU professor, Oxford employee wanted in River North stabbing surrender in Calif.
A Northwestern University professor and a University of Oxford employee wanted in connection with a fatal stabbing in River North were arrested Friday night in California.

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A Northwestern University professor and a University of Oxford employee wanted in connection with a fatal stabbing in River North were arrested Friday night in California after a nationwide manhunt, the U.S. Marshals Office said.

Professor Wyndham Lathem surrendered at a federal courthouse in Oakland at about 7:30 p.m Pacific Time and the University of Oxford employee Andrew Warren turned himself in to the San Francisco Police Department at around 6:30 p.m. Pacific Time, the U.S. Marshal's Office said.

Lathem was booked into Alameda County Jail in Dublin and Warren was booked into San Francisco County Jail. Lathem is scheduled to appear in court Monday morning. If he does not fight extradition, it will then be up to CPD detectives to bring him back here to face murder charges. Warren's court date has not yet been set. Both Lathem and Warren are being held on no bond status.

"We received information mid-week that Mr. Lathem could possibly be in the San Francisco Bay area. We followed up on the information that we were given, talked to several individuals throughout the bay area and ultimately were able to negotiate the surrender at the Oakland Federal Courthouse," said U.S. Marshals Supervisory Deputy Frank Conroy.

Trenton Cornell-Duranlow, 26, was found dead with multiple stab wounds on July 27 at the Grand Plaza Apartments on State Street in River North.

Trenton Cornell-Duranleau

That same day, police in Lake Geneva said the suspects walked into the public library in town and donated $1,000 in the victim's name.

Before the men were taken into custody Friday, Chicago police said Lathem sent out a video to family and friends, apologizing for his role in the stabbing. Police have not released that video.

Police have not said why the suspects were in California and have not released details on what led up to the murder.

The manhunt for these unlikely murder suspects began over a week ago when 26-year-old Trenton Cornell-Duranleau was found stabbed to death inside Lathem's River North apartment. A cosmetologist at a local salon, Cornell-Duranleau is believed to have had some sort of relationship with Lathem. His body was found only after an anonymous call to the building's front desk 15 hours after the incident.

Duranleau graduated from cosmetology school in Michigan. He had moved to Chicago fairly recently. He lived in an apartment building in the city's Pilsen neighborhood for only a few months.

Sought after for his expertise on the bubonic plague, Lathem was an associate professor at Northwestern University. Warren, a payroll clerk working at Oxford University in England. In the country for only a few days, Warren had been reported missing by his family and partner who were unaware he'd left the country.

Chicago Police issued arrest warrants for both men a few days ago, disclosing on Friday that Lathem had sent family and friends a video message apologizing for his part in the murder.