Northwestern professor, Oxford employee wanted on charges of first-degree murder arrested in California

Peter Kotecki, Editor in Chief

The two men wanted in connection with the fatal stabbing of 26-year-old cosmetologist Trenton Cornell-Duranleau were taken into custody in California on Friday, authorities said.

Feinberg Prof. Wyndham Lathem surrendered to U.S. Marshals in Oakland, and Oxford University employee Andrew Warren was taken into custody in San Francisco, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Lathem and Warren were wanted on charges of first-degree murder following the killing of Cornell-Duranleau, who was found dead July 27 with multiple stab wounds at Lathem’s apartment on the Near North Side in Chicago. Arrest warrants for Warren and Lathem were issued Monday.

Around 10 p.m. Friday evening, Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi tweeted that his department “has gotten word that Prof. Wyndham Lathem and Andrew Warren are both in police custody in Oakland, CA via @USMarshalsGov.”

Officer Grace Gatpandan, a spokesperson for the San Francisco Police Department, tweeted Friday night to confirm Warren had turned himself in at the police department’s Park Station.

A statement issued by Chicago police prior to the arrests said Lathem sent a video message to friends and family members apologizing for “his involvement” in Cornell-Duranleau’s death.

The contents of the video were not released because Lathem’s message is “integral to any future interrogation efforts,” Thomas Sweeney, a Chicago Police Department spokesman, told The Daily in an email on Friday.

University spokesman Al Cubbage told The Daily earlier this week that Lathem was placed on administrative leave after the arrest warrant was issued. Lathem has been a professor of microbiology-immunology at Northwestern’s Chicago campus since 2007.

According to the Tribune, Warren flew to the United States only three days before Cornell-Duranleau was killed. Police could not say how Warren knew Lathem and Cornell-Duranleau, but Lathem and Cornell-Duranleau knew each other and had “some type of falling out,” according to the Tribune. Cornell-Duranleau and Lathem are listed as friends on Facebook.

On the day of the murder, Lathem or Warren made a $1,000 donation in Cornell-Duranleau’s name to a library in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, said Officer Edward Gritzner, an administrative lieutenant at the Lake Geneva Police Department.

Lake Geneva Public Library director Emily Kornak declined to comment on Friday.

In a statement released late Friday night, Chicago police thanked the U.S. Marshals Service and other law enforcement who helped locate Warren and Lathem.

“Both individuals will be held accountable for their actions and we hope today’s arrest brings some small level of closure and justice for Trenton Cornell Duranleau’s family,” the statement said. “We are also thankful both men are safely in custody and this did not end in further tragedy.”

Lathem and Warren will appear in court in Oakland before returning to Chicago for questioning by homicide detectives, according to the Tribune.

This story was updated at 1:15 a.m. with additional information from Chicago and San Francisco police.

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