Ex-Northwestern Prof Will Plead Not Guilty To Murder Charge: Lawyer

CHICAGO, IL — The Northwestern University professor accused in the brutal murder of a 26-year-old man is expected to plead not guilty after he was charged Monday in a California courtroom, and lawyers for the microbiologist are asking the public to wait until all the facts have been presented concerning their client before making judgments, according to reports. Wyndham Lathem, 42, turned himself into authorities Friday in Oakland, California, after he and Andrew Warren, a 56-year-old University of Oxford staffer from England, sparked a nationwide manhunt last week following the death of Trenton Cornell-Duranleau, whose body was discovered by Chicago police July 27 in Lathem's River North high-rise apartment.

In a statement Monday, Kenneth H. Wine, a California attorney representing Lathem at his extradition hearing in Alameda County, said friends and colleagues have described his client as "a kind, intelligent, and gentle soul, and a loyal and trusted friend," according to the Chicago Tribune. The person described in the allegations against Lathem is far removed from the one those close to him know, Wine added. (Get Patch real-time email alerts for the latest news for Chicago — or your neighborhood. And iPhone users: Check out Patch's new app.)

"What he is accused of is totally contrary to the way he has lived his entire life," the lawyer said, according to the Tribune.

RELATED: Manhunt For Northwestern Professor Wanted In Fatal Stabbing

Arrest warrants were issued July 31 against Lathem and Warren who are accused of fatally stabbing Cornell-Duranleau inside Lathem's home at Grand Plaza Apartments in the 500 block of North State Street. Hours before Cornell-Duranleau's body was found, the men allegedly fled to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, where Lathem reportedly donated $1,000 in the victim's name to the public library there. The suspects then made their way to California, where Wine said Lathem's closest family and friends lived, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

Police Supt. Eddie Johnson said investigators still had no motive for the murder, and police hadn't spoken to either of the suspects yet, the report stated. Along with the two men, detectives also planned to talk with the people who received a video message from Lathem that apologized for his involvement in Cornell-Duranleau's death. Investigators need to get a complete list of the people who received the video either from Lathem's computer or from Lathem himself, the report added.

Lathem was formally charged with first-degree murder Monday, and he is being held without bail, the Tribune reports. Wine said before Lathem's court appearance that his client would waive an extradition hearing, and he's expected to be back in Chicago within weeks, the Tribune reports.

Initially, Lathem was placed on administrative leave from Northwestern, and he was banned from university campuses once the arrest warrant were issued. But in a statement Monday, spokesman Alan K. Cubbage said the university fired Lathem, who worked at Northwestern since 2007, for "the act of fleeing from police when there was an arrest warrant out for him." Lathem also remained banned from Northwestern campuses, the statement added.

RELATED: Northwestern Professor Wanted: 5 Things We Know About The Brutal Murder Case So Far

Police told the Sun-Times the extradition process is still pending for Warren, a British national who surrendered to police in San Francisco the same day as Lathem. He has not been formally charged yet, and an arraignment hearing is expected no later than Tuesday, the Tribune reports. Warren's extradition hearing is scheduled for Friday, and he is not expected to fight a return to Chicago, according to the Sun-Times.

While Wine is representing Lathem in California, Chicago lawyers Adam Sheppard and his dad, Barry Sheppard, will be representing the microbiologist when he returns to Cook County, the Sun-Times reports. It was Barry Sheppard who worked out Lathem's surrender to US marshals after the suspect dropped off Warren at a San Francisco police station near Golden Gate Park, the report added.

Once back in Chicago, Alan Sheppard told the Sun-Times he will try to arrange Lathem's release on bail while he awaits trial based on his client's "complete lack of a criminal history, his distinguished career as a microbiologist and immunologist and good character." Like Wine, Alan Sheppard encouraged people to "keep an open mind" as he and his father conducted their own investigation into what happened July 27.

"[T]here are a wide variety of scenarios that are possibly consistent with innocence,” he told the Sun-Times on Monday.

More via the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times

Wyndham Lathem, 42 (Photo via Alameda County Sheriff's Office | Associated Press)

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