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Northwestern Professor Wanted For Murder In River North Stabbing

By  Erica Demarest and Josh McGhee | August 2, 2017 11:32am | Updated on August 3, 2017 8:29am

 Trenton Cornell-Duranheau, 26, was stabbed to death in the River North apartment of Northwestern associate professor Wyndham Lathem, 42. Police now accused Lathem and Andrew Warren, 56, of murder. They're on the loose.
Murder at the Grand Plaza
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COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — Investigators are searching for a Northwestern University professor and an employee of the University of Oxford, both named in first-degree murder warrants in the fatal stabbing of a man in a River North high-rise.

The warrants were signed Monday by Cook County Judge Sandra Ramos for microbiology professor Wyndham Lathem, 42, and Andrew Warren, 56, an employee of the British school, according to court records.

The no-bail warrants allege both men "without lawful justification and with the intent to kill" stabbed Trenton H. James Cornell-Duranleau "multiple times."

The murder of the 26-year-old happened July 27 in Lathem's 10th floor apartment at the Grand Plaza, 540 N. State Street, authorities allege. Cornell-Duranleau was found stabbed to death about 8:30 p.m. that evening.

 Trenton H. James Cornell-Duranleau
Trenton H. James Cornell-Duranleau
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Facebook

In an email to residents Monday, Grand Plaza management wrote that the Chicago Police Department was investigating the death as a homicide.

"Police are currently working on the timeline and background of the victim and are exploring a variety of motives, including a possible domestic incident," the email read.

The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office ruled Cornell-Duranleau's death a homicide. He was pronounced dead at 9:05 p.m. July 27. He lived in the 2200 block of South Wood Street in Chicago.

The Grand Plaza at 540 N. State Street. [DNAinfo/David Matthews]

According to Northwestern University spokesman Alan Cubbage, Lathem is an associate professor of microbiology and immunology at the prestigious university.

Latham has been placed on administrative leave and barred from entering school property, Cubbage said, noting that the school is cooperating with police and that Latham has worked for Northwestern since 2007.

"There is no indication of any risk to the Northwestern community from this individual at this time," Cubbage said in a statement.

Calls to Latham's colleagues went unreturned Wednesday.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Latham researches the ways in which pathogenic bacteria cause disease in humans. He focuses on "host-pathogen interaction" in lung infections.

Warren is a senior treasury assistant at the University of Oxford in Great Britain, according to the school's website. Court documents place his home address in Oxford, England. The university did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday.

Cornell-Duranleau, a native of Corunna, Mich., had jobs as a hair stylist after earning his cosmetology license at Stanley Harris School of Cosmetology in Holland, Mich., according to an obituary posted by his family.

"Throughout his life," the obituary read, "he loved music and animals. 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."

 Andy Warren of Somervile College at University of Oxford
Andy Warren of Somervile College at University of Oxford
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University of Oxford

02 AUG 17- Wanted for Homicide by dnainfojen on Scribd